Still using my 1st Sako every fall since 1961.

[Montana Griz]

Got my first Sako in 1961 (FORESTER, 243 Win, have taken many WT Deer, mule deer and antelope with a 100gr Nosler Partition on top of 43.5gr IMR 4350, (bullet seated .020 from the Lands), and using Fed Mag primers.)
Have also had a Finnbear (L61R), also pre-garcia), in 7mm Mag and a 300 Wby Mag (1 of 500 ), run by Sako for a Distributor in MN several years back.
Neither were ever as accurate as the FORESTER in .243.
Still use the FORESTER every fall with the same load.

 

[deergoose]

Awesome !

the next step is to show pics with your Forester in action. We love pics here on this site, and have a hunting pics forum topic somewhere....just search for it. Have fun and be safe out there everyone !

DeerGoose

 

[stonecreek]

Have also had a Finnbear (L61R), also pre-garcia), in 7mm Mag and a 300 Wby Mag (1 of 500 ), run by Sako for a Distributor in MN several years back.

Griz: Congratulations on such a great hunting career with your early Forester .243!

Do you have any more information on the special run .300 Weatherby? Do you remember who the distributor was and how it was marked? This is one I haven't heard discussed.

 

[ricksengines]

Hi Griz

Welcome. Please do us all a favor and kindly post some pics of your collection. We all enjoy seeing Sako rifles regardless of the model and from your description heads are turning over the 300 WM.

rick

 

[Dogslife57]

Nothing liked a trusted old sako, my 06 finnbear has been with me since '79

 

[P541965]

Griz, you must be more ancient than I am
I bought my 308 Forester new in 1966. I bought it in the first year of my starting work as an apprentice electrician and the rifle cost the equivalent of 6 weeks of my pay. At the same time I also bought a 4x81 Pecar scope but couldn't get rings (26mm) for it so changed to a Weaver K4 which had rings available. Still have my Forester but like its owner it is retired now. It will still and always has rattled off consistant sub MOA groups. Like yourself mine accounted for a lot of game - deer, tahr, wild pigs. Even guitly of dealing to rabbits with it ha ha.
Rifles are cheap now relative to weekly income!

 

[stonecreek]

Rifles are cheap now relative to weekly income!

How very true! My first Sako was a Finnbear .264 purchased brand new. It's price was the trade value of a "sporterized" Lee-Enfield along with an entire summer's wages for a 14 year-old. It is still with me (along with the Leupold 3-9X I originally mounted on it) and still puts its first shot from a cold barrel exactly where it went the last time it was fired.

By the way, you can still buy virtually the same scope today for $200-250 USD (Leupold VX-1). I ran that 1965 price of the Leupold 3-9X ($65.95) through an inflation calculator and found that in today's dollars it cost over $500. So, a nice Leupold only costs half or less of what it did 50 years ago when I was a youngster.