Several (10+) years ago I bought my first Sako. It's an AV with (Stoeger?) import markings on the barrel. It's in beautiful condition with great bluing and a really nice stock. The stock is what intrigues me about it. It's a very light blond colored wood but is a matte (non-shiny) finish. It has the squared off fore end and it slopes backward up to the barrel. I picked it up at a gun show in Mobile AL with a Leupold VX III 3-9x40 scope on it and paid $750 or thereabouts. Sold the scope and mounted a Kahles Helia CL 3-9x50. It's not a deluxe model but it's very nice and I've always been hesitant to hunt with it. Had to be a bluebird sky day and hunting in a box blind out in the open. No brush or briars. Foolish maybe but I always felt like it was a much nicer rifle than I deserved. It shoots MOA or better with Hornady ammo.
Recently ran up on the L61R in a pawn shop in Daphne AL. Looked it over as best I know how. Bluing is 85% or better but stock is dinged up and discolored in a thumb size spot on the right side. May try to refinish it myself, as there's not a lot to lose with the stock as is. Mounted an older Swarovski Habicht 2.5-10x56 I picked up at another gun show. Had it sighted in and it shoots LIGHTS OUT. Way under MOA. Only tried one box of ammo but it turned out to be what the gun liked.
How I bought the L61R is the funny part. I've never had much luck buying anything at a pawn shop and figured this was no exception. I'd looked the gun over and it had a price tag of $899 on it. I thought that was a reasonable price for a really nice example but high for this one. I started to walk but decided to interrupt the owner who was in a convo with a couple guys. "Would you do any better on that Sako for cash?" I asked. He picked the gun back up and looked it over and said, "Sir I'm sorry but when I have these red tags on a gun, it's about what I've got in it". I wasn't surprised and thanked him and started to turn away. As he turned to return the gun to the rack, the price tag spun around. The BACK side of the tag read $599, and I hadn't seen that. I told him, "If you'll take plastic, just hand me that thing back and we can do business". That likely may still have been too much but I was really happy about it, ESPECIALLY after I saw how it shot. I'll try to post some pics of both some time soon.
Recently ran up on the L61R in a pawn shop in Daphne AL. Looked it over as best I know how. Bluing is 85% or better but stock is dinged up and discolored in a thumb size spot on the right side. May try to refinish it myself, as there's not a lot to lose with the stock as is. Mounted an older Swarovski Habicht 2.5-10x56 I picked up at another gun show. Had it sighted in and it shoots LIGHTS OUT. Way under MOA. Only tried one box of ammo but it turned out to be what the gun liked.
How I bought the L61R is the funny part. I've never had much luck buying anything at a pawn shop and figured this was no exception. I'd looked the gun over and it had a price tag of $899 on it. I thought that was a reasonable price for a really nice example but high for this one. I started to walk but decided to interrupt the owner who was in a convo with a couple guys. "Would you do any better on that Sako for cash?" I asked. He picked the gun back up and looked it over and said, "Sir I'm sorry but when I have these red tags on a gun, it's about what I've got in it". I wasn't surprised and thanked him and started to turn away. As he turned to return the gun to the rack, the price tag spun around. The BACK side of the tag read $599, and I hadn't seen that. I told him, "If you'll take plastic, just hand me that thing back and we can do business". That likely may still have been too much but I was really happy about it, ESPECIALLY after I saw how it shot. I'll try to post some pics of both some time soon.
