Sako Brown Bear 500 Jeffery

[Voodooracer]

Hello everyone, I am doing a little preliminary review on the sako brown bear I just picked up. It's in 500 Jeffery. I am very impressed with the quality of the rifle, fit and finish is what I would expect from sako which is fantastic. The rifle points like a dream and I love the express sights!!! The front sight is a very large dot which is super quick to acquire. The weight is lighter than I would prefer for this caliber but I intend to have a gunsmith add some weight in the stock and a better recoil pad. The recoil pad appears to be an afterthought though, it's barely an inch thick and has no cushion to speak of, a metal butt plate on a WW2 era Mauser comes to mind..... that's really the only disappointing part about the rifle. Everything else appears to be fantastic. I'm going to be getting some ammo soon, I will try and shoot it stock but I get the feeling that experience will be akin to instigating my own mugging. I probably won't do a ton of serious shooting until I get the weight added and buttpad changed. Does anyone know of a good gunsmith here in the states that's familiar with the big bores? I don't mind paying to have it done right. On a side note, I want to give a huge shoutout to the folks at euro optic @www.eurooptic.com, they were beyond fantastic to deal with. I even picked up a tikka t3 in 30-06 while I was there and threw in some 30-06 ammo. As a heads up they are having an awesome sale on their tikka t3's. I got mine for $200 off regular price! I will report back after shooting it!

Thanks,
Voodoo

 

[spike.t]

found it the shop i go to in lusaka has one and the stock dimensions feel exactly the same as my black bear in 9.3x62...which is to me fractionally short but in the 9.3 doesnt worry me. in the 500 jeff not so sure, also i hate the size of the front sight bead ! i like a very fine front bead as i want to put the bullet where i am aiming , not on top of the bead or ....the bead is so big it covers far too much of what you are trying to aim at i really dont like it. but apart from that nice rifles. really interested in hearing how it feels to shoot as they are light rifles.

 

[Voodooracer]

I would like a little extra l.o.p with a new recoil pad and a couple mercury recoil reducers or lead in the stock. The rifle is fairly front heavy so I think the extra weight would do wonders for the balance.

 

[spike.t]

I would like a little extra l.o.p with a new recoil pad and a couple mercury recoil reducers or lead in the stock. The rifle is fairly front heavy so I think the extra weight would do wonders for the balance.

yeah thought that when i was playing with the one in the shop. it feels exactly thesame as the black bear but muzzle heavy in comparison as you say. but as one is 9.3 thats not surprising. the black is 7lbs and balanced but you know when it goes off but not bad . great little rifle. so as i said be interesting to hear what yours is like as standard

 

[enysse]

The gun looks like it's built heavy, so you can add weight. At least everything is proportional to the caliber and barrel. It looks like a winner, Sako knows how to build guns.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Wayne at American Hunting Rifles for a big bore gunsmith.

http://americanhuntingrifles.com/

 

[Voodooracer]

I didn't even think of that! Completely forgot about Wayne at AHR. Thanks!!

 

[CAustin]

That 500 is going to pack a punch!

 

[larry4831]

That is a good looking rifle. looks like it is very well-built.

 

[Voodooracer]

I contacted Wayne at AHR about doing the stock work and he referred me to a quality source to have the work done, I will be sending the rifle out as soon as possible. They will add around 1.5 lbs of weight to the forend and buttstock to maintain proper balance as well as put on a new recoil pad for a very reasonable price. Can't wait to get the upgrades done! I will do a more throrough review when it comes back.

 

[spike.t]

sounds good. you going to shoot it before the work is done ?

 

[Voodooracer]

I'm still waiting for some backordered ammo to come in and the gentleman doing the work said he can fit me into his schedule now so the rifle will be going out probably tomorrow. So unfortunately no, I won't be able to shoot it prior to the work being done. I'm kind of okay with that though haha, I think it'd be a definite handful.

 

[spike.t]

ok best get it done when you can. must say i was hoping to hear what it was like though....as you say i think it would have been interesting

 

[Voodooracer]

Well I just sent my sako out to get the work done to it. I was quoted 60 days or less to get it back. I never was good at being patient . I will report back once I have it back!

 

[Voodooracer]

I just got an email today and the sako is finished!!! The gentleman was able to get it up to 12 pounds which will be nice. I should have it back in hand in couple of weeks!

 

[spike.t]

I just got an email today and the sako is finished!!! The gentleman was able to get it up to 12 pounds which will be nice. I should have it back in hand in couple of weeks!

fk 12lbs!!!! enjoy i would never carry something that heavy you and @matt85 need to make love babies

 

[Voodooracer]

Hahahaha originally I asked to have it close to 11-11.5 lbs but I guess he figured the extra wouldn't hurt haha. I plan on working on conditioning with the rifle when I get it. I did the same with my Cz in 458 Lott, I would go for walks in my woods and carry it along with 5 shells in one of those nylon shell holders on the stock to simulate full weight. That helped me immensely with getting used to the heft.

 

[enysse]

I would have done the same thing, work on conditioning and increase the weight of the gun. I like all of my guns to be heavy and with a long barrel. Yes, carrying in the brush sucks but it's easier to point and shoot.

 

[TexasBlueDevil]

i read these rifles were ejection problems. Have you experienced this??

 

[Voodooracer]

I had to pretty much ship it out right away to get the stock work done so currently I'm unaware of that issue. I will be getting it back soon so if anything comes up I will report back. Hopefully it will be issue free.