• 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

Share your Records findings here!

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

deergoose

Sako-addicted
I've had the desire for a long time to acquire info on several of my rifles. Taking advantage of the SCC Factory Records Service, here's the first batch of records for rare Sakos in my collection:

1) L57 deluxe in .243Win #9845: Inspected on 1/20/60, shipped the same day and was one of thirty (30) .243 rifles in that shipment to FI.

2) L579 Mannlicher in .308Win #10609: Inspected on 2/24/60, shipped the same day and was one of fifty (50) .308 rifles in that shipment to FI.

3) L57 Mannlicher Carbine in .244Rem #9618: No production record found (a very rare occurrence). The shipping record indicates the caliber to be .244Rem and shipped on 5/14/59 and was one of twenty (20) .244 rifles in that shipment to FI.

4) L46 Mannlicher in .222Rem #4847: Inspected on 2/26/51, shipped on 3/29/51 and was one of thirty-two (32) .222 rifles in that shipment to FI. This rifle was included in only the second shipment of L46 .222s and was among the first 100 .222s ever shipped by Sako.

5) L469 Mannlicher in .222RemMag #45410: Inspected on 5/20/60, but no shipping records were found.

Great stuff !......at least for me it is.

DeerGoose
 
DeerGoose!

Thanks for your kind words!!

I am glad you are satisfied and happy with the result!

Jim
 
Deergoose you have some beauties in your collection for sure! My pick of those 5 is no. 3 wow!

Any thoughts guys on why there are a few rifles with no production records? Just poor record keeping? It seems like a nightmare system to keep track of when production dates are all over the place!
 
I've had the desire for a long time to acquire info on several of my rifles. Taking advantage of the SCC Factory Records Service, here's the first batch of records for rare Sakos in my collection:

1) L57 deluxe in .243Win #9845: Inspected on 1/20/60, shipped the same day and was one of thirty (30) .243 rifles in that shipment to FI.

2) L579 Mannlicher in .308Win #10609: Inspected on 2/24/60, shipped the same day and was one of fifty (50) .308 rifles in that shipment to FI.

3) L57 Mannlicher Carbine in .244Rem #9618: No production record found (a very rare occurrence). The shipping record indicates the caliber to be .244Rem and shipped on 5/14/59 and was one of twenty (20) .244 rifles in that shipment to FI.

4) L46 Mannlicher in .222Rem #4847: Inspected on 2/26/51, shipped on 3/29/51 and was one of thirty-two (32) .222 rifles in that shipment to FI. This rifle was included in only the second shipment of L46 .222s and was among the first 100 .222s ever shipped by Sako.

5) L469 Mannlicher in .222RemMag #45410: Inspected on 5/20/60, but no shipping records were found.

Great stuff !......at least for me it is.

DeerGoose

Here are my three early L46's (w/ left wing) safeties to add to Deergoose's data:

1) L46 Sporter in 7x33 nr 2663 (arctic birch, no checkering): Inspected on 6/16/1947, no ship record (7x33 t-shirt ordered!)
2) L46 Sporter in .218 Bee nr 5637 (walnut): Inspected 1/19/51, shipped to FI 4/17/51
3) L46 Sporter in .222R nr 6250 (walnut): Inspected 1/13/51, no ship record
 
The next batch of records for some of my Sako rifles have been received ! I guess I've been starved for so long for the little details that the newness of it all has kept me going. Here's some more of my collection:

6) L579 HB Mannlicher in .243Win, #11468: Inspected on 5/14/60, shipped the same day and was one of nineteen (19) .243 rifles in that shipment to Firearms International.

7) L57 HB Mannlicher in .243Win, #8668: Inspected on 8/26/59, shipped the same day and was one of nine (9) .243 rifles in that shipment to FI.

8) L57 Deluxe in .243Win, #5642: Inspected on 2/1/59, shipped on 7/13/59 and was one of one hundred & nineteen (119) .243 rifles in that shipment to FI.

9) L57 Deluxe in .243Win, #5292: Inspected on 2/11/59, shipped on 11/5/59 and was one of twenty four (24) .243 rifles in that shipment to Sidem International.

