Sako Rifles

[Clay M]

I asked the parts.

Butchman: They have the springs.

Cainttype: There has been different kind of sights in AV. So, they need a picture of the rear sight to make sure they have the right front sight available.

I wonder if they still have the old aperture sights . I assume that Sako made them?
I still have one.

[Ola]

I wonder if they still have the old aperture sights . I assume that Sako made them?
I still have one.

Check your PM.

[cainttype]

Ola, there are no sights to take photos of.
I have several of the Sako aperture sights. My intention is to use them.
I could measure the barrel diameter at the front sight and the center-to-center measurement for the 2 front sight screw holes, if that would help.
The rifle appears to be stainless, unless it was finished with a very good facsimile by professionals. There's substantial other upgrades to the rifle, but I've had trouble finding info on stainless A-Vs... so I'm not sure what to think about the finish, and haven't really worried much about it since I got her home.
If you have any info on stainless A-Vs I'd be very interested. I've seen very few references, and half of those claimed they weren't made... Although the Internet is replete with information, much of it is incorrect.
Thanks, for the help.

[Clay M]

Just ordered some Hornady .22 Hornet brass today for my Sako K Hornet.
I hope it will last longer than the junk brass from Rem and Win. I believe I will anneal it after the second firing. The little rifle seems to shoot very well with most loads I have tried. I usually get dime sized groups or better at 100yds.
My dad traded an old A5 Browning shotgun for it back in the 60's.
It is missing the front sling swivel.I lost it on a hunt years ago.
Maybe I will try the Sako parts dept.

I love the little rifle because it belonged to my Dad.
It reminds me or reading Faulkner, or playing a jazz ballad by Washington and Young.
It is the essence of beauty in a rifle.
It is in the top five rifles I have ever owned.

[Ola]

So, if I understand correctly in US it is not easy to find parts for old Sakos? That is interesting because MOST of the rifles have been exported to US.

The Sako gunsmiths have some parts and if necessary they also make or modify them. They also help owners of old Tikkas (not made by Sako): at this moment there is a spring in my LSA-55 (known as Ithaca M55 or LSA-55 in USA) that was originally a Sako TRG spare part..

[cainttype]

The Tikka LSA-55 imported by Ithaca is one of my favorite 308s, Ola.
The synthetic stock, detachable mag, and lightweight action was way ahead of it's time. I've never seen any comparable factory hunting rifle out perform it in the all-around consistent accuracy department. The rifle is extremely accurate with any bullet weight I've fed it over many years. It is a pleasure to carry that rifle, and even more fun to shoot.
It's funny that so many years later the attributes of the LSA-55 that people originally complained about are now all the rage. The rifle wasn't really that popular in it's early days here...too bold.

[Clay M]

When I was growing up, Sako's were fairly common. I remember paying a little over $200 for my first Sako.

Nowadays, Sakos are rare. I believe Euro Optics is the main distributor.

Price point is the factor. The average rifle here in America sells for somewhere around $1000 ,give or take a few hundred.

Sakos are about twice that.

Parts are not so easy to find.

[Ola]

Sakos are NOW rare in USA? 10 years ago Sako was building 20 000 rifles a year, 10 000 of them Sako and 10 000 Tikka.
Last year they made over 100 000 rifles... I heard that about 70 % went to America... Hmm, makes me wonder: maybe majority of the guns that go to US market are Tikkas and the Sakos are sold to Europe, Australia and so on?

btw, I just googled a little: here in Finland even these old used Tikkas (LSA 55 and 65) sell for 750-900 euros..

[Clay M]

Sakos are NOW rare in USA? 10 years ago Sako was building 20 000 rifles a year, 10 000 of them Sako and 10 000 Tikka.
Last year they made over 100 000 rifles... I heard that about 70 % went to America... Hmm, makes me wonder: maybe majority of the guns that go to US market are Tikkas and the Sakos are sold to Europe, Australia and so on?

btw, I just googled a little: here in Finland even these old used Tikkas (LSA 55 and 65) sell for 750-900 euros..

