New Purchase L46 7x33 Sako SN 24xx

[rugerbob]

I just pickup a L46 that I bought sight unseen, except two poor quality pics, price was to good to let go. Rifle doesn't look to bad some shallow pitting on the outside of the barrel, and someone changed out the butt plate and used a decking screw that was to long, it came out one inch above the toe of the butt and was filed off.

Question 1: Do I get the rifle reblued to address the minor rust pitting on the barrel?

Question 2: Where is the best place to look for an original butt plate? If you have a pic of an original that would help my search.

Question 3: What is the best way to plug the screw hole at the butt, expoxy or a wood plug?

Question 4: On the front scope ramp there a two recessed hole, the back hole has Sako and model number stamped inside. Does the smaller front hole serve any purpose in retaining the scope rings?

Any help would be appreciated in answering these question, and if you have a spare butt plate hanging please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Bob

 

[0710point]

For fixing that hole... On recurve bows we drill the hole out (no bigger than need be) for a piece of wood dowel for a tight fit and use loctite 420 glue, try getting the grain in the dowel to match up with that of the stock, file to match your stocks profile , then match the stain and use some minwax brush on clear finish. You can lightly wet sand the area then hand buff with some cleaner car wax to get the sand marks out and blend it to your original finish.

 

[rugerbob]

0710point:

Thanks for the tip, getting the grain to match up could be a challenge.

Thank you.

Bob

 

[0710point]

when you pick out your dowel, look for one that has some good grain in it

 

[rugerbob]

Any help locating a l46 butt plate?

 

[rugerbob]

Need some help and advice.

 

[Anonymous]

rugerbob,
Can you post a couple pictures here to show these troubled areas? That screw hole may not be as big a deal to do as you think, The only problem I see in that is if it didn't come out straight, but out the side of the stock. On the bluing, it would depend on what shape the metal is actually in. If the barrel would have to be put on a lathe to get it down ever so slightly to be able to polish it, you may risk some of the stampings.
Pictures would certainly help. There are some active gunsmiths here as members and if you put some pictures online, they could give you some good information.
Regards,
S-A

 

[Anonymous]

rugerbob,
Just noticed your serial number. That's the lowest L46 number I've seen thus far among members. I assume the safety is on the rear left side of the bolt? If I had that rifle, I would plan very carefully on what and how to proceed with it.
S-A

 

[rugerbob]

S-A:


Unfortunately I'am not much of a photographer and cant seem to capture the rust spotting on the barrel.

 

[Anonymous]

rugerbob,
Thanks for the pictures. What a grand old Sako to have. First, you need to get a sight hood ordered from "tlans" on the forum. It appears as far as originality you will be going with an after market butt pad and that would start pointing me in the direction of refinishing and bluing. I am sensing you want to shoot this rifle as opposed to just looking at it? Be SURE to have someone put a bore light in it and check the bore before you do this.
It is hard to see the barrel and know what polishing it would take to get a good bluing job on it. You may want to take it in to someone who does that and get an estimate. A top-notch deluxe bluing job should run about $400 USD, and a regular blue job about $250 USD. Don't know how big North Bay is, but can imagine their must be some good gunsmiths up there for everyone who puts meat in the freezer during hunting seasons.
I would certainly put a restoration plan into place for my next move on this rifle were it mine. I would surely like to run across a vintage rifle like you have here.
I'm certain a few others will comment on this.
Regards,
S-A

 

[tucsonmike]

Tucsonmike here- Rugerbob,congrats on the early L46 7x33!!!!!! Go to my post and pictures under "Show us all your pretty Sakos" forum ,go to the thread on 218 Bees and you will see pictures of my early buttplate-might be the same as yours-wish I could cast one for you-there is a company that has 100's of newcast grips and plates,they're an easy co. to find.I think from the placement of your rear swivel that the stock might not have been cut-whaddaya think? I might use 4/0 steelwool and gun oil and just polish the metal up a mite rather than rebluing,lightly clean the laquer wood finish and wax it-easy to remove the original finish-impossible to replace 50-55 year old Finnish finish! When you've got it looking real smart,send it to me!! Oh and years ago Stroeger sold cans of black pastewax to make blued metal look much better! I've used shoe paste many a time for that,looks better and protects the metal.Congrats again! Good to see a novice grab a "jewel of the tundra" from under the noses of these professional Sako guys-HA!!! I just looked-the company is Vintage Gun Grips-if nothing else,a generic no-name plastic plate would be better until you find the correct plate.Proceed cautiously,the gun has far more value as a collector as is than a shooter in my very humble opinion as a man who owns only one original Sako !!

