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Finnwolf VL63 Belly of the beast

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

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This is how it sits in the triggerguard. This pin has a little spring at the, and can be launched across the room if you are not careful.
Sako could have done a much better job designing this thing. My safety is a little sloppy. I can move it a little back and forth before it snaps over. And when it does it takes just a small push. It doesn’t take much force to unsafe it.
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The smal ridge that the pin rides against is just too narrow.
All it would take to fix this is a stronger spring and a little design change to the button. Man I really wish I had a lathe right now…and a (whatsit called?) mill
 
Maxwatt- Now it looks like it can be turned around and used in the lefthand fashion? Or am I jumping to conclusions?-Misako
 
This is a great thread revealing what most collectors haven't seen as pulling a VL63 apart is a scary and ambitious procedure.
Thanks for posting keep us informed. Maybe piper can post his collection as its one of the most diverse VL63 collections I have seen. I thought I saw pipers thread a while back but cant locate it on the site anyone know the link.
 
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There are two flat surfases on the safetybutton, one for the pin and a cut out to allow the trigger to move.

They are not parallell and are a little offset sideways
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And then there is the slot for the guide screw…So i dont think its possible to switch it around.
 
I went to the range the other day, and got a some more experience with this rifle.
I got some feeding issues with lapua ammo and had to "adjust" the end of the flaps on the mag and i also took it apart and oiled it. It was i bit rusty inside.
This time the rifle grouped nice and tight, so i will not
bother to do any bedding around the rear screw.
The trigger was way better and the primers showed deeper and better strikes.
This is 6 shots at 100 meters.
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Next step will be a better scope and handloading.
I found a used leupold vx-r online, but i dont feel it is room in my bugdet yet.
I continue to be amazed at how well these Finnwolf rifles shoot.My shooter Finnwolf ( the non pristine one) shoots almost as tight groups as above with store bought, plain Jane 150gr sp ammo. It just doesn't seem right!:confused:
 
Max How did you reassemble the internals . I have got mine apart at the moment and am getting the metal barrel and metal parts re-blued. I am a bit worried about getting the hammer and the spring back in . I have got the lever cogs soted but am a bit unsure about how to get the hammer and spring back in and get it all functioning properly, any tips would be great.
 
Have it upside down in a cradle. There is actually more than one way of putting it together.
Either hold the cogwheels to the lever while setting the spring guide in its seat. The last thing is to press the pin that holds the lever in place.
Or you can reassemble everything except the spring and guide. Leave the pin against the trigger and slip the spring and guide on to it. Use something like a small screwdriver to push on the guide to compress the spring and slip it into its seat.
 
Well, I just did the final two fixes to my Finnwolf, and now, other than sighting it in, it's 100%... This was the second time I've taken it down to remove the bolt. I am finally confident in taking Finnwolves apart. Breaking them down and taking them apart to their components it fairly easy, but putting them back together properly is the hard part. It's a bit tricky as previously mentioned, but it's not impossible by any means. The things I did/fixed were: 1) I replaced the ejector spring. When I received the rifle (used from Gunbroker) I noticed that the cases were not ejecting. They would just dribble or fall out of the ejection port. I bought a number of ejector springs for my other rifles from Midway. Finnwolf ejector springs are rare, so I wanted to see if I could get a readily available spring to work. Out of the batch I bought, the Browning BAR ejector spring was the closest fit. It was about a third longer than the original spring. I just put them side-by-side, old weak original, and the BAR spring, and compared lengths and the number of coils, then I cut the BAR spring. I had to do a few adjustments before a dummy cartridge would fully seat on the bolt face. You can do this check with the bolt in your hand. Just hook the rim onto the extractor, then rock it back onto the ejector button. If it doesn't rock back all the way so that the case head is flush with the boltface, take it out and cut a bit more spring off. Now, it ejects the cases smartly from the receiver ! ... 2) The second fix was the safety. I REALLY considered the safety on this Finnwolf as "unsafe". Just the slightest touch on the button would throw the safety into the "fire" position. I found myself constantly checking to make sure the safety was on. That's not good ! My fix was this: I could not find another spring that was stiffer than this original safety "plunger spring"... so I took the safety button out, and I did some judicious fine grinding on the surface where the plunger button contacts the safety slide. There's a small ridge or "rise", call it what you will, that separates "safe" from "fire". It is shown in one of the previous pictures in this thread. I ground a small "groove" or "gully" where the plunger contacts the safety button "slide" in the SAFE position. I used a dremel tool with the "cut off wheel" attachment to make the groove. Now, it takes three to four times more force on the button to set it to "fire" from the "safe" position, and THAT is perfect !!! I would not hesitate to hunt with it now... Before ??? Nope !! I would not hunt with it, it was too loose... ☹️...

