Wanting information

[chanisb239]

HI

While stationed in Germany in the 80's I purchased this rifle at a local gunshop. I moved back d put in the safe and sort of forgot about it. I have beenunable to find out any information and thought I would try you guys to see whatI have and the current value.

Thanks Mike

 

[stonecreek]

You've got a Sako A-I ("A, Roman Numeral one") barreled action with what appears to be the heavy (target or varmint) barrel in .222 Remington. The A-I action was essentially the same as the earlier L461 action which it superceded in the early 1980's.

The stock, however, is not one that I am familiar with and is likely a custom target stock, rather than a Sako factory stock (although it could be a stock which Sako distributed only in Europe for target shooting).

I'm not sure what the scope is (looks similar to a Leupold but is not), but the ringmounts are what we usually call the "original Sako factory ringmouts".

The rifle looks pristine. It's hard to say what a customized rifle (if it is customized) is worth. Let's just say "A lot more than you paid for it."

 

[chanisb239]

Thanks

it's all factory stock and the scope is a Tikka 6x40 and the gun shop was also a target
range for the local area in Germany
Mike

 

[dhunter]

chanisb239

While I am no expert on this subject, that rifle looks very much like a rifle of mine that I have always thought was what is referred to as a M579 Super Match. Mine was made around 1988. It is chambered .308 therefore it is an AII rather than an AI. I have never seen any reference to a Super Match AI in .222 however. Your stock differs in some respects but is very similar to mine.

Does yours have a magazine and if so does it have a wood bottom fillet section like the one in the picture? Also does yours have a inletted flush aluminum rail under the forearm?

I have never been able to find much information on this rifle either. I believe mine to be all original. Hopefully we both can gain some insight on the subject.

 

[cmjr]

Wow and double Wow! The stocks closely resemble the Range or Tikka target rifles I've seen and the 308 having the recoil lug pin makes sense. Other than the treatment of the butt those look to be the same and I gotta believe they came from the same place. Nice pics, thanks for sharing those.

 

[deergoose]

I have or have seen Sako literature on these jewells. If I can find it, I'll upload the info. They exist !!!.....I've never seen one, but know when I saw the first pic it was all factory Sako. Great find(s) guys !!

DeerGoose

 

[chanisb239]

Yes there is the inletted flush aluminum rail in the forearm and the wood bottem fillet section but it is attached tothe trigger mech and you load from the top. When I came back from germany my local gun shop looked fore info on the gun but the only answer they got back was questions on how this rifle made it to the united states. I just kind of blew it off .

 

[deergoose]

I found it.....pg #159 in Arma Fennica vol. 1. "SAKO TARGET L579" (they also made them in L461)....but what's pictured and the years indicated is for A actions with bolt shroud. Calibers listed are .308 and .222. Year of design is 1981, made only in 1982.....no info on how many made....gotta be real rare. English captions: "Special target rifle, heavy model of L-579 and L-461 rifles."...."Especially accurate barrels. Heavy stock model." Looks like the .308 holds five rounds, the .222 holds six. Barrel lengths are 660mm for the .308 and 600mm for the .222.

I think I have a color brochure on this thing, still digging through all my junk. Great stuff here guys, makes me want one.

DeerGoose

 

[chanisb239]

I purchased it around 83 or 84

 

[dhunter]

DeerGoose, Thanks for taking the time to look up the information for us. I checked my notes and the original owner purchased mine in Finland in 1983 and then brought it back to the US in 1988. This would be consistant with the information that you have provided and the time frame that chanisb239 purchased his rifle.

chanisb239, I appreciate the additional information. It looks like these two rifles are very similar in many respects. Have you fired yours? If so, how does it shoot? I have always been tempted to fire mine, but so far I have been able to refrain and preserve its virginity.

dhunter

 

[chanisb239]

Have never fired it, I was going to take it out and shoot it but decided to hold off and find out more about the rifle . I want to thank you all for the information that you have given. I guess I'm just wondering what the value is .

