• 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

Sako L461 Ackley - O'Brien .17 Mach IV Questions

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Hi all,


I am a new member to the forum, but have been following it for awhile now. I need a little help and advice, and you all seem to be just the people I need.

I have an Ackley - O'brien .17 cal Mach IV rifle. I inherited it from my father, who passed away recently. I know it is valuable, but not really HOW valuable. To be upfront, I have no intention of selling it, ever, but for insurance purposes, etc.

Here is the story of the gun as I remember it. My father was a stock broker in Las Vegas from the late 60's until almost 2000. One of his customers was the entertainment director at one of the large casinos in Las Vegas. He purchased two nearly identical rifles in .17 cal Mach IV from Vern O'brien. If I recall correctly, he paid $2500 for each rifle (in 1970's dollars). My Dad and he were good friends, and Dad had made him a lot of money over the years. So, he gave one of the rifles to my dad. We shot it a little; but I can personally attest that there have been less than 75 rounds put through it. I have been in love with this gun for almost 40 years. Before he passed, my dad gave me the rifle so that it would be sure to go to the person he chose.

The rifle has an 18" barrel. It is stamped Ackley - O'brien on the top of the barrel. On the side, near the receiver, it is stamped .17 MACH IV. On the receiver itself, it says L461 No. 98130. I have included a few pics, just for reference.

Obviously, as I mentioned in the beginning, I would like to have a ballpark value. That's great and all, but I would really like to know anything you all may know about this firearm. When it was manufactured, for instance. My memory tells me when I think it was manufactured, but I can't say for sure.

Thank you all and sorry for the long post.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0889.jpg
    IMG_0889.jpg
    118.2 KB · Views: 56
  • IMG_0890.jpg
    IMG_0890.jpg
    168 KB · Views: 56
  • IMG_0891.JPG
    IMG_0891.JPG
    96.6 KB · Views: 51
  • IMG_0892.JPG
    IMG_0892.JPG
    144.1 KB · Views: 51
  • IMG_0893.JPG
    IMG_0893.JPG
    209.2 KB · Views: 54
Dan,

First.....welcome to the board.

Your Ackley-O'Brien is the first full-stock version I've seen. The "Ackley-O'Brien" barrel engraving puts it's manufacture after mid-1970.......when O'Brien's consulting clause, of his contract with H&R, expired. Since he sold "The O'Brien Rifle Co." to H&R......subsequent rifles are differently engraved.

The action serial number would appear to fit into this era also. Sorry.....but my records do not extend past 1967. The Conetrol mounts appear correct, for the 70's, in that they have allen-socket windage screws........1960's versions had slotted windage screws. The nice Leupold scope's ocular housing has "age-plummed" a bit......except for where a lens cover was present.

The stock "fluting" is in the O'Brien style.......but absent of any inlays or carvings, indicates it to be the Field Grade style rifle. The rifle pad should be Pachmayr.

Prices can, and do, vary wildly.........sorry.

BTW.......the ocular lens lock ring is loose. :):)

Hope this helps.
 
Very interesting rifle & a great story behind it. Very unusual for the stock to have no checkering or engraving, as that was one of the hallmarks of the O'Brien rifles. First Mannlicher style stock I've seen also. It's unlikely these rifles sold for $2500 back in the early seventies, as that's about what you could buy a new car for back then. $500 dollars would be more believable & that is even about 3 times what an average rifle would have cost. Placing a value on yours is difficult as it has no comparables I've seen on the market. It also falls in a group of rifles with a small collector following, which further reduces the number of potential buyers. There are others here very knowledgeable about the O'Brien's that may have more insight on it's worth. Regardless it's not worth more than your standard home owners policy wouldn't cover & not worth paying a special premium for. Money wouldn't replace it's sentimental value to you any way. Besides, have you ever heard of an insurance company paying what something was worth?? Just keep it in a safe place & enjoy. As for a "ballpark" value, it would totally be based on the buyer & his "desire" to own it. I would guess something north of $1000 & south of what you think you can get, but that's just my guess & should not be taken as an appraisal.
 
Welcome to the site. Your Ackley-O'Brien is really sweet. Please check out the posts that I put up a while back on several Ackley-O'Brien rifles that I have. There are Mach-IV versions and 17 Magnum Versions. Mine are not the full stock version but when I did the photos I had them sitting with their O'Brien counterparts so a comparison between the two rifles could be made. $2,500 back then would probably be off the charts. From what I have been told Vern was a hustler so nothing anyone says about him surprises me. I won't discuss pricing on the board. If you want to speak with me about that please start a conversation with me and I will do my best to give you a realistic ball park estimate of the value.

Thanks Very Much for sharing. You have a variant of the Ackley-O'Brien rifle that I think few people even knew existed. I sure did not and just seeing one of these fine rifles is really great.

Rick
 
Thank you all for your replies. This helps me know a little more and where to look for more info. Rick, Thanks for your offer and I will take you up on it. I agree that talking money is just a rat hole waiting to happen, and generally I try to educate myself enough not to have to ask. As you all know, there is not a lot of information on these little suckers to go on.

Dan
 
Back
Top