Sako A1 Vixen would be foxier as a Grendel ???

[WillD]

Does any one know someone who has converted a Sako A1 .223 bolt to PPC/Grendel?

I'm trying to cover all my bases and I'm waiting for several queries to be answered by PT&G, MGW, and a couple of others because my local smith is hesitant to cut the larger? PPC extractor groove in my .223 bolt.

What little parts information I can find about my Sako is all Finnish to me!

I'm beginning to fear I may be barking up a dead horse's ass on this project???

Suggestions??

-Will-

[WillD]

I'm finally getting some assistance over on the Sako Collectors Forum even though most there think I'm some kind of heretic for even considering something so sacreligious. Are there any master gunsmiths around here that I might pick their brains a bit? I have a few more bolt face and extractor questions I need resolved.

TIA, Will the Heretic

[LRRPF52]

I know the guys at Lapua built one with a 24" I think, and have run some pretty insane pressures with it.

[WillD]

Do you know if they started with a PPC bolt or if they converted another bolt?
I have a local gunsmith who is fine with barrel fitting and chambering but reluctant to modify the extractor groove.
I'm getting conflicting reports as to whether I even need to modify the extractor from the Sako Collectors Forum?
It seems there are some extractors that need modification and those that don't, my dilemna is figuring out which extractor I have.
Technical expertise with Sakos seems hard to locate.
Do you think any of the Finnish snipers you've referred to or "the guys at Lapua" could/would be of help?
I have already found two sources of the PPC extractor if I need to go that route.
My barrel now is 22.75" and i thought a 24" would probably be the way I'd go so as not to change the look or balance of this sweet little rifle.
I'm undecided on the contour but I'm thinking Krieger or Satern is the brand I will choose.

Thanks, Will

[adamjp]

The extractor may well work as it is. I've seen a 222 extractor work like a charm on a 20 PPC after the PPC extractor was lost in the workshop. Worst case it can be ground back a tiny bit on a bench grinder, but seriously - try it as is.

Opening the boltface is simple work once the extractor is removed (also an easy job). Place bolt in a jig for bolts, ensure that the nose is running true, get body running true and re-check nose. Balance until both are as true as they can be. Using a bit designed for the job (available from Brownells) slowly and carefully skim the ring around the boltface until it is the correct size for the PPC case. A good craftsman will then finish with a skim across the whole face to ensure flat and true.

Make sure your gunsmith is comfortable working in metric sizes - some are not.

Personally I would stick with the original barrel profile exactly. I know the sporter profile well and it balances that rifle like a charm. Couple it with a 2-8/3-9/3-12 type scope with an objective no larger than 42mm and you will have a very handy multi-purpose outfit. One of those Zeiss Duralyt 2-8x42 scopes is a good match for a hunting Grendel (pity about the scope colour).

[WillD]

Thanks again Adam for your help. I had promised to update you on my project, but this might be the solution I was looking for. I hadn't thought of this, instead I was lead to believe it would be more difficult. I don't understand the reluctance on the Sako Collectors Forum to offer assistance since Sako already offers two PPC based cartridge on this action. I've found the Grendel Forum to be much more helpful.

A 2x8 scope was what I was intending to use.

Thanks, Will

[adamjp]

This is what your boltface needs to look like.

[WillD]

After much gnashing of the teeth and conversations with people much wiser than myself I'm shelving my Sako Grendel project. I would like to thank those helpful and interested parties who volunteeered their decades of experience when I needed it. Thanks to Bill Alexander, Arne Brennan, Speedy Gonzalez, adamjp, and the rest of the 6.5 Grendel forumites who commented and tried to spur me on. The reason is: parts for this little Sako action are too few and far between and although the project was doable from a technical standpoint, it would have been short lived since the primary reason for a bolt action Grendel IMHO is to be able to handload the cartridge to extract it's maximum potential. This would have eventually caused a failure of the Sako.

I'm not giving up, I'm simply redirecting my efforts. I've decided to let Speedy rebarrel a Hall single shot action in .260 Remington. I probably would have preferred a 6.5x47 Lapua or one of Robert Whitley's 6.5 Super LR's but with the times being what they are and my being already stocked and set up for the .260 Rem I decided not to take on an additional 6.5 chambering. I was able to cancel my order with MGW for the part to do the Sako in time and I hope to pull the trigger on either a Bartlein or Krieger barrel tonight or tomorrow for the Hall. With Speedy's expertise, the Hall action, and either barrel it should shoot bugholes, which was my original intention.

Pictures will follow!

-Will-

[LRRPF52]

This concept keeps nagging at me. I'm really thinking more and more about it, especially the 6mm PPC Sako Vixen converted.

I was also looking at some Sako actions at Sportman's Warehouse last week, and they are very smooth for a factory gun. My friend's Sako 75 is one of the coolest bolt guns I have every used, and I love the stainless detachable box magazine that fits flush with the bottom metal.

Maybe a Sako 75 action would be the way to go, with a custom chamber using a longer throat, so I could load COL way out and increase capacity.

[stokesrj]

If any of you are considering a 6.5 Grendel bolt action, I have a Remington Model 7 PPC bolt from PTG that I'm no longer using.
Bob

[WillD]

Paul,

If you want a Grendel Vixen, the PPC version is the only reliable way to get there. You CAN modify another caliber Vixen bolt but more than one gunsmith recommended not doing it for reliablity sake. That is to say my reasoning for wanting a bolt action Grendel was to stretch the cartridge capabilities that the gas bolt will not allow. Bob's offer above sounds like a great idea for a Rem Model 7, unfortuneately I just picked up my new 6.5 Lapua so I'm no longer in need of a project!

Cheers, Will