• 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

Recent check of L61R 30-06 SN 14166 -

This completed rifle was inspected 0n 15 December 1966 and is in caliber .30-06. It was booked for shipping to Firearms International (Washington DC) on 20 December 1966. It was one of 30 similar .30-06 caliber rifles in that shipping lot. Another 123 .30-06 Sakos were booked to ship to FI on that same day.
 
Very satisfied with the FRS. Just got mine back yesterday. Waiting for the letter of authentication. Here's what was found:

'Sako L61R #13696 was inspected 31 December 1964 and is in caliber .264 Magnum. It is shown as a Colt Deluxe model. The shipping records indicate that it was shipped to Firearms International (Washington,D.C.) as one of a lot of 6 similar rifles. The shipping date in the records is illegible, but appears to possibly be 26 March 1965 (a lot of 48 identical rifles was shipped on 4 January 1965).'
 

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I've recently picked up two more deluxe rifles; here's the outcome of the Factory Records Service:

1) L579 deluxe in .243Win #15744: Inspected on 10/19/60, shipped on 10/24/60 and was one of fifteen (15) .243 rifles in that shipment lot to FI. This rifle has the rare Moosehead/Antlers floorplate/trigger guard engraving pattern.

2) L46 deluxe in .222RemMag #53377: Inspected on 9/8/61, shipped on 9/22/61 and was one of forty-one (41) .222Mag rifles in that shipment lot to FI. Note that this rifle is stamped L46, even though the factory records clearly indicate the rifle being logged in as an L469 actioned rifle.

Interesting stuff!!

DeerGoose
 
Deergoose

Your enthusiasm, and your actions of . . . emptying your wallet are a credit to the true gun collectors of the world.
So . . . how many Sako's have you captured in the last year?
 
Not that many, Eno. I got the .243dlx last weekend, and bought the .222RM about a year - year 1/2 ago. I got a clean .375H&H deluxe in there somewhere too, which is a later one before Garcia took over importation.

DeerGoose
 
Our Finnbear has an unusual history for time and place as well as the cost.

My dad worked for the CAAA and then FAA when it was relabeled in the 1954 to 1964 period.

Alaska had CAA/FAA field stations that served as Weather gathering and sometimes airfields as well as Navigation sites.

We were not in poverty, but money was tight, housing and water, sewer and lights were provided in a $40 a month package which allowed a kind of not poor but on that bordering edge.

My dad built his own hunting rifle up from a 1903A3 (probably got it for $ 10). Sako of that era were in the $150 range from what I have seen.

We lived at Northway Alaska, one of the coldest occupied spots in AK (-70 was non unusual) - (they found one up in the Southern Brooks Range on the pipeline route called Coldfoot that was colder, -81 recorded before the thermometer bottomed out latter on)

Sheep hunting was available in whats known as the Nabesna area and my dad anbd mom wanted to go sheep hunting.

Somehow my dad acquired a Sako Finnbear 270 in 1962. He dies in 1964 and we never thought to ask (just living not thinking history) how he got it let alone what it cost.

While we still do not know how he got it (or what he paid for it), its an 32xx SN and the records show inspected Sept of 1962 and shipped to Firearms International in Washington DC.

We moved to another field station shortly after and it never got to do the sheep hunt.

Having seen checks for 75 cents, $1.25 etc, living was tight, food had to be bought and the fact my Dad bought that gun is still a mind boggler.

It had to have made fast transit from DC to AK as we moved that winter.

We still have the gun, so at least part of the story is known now with a time stamp.
 
I'm sure that cash was very scarce in the days of Alaska's early statehood, especially as far "off the grid" as where your dad was stationed. That Finnbear would have cost more than three months of rent! But since your dad had a government job it would have paid a cash salary, so maybe he had a little more in the way of financial resources than it felt like at the time. Anyway, the story of your family's Sako is an interesting one and the rifle is an heirloom that everyone appreciates having.
 
Thank you. No luxury, everything was ordered in (as much local game as possible) - I think my mom baked 8 loaves of bread a week to keep up with the 4 boys.


With saving up, they seemed to do ok. The Government position was solid so you cold count on the job not going away. I know they saved up for things, we moved to Biorka Island before the sheep hunt could be done (17 miles off Sitka AK and a Nav Aid site) after that and they were able to buy a small boat/engine. Boston Whaler smallest one (11 feet?)

