Riihimaki trigger

[William Ronald Thompson]

I have an original Sako Riihimaki varmint rifle in 222Remington. The rifle was restocked to make it into a bench rifle, and it shows excellent accuracy after all these years. The problem is the trigger. Does anyone know of a manufacturer of a quality trigger that might be used with this rifle? Do the later Sako models use the same trigger? Can the original trigger be adjusted to a light crisp pull with very little creep?

 

[icebear]

The original trigger in the Sako L46 can give a clean, crisp trigger pull in the 2.5-3.0 pound range if it is in good condition and properly adjusted. I have several in this category. If you are looking for a bench gun trigger that lets off at half a pound, you'll need something else. I don't know who, if anyone, is making aftermarket triggers for an L46. You might check out Timney.

 

[William Ronald Thompson]

After reading all the comments from my questions and others, it appears that there are no aftermarket triggers available for the Riihimaki L46. The options are to leave the original trigger alone, or to polish the parts of the trigger for smoother operation. At my age, I think I will leave well enough alone, and just shoot the rifle. Thanks for all the help.

 

[paulsonconstruction]

Riihimaki is the town Sako is located, not a rifle Model. Your Model L46 has the same trigger as the Model 70 Winchester & is adjusted the same way for weight of pull & sear engagement. With the proper expertise & tools it can be safely adjusted to a very usable "light crisp pull" with zero creep. I have had several in the 1.5 to 2 lb area for prairie dog shooting. If you want a benchrest type trigger with a pull weight in the ounces, you have the wrong rifle. It's up to you to determine what is SAFE when doing any trigger adjustment, as every trigger is different. If you don't know, then hire a gunsmith.

 

[South Pender]

There are no current aftermarket benchrest-quality triggers for the L- and A-series Sako rifles. The current single-set triggers on the Sako 85s are not compatible with the earlier actions. One possibility would be to find a used Canjar single-set trigger--the model designed for Sako rifles. Unfortunately these superb triggers have been out of production for many years now. I was able to snag a used one several years ago for an A1 Sako in 6PPC, and it is everything you could want for a bench rifle--releasing at about 2 oz. in set mode. So you could scour sites like Gunbroker, Guns America, and Guns International (and others) for a Canjar.

Another possibility is a Timney trigger. This is not a benchrest trigger, but rather a hunting-rifle trigger, but Timney claims it can be adjusted down to 1.5 lbs. So it would probably be marginally better than your current trigger.

As has been pointed out, the original trigger can probably be tuned down to something like a crisp 2 lbs. of pull weight by a gunsmith who understands Sako triggers, but that would not really be adequate for serious benchrest shooting. About the only other thing I can think of would be to get a really skilled gunsmith to adapt a Jewell or Bix'n Andy trigger to your action. This can be done, but it would be expensive. I've had a Jewell trigger fitted to a Sako rimfire rifle, but it took some doing.

 

[sraaw]

The Canjar and Timney triggers designed for the L461, L579 and L61R won't work for a L46 action. As stated above, the L46 action has a trigger very similar to a Mod 70 Winchester, which is very different to the Mauser style trigger the Timney and Canjar are based on.

 

[South Pender]

The Canjar and Timney triggers designed for the L461, L579 and L61R won't work for a L46 action. As stated above, the L46 action has a trigger very similar to a Mod 70 Winchester, which is very different to the Mauser style trigger the Timney and Canjar are based on.

I didn't know that, sraaw. The Canjar I got was for an A1 action (almost identical to the L461). I wonder how close the L46 trigger really is to the Win. M70 trigger. Could a M70 replacement trigger from Timney, Jewell, or Rifle Basix be made to work? One thing I discovered when I was on the Bix'n Andy site is that they now make a trigger for the Sako 85s. A number of bench shooters consider the Bix'n Andy to be the finest trigger available, but with the Sako 85 single-set trigger readily available, it doesn't need much improvement.