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Bofor's 308 Deluxe?

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Congrats! It has a front sight, which is more often found on the older ones, so I would guess it a bit older than 1966. But that is only a shot in the dark as Sako serial numbers can jump all over the place and front sights on Deluxes seemed to show up somewhat randomly through the 1960's. Without its hang tag I suppose we'll never know exactly. By the way, I have an L579 Deluxe with a serial number in the teens and it has no front sight.
 
Eddie-The bottom metal doesn't look correct for a 1966 even though the serial number would approximate that year of birth. What pattern is the engraving on the floor plate?- Misako
 
Misako's right -- the button release floorplate came along around 1969. But like most Sako changeovers it was phased in as the older "s" release floorplates were used up. The stock looks right for an early- to mid-1960's gun, but the floorplate doesn't. Something appears not to add up.
 
Misako's right -- the button release floorplate came along around 1969. But like most Sako changeovers it was phased in as the older "s" release floorplates were used up. The stock looks right for an early- to mid-1960's gun, but the floorplate doesn't. Something appears not to add up.
Floorplate getPart14.jpg
 
Eddie: Check out the first two L61's on the chart. You'll see that the earlier one had a serial number 1,000 higher than the later one. This disparity in serial numbers can be more than two years difference in consecutive serial numbers. All a Sako serial number will give you is a general notion of the years in which the rifle might have been produced.

I've never seen the later-style bottom metal like your rifle has on a rifle as early as 1967. Of course, just because I've never seen it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, but I think that other experienced Sako guys will verify that the push-button release with rounded floorplate tang came along sometime around 1968-1969.

The earlier bottom metal with "s" magazine release and square tang (not to be confused with the earliest bottom metal with the half moon release inside the trigger guard) was slightly wider than the push button bottom metal. If the later bottom metal were placed in stock originally inletted for the earlier bottom metal then it would show gaps between the wood and the metal. Since the inletting on your rifle appears correct, it would seem that the bottom metal and the stock do go together.

It is unusual to see a Bofors barrel coupled with the later bottom metal, but it can happen. The Bofors mark was dropped sometime around mid-1968, but as with any Sako component, even though it might have been replaced with some update, if it were available when the rifle was assembled then it was used. As a result, a few Bofors barrels were probably still coming out of the factory in 1969 and maybe even 1970. Who knows?

Your rifle is an interesting combination of older (serial number, front sight, Bofors) and newer (bottom metal, stock). It is possible that someone married components from two different rifles at sometime in the past, but it is more likely that your rifle is fully original and simply received components from different production phases, which is not all that unusual. But the earliest date of the latest component kinda sets the age limit for the rifle, assuming it is original, so I'm thinking no earlier than 1968-69.

If only we had access to the factory records!!!
 
Eddie:
Like Stonecreek said & you will learn if you stay interested in Sakos, the serial number is not reliable or definitive when it comes to dating a rifle. All a serial number does, by itself, is get you within a year or two. The factory hang tag is the only accurate way to obtain a production date. The factory hang tag data we do have confirms what Stone pointed out about lower serial numbers, at times, being produce later than higher serial numbers. This is not uncommon as Sako did not produce rifles in sequential order, but rather in a random like fashion based on what action they grabbed out of a bin to start building one. Many times a particular feature or configuration, as Stone also points out, will give a better estimate of a production year than the SN. That chart is more like the "Pirates Code", kind of a guideline rather than a hard & fast rule.
 
Very nice Bear. Love the Deluxes with the front sights. Non-factory screws in the bottom metal. No big deal, just sayin' as you are in the learning stage.
 
Great discussion here....covering at least two interesting topics that we've discussed before. Always good to talk it over again.

I believe the .308 is all original. I have many Bofors stamped rifles with the later bottom metal. One thing that I haven't recalled seeing, but will need to check for, is a rounded tang with the 'S' style FP release, or a square tang with the button release. Not sure if these combinations would even work, as the release may have been tied to the inlet for the tang when being made....who knows, 'never say never' we always tell ourselves.

And yes, Bofors stampings have always been random well past our "1968" accepted date of discontinuance. I have confirmed a Bofors rifle from 1971, NIB. But, not my gun.

Incidently, I was on a hunt many years ago for Bofors stamped rifles without the grip cap. I found a few, and ended up finding two of the converse....grip cap guns without Bofors stamps....both in .222Mag. From what I concluded, there's a sweet spot there of about 6-8 months in the production run where these combinations exist. Cool.

Congrats on your nice rifles !

thanks,
DeerGoose
 
Sako Golden Anniversary.JPG

I agree with DG that this is a great discussion and that the 308 is original. Most of us have heard that there are Sakos made in 1971 (based on hang tag data) that are marked bofors, and I believe it. But I also believe they started making those rifles in 68 0r 69 at the latest and didn't complete a hang tag for it until they shipped the rifle in 71. I think this is the only logical explanation of why there are no bofors marked GA or 25-06's. I think production started on the GA's and the 25-06's in late 69. I attached this Garcia correspondence to show that completed GA's would be arriving at dealers beginning in October 71 and Garcia's catalogs stated they started picking wood blanks for the GA's 2 years before they were ready for shipment to dealers which means Sako knew in 1969 that they would produce the Golden Anniversary. I can't help but believe this same thought process applies to other features such as floor plate buttons, and grip caps, etc.
 
I don't know if you were interested in buying the GA's back then, like I was. But I still couldn't justify buying one GA for $550 in late 1971, which was the highest price I ever saw on one, when I could purchase Deluxe Sporters all day long for $250. On top of that, at least 1/2 of the Deluxes were available from the dealers as new guns marked bofors that they had on the shelf for 2 to 3 years that they were unable to sell. But bofors marked didn't mean anything to buyers in 1971. It goes without saying that you could still purchase a new GA for $550 as late as 1978 or 79.
 
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