• Hey All! Lately there has been more and more scammers on the forum board. They register and replies to members requests for guns and/or parts or other things. The reply contains a gmail or hotmail address or similar ”anonymous” email addresses which they want you to reply to. DO NOT ANSWER ANY STRANGE MESSAGES! They often state something like this: ”Hello! Saw your post about purchasing a stock for a Safari. KnuckleheadBob has one. Email him at: [email protected]” If you receive any strange messages: Check the status of whoever message you. If they have no posts and signed up the same day or very recently, stay away. Same goes for other members they might refer to. Check them too and if they are long standing members, PM them and ask if the message is legit. Most likely it’s not. Then use the report function in each message or post so I can kick them out! Beware of anything that might seem fishy! And again, for all of you who registered your personal name as username, please contact me so I can change it to a more anonymous username. You’d be surprised of how much one can find out about a person from just a username on a forum such ad our! All the best! And be safe! Jim

Does Sako Free-Float Their Barrels?

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

I looked at one in a gun shop recently that appeared to be free-floated. I'm going back to slide some paper under the barrel to double-check.

Did Sako ever have a period when they free-floated their barrels at the factory?

This one I'm looking at is an L61R Finnbear .338 mag model 74 Super mfg in 1974-1975

Thanks...
 
Northrunner,Sako did start free floating barrels with the model 75 and I think the 85's may also be free floaing. The model 74 super should not have a floating barrel. Jim
 
Northrunner & gunner620....... I have Sako L61R, -74 super sporter in 30.06 cal. Sn # 5168xx and it has a free floating barrel.
Crisp 5 dollar bill goes in under the barrel without resistant.The rifle is in original condition as it came out from the town
of Riihimaki......no modifications.

Good Shooting!!! RANE
 
85 series

Northrunner,Sako did start free floating barrels with the model 75 and I think the 85's may also be free floaing. The model 74 super should not have a floating barrel. Jim

hi to all. just checked my 85 in 222 cal and yes it has a floating barrel
 
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Rane: I don't doubt that your L61R has a floating barrel. However, it would be a huge and previously unheard of anomaly if it came that way from the factory. Do you have conclusive evidence that it was not floated subsequent to its original retail sale?
 
stonecreek.......the only evidence I have is the sellers statement and my own initial inspection of the rifle at the time I received it.
The rifle was slightly used when I bought it.So....naturally I did inspected the gun immediately.I did`nt find anything unusual, no
any indications that the stock or barrel channel had being altered?.....Don`t know what else to tell you?
The rifle is very accurate - shoots less than an inch consistantly.I`m shooting hand loads.
THERE IS ONE THING....this Sako has a # 2 stamped on the trigger housing,do you find this unusual? I took the action off a while
ago just for the periodical cleaning & oiling....I expected to see # 4 stamp on a trigger......always thought L61`s were equipped
with # 4 triggers?....However I`m more than satisfied with # 2 trigger,it breaks sharply....Please let me know if you have some
or more information of these issues.

Thank You & Good Shooting

Rane
 
Your rifle would date back to the mid-70's, making it close to 40 years old. There would be a lot of opportunity during that time for someone to decide to relieve the barrel channel. People don't always remember when something has been done to a rifle, or may not know. Have you inspected the barrel channel to see if it appears to have been sanded or otherwise enlarged?

Not sure about the stamp on the trigger. If my information is correct the #2 trigger was identical to the #4 trigger except that the safety parts were just not installed on it. The #2 was made to sell for installation on Mausers with wing firing pin safeties. It would be entirely possible for a trigger stamped #2 to have a safety cam and thumb piece installed on it and thus be identical to a #4. Far stranger things have happened in the manufacturing process.
 
stonecreek.....The barrel channel looked as untouched,there was nothing that would indicate any alteration or attempted
mods/improvement.On the bottom of the channel I found a number or letter - I can`t remember which one but it
looked to be exactly the way it would leave Sako factory.
Yes,I agree with you totally; the rifle is old enough that lot of strange things could have being done to it.
I think I`m a second owner of the rifle but now I`m not quite sure of it.
Anyway,I`m very happy with this rifle....why I would`nt be....it`s one of the best!
I`ve been around the Sako rifles since about 12 years old,Have owned many of them,hunting and shooting
paper with many of different models & calibers but only now I Really have time and interest to actually
find out How they work,How the Sako`s are put together.I`m very glad I found this club.

Thanks for the info! Rane
 
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Rane: You may very well have a factory floated barrel. After all, Sako is famous for their unexpected quirks. The important thing is that it shoots like a Sako!
 
