• 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

INFO ON FINNBEAR L61R

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Is it marked "Win Mag" or ".300 Mag." ? yes, we'd love to see some pics of your rifle.

That'd be the lowest L61R that I've seen.

DeerGoose
 
As DeerGoose is almost certainly alluding, the 300 Win Mag cartridge wasn't introduced until 1963. 'Pre' that chambering almost certainly a "300 Magnum" designation was 300 H&H, just as the case in Winchester Model 70 rifles.
My take
 
If it were mine I would purchase the most comprehensive Factory Records documentation offered through this club - a bargain at 52.50 for members.
We only recently found out that the first shipment of Finnbears in .300 Win Mag didn't leave Sako until 1966, and that low serial number was NOT among them.
 
Good to see you here, Iskra.

Well, well, iwanna! What a happy surprise! Nice to see you here making your expertise available in this forum!
Best!

Concerning obtaining a factory letter, I believe perhaps better first to attempt a determination whether the rifle has been altered. If so, the letter perhaps interesting, but likely a questionable economic investment. In the marketplace, I doubt evidence of the original configuration of an altered rifle is significantly sale enhancing.. If it's apparently original, quite another matter and obtaining a factory letter likely offering a potentially value enhancing 'package'. The deal breaker here, whether that barrel is in fact showing "300 Winchester Magnum"... In which case, all the kings horses and all the kings men, won't make it original again!
My take
 
Chances are good that a Sako with an action serial numbered '17' would have had a .300 H&H barrel screwed fast to it instead of a .300 Win Mag barrel. But with the very recent access to factory records, we have only lately been finding out that some actions sat around many, many years prior to being assembled into a rifle. Please let us know what you find out, JBURGER, if you do decide to authenticate.
 
Sorry for late reply was in Colorado elk hunting . Bbl has original sako markings and is marked 300 magnum . checked with my gunsmith and it is 300 h h everything original.nothing on floorplate. original recoil pad sako rihimaki Suomi finland serial number is no.17 0naction and on bolt handle . gun has front sight no rear site. overall gun is 90% plus . would factory records make this gun more valuable
 
How did you do on your elk hunt? We like photos on this site you know!

You can satisfy your curiosity about your early Finnbear by getting the Level 2 service for $30 which gives you the date it was made (inspected), original caliber, date and to whom it was shipped, and number of similar rifles in that shipment. You also get photocopies of the pages of the actual ledger books the rifle appears on. For another $22.50 you get the Level 3 Letter of Authentication, which is basically the Level 2 information in narrative form on the Sako Collectors Club letterhead printed on parchment paper.

I've gotten the Letters on my Sakos purely for my own enjoyment. How much, if any, the Letter might add to the value of a rifle is subject to speculation, but it does erase all doubt as to its originality. I've gotten the Level 1 service ($15) on two rifles I was considering buying that I was suspicious of and found that each of them was altered (one was a standard placed in a Deluxe stock and the other had been rebarreled with a Sako barrel of a different caliber.) Needless to say, I walked away from both deals.

One of our forum sponsors, Bell's Guns, is providing a Letter of Authentication with all of the Sakos he sells (within the range of the records the SCC has). He recently sold this Deluxe .25-06 on Gunbroker: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=510898609 I thought it might bring about $1500-$1700, but it brought $2,100. Whether the Letter was responsible for that apparent premium or not I can't say, but its price sure surprised me.
 
How did you do on your elk hunt? We like photos on this site you know!

You can satisfy your curiosity about your early Finnbear by getting the Level 2 service for $30 which gives you the date it was made (inspected), original caliber, date and to whom it was shipped, and number of similar rifles in that shipment. You also get photocopies of the pages of the actual ledger books the rifle appears on. For another $22.50 you get the Level 3 Letter of Authentication, which is basically the Level 2 information in narrative form on the Sako Collectors Club letterhead printed on parchment paper.

I've gotten the Letters on my Sakos purely for my own enjoyment. How much, if any, the Letter might add to the value of a rifle is subject to speculation, but it does erase all doubt as to its originality. I've gotten the Level 1 service ($15) on two rifles I was considering buying that I was suspicious of and found that each of them was altered (one was a standard placed in a Deluxe stock and the other had been rebarreled with a Sako barrel of a different caliber.) Needless to say, I walked away from both deals.

One of our forum sponsors, Bell's Guns, is providing a Letter of Authentication with all of the Sakos he sells (within the range of the records the SCC has). He recently sold this Deluxe .25-06 on Gunbroker: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=510898609 I thought it might bring about $1500-$1700, but it brought $2,100. Whether the Letter was responsible for that apparent premium or not I can't say, but its price sure surprised me.
ordered letter of authentication will let you know results
How did you do on your elk hunt? We like photos on this site you know!

You can satisfy your curiosity about your early Finnbear by getting the Level 2 service for $30 which gives you the date it was made (inspected), original caliber, date and to whom it was shipped, and number of similar rifles in that shipment. You also get photocopies of the pages of the actual ledger books the rifle appears on. For another $22.50 you get the Level 3 Letter of Authentication, which is basically the Level 2 information in narrative form on the Sako Collectors Club letterhead printed on parchment paper.

I've gotten the Letters on my Sakos purely for my own enjoyment. How much, if any, the Letter might add to the value of a rifle is subject to speculation, but it does erase all doubt as to its originality. I've gotten the Level 1 service ($15) on two rifles I was considering buying that I was suspicious of and found that each of them was altered (one was a standard placed in a Deluxe stock and the other had been rebarreled with a Sako barrel of a different caliber.) Needless to say, I walked away from both deals.

One of our forum sponsors, Bell's Guns, is providing a Letter of Authentication with all of the Sakos he sells (within the range of the records the SCC has). He recently sold this Deluxe .25-06 on Gunbroker: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=510898609 I thought it might bring about $1500-$1700, but it brought $2,100. Whether the Letter was responsible for that apparent premium or not I can't say, but its price sure surprised me.
 
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