Anyone own a Dickson-Howa Golden Bear?

There are still a few of these floating around. When you see one, you'll swear it is a Sako Finnbear (Howa even copied the name, to some extent!)

I've never been able to trace down the full story, but apparently the Howa corporation of Japan (still in business and still making rifles today), under circumstances and for reasons that are totally unclear, began marketing their Golden Bear rifle in the U.S. Some say that Howa had a license to manufacture certain Sako parts, and simply inferred the license to make the whole rifle. Others say that Howa just went out looking for a successful design and copied the Sako. Perhaps they thought that patent laws wouldn't catch up with them? Who knows.

At any rate, the Howa rifle was an almost exact duplicate of the Sako Finnbear, right down to the stock configuration. Even the three lug bolt will exchange with a genuine L61R. The primary difference was that the Howa had an aluminum floorplate/trigger guard and the magazine box was integral with it. Outside of that, they are dimensionally identical, right down to the "odd" 24.4" (620mm) barrel length.

The rifle was advertised widely in gun magazines and naturally sold for quite a few dollars less than a genuine Sako. Although it may have been available in other calibers, the only examples I've ever seen or heard of were chambered for .30-06. It seems that after a year or two on the market in the late '60's, Sako was successful in cutting them off in a patent suit (again, heresay information.) Regardless of how their demise occured, they were "here", then "gone" in a short time.

I own one of them and it is a very good shooter. The wood was refinished by a previous owner, but is of good quality walnut. The trigger is good. The metal finish is nice. It is not quite as accurate as a couple of genuine Sako '06's I own, but it beats the average Ruger or Winchester. I have a friend who has a small retail store and he has had a couple or three through. At half the price of a Sako, they are a real bargain, in my estimation.

If anyone owns one of these, I'd like to hear your comments. If you know of one in anthing other than .30-06, that would surely be of interest. And if anyone has any better-documented information, that would really be of interest.

Can't help at all on this one, Stonecreek. As I recall, I've seen two of them live, both in '06. I handled one at a gunshow once, and now I'm regretting not buying it, even though it was not in pristine shape. Also saw one at an auction, it was "honestly" used, and sold in the $300-ish range. I had no interest and didn't bid.

DeerGoose

I've posted on this subject before and it seems that very few people have had any experience with them. I searched the Internet with a couple of search engines and have come aross a few references to them. Some people are confused with the Howa 1500 (S&W, Wby Vanguard), saying it is a "copy of a Sako". It is not, of course, whereas the Dickson-Howa was.

A guy had a take-off barrel from one for sale on Gunbroker for several weeks. I don't know if it ever sold or not. I was tempted to buy it, but couldn't figure out a legitimate use for it.

My gun dealer friend bought a nice one off of an auction site a few months back for a VERY attractive price. When he received it, packed in a hard gun case inside a cardboard outer case, the stock had been broken in half -- shattered, actually. This is where he got screwed: UPS told him to return it to the seller, and the seller refunded his money. The seller then put the barreled action up for auction and it brought more than the original gun!

Anyway, I am highly curious to find if there was ever one sold in a caliber other than .30-06.

I have a DH Goldenbear - very good shooter I bought from a friend. I wasn't aware they were a copy of Sako Finnbear. The problem is the stock - pretty much junk and cracked in one spot. I called Boyds Gunstocks in SD and they put me right off. Pretty rude and would not word with me. I need a new stock and would like any advice. I'm handy enough to make modifications. This gun is a keeper or I wouldn't bother. If this gun is good, I can't imagine what Sako's are like.

Hi Shakey -

I would think about any L61 Sako stock up to around 1980 should be a pretty good fit. Problem is even a so-so one will run over a hundred bucks and a nice one may be as much as your rifle... If you're patient though you may stumble across one that needs refinishing for a fair price. Dick

Shakey,

Yes, any L61R or A-III stock will fit your D-H. You may have to very slightly widen the magazine cut, and it is possible that the safety cut might need just a small modification (or not). The D-H used an alloy one-piece bottom metal on which the magazine box is integral and is just a slight bit wider than the stamped steel box of the Sako. If you're thinking of getting a pre-inletted L-61R wood stock to finish, then you would have to do no more work on it than you would for final fit to a Sako L61R. You could also easily adapt a Bell and Carlson Sako stock or any of the other aftermarket stocks. For that matter, a stock for a Sako A-V would fit, but would leave a small gap behind the tang which would have to be filled with wood filler or bedding compound as the tang for the A-V was slightly elongated. I've seen these A-V stocks adapted and they don't look bad.

Good luck, and I agree that a D-H is well worth the money and effort to restock it.

Stonecreek, excellent post and thanks for the good info. I'm sure now I'll find something that will work. Actually didn't want to pay more than $150.00

I have owned a Golden Bear for forty years and have never had a problem. New in the box in 1969 it sold for $109. It has been vary accurate. I put a used Weaver K-4 on it new and have never changed it. New in the box sight choice was ether a peep of a scope I did not like peep sights.

Boisehawkeye: No problems with mine, either.

A few months ago I did find a .308 Golden Bear in a Deluxe version. I now own it and it is the only one I've ever seen or heard of.

Like the .30-06, it is a Sako copy, but it is NOT an exact copy of the L579. It is a unique action length that is shorter than the L61R and longer than the L579. It's bolt diameter is also a bit larger than an L579. It also has the third locking lug unique to the older L61R's and never found on the L579. In other words, it is an L579 on steroids.

