Sako 85 Finnlight Unstuck

So, I got a good deal on a Sako 85 Finnlight in 270 WSM when Sportsman's Warehouse was closing. Didn't need it, since I had a Tika M695 7mm RM that serves it's purpose as my bean field rifle. So the 270 has sat in the safe, in the back, waiting for kids to get old enough.

I pulled it out recently and it was tacky, like post it note tacky. Maybe a little tackier. I Googled and there was some advice about what to do, but not a lot, so I figured I'd post what I did.

A number of posts mentioned rubbing alcohol to remove the soft touch coating. Some mentioned acetone. One mentioned rubbing alcohol and a scraper. I started with rubbing alcohol on cotton cloth. I seemed to do something on a small area, so I kept at it. I soon realized that was going too slow and not getting all of the coating off. So I used the alcohol with a 3M green abbrasive pad. That was the ticket. It still took awhile, but I got the sticky gone. I alternated with an alcohol soaked abbrasive pad and then cleaned it with an alcohol soaked cotton pad. When I felt the coating was all gone, I washed the stock with hot water and dawn soap, using a brush to give it a light scrub.

When it was dry, it didn't look too bad. It's a synthetic stock, not like it was beautiful walnut to start hacking at. It did have some areas where it looked like it was a different layer. I tried acetone at this point to see if I had missed some of the coating. It did appear to remove some more coating. Another wash and dry. It looked better, but still had sanding marks. It kind of gave it a wood texture look, but not that nice. So I tried a little bit of mineral oil to even out the color. I applied a light coat and thoroughly dried/removed the oil to the point it felt dry. It filled in the landing marks and looks pretty good - for a synthetic stock that I took an abrasive pad to.

Anyway, no more tacky "soft touch". And it looks good enough to bring out and not feel embarrassed for bubbafying a Sako.

Dale Alan said:

Were the soft touch panels that tacky when the rifle was new or did they become that way over time ? Is the polymer tacky also ?

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The rubber panels are fine, no tackiness. Good grip. It was the rest of the plastic stock (the black part) that was tacky. It was not that way when I bought it, it just got that way over time. It's been sitting in my safe, waiting for it's day, and I'm now getting to it. Looking to put a new to me scope on it that will serve it better than the current Leupold 3-9x40. Next will be a bipod and new sling. It's just naked right now. I'm not too enamored with the plastic stock, but the rifle, even with the stock, is definitely worth what I paid for it. I will be looking, probably for a long while, for a replacement stock, but as it is now, it is fully functional. Although leaves, dirt and grass sticking to the stock kind of would have made excellent camouflage. REAL flat dark earth....

And just to add, it ejects just fine..no bounces off the scope; no falling back in the receiver.

edwardware said:

Given that Sako bubbafied themselves by using a manifestly crap stock, I don't think you were in any danger. I'm glad it cleaned up, but it seems to me there's something wrong about a nice rifle in furniture that weeps sticky goo.

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I agree. I had absolutely no tears or reservations about taking an abrasive pad to it. I'm usually one not to change anything that is, ahem (wait for it), stock... I thought about just leaving it with the rough look, but thought to myself, "What would it look like with a light oil?". Worst I would need to take soap and water to it again.

This is the after picture. Looks kind of boring, ie close to like it did new. A few spots are a little glossier because I used a finer polishing pad to try it out.

edwardware said:

Looks nice! Nothing wrong with that.

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No, nothing wrong with it. But it's not THIS...



THIS would make me cry if I scratched it, therefore my safe doesn't have a lot of THIS. I have a lot of STUFF in my safe. There is not a lot of stuff in my safe that would make me cry if I dropped it in the creek and fished it out to clean up. There are a lot of tools in my safe. Boring, boring tools...that go boom and poke holes in...things. Someday, when I'm retired, and my kids don't need new shoes, maybe I'll start collecting art...that goes boom and pokes holes.

Although, I am looking for a good used stock for THIS...

Dale Alan said:

I thought that was what you were saying . My son has one , I will surely pass this along to him so he knows to keep an eye on it . Good looking rifle to my eyes .

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I think the newer ones don’t have the issue. This one is about 11 years old.