I posted prices fort Sako in the value section, 1970 List price was $220 (add on the rear sight which I think is what it had, long gone sigh)

As my dad had built up his own gun off a 1903A3, he build his own radio from a Heathkit, the Sako was the only really luxury item they ever bought.

My reference shows 1970 price for a Remington of $90/Mossburg $105/Savage $132
 
Maybe your Dad purchased the rifle using a "Layaway Plan" rather than paying in full. To attend college, I got my first full time (40 hour week) job in 1964. College took most of my money, but I managed to save small amounts of cash for monthly Layaway payments for camping, hunting and fishing gear. Most all stores gave you 3 months to pay, but a few kindhearted ones would allow 6 months to pay. No interest of course. It was typical that I would be making a $5 or $6 monthly payment on something like a coleman lantern or a weaver scope. A $50 Marlin model 57 Levermatic 22 was only $9 a month if you got a 6 month plan like I did. For 10 or so years, that was the only way I could afford to buy my hunting and fishing equipment. A job and college at the same time is tough, but I didn't see any other way to buy toys and go to college without a job. Layaway just took longer to actually have the toys in your hands. I love your story !! It's great.
 
Do to where we lived I would doubt it.

Northway was 50 miles from the nearest town, if you want to call Tok a town (more so now). Probably had a 100 people back then.

Pretty sure they paid cash for the boat in Southeastern AK (and motor).

Tok didn't even have a gun store, Glenallen maybe 150 miles away, Fairbanks for sure (200-250?)

Everything was ordered unless it was an individual to individual purchase.

My Dad was into quality, if he and or mom got something, it was top grade. I know she got a knitting machine. Any toys we got were mail order from Jaffco mostly.
 
Ok, having gone a bit nuts for the family, I did the same for the L61R Finnbear 30-06 I bought (could not stand not having my own after the good shooting with the family 270, something about those.....)

So I had the Lvl 3 done and while the letter is still in the mail, the rifle with a 60xx SN shows to have been made in 1960 of all things. Shipped in 1963 (early still wrinkling on the way they put numbers down). That would track in line with the 270 being made and shipped latter 1962.

I know there were oddities but expected to be late 1962 or early 1963. So mine while higher SN was made before the lower SN 270 which tracked for a 1962 mfg. Kind of odd, I wanted an early one and I got it intentional or not!

The prior 30-06 had was a 20,000 SN. Odd part was it had no front sight at all and it was not removed. Looked like it was a deluxe barrel put into a non deluxe package though I am probably going to cough up for the data on that one as well. No indication anything was changed, floor plate was standard plain.
 
You must have misread the inspection record. The first L61R Sakos were made in 1961, so the 1960 date has to be erroneous. The handwriting on many of the records was very difficult to read, so look again.
 
Capture  30-06 date.PNG

Got this captured finally (what a pain)

Anyone?

Could what looks like a zero be a 2?
 
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According to Jim Staff and the letter of Authentication, the 600X in 30-06 was inspected March 29, 1963.

Shipped April 1963.

It makes sense for the SN relationship, but I sure don't see the numbers as 3 (I could twist my eyes and see a 2) .

Jim would know of course, but man, I thought my number writing was bad.
 
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I thought my number writing was bad.
Yeah, Sako should have canned that guy as a record keeper. You have to look at several examples of his handwriting to finally conclude what some of the numerals are.

Through the years there were obviously several different "hands" that made the ledger entries, and some were much more legible than others. The Club has thought about using some AI program to try to automate records searches, but all of the varied handwriting makes such a project both expensive and the machine interpretation questionable.
 
I say we stick with Jim, who needs AI when we have him?

His experience is what separates us out, mine made no sense but could not conjecture it into anything else.
 
I just picked up a L579 Forrester in .243 with a 47XXX serial, I was just wondering if anyone could tell me the approximate year of manufacture? I should recieve it in a couple of weeks.
Thank you in advance.
 
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I just picked up a L579 Forrester in .243 with a 47XXX serial, I was just wondering if anyone could tell me the approximate year of manufacture? I should recieve it in a couple of weeks.
Thank you in advance.
Our Factory Records Service has the data on the L579 up to serial number 115300. Just click on it & request the data for yours.
 
Paulson,

I will do that after I receive it (What a great service by the way). I want to wait until I have budgeted such too. I was just curious in the interim though, someone might know roughly, 1965/1970 1980 etc. regards.
 
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