My new Sako 85 .204 Varmit rifle

[Canuck]

Hi Frank, No as yet... Foxe's and hare's no problem's.. Honestly a Goat and pig in the right spot will drop instantly I think. Once I work out my load's I will definitely be doing a pig weekend away. Sill taking my .300WSM or .35 Whelan pump as back up... The amount of damage these factory federal 40grn nosler's do I feel you can harvest the slightly bigger vermin's..
I 'am not 100% with tikka's but Sako 85 .204's you can get either a 24' barrel which is 23.7 ' long or a 20' threaded barrel. I spoke to a few gunsmith's regarding these length's they shot pretty much the same apparently. Just the 20' barrel is more move aroundable in situation's... I just happen to get hold of my sako in 24' it was one of the last available in Australia till next year. Maybe with some of the other guy's on our form can help out a bit more with the length's of barrels if they do any difference... I have read as well that some of our northern friend's are taking coyotes with no prob's.... and some have taken pig's as well... as in the calibre's I've done that much research on the .204's well I had to get one... but again ask the guy's on here regarding the 22-250 vs a .204..... I know the .204 vs .222 & .223 are pretty much par..

[fxol]

Hi Canuck,

I opted for the Tikka Varmint in stainless, with the 20 inch barrel, worked trigger, bedded action and floated barrel. Shoots like a bench rest rifle, can't wait to nail some foxes and rabbits soon. Your gun is a ripper!

I have a mate who swears by the 204 - he has dropped pigs and goats with ease. I guess so long as the bullet is in the right spot, then it will do the trick. There's another guy from Aus on this forum with a pic of a deer so anything is possible!

Frank.

[futuretrades]

There's another guy from Aus on this forum with a pic of a deer so anything is possible!

Yeah, talk about anything is possible, I killed a deer at around 35yds with my RWS, .17 cal pellet rifle. Didn't intend to kill the darn thing, just get it out of my garden. Worst part of this was, I couldn't retrieve the animal, because it just got thru the neighbors fence and died! . Didn't even get some venison for the table!
So, you bet, anything is possible!

[Canuck]

The only thing I would say is with Rabbit's they have to be head shot's if wanting to have a meal. I love Rabbit so it's either head shot's or The good old Bruno .22 will have to be used lol... I'am doing a trip next week just with the factory federal nosler 40gr... so see how it goes at night...I'll post some pic's when I come back.. Just to let our northern friend's know.. It's Rice growing season for the farmer's down here and once the Duck's arrive they can eat $10,000 of rice in a single night. Anyway's Talk soon guy's.

[Spar]

Hey mate, love the scope. I'm in melbourne as well lol. But i'm shooting a tikka t3 lite stainless with a 6-24 elite 4200 on top. Love my 204 as well, have yet to try the 39bk as they were origionally hard to get when i started and very expensive too. But i have loaded 40gr vmax at 3/4 inch, factory 32gr vmax (fiocci or whatever) 1/3 inch, and i load 32 gr varmageddon and notler bt both at 1/3 inch using 8208 as well. Believe me the 32gr have more knock down power than you would believe and shoot like laser beams. Shoot me a PM if you're in melbourne west and i can probably hook you up with some 32 gr projectiles to try. I just picked up a box of 500 zmax, haven't had a chance to print them on paper yet.

[Canuck]

Hi Spar, Sound's good. I'm on the eastern side of Melbourne. I ordered a couple hundred cases of Norma which I'm still waiting on.. probably get them next year...I finally got the Sierra's 39 grner's... I wont have time to reload till after x-mas , Which is a bummer was hoping to see how the rifle would group.. But I'll post up some pic's when I work out the load.. Went up to NSW shooting and dropped a few Foxe's.. The smart thing's were lying down in the stubble where the farmer's tyre track's were threw all the paddock's. The stubble was about a foot high so was hard to see them but flashing the spot light in the tyres track's showed them up. But I'm so wowed still on how the .204 preforms. Well everyone have a good X-Mas and talk after the new year.. Happy Hunting....

By the way if anyone is interested, My JAGD TERRIER will be having Pup's around the first week on February and will be taking order's... I'm me if interested.

[tinytree]

that's a beautiful rifle!

[Steltzer]

Hi Canuck,
I purchased a tikka t3 super varmint in 204 last year, and put a vortex 6-24x50 PST FFP MOA scope on it. I think i purchased the last box of federal 39's in the country in novemeber. I currently have settled on 39 gr SBK's, 27.4 gr of 8208, in nosler brass (which is re branded Norma), and my best group so far in 0.23 MOA. I have gotten an average of 3700 FPS with that load. I can quite comfortable take a rabbit at 300 now. That is off sand bags at my local range (mates farm). I am also in eastern melbourne. I shoot up at dixons creek and yarra glen a lot. I also went up to NSW (goulburn area) just over chrissy, and I nailed 2 foxes and a feral cat, and 2 other animals, we put in the freezer, they were delicious. The 204 is more than capable on animals bigger than foxes, just depends on bullet placement. I love my 204, so much fun to shoot.

[Steltzer]

I forgot to mention, I have some 32 SBK's, and 40 GR noslers in .20 cal i have no need for. if you find you would like them, give me a yell.

[Canuck]

Thank's Stelter for the offer of the projectiles but as you I'll be using the 39 Grainer's which I finally got but just waiting for the Norma cases still. Your load is pretty much what I'll be using but I need to load from 27.1 to 27.5 using the 8208 adi powder just to see what my rifle prefers . Seems the Tikka's & Sako's like the same recipe's as one Sako owner is loading 27.3 adi 8208 powder. Nice looking rifle too. There a great calibre. I 'am hoping to have the load sorted out before Hound season otherwise I'll be busy chasing Sambar and wait till the seasons finished again...lol.. Well if you need a hand or extra shooting buddy dropping those Foxe's message me I'll tag along..lol..