Rane and Stone...I just got done plumbing glass on my M74 L579 Varmint (.243)...Installed an old Redfield 12x with side parallax adj...just out of curiousity I yanked a 20 out of my (wifes) pocket and low and behold...it slid all the way to the action! This rifle was purchased 2nd hand from a club member, I dont remember him saying it had been floated but I will ask him. Like Rane says, it looks factory and I do know it has shims topside for and aft between the wood and the action. It shoots like a lazer, even with Rem core-loks I shot a group of 3 into one hole that measured under .300"....Rane, did you notice any shim metal under your action? This may be the way Sako used to "float" the barrels during this time...maybe they sought to follow the trend as it gained popularity in the 70's....what do you guys think???~Bloo
 
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Bloo / stonecreek.....Yes,my -74 30.06 cal Sako has two shims just as you said,one in the front & back.They are placed between the stock
and the action.The shims are shaped as long horse shoe,about 20 mm long, 10 mm wide and maybe o.5 mm in thickness.
Bloo,next time you take your Sako apart,check the barrel channel and look for the number or letter on the bottom of the
channel.....my -74 has one but I can`t remember what it is.It`s been a while.
I`d like to know what that number / letter really means.
This topic of "do they float or not(sako barrels) crabbed my interest for couple of reasons:
1) - I have always thought Sako barrels were floating since the late sixties.

2 ) - Early seventies Sako prochures ALWAYS advertised free floating barrels;
" vapaasti varahteleva piippu " in Finish language.....plse feel free to prove me wrong.

Good Shooting!
Rane
 
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Rane.."to float or not to float" doesn't really concern me much with my rifles for I have never saw the need in it since I shot my first sako 6 yars ago. The accuracy has ALWAYS been better than any other makers rifle..I sold off every "Rugingchester" I owned and replace every one with a Sako in every caliber that interested me. On the question of the number markings in the barrel channel..I can't really find any ryhme or reason for them other than a factory inventory marks...perhaps it is a number that indentifies the stock makers bench or whatever.

Additionally, I will add that my '65 L579 Deluxe is not floated..refused to accept my wifes 20 dollar bill! AHHH the Sakoddities just keep coming! Happy Shooting and Hunting!!~Bloo

PS>>the shims are also the same shims used to level up the bottom metal on some rifles...save for the front action shim..from what I remember it was squared off and wide enough to support the entire width of the front lug.
 
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I've seen many (in fact, most) Sakos with the shims between the stock and the bottom metal, which has no effect on how the barreled action mates with the wood. But I've never come across the shims you guys describe between the stock and the action. Thanks for revealing yet another Sako anomaly!
 
I went back in to double-check that barrel and it is indeed free-floated. I could slide a dollar bill all the way from the front of the stock to the action.

I also looked in this years Blue Book of Gun Values to see what this Sako may be valued at. Book says a 98% 74 Super is only valued at $575. Would you guys agree with that value? The gun looks new, but they want $800 for it.

Thanks...
 
The Fjestad "Blue Book" is notoriously inaccurate in both its descriptions and valuations of Sakos. Fjestad once listed "Rymack" as a Sako importer. After a long time puzzling on where this could have possibly come from, it was pointed out that this was a corruption of "Riihimaki", which of course is not an importer but both the city of origin and an inscription on early Model L46's. There are numerous other errors and omissions regarding Sako models in the Fjestad book.

A table full of 98% 74 Supers wouldn't last a half-hour at most gun shows at $575 a copy.
 
I've seen many (in fact, most) Sakos with the shims between the stock and the bottom metal, which has no effect on how the barreled action mates with the wood. But I've never come across the shims you guys describe between the stock and the action. Thanks for revealing yet another Sako anomaly!

My FinnBear 06 from 1972 also has a shim at the recoil lug. There is room for a few dollars along the side of the barrel but if the action screw is tight the barrel touches the bottom of the barrel channel. She shoots average (not great) groups. Was wondering if I should add a shim and get the barrel off the barrel channel.


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Nope
Sako built there early rifles with contact pressure at the front of the forearm. When the action is tight, the dollar bill or paper should stop at the forearm tip.
Later Sako’s are generally free from stem to stern. My AV Fiberglass is free, my P94s is free and my Grendel SRT 20 is free (Sako action)
It is my belief that Sako used shim stock on the top side to add relief and spacing to Free Float the barreled actions per request or persuasion from Garcia and others as the free floating trend grew in the late ‘60s early ‘70s ..and that is only my opinion.

Average (not great) groups could be caused by not great ammo, or not great weather, or not great form and so on. Twisting screws and adding shims are usually not necessary until all the other not great stuff is eliminated.

Hippie
 
Thanks. That sounds right.


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I purchased an older Sako many moons ago around 2002-2003 and when I took it apart I found shims in the action inlet. At first I thought that the previous owner did this. Now I come to find out that Sako might have done this. It was chambered in 308 and it shot nice with the shims in place. It had the lug that was separate from the action and was L shaped. In my infinite wisdom I had a gunsmith glass bed it . It turned a very accurate rifle into a not so accurate rifle. One of life's lessons.
 
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