Sako Model 94(s) .22 Rimfire

[gitano]

As some may recall, I've been looking for a Sako model 94 for some time. I put standing 'searches' on a couple of the more popular web sites. Last Spring I got a 'hit': Unfired, "New in the Box", with factory rings, box and other paperwork. It was too expensive, but... they're not being made anymore, and I hadn't seen one in a LONG time, so I coughed up the cash. ONE WEEK LATER, I kid you not, the exact same rifle - Unfired, New in the Box, etc. - showed up at the same website. $400 dollars cheaper! Story of my life. Buy high, sell low.

Enough whining. The rifle ended up at Sakoricks, and while my daughter and I were there in November for deer hunting, I changed its status from 'unfired'. (I brought a Simmons scope down from AK.) Attached are pictures of the targets I used to sight the scope in. Rick supplied the Norma ammo. All shots at 50yd.

Here are the first two groups I fired. The first one is the first 5 shots out of the rifle. The second 5 are after adjusting the scope.


This target (below) has both the 3rd 5-shot group from the Model 94 and the three shots from the .338 Swiss after traveling. (There's more to that story, but after the .22 stuff.) The second group of 5 shots was "OK", but a little low and still a little right, so I made the final adjustment and shot the 3rd group of 5. Of course I 'pulled' the 5th shot. :angry:


Here are the spreadsheet images for those three, 5-shot groups. The information "you" would be most likely interested in is highlighted in yellow. As you can see, the group size is very similar, and not bad for 50yd and first 10 shots from a new bbl.



I think the data from the four shots excluding the one I called 'pulled', reflects the true potential of this rifle in my hands. (One might argue that "in my hands" should include the one pulled shot. Maybe. You have the data, suite yourself.)


The rifle is very pretty, with an excellent - for a factory - walnut stock. It clearly shoots straight, and I expect it will only get better after about 100 rounds through the barrel. I'll be back in Missouri in late January to hunt squirrels, 'coons, and do some ice fishing for panfish. I'll be using this rifle at that time. Since I left it in Missouri, I don't think I'll shoot any more paper before I hunt with it.


Paul

[gitano]

Here's a 'digital' target with the "best four" of each group. In order to merge the targets, I subtracted the average value. That moves the center of each group to the 0,0 coordinate.



It's good. It's also cherry picking. However, I did provide ALL of the data/points-of-impact, you can make of it what you wish.

With respect to the .338 Swiss:
I wanted to test fire it after the plane trip because it was in a less substantial case than I usually use. I prolly shouldn't have. (Test fired it, that is.) The shots are numbered in the order they were fired. (NOT the case for the Model 94 shots. They were just numbered for ease of organizing the x/y coordinates.) Here's a picture of that target:


After the first (uppermost) shot, I adjusted the scope down and left. Given 1) the history of shots with that rifle, and 2) its propensity to string them 'north and south', that adjustment was dumb. And the 2nd point of impact demonstrates that. After the second shot, I adjusted it back to its original settings. Since I have not 'fixed' the inherent problem with No.1s associated with that blasted 'hanger', this rifle, like SO MANY OTHER No. 1s, strings shots vertically. :angry: That's very frustrating, because after 30-some-odd shots in groups of 3 and 5, ALL the groups have windage max spreads less than 0.75 MoA for sure, and most of them are less than 0.5 MoA. Clearly, both me and the rifle are capable of sub-MoA precision. Unfortunately, vertically, the rifle has a difficult time keeping the group size under 2.5 MoA! I really don't want to have to go through the rigmarole I had to with the .416x.348 Win No. 1, but I simply cannot tolerate the level of vertical stringing this rifle exhibits.

I have stuck a hard foam wedge between the hanger and the barrel. I'm really hoping that fixes the vertical stringing. If not, I'll just have to put the barreled action in my mill and install "the fix". You can read about that fix here: http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19959&highlight=.416x.348+Winchester&page=2, starting at post #18. You can see why I don't want to do it.

Later, I fell the last four steps out of the blind, and while I was doing my best to protect the rifle, afterward, I wasn't sure it hadn't been "knocked off". So I shot another 3-shot group. The good news was that the scope had NOT been knocked off zero. The bad news was the @#$%^&* thing was still stringing them vertically!:angry::cens:
Here's that target:

Ignore #4, it's from a .284 case.

Sparing you the gory details, the windage spread is 0.77". The elevation spread is 2.28". :angry: And the order of the shots is always the same as far as I can remember: First shot high; second shot low: third and subsequent shots around 1+MoA just under the first shot. Very frustrating.

Paul

[gitano]

I have an idea about what's causing - specifically - the vertical stringing of the first three shots, with subsequent shots NOT vertically strung.


Assume the rifle has come from 'home' where it was 'bounced around' to whatever degree typical of handling a rifle. The first shot from the barrel therefore represents some non-firing-related movement of the hanger. After the first shot, the hanger has been "jostled", but by firing, not by 'random handling'. The second shot - low - is a result of the first-shot-jostling. Again, after the second shot, the hanger is "jostled", BUT, it's "settled in" to the "firing position". The following shots don't jostle the hanger out of "firing position". When the rifle cools OR gets cocked a few times as would happen in a reloading session AT HOME, the hanger gets "re-positioned" to the non-firing position. Which causes it to shoot high (the first shot) next time it is shot after traveling from and to the range, and have been handled and cocked several times.

I could be wrong, but this "theory" fits what I see at the target butts. This is why putting a little pressure on the end of the hanger helps precision: It keeps the hanger in the "firing" position.



Paul

[sakorick]

I love my Sako 94 as well!

[gitano]

For those of you familiar with spreadsheets and/or would like to see the equations used in doing this analysis, here's a picture of the spreadsheet with all of the equations displayed. You can compare with the pictures of the spreadsheets above to see how the equations relate to the values.


If you have any questions, ask them. If you'd like an electronic copy of the spreadsheet, send a Private Mail to me using THL, and I'll get you a copy.


Paul

[branxhunter]

Hey Paul I’m not fussed about a copy of the spreadsheet but I would love to see a photo or two of the little Sako .22

Marcus

[gitano]

Until I get back to Missouri in about three weeks, Marcus, you'll have to rely on sakorick for pictures. Maybe he'll post pictures of his and mine, side by side.

Paul