I recently purchased a beautiful Sako L579 with a gorgeous blonde stock and a stainless bull barrel. Problem is that the original owner passed away and his wife had no clue what caliber it is. The barrel is not marked ANYWHERE!! It is a smaller caliber but I no one has been able to help tell me what it is. I have tried 5.56/.223, .220 Swift, .222, .204 Ruger, .270, .243. They are all either too small or a bit too big. Muzzle hole definitely is about .2 or so size but I have no gunsmith to help me. A .223 casing is a bit too small and won't engage the extractor arm. .762 X 39 almost fits and the extractor will engage it and kick it out but it won't quite seat all the way in. Please help me guys!! Pictures below. -Dano
How about a 22-250? That would take that action. Either the mag well was not inletted well or someone has forced the floor plate home. Double check that.
Slug the barrel. Cerro-Safe cast the chamber. Someone has incorrectly assembled the action's bottom metal.....needs fixing. Repair the buggered action screw heads. But......a nice "old school" custom Sako rifle. Hope this helps.
The problem with the bottom metal looks like a very typical Sako issue. The magazine has slipped out of its bracket while the gun was being reassembled and whoever was putting it together just cranked down harder on the action screws, bending the bottom metal. You'll need to straighten out the bottom metal and reassemble it with the magazine held in the correct position. One way is to leave the hatch open and hold the magazine in place with one hand while inserting the assembly with the other. If you've got good finger dexterity, you can even do it one-handed. This is a chronic problem with many vintage Sakos - the sheet metal magazine doesn't hold tightly in its bracket and pops out. I agree that .22-250 is a good guess for the caliber. I agree with a chamber cast - but if you've never done it before, read and understand the instructions completely and follow them exactly. You have to knock out the casting before the metal cools, as it will expand and get stuck if you let it cool all the way. And that is, indeed, a spectacular custom stock!
Beautiful custom stock, but having no caliber stamping on the custom barrel is a red flag for me. Not only would I do a chamber casting to determine cartridge, as kevinig suggests, but also have the headspace checked as well.
Have to agree with a chamber cast. Simply for the fact that it could be an Ackley Improved version of the 22-250 which was common in that time period. Firing a standard 22-250 will not get you in trouble, you are just simply fire forming your cases.
It is not a 22-250, already tried that one. I have never made a casting. Is there a kit you buy? I didn't see anything wrong with the mag or bolt. Mag pops open like it should.
Brownell's has it for sure, and possibly Midway as well. The material is usually called Cerro Safe. It's basically bismuth, which melts at the temperature of boiling water. The Brownell's kit has instructions for casting a chamber. As I mentioned above, be sure to follow them carefully and knock the casting out before the metal cools completely. If you have tried .22-250 and it's too long, maybe it's .222 Magnum. It's similar to .223 but the body is slightly longer.
Perhaps .220 Russian or the similar .22 PPC. Both have the same case head as the 7.62x39. The .22 PPC is particularly popular for target/varmint rifles.
