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new to me L57 in .244 Remington

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Let's talk about Sako L57 and L579 in .244 Rem
Okay.

There would have theoretically been eight different configurations of Sakos in .244: L57 in Standard Sporter, Heavy Barrel, Deluxe Sporter, and Mannlicher; and L579 in the same four configurations. I own or have owned four of those (L579 Standard, HB, and Deluxe, and L57 Standard.) I still have three of them, so will take a photo and post it when I have a chance.

Considering how relatively few .244's were made in total, some of the scarcer configurations might even qualify as being "rare".

I'm not sure the exact twist that Sako used on these, but it was apparently metric and a bit faster than the 1-12" that Remington originally specified. The measurements I've taken on mine come out about 1-11.25". Contrary to popular notion, this is fast enough to shoot the current production 6mm Remington 100 grain CoreLoct factory ammunition (maybe the only 6mm Rem ammunition available?) very accurately.

My L579 HB is a superb long range varminter. I shoot a Nosler 70 grain Ballistic Tip or Varmageddon in it at between 3500 and 3600 fps.

I keep intending to take the L57 Standard out to hunt deer, but it has to wait its turn and there are still several nice Sakos ahead of it in line. (BTW: A good member here of the SCC traded the L57 Standard to a dealer friend of mine in on a beautiful L46 Hornet; in turn, I bought the L57 from the dealer. So, "B", thanks and I hope you're enjoying your Hornet and not missing your .244 too much!)
 
Okay.

There would have theoretically been eight different configurations of Sakos in .244: L57 in Standard Sporter, Heavy Barrel, Deluxe Sporter, and Mannlicher; and L579 in the same four configurations. I own or have owned four of those (L579 Standard, HB, and Deluxe, and L57 Standard.) I still have three of them, so will take a photo and post it when I have a chance.

Considering how relatively few .244's were made in total, some of the scarcer configurations might even qualify as being "rare".

I'm not sure the exact twist that Sako used on these, but it was apparently metric and a bit faster than the 1-12" that Remington originally specified. The measurements I've taken on mine come out about 1-11.25". Contrary to popular notion, this is fast enough to shoot the current production 6mm Remington 100 grain CoreLoct factory ammunition (maybe the only 6mm Rem ammunition available?) very accurately.

My L579 HB is a superb long range varminter. I shoot a Nosler 70 grain Ballistic Tip or Varmageddon in it at between 3500 and 3600 fps.

I keep intending to take the L57 Standard out to hunt deer, but it has to wait its turn and there are still several nice Sakos ahead of it in line. (BTW: A good member here of the SCC traded the L57 Standard to a dealer friend of mine in on a beautiful L46 Hornet; in turn, I bought the L57 from the dealer. So, "B", thanks and I hope you're enjoying your Hornet and not missing your .244 too much!)

Stone, you may recall I had two L57 244 Sporters at the time and was certainly willing to let one go in order to obtain such a nice Hornet, especially one having the left wing safety, to add to my other left-wingers (Bee, 7x33, & 222), and frankly, the Hornet accompanies me more often on trips to the ranch than my 244 does. Perhaps I should swing by your way some day soon so we can compare the accuracy of the 244 twins. (And I'll provide the rounds if you provide the range!)
 
098BB669-D71B-4A91-B6DD-20C4BB15902D.jpeg E66F8C44-E76C-4F20-896E-A25762A8C562.jpeg A couple, both dates to December 1959 two days apart but serial numbers are over a 1000 apart. Note the horizontal groves are not the same, one has one more than the other. My first was a heavy barrel my brother bought at Ft Riley Kansas in 1961 when departing the army. He let me borrow when he was not around to keep me from borrowing!
 
Wow, TWO L57 Mannlichers in .244 in one day! I'm not sure I even knew there was such a thing, and I've been collecting Sakos for over 20 years. And, interestingly, one has a barrel band and one does not.
 
Paul B, yes its a 2 deer plate, and yes the Mannlicher is a carbine. Like most on here, I call it a 20" barrel. However, in actuality this carbine barrel measures 20.92" in length. All the L57 Mannlicher carbines I've measured have been slightly longer than 20.9". I've never measured a barrel on a L57 carbine that was 20" in length. There may be some with a 20" barrel out there, but I've never come across one.
 
Paul B, yes its a 2 deer plate, and yes the Mannlicher is a carbine. Like most on here, I call it a 20" barrel. However, in actuality this carbine barrel measures 20.92" in length. All the L57 Mannlicher carbines I've measured have been slightly longer than 20.9". I've never measured a barrel on a L57 carbine that was 20" in length. There may be some with a 20" barrel out there, but I've never come across one.


Good to know, thanks!
 
Fantastic guns and photos, guys! Two different versions of .244 Mannlichers -- an L57 with short barrel/two piece stock, and an L579 with long barrel/one piece stock. Deluxes. Different bolt shrouds. What a variety in only a handful of examples!

I originally said that there would be a total of eight different configurations of .244's, but if you take into account the variations in barrels and stocks (not to mention action features and Deluxe floorplates) there are many more "sub-variations".

Considering the small number of .244's made to begin with, some of these variations might be counted on the fingers of one hand!
 
All the L57 Mannlicher carbines I've measured have been slightly longer than 20.9". I've never measured a barrel on a L57 carbine that was 20" in length. There may be some with a 20" barrel out there, but I've never come across one.
This is certainly something I never knew. Sako barrels were actually in metric lengths. The "20"-inch barrel is actually 510mm, which converts to a tiny smidgen more than 20 inches, which would be 508mm. The "23-inch" barrels are actually 580mm, or about 22.83", while the "24-inch" barrels of the Finnbear were actually 620mm, or 24.4 inches. Standard Vixen barrel which we often call "24-inches" are actually 600mm, or 23.62 inches.

The 20.92" (most would measure it as 21-inches) was probably either a 530mm or 535mm barrel. Like I say, I never knew it existed, so thanks for that info, Douglastwo!

Now, in the finishing process where the barrel may have a little metal faced off of the breech end for headspacing and a tad may come off of the muzzle in crowning, barrels of the "same" length may easily vary by a couple of millimeters.
 

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