• 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

Old sako Finnbear. What to look for.

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Hi every one. I just purchased a pre- Garcia finnwolf and LOVE it! My 17 year old now wants his own bolt action in 308 or 30-06. I want to get him an older one.Any thoughts on which ones to avoid, (if any) and what to look for. This will be for shooting, not dust collection.
Thanks. Brett v. w. Redding ca
 
You should not have a lot of trouble finding something in 30-06 as it is probably the most popular caliber Sako has produced besides .243 win.

308 on the other hand my be slightly more elusive, but not impossible by any means.

Older..still possible but the price will rise in comparison..older than Garcia (pre-70) would next be Firearms International imports which would include Bofors Stamped (pre-68) rifles back to the 50’ or 60’s. Hunter/shooter grade rifles go for moderately low prices and shoot as well as the minty safe queens. my rule of thumb is to look for the Bofors stamp, if it’s there, you can hardly go wrong.

Take time..look around and compare..when you find it..pull the trigger!

Old Hippie
 
Hi every one. I just purchased a pre- Garcia finnwolf and LOVE it! My 17 year old now wants his own bolt action in 308 or 30-06. I want to get him an older one.Any thoughts on which ones to avoid, (if any) and what to look for. This will be for shooting, not dust collection.
Thanks. Brett v. w. Redding ca
Hey Brett,

My best friend lives in Redding. We will be fishing near Burney and McArthur in a couple of weeks.

Regarding your inquiry, .30-06 Sako rifles are pretty easy to locate. Good ones are available for $750-900. L61R, AIII and AV’ s are all considered Finnbear’s. The difference is L61R is the earliest of the production, followed by the AIII, then the AV. Minor improvements differentiate the models. Any of these in good original condition are a good choice. Try and stay away from altered specimens and specimens showing hard use. Parts can be difficult to locate if a rifle is showing signs of hard use or obvious wear.

In .308 you’d be looking at an L579 or AII which is known as a Forrester. The action is shorter than the Finnbear length. These are becoming more difficult to locate and prices have soared. If you can find one at a reasonable price my advice would be to buy it, provided it in good mechanical condition and not beat up. Parts are also a challenge for these as well.

In my opinion it’s always a judgment call when buying any older used rifle. Look it over carefully (bore etc.) and test function unless you buy online. When buying online make sure there is some sort of return policy if there happens to be an issue. If you find a good clean Sako rifle, you simply cannot go wrong.

Hope this helps.
 
Wow, this is one of the reasons I joined the Sako group! Great info! I did tons of fishing in the Burney basin. My finnwolf # is 3103, I purchased it from the grand son of the org owner. the finnwolf was purchased by a G.I. In Germany and brought back. I have found a sako in 243 with the Bofors mark, but the price is $1000, so I will keep on looking.
 
The only advantage to "older" Sakos is that those with the "Bofors Steel" mark usually have slightly slimmer barrels and stocks and weigh a half-pound or so less than those that came afterward (about 1969 or so). The "later" ones have beefier barrels and stocks, but shoot every bit as well, or perhaps better in some instances. If intended as primarily a shooting and using rifle I wouldn't stress over whether it is marked "Bofors" or not and would be just as happy with an A-series as an L-series. There are no Sakos to be avoided due to quality or performance issues, other than perhaps some of the Model 75 "Finnlights", some of which appear to have had metallurgical problems with their stainless steel barrels, a few of which discharged some shots sideways out of the chamber instead forward out of the muzzle.
 
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