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Stock refinishing Sako AIII

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

bigcountry4me

Sako-addicted
Wanted to display a couple of before photos of a Sako AIII stock I’m in the process of refinishing. The rifle stock was a tired and dated lacquer finish with that old reddish brown stain. I’m sorry for not providing a before shot with the finish and dings showing. I got a little ahead of myself. It’s been rough sanded. It will be finish sanded down to 1200 grit, which is essentially polishing the wood. Then I will apply 20-25 coats of the Pro Custom Oil shown in the foreground. It will be a matte/oil finish when complete.

The metal is nearly perfect. The bore is equally as nice. This rifle will make someone a nice usable hunting rifle when finished. Obviously the refinishing will be fully disclosed. I will post after photos when complete. I’m sharing this to merely demonstrate what anyone can do if they find a shooter looking for new life.
 

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Nice piece of wood under that stain and lacquer. I'll be interested to see the results.
Five coats in. Starting to show the decent figure hidden under the old stuff.

Disclaimer - I fully realize some will disagree with refinishing as takes away from the originality. Trust me, I get it. I have several original rifles some perfect, some have a few dings and a few scratches. These will never be redone under any circumstances.

This rifle was and always will be a shooter, period....I will sell it very reasonably to someone who wants a Sako but can’t afford to spend what an original might cost. Ask yourself this, would you buy this rifle, or would you buy a plastic stocked “name the brand” entry level rifle?

More to come. Thanks.
 

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I'm with you. First, an A-series rifle is not especially collectible unless it is a rare caliber or configuration. Second, as much as we admire Sako's engineering, their treatment of wood has been pretty spotty. The early models were nicely finished in oil, but a lot of later models featured indifferent wood, muddy staining, and high-gloss finishes that were not up to the standard of the rest of the gun. Apart from the early guns, the only Sako rifles that consistently featured attractive, well-finished wood were the Safari, the Classic, and to some extent the Deluxe (if you like blond wood and skip-line checkering). A lot of the checkering was not the best, either, characterized by too-wide borders and an excess of finish in the grooves. So, I am very much on the side of any Sako owner who decides to improve the finish of his rifle (unless it's a rare, collectible piece like the 7x57 Mannlicher-style carbine that recently sold for over $3000 on Gunbroker). I have not personally refinished any of my Sakos except for one that already had a custom stock, but that has more to do with lack of time than anything else.

I expect this project will produce a really beautiful rifle, given the potential shown in the first photos. I'll look forward to seeing the results.
 
I'm with you. First, an A-series rifle is not especially collectible unless it is a rare caliber or configuration. Second, as much as we admire Sako's engineering, their treatment of wood has been pretty spotty. The early models were nicely finished in oil, but a lot of later models featured indifferent wood, muddy staining, and high-gloss finishes that were not up to the standard of the rest of the gun. Apart from the early guns, the only Sako rifles that consistently featured attractive, well-finished wood were the Safari, the Classic, and to some extent the Deluxe (if you like blond wood and skip-line checkering). A lot of the checkering was not the best, either, characterized by too-wide borders and an excess of finish in the grooves. So, I am very much on the side of any Sako owner who decides to improve the finish of his rifle (unless it's a rare, collectible piece like the 7x57 Mannlicher-style carbine that recently sold for over $3000 on Gunbroker). I have not personally refinished any of my Sakos except for one that already had a custom stock, but that has more to do with lack of time than anything else.

I expect this project will produce a really beautiful rifle, given the potential shown in the first photos. I'll look forward to seeing the results.
Thanks, I appreciate your perspective.
 
I'm with you. First, an A-series rifle is not especially collectible unless it is a rare caliber or configuration. Second, as much as we admire Sako's engineering, their treatment of wood has been pretty spotty. The early models were nicely finished in oil, but a lot of later models featured indifferent wood, muddy staining, and high-gloss finishes that were not up to the standard of the rest of the gun. Apart from the early guns, the only Sako rifles that consistently featured attractive, well-finished wood were the Safari, the Classic, and to some extent the Deluxe (if you like blond wood and skip-line checkering). A lot of the checkering was not the best, either, characterized by too-wide borders and an excess of finish in the grooves. So, I am very much on the side of any Sako owner who decides to improve the finish of his rifle (unless it's a rare, collectible piece like the 7x57 Mannlicher-style carbine that recently sold for over $3000 on Gunbroker). I have not personally refinished any of my Sakos except for one that already had a custom stock, but that has more to do with lack of time than anything else.

I expect this project will produce a really beautiful rifle, given the potential shown in the first photos. I'll look forward to seeing the results.
Finished the rifle this morning. Nice face lift on the old girl. A work colleague has already committed to purchase. We may end up with a new member soon.
 

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Looks great. A definite improvement over the factory finish, and well worth the time put into it.
 
Let's see a photo of the other side. The original photos showed some interesting grain there.
 

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Best "oil finish" product I have seen is TimberLuxe. It is used by the stock maker for Heym. He was at the Dallas Safari Club convention the past two years. It is foolproof, too.
 
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