 

[Anonymous]

That was cold:bigsmile3:
S-A

 

[stonecreek]

Congratulations on acquiring one of the relatively few 7x33's on this side of the Atlantic!

I'm usually one who cautions that if in doubt, "leave it alone". However, your 7x33 is not really in "collectible" condition. The damage done to the stock (quite restorable, however) and the poor condition of the bluing, combined with having a birch rather than walnut stock, limits its "collector" value. (And there is really no established "collector" market for Sakos at this time, anyway.)

I think you, and any subsequent owner, would enjoy the piece more if it were lovingly restored. The buttstock can be repaired and leave only a hint of what happened to it, but it will require refinishing the entire stock. The bluing can be refinished. For a few hundred dollars investment you can have a really nice looking shooter which will be "representative" of the way it left the factory, even if not actual factory original.

As I say, there is no established Sako collector market, but I believe that whatever money you put into judicious restoration of the piece you will always be able to get back out of it if you should decide to sell it someday. If you leave it as is, then someone will eventually buy it discounted enough to have the restoration done themselves. So, why not enjoy the beauty of a restored rifle as opposed to owning an "original but abused" example of a rare Sako?

By the way, this is just one person's opinion, and it is worth at least what you paid for it

.

 

[rugerbob]

Tucsonmike:

Thanks for the lead but I have already been to Vintage grips, the only butt plate they don't have is a Sako period, it seems that no one reproduces the Sako butt plates.

Bob

 

[rugerbob]

Thanks S-A for the offer, will try and track down someone to make a mold and take you up on your offer.

Bob

 

[Anonymous]

rugerbob,
If you find someone, you may want to see if he will give a discount for a certain number made. Have a prototype made and If it turns out good, there may be others here who would also want one, if only for a spare.
Keep me posted.
S-A

 

[ktmullens]

Great rifle. If you are looking for any reloading components for it check out Bertram Brass company. Bruce makes all kinds of off the wall brass for obsolete cartridges. He is in Australia but there are quite a few vendors in the USA that sell his brass...i think old western scrounger is one of them, but I'm sure google can fill you in. Simplex (Australia) also makes dies for the 7x33 sako, they are very good quality, love them myself. Although the other US manufacturers may also make them too...I didn't search.
Here is Bruce's contact info if you want to sniff around on it.
Bruce Bertram VIA Bertram Bullet Co., Pty., Ltd. 200 Goulburn Valley Hwy Seymour 3660 Victoria AUSTRALIA Voice: 011-61-357922912 Fax: 011 61 57 -991650 [email protected]

 

[mattimoose]

I can solve all your problems Bob, sell me the rifle!

Honestly though, Re-bluing will destroy collectability, the best thing to remove surface rust is 0000 steel wool and WD40. The hole in the wood is best fixed with a round, cross-cut Birch dowel and acraglass. I can help you with the restoration, as long as you let me shoot-it once, lol and yes I'll bring my own round!

 

[rugerbob]

Matti:

Iam undecided how to handle the restoration work, the finish on the barrel is not your typical satin smooth Sako finish, looks more like it was blued right off the lathe. The stock of course is in need of a butt plate, I'm desperately looking for an original one to replace the one missing.

Oh by the way I lucked in and found 500, 78 grain SPs, now all I need is another 100 cases.

Bob

 

[mattimoose]

Well, I've got a pile of Bertram cases, as you saw, and you could even Borrow my handset I guess, but don't go nuts refinishing that stock or steel, like I said, I wanted an L42 anyways! I think the gun would do best with just cleaning. If you want, we can see about duplicating my Rihimaki butt plate on my .222 L46 with the Gear Pattern. If you know any denturists, we can get the latex moulding stuff and cast Acraglass into-it with the black dye and a little glass dust, and it will be better than original and black black. I have a lot of experience with acraglass, and if you follow the instructions to the letter it will be your best friend. If 1 kit beds 2 guns, we should be able to get at least 1 buttplate out-of-it. I discussed these techniques at length with my periodontist just a couple of weeks ago. We just mix the latex and pour-it around the buttplate. Then we pull-it out and mix-up the acraglass and put-in the dye. If we are careful not to whip any air into-it we should be able to pull-it off. My cel. number isn't active anymore, if you want to work on this give me a call at my home number. I want to see your rifle anyways. I just may try to get that L46 in Illinois, but I want to compare my magazine to yours to see what I have to do to make-it work.