So, I hope these two fixes can help someone else with their Finnwolf, should they see the same problems...

Trapper...
 
Heres my cleaned up Finnwolf in 243,had got a new red-field scope mounted on Vintage SAKO optilock rings. Thanks for all your help. Have been having some feeding issues as the magazine isn't sitting snugly in the housing will have to work out something Resized_20170404_165053.jpeg to fix this but otherwise is working well.
 
Whilst it does seem daunting, taking a finnwolf apart and getting it back together is achievable. Just take your time and lay it out logically. I have got the process that I used written down thanks to help form you guys on here with pictures. happy to share with anyone. I have also found some suppliers for but plates. Mine has brand new one on it looks like new. These rifles are special and if you have one you look after it.
 
Sorry, i dont do video...


I took apart most of the internals, except the trigger assembly.

Everything on it moves good, and it looks harder to dismantle than the rest of the mechanics, so I just let it be. I am no gunsmith, so doing anything to try and remove the tiny creeping motion from trigger is not an option. And I have read somewhere that: NO ONE SHOULD DO ANYTHING TO TRIGGERS, UNLESS THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. This sounds like a good advise to me.

I just removed the two screws and two pins holding it in the receiver, and pulled it backwards to remove(tight fit). I cleaned the surfaces that mate with the receiver, and the parts I could reach, and sprayed penetrating oil on it. It was a little tricky to get the holes to line up when i was putting it back together. But i kind of figured out that if it needs more force than just a firm hand, the racks is out of position and i took it out and tried again.
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You can see how these to pieces (401,402 rack) mate with the two "cogwheels.
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The bolt assembly was more dirty on the inside than outside, and had probably never been cleaned like this before.

Push out the firing pin dowel(319) in the rear holding the firing pin in. Remove firing pin and return spring.

Push out the connector link arm pin. It will only enter/exit from one side, and has an out take in the middle for the firing pin.

Now you can remove the bolt guide pin(315) on the rotating bolt head (breach bolt 313) and remove it and the slide (314) from the bolt body.
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I didnt remove the ejector and the extractor from the breech bolt, since they both looked and moved good.
The Breech bolt and the bolt guide pin is the only thing you can switch up on the bolt. If you put the guide pin wrong way in, you will not get the firing pin in properly.
But if you put the rotating breech bolt in 180 dgr wrong, you will not see it before you have got the bolt back in the receiver and try to close it(guess what i did). Check to see that the ejector and extractor is on the right side according to the ejection port in the receiver.

The slide(314) moves back and forth in the bolt when the breech bolt rotates and therefore it will wear if not properly lubed.

I could see wear marks on the outside of the bolt as well, where it slides against the inside of the receiver and hammer when the mechanism is moved back and forth. I cleaned and lubed it but not the underside of the bolt that will slide against the ammo as the bolt moves back.
Try and avoid to get oil and grease on the parts that touches ammo, since you dont want it to get in your the chamber.
 
Maxwatt,
I just joined the board. Inherited my first SAKO, Finnwolf 308 a few weeks ago. It has been in my fathers attic for at least 45 years. Looked in real good condition except it felt like it had been put up in cosmoline when I tried to work the action. Tore it down totally and now I am trying to re-assemble. Hope you can help, found a part, see attached picture, that I cannot remember where it went. I have been unable to identify on the parts breakdown drawing. Can you identify?Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated. First time I have been inside of a Finnwolf
 

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Are you sure it came out of your finnwolf?
That does not look like anything I have in my gun.
it might resemble the hammer spring guide 514.
Do you have the exploded view drawing at hand?
 
Are you sure it came out of your finnwolf?
That does not look like anything I have in my gun.
it might resemble the hammer spring guide 514.
Do you have the exploded view drawing at hand?
I am pretty sure. It does look like 514, but 514 is still pinned to the hammer. I did not dis-assemble the trigger group. My big mistake was to dis-assemble this thing before I got any material, as little as there is available. I have put about 24 hours in it trying to reassemable. I do have the drawing. Do you have a re-assembly procedure?
 
Whilst it does seem daunting, taking a finnwolf apart and getting it back together is achievable. Just take your time and lay it out logically. I have got the process that I used written down thanks to help form you guys on here with pictures. happy to share with anyone. I have also found some suppliers for but plates. Mine has brand new one on it looks like new. These rifles are special and if you have one you look after it.
Luke
I would greatly appreciate a copy of your process. I am 24 hours into the reassembly of my first finnwolf and I am having minimal success.
 
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