Why does Remington do it in 308?
I tend to think we have a problem with change.
I am no expert, but it seems jack of all trades to use same twist for 150 to 220. I think that is the best point to consider.
Their guns are supposed to be accurate.
Because Remington's market is "primarily" in the US and SAKO's is in the EU. Both have their own respective business strategies to meet their bottom-line profit margin and not necessarily to cater to everybody's needs and wants like yours and mine. Like it or not that's the bottom-line and a choice the end-user has to make/consider ... it's really that simple. gun)
Yes, they are very accurate and as I previously noted, I have a factory (except for a muzzle brake install) SAKO M995 in .300 WM with 1"11" 24" barrel that harvested a MT bull elk at 931 yards with 190 Berger VLD. The twist was not a show stopper for me when I made the purchase but when it is time to re-barrel, it will be 1:9" or faster if I keep it a .308 cal.
As others noted, it will shoot ~90% of bullets available in the market. An "average" .30-06 end-user esp. those that don't handload will probably use the 150 to 180 range and keep it under 300 yards.
BTW, there's two things I love from Finland, my SAKO and my Karelian Bear Dog.
Cheers!