Sako A7 L

The History of Sako

Sako (Suojeluskuntain Ase- ja Konepaja Oy) is rifle and ammunition manufacturer located in Riihimäki, Finland. It was founded in 1921, after the rifle repair workshop, opened in former Helsinki brewery, became independent of the civil guard. The workshop grew into a weapons factory, which produced hunting rifles as well as cartridges and moved its headquarters from Helsinki to Riihimäki. The first civilian rifle bearing the name Sako, was the L42, prototyped in 1942 and commercially manufactured a few years later.

After the World War II, domestic hunting culture thrived and Sako invested in development of hunting rifles. Due to this investment, domestic sales increased along with export to the USA and the rest of the world. In the 1980s, Sako merged with another firearm manufacturer, Tikkakoski and gained a valuable rifle line called Tikka. The production of military and law enforcement weapons started when Finnish defence forces ordered assault rifles and cartridges from Sako.

The company has changed multiple owners since 1921, but has ultimately been sold to Italian Beretta Holding in 2000. In 2006, Sako celebrated its 85th anniversary by launching a new hunting rifle family, Sako 85. In 2020, Sako introduced S20, the first truly hybrid rifle, designed for both; hunters and tactical shooters. Another novelty presented by Sako in 2020 was a brand new, lead-free Sako Powerhead bullet.

Sako A7 L Rifle Review

Sako A7 is the result of Sako's aspiration to create a rifle that sits in the price range between premium Sako 85 and more affordable Tikka T3. It was introduced back in 2008. The A7 uses a detachable box magazine that holds a single-stack column of cartridges. The rifle comes in two action lengths; S and M and this naming is source of confusion, because S represents Short action (SA) and M represents Long action (LA). One of the advantages of different receiver lengths is improved rigidity of the receiver. The top of the action has 4 drilled holes for mounting purpose, rather than tapered dovetail, which Sako usually uses.

The same mounting surface can be found on Browning A-Bolt & Eurobolt; the only dimension that doesn’t match is the long distance between the holes (B dimension), which means two piece mounts from those two rifles will fit Sako A7 and vice-versa. One piece mounts, however aren’t interchangeable, because the B dimensions don’t match.

Sako A7 M, chambered for .300 Win. Mag.

Figure 1: Sako A7 L, chambered for .300 Win. Mag. (Source: https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/sako-rifles/sako---a7-m----300-win--mag-.cfm?gun_id=101226759)

Sako A7 L Calibers

In long action length the A7 is available for:

.25-06 Rem.
.270 Win.
.30-06 Spr.
7mm Rem. Mag.
.300 Win. Mag.

Sako A7 L Variants

The stock comes in 4 variants and all of them are injection moulded. The variants are:

synthetic
synthetic stainless
roughtech pro
roughtech range

All of them are available in both action lengths.

The receiver of Sako A7 L comes with four holes for mounting purposes, two on the front and two on the rear mounting surface. There is no height difference between the surfaces.

The receiver of Sako A7 M, chambered for .300 Win. Mag.

Figure 2: The receiver of Sako A7 L, chambered for .300 Win. Mag. (Source: https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/sako-rifles/sako---a7-m----300-win--mag-.cfm?gun_id=101226759)

A: 21.9 mm
B: 95,6 mm (M)
C: 21.9 mm
BHU: 0 mm
Fi: 6-48
R1: R35
R2: R35

Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Sako A7 L

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Sako A7 L

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension.

Unfortunately, we currently lack information regarding interchangeable mounts for the Sako A7 L.

Should you have any additional information regarding possible mount matches, please contact us. We would gladly accept your help and expand our database accordingly.

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Sako A7 L

Best Scope Mounts for Sako A7 L

Fixed Scope Mounts for Sako A7 L

If you want to have fixed mounts, we recommend you to install Picatinny rails and then ring mounts on top of them.

It is ideal to place a Picatinny rail of the same material on the rifle receiver, because of the mechanical reasons.

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Sako A7 L

For detachable repeatable mounts we would recommend EAW pivot mount.

The only Dentler rails available for Sako A7 rifles are Dentler BASIS, which allow only Dentler mounts to be installed on them. It is one of the most reliable and accurate quick release mounts for Sako A7 on the market. Unfortunately, Dentler BASIS bases don't support adjustments on the bases, meaning they are not as revolutionary as the Dentler BASIS VARIO.

An explanation of Dentler mounts can be seen in our Roundtable video:

*We would like to stress that some mounts can be found that have the wrong dimensions between the holes for mounting and therefore will not fit Sako A7 rifles. A7 only accept mounts, which have the distance between the holes 84,8 mm (S) or 95,6 mm (L).

