Thread: Can somebody tell me what this is?

G'day fellas, so Ive been refinishing a stock on a Sako 85 Bavarian i got awhile back and noticed something I've never seen on any of my other rifles, it appears to be a small support for the barrel. Is this a factory feature? I'm hoping someone out there can shed some light on this or maybe even just tell me if their Bavarian has it too?

That could be a pressure point, used to put a small amount of pressure on the barrel so it will shoot most factory loads acceptably.

surely not the obvious...sling swivel screwed in too far...

Its a pressure bedding point dont remove it or you will be sorry.

i figured it must've been something like a pressure point, wont mess around with it then lol

Is that the end of the sling swivel at the top of the pressure point?

To me that looks like a run of a varnish/filler used to seal the top of the front swivel hole? I would clean it out.

From what I have seen, pressure points are at the end of the fore end (and a lot tidier than that). I'm with Tahr on this one.

It did have a pretty rough varnish job on it when i received it, it might also be worth mentioning that there was a thin strip attached to it. you can kinda see where ive pulled it off in the photo. I'm torn on what to do now lol

Originally Posted by McNotty

Is that the end of the sling swivel at the top of the pressure point?

It appears the hole for the sling swivel has been filled and that's what you can see, so the theory that its extra run off from filling said hole would make sense. The screw doesn't come through though and is what you would expect.

I thought Sakos had fully floated barrels but I could be wrong.
@ChrisW should be able to clear this one up for ya.

It’s excess varnish

I had the same thing on my BSA 222 but it fell out when I was re - doing the stock. I threw it away as it was over the sling swivel hole as well.
It made no difference at all , just excess glue or vanish from manufacture.

For the money you pay for a Sako if a drop of vanish is their idea of a barrel pressure point I'd be asking for my money back and changing brands. Even my Norinco JW15 wasn't finished so badly.

how did the rifle shoot pre stock removal?

if it shot great and accuracy suffers after you remove it you can replace it with you own easily with copying the photos you have
I find removing them and floating your barrel makes a hunting rifle more consistent.
I shoot off hand using the sling, leaning against trees or rocks, off a bipod or sand bag and the pressure point would be either pushing harder or softer depending on each situation which isnt great
so yea to me it looks like the last owner replaced the sling swivel and glued it in because it was loose and the excess drained in and down. pressure points usually are at the tip of the stock and wood stock tend to swell when wet.

It did get the odd flier when i first got it and wasn't as accurate as what i would expect from a Sako, i removed the excess varnish today and its shooting much better. The previous owner had installed some white spacers under the swivel studs which i also removed. That must be why he tried to glue them in lol, after removing the spacers they fitted perfectly. Really appreciate all the help guys, Sako is mint now shooting 0.7MOA down from 1.5MOA with the odd flier. I was beginning to think it was my shooting haha