10) L46 Mannlicher in 7x33Sako, #30547: Inspected on 2/6/56, shipped on 2/13/56 and was one of four (4) 7x33Sako rifles in that shipment to Nyberg AB.

11) L46 Sporter in 7x33Sako, #16121: Inspected on 5/31/54, shipped the same day and was one of two (2) 7x33Sako rifles in that shipment to AB Vapen Depoten (Sweden).

I think this'll do me for a while (although I'm now wondering how the foreign rifles made it stateside??). Great stuff!

DeerGoose
 
I'm now wondering how the foreign rifles made it stateside??). Great stuff!
DeerGoose

Rifles like your two 7x33's had to have been imported by individuals (which used to be much easier than it is now.) I'm not sure if prior to the GCA of 1968 that there was any paperwork required of an individual to bring a rifle from Europe. But it does cause one to wonder about the story behind each rifle's journey to the U.S., which, if a rifle could talk, might be extremely interesting.

Of course, during the 1960's and early 1970's, hundreds, if not thousands, of Sakos came home with U.S. servicemen stationed in Europe. With the approval of a commanding officer they could buy them through the base Rod & Gun club then have them shipped home with their personal belongings on Uncle Sam's nickel. My impression is that since there was no shipping, tariffs, or taxes on these acquisitions they were very economical compared to buying a Sako in the States at the time.
 
Presentation Sako 002 (1280x720).jpg Here is a photo of the unique floorplate I posted a while back. It is on a Super Deluxe .30-06, SN 74871, and is believed to be a person's signature. The sterling silver grip cap on this rifle is engraved "1947-1974 Oy Sako Ab", which makes the rifle appear to be a presentation piece to someone like a long-time employee. The sales records show its shipping date as 18 November 1973, but instead of listing a store or distributor in the "shipped to" column, there is simply a set of numbers which look like inventory control numbers or something internal to the factory.


Presentation Sako 004 (720x1280).jpg
Presentation Sako 019 (1280x562).jpg

Anyway, even with the factory records much mystery remains surrounding this beautiful piece.
 
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L57 DLX Floorplate 010 (1280x720).jpg

This is the floorplate on L57 #4036 in .243 Win, inspected 1 July 1959 and shipped to F.I. on 13 July 1959. Deergoose: Does your L57 #5642 have this same floorplate? I see on the shipping record that these two rifles were in the same lot! Hey, that's something!

By the way, notice how the serial number 1600 lower was inspected five months later. We're just now catching on how typical this is with Sakos. What were those guys thinking?
 
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Here's the blown up list of SN's for the .243 Deluxes shipped on 13 July 1959. It's neat to see those two serial numbers, 4036 and 5642, in handwriting from 56 years ago!
 

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  • L57 4036.pdf
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Agree, Stone. The records are telling us some pretty cool info. No, my L57 #5642 doesn't have that pattern and was the "butchered" deluxe that had thestock carvings (custom job) and the 'Special Forester Engraving' of the lynx perched on a tree branch. This was plate #B9552. I snagged this beauty on one of the auction sites a while back for what I believe was a good buy. I'm glad that this rifle was shipped as an original L57 deluxe model. The owner, whether the original owner or not, had the rifle customized to his or her liking. This rifle is still very cool to me for some reason (probably because of the special order TG/FP assembly), and is in excellent condition. Here are some pics to jar some memories, including my own.

great thread here! Thanks.
DeerGoose
IMG_0577.JPG Engravings_1.jpg Engravings_2.jpg
 
Wow DG, how fortunate to have one of the special Forester engraved TG/FP. I understand why that L57 is so special and you consider it cool. You only have 4 patterns to go!
 
DSC08291 (641x1280).jpg

There were more than just the patterns shown in the ad. These were done in France, likely by commissioned individual engravers. It's not clear just how many different engravers might have been involved, but each one used some latitude in designing his or her floorplate. This one is on an L57, but the stock is custom and the barrel appears to be one from the same source as the contemporary Wards and Colt rifles built on the L57 actions. I have no idea who may have put the rifle together, but the floorplate is definitely one sourced from the ad reproduced in the previous post.
 