I think you are probably correct. I have a major gun dealer within twenty miles of me, and he has no Sakos.I think he has some Tikkas.
I can get him to order in whatever I want. I went to two big Cabalas stores this month. No Sako's.
I love Sakos ,but I am not sure I like them that much. For me the Steyr's shoot better.
My Steyrs are very deadly rifles regardless of the temp or the weather.
The Steyrs are somewhat cheaper. The barrels on the Steyrs are second to none on a factory rifle.
I also have Heym ,that I like very much. It is beautiful like poem, but very finicky. It loves flat base bullets , and nothing else.

My Steyrs are the most accurate centerfire hunting rifles I have ever owned.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

I have several, I am in love with them. I found an old 338 in a bargain barrel , the stock was no good. I guess they figured it was junk.
I figured $150 was very cheap, so now I have 2 , one scoped and one not....don't need much more than that in Alaska , also have 375 and 30/06 just count me lucky

[Ola]

I gotta agree with you, the barrels of the Sakos are not what they used to be. Most are good but there are some bad ones too. In the past it was very rare to find a bad Sako barrel. But hey, what can you expect, they are cold forged..

[Clay M]

I love my Sako's but they are all older rifles.I think my .22PPC was bought in 88 or 89.
I know nothing about the new rifles except that they are expensive.

[Ola]

All in all the Sako rifle models have taken giant leaps in resent years. For example the Bear-series, The A7 Carbon and so on. It's obvious that Beretta has poured in some money for product development.

Sako being expensive, well, I'm not sure that's true. Sako's competitors are brands like Sauer and Mauser. Not Remington or Ruger...

[Clay M]

That is true, they are not more expensive than the higher end guns in the European market.
I always liked the older Sako action. I am not familiar with the 85 action.
Once you could buy just the actions in the white to build rifles with.

[Clay M]

I built a rifle with the Sako action in .300 win mag.I put a Wiseman stainless barrel on it..

Had the action electroplated, but I chose the wrong stock. The rifle had a light tapered barrel, and it was the most wicked kicking rifle I have ever owned.

The recoil of the .300's is always fast and heavy, but this one was over the top.

I sold it and got most of my money back. I still have a Sauer in .300 mag , but the stock design makes the recoil tolerable.

I wish I could still buy those Sako actions. They were a great platform for building a hunting rifle.

I do like the .300 win mag. It is a great cartridge.

If I build another .300 win mag, needless to say ,it will have a heavy barrel, and weigh at least 9 lbs. More like 15 for a target rifle.

[Clay M]

I noticed Cabalas has the Sako A7 rifle on sale for $125 off this weekend.
Guaranteed five shots in MOA.
I wonder what ammo they are using.
I am sure my handloads will do better..
If I needed a good .270 win I would check it out.

I am sure it would not beat my Steyr..but it looks interesting.

[CLAYPOOL]

I own 3. 2 in L461 actions. One is custom barreled in Mach 4. No factory wording on the barrel. The other is the .17-223 that I was looking for reloading info for. 3 Gentlemen on the Sako Forum helped. I also got a few loads from Accurate Powder Company. The .17 is all factory and is the stuff I read about in the early 70"s with ads for sale. The kid grew up, lived a life, raised kids, and now is living the dream.... the 3 rd. one is a hack job..

[Ola]

I noticed Cabalas has the Sako A7 rifle on sale for $125 off this weekend.

I suppose you already know it but the A7 is kind of a Sako-Tikka-hybrid? F.e. it has single stack magazine (like Tikka), BUT the mag has flexible lips so you can feed new rounds in it through the ejection port (like Sako with 2 stack mag). Also mounting the optics is better: there is nothing wrong with Sako Optilock mounting system, but it is nice to have more options (like Tikka).

[Intel6]

Brought back 2 from Germany in the 90's, Manlicher carbine in 308 and a Varmint repeater in 6 PPC.