 

[Hootsmon]

I found something similar on egun a while back. In 6PPC. I thought it may have been an aftermarket stock. Either way, it looks pretty good.

http://www.egunn.de/market/item.php?id=3876127&PHPSESSID=6b1b226d45b5281bf6d364a80

 

[L61R]

chanisb!

That´s a nice Sako Target you´ve got! I don´t think many were impprted to the US but you can find them here in Europe on occasion, in both .222 and .308.
I have only a few catalogs with info on these but my scanner is broken so you´ll have to put up with some bad pics instead.

Jim

 

[rowdy]

Chanisb,

You have just given me another Sako to add to my wish list ! The .222 and .308 both look great.

Thank you !

Best Regards,

Rowdy

 

[chanisb239]

Thank you for all the great info

 

[chanisb239]

So does anyone want to give me an ideal on the value on this rifle?

 

[paulsonconstruction]

So does anyone want to give me an ideal on the value on this rifle?

That's what I call the $64,000 question. The value of anything is usually established in the open market where large numbers of any particular item are traded. We can compare these trades & come up with what any one item is worth in relation to the others. In your case, we have a single item with no known history of comparable sales & little knowledge as to even it's specific purpose. As we all know Sako records on their production are sketchy at best, but I would contact Berreta & see if I could get some info on numbers produced, what market they were produced for, & what specific target game they were built for. This might open another door for you to do further investigation. There is a saying used to describe a rifles value, "it's worth what a willing buyer & a willing seller agree to". In your case, that's about the best I can do. The rarity & uniqueness of your rifle give it a value by themselves. The fact that it is a Sako, built with great quality adds much to it's worth. Obviously, it's value is substantial to the right buyer. It's a matter of figuring out what "substantial" is & finding the right buyer. Hootsmon's post shows a similar rifle in 6PPC for sale in Europe for 1371 Euros. Converting that to dollars at the present exchange rate could possibly give you an approximation of your rifles worth.

 

[stonecreek]

I agree with Paulson. You could start with the prices of much more common Sakos and you could interpolate from there, but then you have to remember that there are also many more buyers for the more common Sakos and far fewer for a specialized rifle like yours. Your rifle is pretty much worthless to the average buyer looking for a sporter, but it is almost priceless to a knowledgable Sako enthusiast or target shooter. The commodity is scarce, but the market is thin.

If you can reach that relatively small group of potential buyers for a rifle like yours, I think that you can safely say that it is worth more than 98% of other Sakos. The 98th percentile of Sakos trades is probably somewhere in the neighborhood (wild guess) of $1500, so that is where I would start with trying to establish a price. If buyers are scarce, it could bring less. If buyers are more plentiful, and especially if two or more of them both have the desire and the money, then it could bring quite substantially more.

I don't know if these comments are of any help, but remember, opinions vary and this advice is guaranteed to be worth at least what you paid for it.

 

[JIA's Dad]

This is a very nice target rifle. Good find.

Interesting to see after what I found last Thursday, I found a Kimber target rifle in 22 caliber, a sigle shot bolt action. The Kimber had a stock remarkable similar to the rifle in the first post. It even had the channel embed under the forearm. Now to go back and get a better look at that Kimber again!!!

 

[the swedish chef]

chanisb239:

Congratulations to a great rifle! I`m a proud owner of a Target to (mine is in .222r)

They are realy nice rifles. Some may argue that they are a bit to heavy when it comes to hunting but you tend to forget all about that ones your in range and its time to shoot. I use mine for redfox , beavers , capercallies, roedeers and more. It is by far the most accurate rifle i have owned.

I dont have mutch information about the model but from what i have heard they were designed with a form of running target competition in mind. Apparently the .308`s are more common than the .222`s.

It was possible to get aftermarket gunstocks for Targets true a company called Loukonen. The Loukonen gunstocks bares a resimbelence with the ones that were fitted on the P94 sporters. I dont think that this company exists any more but if your lucky and keep an eye out on the Finnish gunmarket you just might be able to pick up a used one.

Best Regards! / Jon , Sweden