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you have this rifle or any other rifle at home, we would really appreciate it if you could send us some photos of the rifle receiver (mounting surface of the rifle when there are no mounts installed), because it would help us expand our rifle mounts database. If you send us a photo of rifle receiver which we don’t already have, that would be of great value to us and we will definitely reward you for your help.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: [email protected]

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Sako A7 L

NOK 972.31

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ERAMATIC Swing (Pivot) mount, Picatinny Rail

As low as NOK 3,450.32

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Sako A7 L (20 MOA)

NOK 972.31

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Rusan Picatinny rail - Sako A7 (LA)

NOK 788.65

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EGW HD Sako A-7 Long Action Picatinny Rail

As low as NOK 896.69

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EGW Steel Ultimate Duty Sako A7 LA Picatinny Rail 20 MOA

NOK 1,350.44

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Optik Arms Picatinny Rail - Sako A7 LA

NOK 615.80

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VIDEO

Introduction

In recent years we can observe that a trend of Picatinny rail has become widespread and global. It is driven by the NATO standardized rails, more commonly known as the Picatinny rail standard. Picatinny rail being the New Jersey Arsenal that developed it in 1995.

These mounting options are revolutionary. The biggest and best advantage being that the Picatinny rail can be used its entire length and not bordered to a few pre-designed slots like for example the Weaver rail standard was before.

The other main advantage is the ease of use and interchangeability. If a product is meant for a Picatinny rail design it will fit all Picatinny-rails, no matter the manufacturer or date of production.

Picatinny/Weaver Rail

Picatinny Rail and Weaver rail profile

Design

The Picatinny rail is almost exclusively crafted from a single piece of metal (in some cases aluminum). In this manner, the axis of the Picatinny rail is perfectly straight and aligned with the axis of the firearm. Therefore the rifle scope which is mounted onto this kind of configuration is certainly aligned with the rifle / gun and the trajectory of the ammunition.

Weaver rail design on the other hand is usually manufactured in two separate pieces, greatly increasing the possibilities for the axis to be crooked, overlapping, and out of line.

It is always harder to align two separate pieces to a third line than it is to align one piece to another. In this way, the lapping of two mounting rings on a single-piece Picatinny rail is no longer required.

The single-piece rail will assure that both rings are perfectly aligned to each other and that no unwished stress is transferred to the riflescope.

Picatinny compare to Weaver Rail

The Picatinny rail itself is an evolutionary step forward from the older Weaver rail. The main difference between Picatinny rail and Weaver rail is the spacing of the slots. Picatinny rail design has them evenly placed exactly 5.23 mm from one slot to the other, 3 mm deep. For this reason, the mounting options are repeatable and the same as other firearms using the Picatinny rail standard.

Interchangeability was a major driving force in the development of the new standard as different NATO armies need to be compatible with each other.

Weaver rail has 3.8mm wide slots and these slots can be placed anywhere on the Weaver rail and in any number that the producer wished.

Advantages of Picatinny design

A big advantage for using the Picatinny rail design is the ever-present recoil stop. Furthermore, the manufacturing of the rail is not very technically demanding and can be done without the use of state-of-the-art machines which greatly reduces the cost of the finished product, making it very affordable.

The Picatinny rail is easy to mount and usually, this type of configuration does not transfer negative stresses and forces from the fired weapon to the rifle scope.

In addition, the Picatinny rail with its very long useable surface works well for mounting longer rifle scopes or to achieve optimum eye relief.

The durability and toughness are other big pluses for this solution.

Manufacturers of Popular Models

A majority of the Picatinny rings are fixed, but a number of best rated European manufacturers (EAW, MAK,..) have, in recent years, put a lot of effort into the development of detachable ring with100% repeatability, with which it becomes easy to remove the scope from the weapon without the use of tools.

No re-zeroing is needed with such mount options, but these models tend to be expensive.

Weaver and Picatinny Rings

Picatinny rail and weaver rail share one more thing. It is possible to use the Weaver ring and the Picatinny ring on the Picatinny-rails, but it is usually impossible to use the Picatinny ring on the Weaver base. The reason being the above-mentioned positioning and spacing of the slots.

Picatinny mounts have a 5mm recoil stop that goes into the rail slot and since
Weaver rail only has 3.8mm wide slots such rings do not fit on Weaver rails.

Due to this reason, the Picatinny-rails are popular and prevailing on the market in recent years and eventually, these options will completely oust the Weaver rail from the market.

Sako A7 L

The History of Sako