My dad offered me my mom's guns when she passed a few years ago. The only one I'd be interested in would be her little SAKO, but I convinced him to hang onto them for now, thinking they could help with some bills for his care, but he won't sell anything.
My own 222 is what I consider the next best thing - a CZ 527. It really IS a gem and a mechanical marvel in that it is a fully functional CRF of the 98 Mauser persuasion, with a few tweaks by the Czechs. CZ and Husqvarna, I believe, are the only two who actually IMPROVED on the 98 design, as opposed to just finding a reasonably acceptable way to cut some manufacturing costs.
Still, the SAKO is a remarkable little rifle. It was what I hunted varmints with as a kid and it set the bar pretty high as far as my attitude and expectations went with other rifles as I got older.
My dad had her 222 rechambered to 223, because the "223 is better, which I thought was BS even as a kid in the early seventies. The barrel got ruined and he had it rebarreled - again to 223, with a 1:14" twist, 24" Douglas with a straight-tapered octagon, bu John Pell in Colorado.
IF I decide to swap my CZ for the SAKO, I'd have the barrel set back and rechambered back to 222.
Handling and shooting one of the older SAKOs is fulfilling. It leaves you NOT wanting for something else, something ostensibly "better."
As far as the 722 goes, I had one of those in 222 also. Way too long, too heavy, but marvelously accurate. I am 100% OK with the plain-Jane looks. I was not comfortable with the extractor design and am particularly not enamored by plunger ejectors at all. Maybe the stuff I prefer is better, or maybe it isn't. I know there are millions and millions of rifles out there with features I don't like and they seem to be working just fine.
