Sako Mannlicher Forester .243

[Newtire]

A friend of mine wound up buying a nice looking little Sako Forester with a Fajen Mannlicher stock in .243. It looks almost new. I remember someone (maybe Deputy Al?) having something to say about bedding or floating the barrel on those things for accuracy. It has no nosecap but a little schnabel (sp?) style forend. It has a 20" barrel. Next to my 24" Parker Hale .243, it looks short short. I noticed a boomier report from it too shooting the same loads of 12.5 gr. 2400 and 16 gr. SR4759 and the RCBS 95 gr. boolit.

Question #1=Is there a way to bed/float that kind of barrel for best accuracy other than just float the whole thing or would that be the way to go?

Question #2=since it seems like it do maybe burn some powder out of the barrel compared to a 24" one, is there any specific powder you would recommend for j-word bullets of 70 grain weight? I wanted to load him up a few.

[6pt-sika]

I "had" a Sako Mannlicher that was factory made . It was in 222 REM caliber and had a 24" barrel . The forend was actually two piece and had a barrel band around it where the joint was . This little rifle also had a clip and was fairly accurate .

Sold that rifle about 30 years ago for $450 , I had bought it a couple months before for $225 . Now the darn thing is worth about $1450 .

I have three other mannlicher stocked rifles .

The first is a Mauser 98 that has the barrel cut to 20" and been restocked in decent american black walnut . My father got this thing back in the 50's . And it still shoots very very well .

The other two are an old model Ruger 77RSI in 308 WIN and a Mannlicher Schoenauer in 8x56MS caliber that I have not had the oppurtunity t load for or fire yet .

Acuracy in the little Ruger is good enough for deer hunting , but not what I would call a bench gun either

[versifier]

Question #2: IMR 3031 for 70-100gr jacketed, then RE7 if necessary, but I doubt you'll need to.

[Newtire]

Thanks guys. I know this is a cast boolit site but where else can I get the straight dope?

[9.3X62AL]

No work on bedding Mannlicher stocks here, sorry. I've owned a couple original full-stock Mannlicher-Schoenauers, a 1903 in 6.5 x 54 M/S and a 1908 like Sika's in 8 x 56 M/S. Both had accuracy levels about like a 30-30 levergun, but that is more than adequate for deer hunting at ranges the calibers could reach humanely.

The few accounts I've heard about the CZ-550 Mannlichers is that they shoot very well. Had I heard this in 2002 when I got the Lux I have now, I would have snagged a full-stock in 9.3 x 62 that sat at The Stockade in Westminster for a while.

[22cf45]

Newtire
I've never stocked a mannlicher but I do know the long forend can cause many problems. I have, however, stocked many regular bolt action rifles.

As a matter of practice, even though I can bed the action and barrel well enough by hand, I glass bed the recoil lug and the small portion of wood where the rear screw bears in addtion to bedding the first couple inches of the barrel anyway. To accomplish this, I place a two or three thicknesses of vinyl tape on the portion of the barrel I want to free float and apply release agent to the tape just the same as I do the rest of the barrel and action. In this manner, after you remove the tape, you will have not only have a floated barrel but a barrel channel that is sealed by the glass bedding. I always make certain to removed any glass bedding in front of the recoil lug as well as the sides and underneath the bottom of the lug making sure these areas are not touching anything.

I have never had a rifle fail to shoot well with this method and can't see any reason that it won't work on a mannlicher as well.
Phil

[Newtire]

To accomplish this, I place a two or three thicknesses of vinyl tape on the portion of the barrel I want to free float and apply release agent to the tape just the same as I do the rest of the barrel and action. In this manner, after you remove the tape, you will have not only have a floated barrel but a barrel channel that is sealed by the glass bedding. I always make certain to removed any glass bedding in front of the recoil lug as well as the sides and underneath the bottom of the lug making sure these areas are not touching anything.

I have never had a rifle fail to shoot well with this method and can't see any reason that it won't work on a mannlicher as well.
Phil

That is a pretty original approach-at least to me. He probably won't want to glass bed anything as he already told me but that's what I am going to do with my next restocking job-whenever that may come along.
Thanks Phil,
Newtire

[6pt-sika]

The few accounts I've heard about the CZ-550 Mannlichers is that they shoot very well. Had I heard this in 2002 when I got the Lux I have now, I would have snagged a full-stock in 9.3 x 62 that sat at The Stockade in Westminster for a while.

Strange you should mention the CZ's and the 9.3x62 . I've had a hankering for a couple years now to get a CZ550FS in of all calibers 9.3x62

Don't know what I would need or use it for , but I have wanted one for a few years now

[9.3X62AL]

Sika--check for PM. If I gush about the CZ 9.3 x 62 one more time, I'll get banned for life.

[Char-Gar]

I also use tape when I glass bed a rifle. I use aluminum duct (Beagel) tape, which measures .003 in thickness. two layers with adhesive it give me a .007 - 008 clearance.

I put two layers of this tape on the barrel a couple of inches ahead of the receiver rings, the front, bottom and sides of the recoil lug. Coat it all of course with release agent. On Mauser and Springield rifles, I also glass the rear reciever tang.

Brownells Acra-Gel beats the runny stuff by a large margin.

[22cf45]

Chargar
I used gel for quite a while, however, every now and then, it wouldn't get completly hard. Maybe I didn't get it mixed well enough. Anyway, I went back to AcraGlass. I mixed it up and get my color right with walnut powder, then set it aside until it starts to thicken. I then use it and it pretty well stays where I put it. I have never had a problem since.

I find that I can get the glass more accurately colored in a more natural way than is possible with the gel. In the event that some is slightly visible, it doesn't jump out at you.
Phil

[Bret4207]

IMO the biggest thing with a wood Mannlicher stock is really sealing it well, inside and out. Bedding is important of course, but if the wood is well sealed the movement is minimized.