The wood grain is beautiful and the finish excellent, as is the metal finish. The trigger is light and crisp. Like my .30-06 D-H, it's accuracy is acceptable (maybe better than the average Rugchesterton), but not up to the standard I've come to expect of Sakos.

I'm delighted to own these two enigmatic rifles and would love to hear from the owners of other D-H's.

Hello,
Thanks for the informative threads, I didn't know that this rifle had it's origin as a Sako clone. I work in Japan and just bought a 3006 Howa Golden Bear from a local dealer via our gun club on base. The rear site has been removed, probably because it was scoped at one time. I won't be able to shoot it until I return to the states but it looks to be in good condition. Can anyone tell me the correct scope base/rings to order for the rail mounts? If anyone has base/rings that fit for sale, or if anyone has a rear site, I'd be interested.

The Dickson-Howa has exactly the same tapered dovetails and uses exactly the same ringmounts as any Sako.

And like the Sako, the D-H was sold without a rear sight. If there are sight holes for a rear sight on your barrel, then it is possible that someone installed a rear sight that was subsequently removed. The D-H can use the same slide-on rear peep sight as the Sako.

I can't get the bolt back into place. What am I doing wrong? Any ideas?

neumjplus4,
Welcome to the forum.
I bought a rifle once that came to me like this. Seller said the bolt had NEVER been in the rifle. Well, there was a good reason for his statement. The bolt came wrapped separately. When picking it up at my FFL, we found that the rear bolt assembly had turned about a quarter turn counter-clockwise from the bolt itself. We gently turned it with common tools and rags covering the finished surfaces.
When the bolt is out of the rifle it is fairly easy to "turn" it (the rear assembly) and that will disable it from being able to be put all the way back in the rifle.
I suspect this may be your problem, and it is easy to rectify if one is careful not to scratch anything with tools. I used a vise-grip with a double layer of towel between it and the bolt rear assembly with an adjustable wrench. A quarter turn clockwise did the job.
Hope this helps,
S-A

neumjplus4:
Sounds like your bolt cocking piece has been turned to the uncocked position when the bolt was out of the action. It will not go in unless it is in the cocked position. If you don't have the knowledge or experience to turn the cocking piece to the cocked position, I recommend you have a gunsmith do it. It's about a two minute job and ask him if you can watch and learn how to do it properly without scratching or marring the bolt shroud. It takes quite a bit of force to turn the cocking piece against the resistance of the firing pin spring & I've seen a lot of bolt shrouds burgered up by guys that didn't understand what they were doing.
Once you see how to properly do this you will be able to do it your self in the future.

The position your bolt is in now is the first step to dis-assemble it for maintaining the firing pin, etc. Yes, the un-cocked position. To return it for use it is the last step in the re-assembly process. It needs to be turned to fit in the receiver all the way. There is a plastic "tool" made for doing this, which comes with newer Sako's in the box. A plastic that can handle all that pressure.
If you are at all "handy" with tools, I don't think you need a gunsmith to do this.
S-A

I did turn the bolt when I took it out of the action because when I went to put it back in, I couldn't get it to seat all the way. When I get the bolt turned back to cocked, what is the proceedure to get it back into the rifle? Do i need to press the trigger as well? The trigger is locked as well.

neumjplus4,
Just slide the bolt all the way back in. Be SURE there isn't a round in the chamber, and hold the trigger back as you turn the bolt clockwise into the stock. This will de-cock the action and relieve the tension on the firing pin spring. You are good to go. You can also just retun the bolt and dry fire it. I'm not a fan of dry firing, but it's the same thing.
S-A

neumjplus4,
The trigger should be moving freely. Maybe the safety lever is on.? If you cannot cycle the action after this or dry fire it, THEN you should take it to a gunsmith. Also, when it is cocked, make sure the safety is working.
S-A

Thank you all. I got the bolt turned/cocked and back into the rifle. It functions fine. I did notice that the ejector is fairly easily removed with outward presure...is this normal for this bolt/action?

I know this is an old thread, but it's bound to interest some of you guys when it's updated.

I have held and fired a Howa, imported by Charles Daly serial number 0008. If my memory serves me correctly, it says "prototype" beside the serial number. There is no other identification other than "made in japan", "Howa", ".308" and "Charles Daly". It was the spitting image of a Sako, until I put is side by side with an L-579. It had three lugs like the L-61, and two rings on the bolt guide like the L61. It was also fractions of an inch longer than the L-579. It wouldn't have fit in a Sako stock without modification. I did some research in the gun and never found any evidence of any other like it besides the "Golden Bear" in 30-06. I'm intrigued to read here that someone else had one in .308. By a matter of serendipity I happened upon a beautiful "Golden Bear" a few weeks later and was equally impressed. I found one difference that didn't matter, the sides of the action were not a perfect cylinder, the top of the action looked like a rounded off trapezoid rather than a circle with a flat top. It was very subtle though, and I believe very few Sako owners would have noticed. Other than the painted aluminum bottom metal, the quality of both guns appeared exceptional.

If someone today would build the old L-46, L-461, L-57, L-579, L-61 an do it to the same quality they would have to be some popular guns. My favorite varmint gun of all time is a Marlin 322 in .222 rem. It's a Sako L-46 fitted with a cut-rifled Marlin barrel and a Marlin stock. I love being able to change mags with the L-46 and those cut-rifled barrels shot great for a little while, and the barrel was the perfect compromise between a sporter taper and a heavy barrel...very good balance. The "micro-groove" supposedly wore out in under 1000 shots.