Thread: Sako 85 bolt issue

Happy new year to you all. I brought this second hand Sako 85 last week, and unfortunately didn't dryfire and check the cocking action while viewing. Dumass. On getting it home found the action to be very rough and notchy. Dismantled the bolt and found the cocking ramp flogged out and notchy. Anyone seen this on a Sako before?? Could running the bolt dry for a long period cause this or something more sinister going on with the bolt? Cheers

Looks like a shit machining job on ramp and maybe running dry. Looks to be wearing on high spots and should polish out alright. What does cocking piece on firing pin look like? That might be a bit more work to repair if worn but still easy enough to fix.

What the back of your firing pin look like? I would say that’ll need tugging and polishing but I’m no engineer

It looks like a QA problem met a Bumble foot. That cam has suffered from a serious smack to get in that condition , and a polish would probably sort it out . However contacting the Sako agent could possibly get a better outcome as the camming surface which has taken a nock should really be a flat surface and not scalloped ????.

That looks like an amateur ‘gunsmith’ has been trying to achieve something (who knows what) rather than a machining fault from sako. I would think someone who knows what they are doing would be able to sort that.

Have seen that when guys try to machine a half cock into the situation

The synergy between all the angled faces means its never successful and you get crazy levels of wear as shown

Take it to a PROPER gunsmith

Agree that outer edge looks to have taken a hit at some stage, dropped on concrete floor maybe, but there are two witness marks further in that indicate high spots.Easy enough to rectify. Regarding half-cock the indent notch is quite visible beside cam surface. Just my 2c. I’m sure @gundoc or others will reply at some stage.

Cheers all, attached pic of the cocking piece, doesn't look too bad considering. I'll message the importer and see what they have to say. Guy that sold it to me refunded a hundy so thats something..

Those dents/garks in the cocking ramp may be the result of using a screwdriver/.. to lever open the action on a stuck case. Either way, some significant and unusual force has been applied to it.

The garks on the bolt will come out with some TLC and a needle file. Both mating surfaces need to be polished and lubed with a smear of graphite grease. It looks as though it has been forced at some stage.

Would you be so kind as to post a picture of the locking lugs? If any wear or damage is visable on any of them?

If the previous owner ran the action dry, some damage will normally be seen on the locking lugs too.

The ramp should be hardened(its not a stainless action), the damage or roughness should polish out.

I've seen damage to the cocking ramp on an 85 from dry firing, but not like that.

Mine shows a bit of scalloping like that but not nearly so bad. Its shot 3000 live and a good number of dry fire / snap cap.

Dean Maisey advised I could smooth it myself so I bought some diamond files for the job.

Then I looked at a mates 85 which had only shot a couple of hundred rounds and it was the same, so Ive just used more grease on that spot.

Its hard to reach that ramp to routinely lubricate it.

The bolt never rusts but apparently its not true “stainless steel”.