Back to the Factory Records for a moment:

A friend and I both own 7x33's for which we got the factory info.

Mine is L46 #2734. In the production records it was inspected 16 October 1947, but since that is earlier than the sales records that is all the info there was on it other than it was listed as going to "Ruotsi" (Finnish for Sweden) in the production records. It is a walnut Mannlicher with 23" barrel. It bears an electro-penciled import mark of Simpsons of Illinois, so it was imported, probably from Sweden, sometime after the 1968 GCA went into effect.

My friend's L46 7x33 is a birch carbine that is absolutely mint. It is #5955 and was inspected 19 November 1949 and shipped 9 December 1949 to Mauritz Widforss Ab, Sweden and was one of five 7x33's in that shipment. That Swedish company is still in business and here is what we found on it:

MAURITZ WIDFORSS AB
Current manufacturer, retailer, and auction house established in 1729, and located in Stockholm, Sweden. Widforss specializes in custom order long guns, hunting equipment and accessories, and holds several annual auctions. Please visit their website or contact the company directly for more information, including product availability and pricing.


So, the factory records do bring to light some interesting info that we otherwise wouldn't find.
 
All, I thought I´d share some info too.

A few years ago, I found this L46 on a German auction site and just had to buy it. This is the only L46 I have ever come across with an original LH stock. Serial number is 2842 cal. 7x33 and from the records you can find that it was inspected on August 12 1947. There are no sales records from before 1949 but there is a note in the production ledgers that it was shipped to SKOHA OY AB, The Civil Guards Store and there is also a notation of it being a LH stock.

Too bad the files won´t tell us how it went from Finland to Germany!

I attach a few pics for your viewing pleasure and also a scan from the files so you can see how it looks.

Have a great weekend folks!

Jim

#2842.jpg
IMG_3904.jpg IMG_3909.jpg IMG_3910.jpg
 
That markings after SKOHA says (left hand stock, Western Finland sport store). Or something like that... And you are right about skoha (suojeluskuntien kauppa Oy handel AB) It was Civil guards store. I am Finnish so if you have something to ask about finnish markings, I can try to translate those....
 
Woge: It's great to have another native of Sako's homeland as an SCC member!

Can you make anything of what I assume is a signature on the floorplate of the Super Deluxe Sako pictured earlier in this thread -- the one with the 1947-1974 grip cap?
 
No, i can't. That text is not any common name. That last mark can be signature(TS?). I will show that to my friend. He knows few people who has been worked at Sako factory. At least I know, that people who worked at Sako, has done rifles and parts to themselves. And those rifles can be very special versions...
 
I got a couple of more rifles that were researched before the holidays. Just now getting around to sharing the info on two Hornets that I own:

1) L46 standard sporter in .22Hornet, #6684: Inspected on 10/13/51, shipped on 10/14/51 and was one of twenty five (25) .22Hornet rifles in that shipment to Firearms International.

2) L46 standard sporter in .22Hornet, #43399: Inspected on 10/22/59, shipped on 2/24/60 and was one of twenty (20) .22Hornet rifles in that shipment to Firearms International.

I've got a few more that I want the factory record info for, but I gotta do the work to get them gathered up and the info submitted ! Finding the time has been a chore !

Still looking for a Hornet full stock model. If you know of one for sale, please let me know!

DeerGoose
 
2) L46 standard sporter in .22Hornet, #43399: Inspected on 10/22/59, shipped on 2/24/60 and was one of twenty (20) .22Hornet rifles in that shipment to Firearms International.
Is this one marked bofors Deergoose? A really neat rifle.

Always makes you wonder what happened to the other 19 and where they are doesn't it!

There is a long line up waiting for that mannlicher hornet :D
 
ha, ha. I hear you.

Yes, the later (model 4) Hornet is marked "Bofors". A real find I must add. I paid a bunch of money for it, and it is one of my favorites.

DeerGoose
 
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