Sako Rifle
- Thread starter Chaparral
- Start date
jackstrawIII
New member
It’s mst likely an A3, aka the Finnbear.
Good rifles. Have had a few over the years. Heavy, but very high quality.
Good rifles. Have had a few over the years. Heavy, but very high quality.
Bottom Gun
New member
You did well. Sakos are excellent rifles. They are my favorite centerfire rifles. I've had a number of them over the past 40+ years in various calibers from .222 to .338 Win Mag. Every Sako I've owned has shot sub MOA. You would be hard pressed to find a finer rifle than a Sako.
Don Fischer
New member
The Finnbear was the long action L61R. the action the 243 was on was the L57 I think it was. The action of the older one's was on the side of the action.
I have Browning/Sako Safari in 243. They used Sako L57 action and it's not marked. Under bolt handle is serial # and Sako has list of old Serial #.
If you can get serial # this is where I found what year mine was made.
https://www.sako.fi/sites/default/files/SakoOldmodelsNumbering.pdf
If you can get serial # this is where I found what year mine was made.
https://www.sako.fi/sites/default/files/SakoOldmodelsNumbering.pdf
The truly are good guns, very very smooth and top quality.
If there is an issue with the older Vixen, Forester (short action) , Finnbear (long action) (and Finnbear magnum) line it was that they had a pretty long throat.
Our family 1960s 270 would not shoot factory ammo inside of 2 inches.
Even with hunting bullets and a bit of development seating the monger than normal it came down to a shade under 1 MOA.
That was with a heavy cross hair hunting scope and the trigger I am not used to.
It also was 3 x 5 shot groups, not the usual 3 hunting shots I would normally do. I did pace the shots to keep the barrel at the same heat level.
I still wish I had been able to keep the early 60s 30-06 I had picked up.
If there is an issue with the older Vixen, Forester (short action) , Finnbear (long action) (and Finnbear magnum) line it was that they had a pretty long throat.
Our family 1960s 270 would not shoot factory ammo inside of 2 inches.
Even with hunting bullets and a bit of development seating the monger than normal it came down to a shade under 1 MOA.
That was with a heavy cross hair hunting scope and the trigger I am not used to.
It also was 3 x 5 shot groups, not the usual 3 hunting shots I would normally do. I did pace the shots to keep the barrel at the same heat level.
I still wish I had been able to keep the early 60s 30-06 I had picked up.
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It's a Sako 75. The III is on the side of the action is for the action length, 22-250 up to 308 win. If it had an IV it would be for 30-06 length cartridges and V is for the longer Magnums.
The Sako 75 is not that old of a model. The 85 replaced it some years ago with only a few small changes.
My own Sako 75 started out as a .243 Finnlight when I bought new. I took the gun right to my smith and had the 20" SS fluted removed and a custom SS 24" Douglas air gauged barrel in .308 installed. I like mine quite a bit as it has a good weight, balance, fit, feel, and accuracy. They are well made rifles that should last you your lifetime and then some.
The Sako 75 is not that old of a model. The 85 replaced it some years ago with only a few small changes.
My own Sako 75 started out as a .243 Finnlight when I bought new. I took the gun right to my smith and had the 20" SS fluted removed and a custom SS 24" Douglas air gauged barrel in .308 installed. I like mine quite a bit as it has a good weight, balance, fit, feel, and accuracy. They are well made rifles that should last you your lifetime and then some.
I'm a owner of 2 very accurate SAKO's...one is a Vixen in 222 Remington, and the other is a synthetic Model 75 in 30-06.
The downside for certain Model 75's, is the push button lever for the detachable magazine; because it's too easy to trip the lever. That is one reason why the design was changed, which brought about the Model 85.
The downside for certain Model 75's, is the push button lever for the detachable magazine; because it's too easy to trip the lever. That is one reason why the design was changed, which brought about the Model 85.
It was a solution to a non problem. My 75 along with the two that my buddy owns have never had the magazine come out by accident. This is with all the hunting and target shooting while sliding the gun across bags. I don't recall accident magazine releases on this model being discussed on the various gun forums to warrant the change. It's more about "Improvements" on the new model to increase sales for Beretta Holdings. Nothing wrong with the new design/process though, It just didn't solve any problems.
Worc -
On a couple of my whitetail deer hunting excursions...I've accidentally tripped the magazine detach lever on my 30-06 Model 75 with one of my hands; so much that I now duct tape the bottom of the magazine to the stock while in the field. I was lucky enough to purchase a spare magazine ($75) for it --- with those mags getting increasingly hard to find on the web.
Some years ago...I read that while the president of SAKO was on safari in Africa , he accidentally tripped the magazine detach lever on his Model 75 while standing in the field; with the subsequent magazine falling into a mud puddle. He decided that enough is enough (or similar wording), which helped bring about the design and manufacture of the Model 85.
On a couple of my whitetail deer hunting excursions...I've accidentally tripped the magazine detach lever on my 30-06 Model 75 with one of my hands; so much that I now duct tape the bottom of the magazine to the stock while in the field. I was lucky enough to purchase a spare magazine ($75) for it --- with those mags getting increasingly hard to find on the web.
Some years ago...I read that while the president of SAKO was on safari in Africa , he accidentally tripped the magazine detach lever on his Model 75 while standing in the field; with the subsequent magazine falling into a mud puddle. He decided that enough is enough (or similar wording), which helped bring about the design and manufacture of the Model 85.
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Wonderful rifles, especially the old ones. I have a mid 1960's vintage Sako Forester varmint in .243 Win, that is ridiculously accurate, and has the best factory trigger on any rifle I have ever used.
Here is 5 rounds at 100 yards, 90gr Berger BTHP, 36g IMR4064, Fed GM primer, Lapua brass,
That Sako makes me look like a rock star. It is just a crazy accurate rifle. I had 8 bullets left in a box of 71 grain Bergers, and just for the hell of it threw them with the same charge I was using for the 90s. No load development, I eyeballed the seating depth, just wanted to use them up. Put them in just under 1/2" at 100 yards.
This is with a wooden stocked, non-floated Bofurs barrel made during the Kennedy Administration.
Here is 5 rounds at 100 yards, 90gr Berger BTHP, 36g IMR4064, Fed GM primer, Lapua brass,
That Sako makes me look like a rock star. It is just a crazy accurate rifle. I had 8 bullets left in a box of 71 grain Bergers, and just for the hell of it threw them with the same charge I was using for the 90s. No load development, I eyeballed the seating depth, just wanted to use them up. Put them in just under 1/2" at 100 yards.
This is with a wooden stocked, non-floated Bofurs barrel made during the Kennedy Administration.
Erno86, not saying that it has never happened to anyone along with most any other rifle with a detachable magazine. It's certainly not a wide spread issue, otherwise there would be plenty of discussions about it. The release of the model 85 was the only time I heard anything about the 75's magazine release"Being a Problem".