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Rare?

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Htown83

Member
Just got my first Sako and believe it might be rare. L57 mannlicher stock and believe chambered in .222. can anyone help as there isn’t much info out there on this one.

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NO, it is not chambered for .222. It MAY be chambered for .222 Magnum as there were a handful made in that caliber on the L57 action according to the factory records. I'd suggest that you consult the Factory Records Service (click on those words at the top of this page in the black banner).
 
Hmm!
The barrel has the typical caliber stamping…does it denote .222mag? Very cool if so, I have not known of a .222 mag that was not a L469 or L461! Wow!

bloo
 
Let's see photos of the whole rifle, especially the caliber marking at the base of the barrel.
 
....I have not known of a .222 mag that was not a L469 or L461! Wow! bloo

I've never seen an L57 222 mag in the flesh. The RI auction had this 222 mag. They had this one photo which doesn't capture the caliber stamped on the barrel. This rifle is an L57, but no photos showing the cal. It's probably legit. And it's a long barrel! And engraved. Wish I owned it.

Sako L57 222 Mag..jpg
 
Certainly a unique rifle if indeed a .222 mag. Htown83

A few interesting rifles there douglastwo, L57 one piece fullwood and .222mag ta boot.

But the L46 .22 Vierling ! Pretty much an obsolete cartridge, but Wow !
 
Certainly a unique rifle if indeed a .222 mag. Htown83

A few interesting rifles there douglastwo, L57 one piece fullwood and .222mag ta boot.

But the L46 .22 Vierling ! Pretty much an obsolete cartridge, but Wow !
5.6x35R is the metric designation for the 22 Hornet. If that rifle is factory original, I think the auction house has made an error calling it a 22 Vierling, which was the same as the 22 WCF. It is nearly identical to the Hornet having a slightly different rim diameter & shoulder location, but sometimes Hornet ammo will chamber & fire in a Vierling rifle. Just my two cents.
 
5.6x35R is the metric designation for the 22 Hornet. If that rifle is factory original, I think the auction house has made an error calling it a 22 Vierling, which was the same as the 22 WCF. It is nearly identical to the Hornet having a slightly different rim diameter & shoulder location, but sometimes Hornet ammo will chamber & fire in a Vierling rifle. Just my two cents.
Right! It wouldn't surprise me if Sako did chamber some .22 Vierlings, but they often marked (and recorded in their records) their .22 Hornets as "5,6x35R" (note that the Europeans use a comma where we typically used a period to represent a decimal). Those marked that way were probably intended for shipment to European outlets.

The American designation .25-20 was often recorded as "6,3x33" (curiously, without the "R" for rimmed as is the custom for rimmed cartridges.) It is also curious that this uniquely American chambering was never imported to the United States.
 
Vierling refers to the firearm more than to any ammo. A Vierling was a 4 barreled firearm (Drillings had three) that had a combination of shotgun, big bore rifle & small bore rifle. The 22 WCF was very common in these old Vierlings, so the cartridge came to be called the 22 Vierling in Europe, even after the Germans modernized it to the twin of the 22 Hornet & called it the 5,6x35R. The original 22 WCF used in the Vierlings had a much thinner rim & shot a .228" diameter bullet. One cannot close the action on a Vierling rifle chambered in the old 22WCF or 22 Vierling with the thicker rimmed Hornet or 5,6x35R. There were some differences in bullet diameter depending on what decade the rifles were chambered also, so caution was prudent. Deersako, if you have access to the ammo you pictured take some
measurements of the case & let us know how they compare to the 22 Hornet. My bet is that they are just 22 Hornets marketed to Europe where Vierlings were chambered for it. The popularity of the Vierlings with this round being the small bore option was probably the reason Sako chambered their bolt rifle for it. Once again, just my two cents.
 
Yet another Sako curiosity. The factory records use the both the terms ".22 Hornet" and "5,6x35R" to describe the same rifles on the same page. Nowhere in the records do they use the term ".22 Vierling". But on the cartridge box they use both terms ".22 Vierling" and "5,6x35R" to mean the same thing and don't mention ".22 Hornet".

I've got to assume that they never chambered an actual .22 WCF, aka ".22 Vierling"; but that the term ".22 Vierling" had become synonymous with the more modern .22 Hornet, which metric designation was 5,6x35R. Also notice in the printing on the ammunition box that ".22 Vierling" uses a period for its decimal whereas "5,6x35R" uses a comma as a decimal. Schizoid.
 
Also notice in the printing on the ammunition box that ".22 Vierling" uses a period for its decimal whereas "5,6x35R" uses a comma as a decimal. Schizoid.
I believe that is normal practice in Finland and much of Europe. The comma separates whole numbers from fractional, as we use a period. Where the decimal is in the beginning of an expression, as in the name of a caliber, a period is used. So, .22 caliber is .22 caliber, the same as in the US and Britain. But the number 0.22 would be 0,22. Not confusing if you grow up with it. Think about English spelling and how confusing and inconsistent that is to a non-native speaker. For that matter, I'm completely comfortable with the metric system most of the time, for distance, weight, volume, etc. but I have a lot of trouble straddling between Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures, even though Celsius is simpler, more logical, and easier to work with. It's all in what you learn when you're little.
 
Deersako, if you have access to the ammo you pictured take some
measurements of the case & let us know how they compare to the 22 Hornet. My bet is that they are just 22 Hornets marketed to Europe where Vierlings were chambered for it. The popularity of the Vierlings with this round being the small bore option was probably the reason Sako chambered their bolt rifle for it. Once again, just my two cents.

Unfortunately, no I don’t have access to the ammo.
What piqued my interest were a couple of P54’s and P46’s that had been converted to the Vierling round. Not an easy conversion, and why you would, I don’t know.
I’ve had some contact with one of the owners in Finland, and the Sako .22 Vierling cartridges are indeed such, not .22 Hornet.

Here’s some older boxes of Sako .22 Vierling ammo.

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Here’s the pics I just took. Removed the old western field scope for better pics. L57 222 magnum
 

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Don't know why that would have "Special" engraved on the barrel but that doesn't look like an OEM barrel either. No "Made in Finland" on left side.
 
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