My new Varminter Sako A1 .222

I have a CZ 455 in .17 HMR which has been fantastic on bunnies but wanted something a bit bigger but not too big so I had to think what to do.

I have a T3 .223 which is a great rifle and has shot a lot of deer but I wanted to keep it as a deer rifle, I have a Sako A1 & L461 both in .222 which I acquired both 9-14 months ago but wanted to keep them in original format and even looked at going down "Wingmans" path of building a .22TCM as that looks like a great wee caliber.

I also looked at .22 Hornet, 22K Hornet, .17 Hornet. .218 Bee but in the end without complicating things and spending a fortune I decided to use the Sako A1 .222

I got the barrel threaded and put on my DPT suppressor but the scope on top wasn't cutting the mustard so I bought in a couple of Vector Optics scopes who were easy to deal with. I bought a Marksman 3.5-10x44 which cost me US$179 and another little 1-5 power scope which currently sits on a .22

The scopes are crystal clear but there 30 mm tubes so I needed some rings. The scopes come with rings however they won't fit Sako's!

A local shop were quoting me $500 to mount the scope but after a quick look through Trade Me I bought a set of Optilokts for $150 and scope is now all mounted.

The rifle was loving 50 gr Hornady SP so I bought a packet each of some 40 & 50 gr Vmax to try out. The 50's shot 1/2-3/4 inch so I settled on those however I still need to do some playing with the 40 gr projectiles before I discard them as an option as it would be great shooting bunnies with them flying at 3300 fps.

So far I've only shot 15-20 bunnies with the longest shot out to 250 metres and running the rifle alongside the .17 HMR has been a lot of fun. It's nice to unload and make safe when moving to a new position where you cycle the bolt and push the live round back into the internal box mag that holds 7 rather than ejecting the magazine, ejecting the live round, placing the live round back into the magazine and then magazine back into the rifle.

https://i.ibb.co/RbPZ53B/IMG-6291.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/KLc1Xt9/IMG-6292.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/4PdRs0z/IMG-6293.jpg

go the mighty 222

nice rifle . . . with the Varminter in the title i was expecting to see the heavy barrel varmint model, still always nice to see a mint A1

A great caliber, my Sako Vixen I bought when in the Forest Service was a real beauty, shoot extremely well and accounted for countless goats and a number of deer. I used a Brno Fox 222 for a while set up for rabbit shooting at extended ranges using the 50 gr V Max. Many a time with a got hit there would be a Red mist and the rabbit was turned inside out.
One of the deadliest calibers for it's size I think. And did I mention accurate......

Yip,if youve had a Sako 222 and sold it, the universe isnt aligned till you get another one. Thats my experience

That is so cool

I'm running a ruger mk2 in a paddle stock shooting 40g sierra blitz over 21.5grns 2207. Absolutly deadly on rabbits out to 400m

I bought my first Sako 222 about two years ago and it has become one of my favorite coyote rifles, 52gr Speer FB HP over Benchmark.

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Ooh! full stock thats pretty

AWS... more photos on the rifle please... sexy little rifle!

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This is with the original Leupold 2-7 Compact on it. I tried the 1-4 scope shown but the ocular housing is larger on the 1-4 and I had to go to higher rings and then build up the comb with a pad under the butt bag. I've gone back to the 2-7 and lower rings.