Sako Collector Vs Sako Shooter

[kirkbridgershooters]

I have been hanging around here for awhile and after looking over some of these threads I see that there is a ton of stuff I don’t know and even more I haven’t seen. When I see and hear all the various guns and comments, I have come to the conclusion that I am nothing more than a Sako shooter.

My taste in Sakos comes from decades of owning them and shooting them. I have around 25 Sakos and I shoot all of them. It is interesting to see how many guns are stashed away and kept pristine for the same reasons I have mine, which is for the appreciation of a well made rifle.

I have varied interests in guns and have many different kinds, but I don’t own any that I won’t shoot. I have seen plenty of mint guns, but felt better about getting high conditon guns that aren’t mint so I can shoot them, leaving the mint guns for someone else’s closet...

 

[waterwolf]

"I have varied interests in guns and have many different kinds, but I don’t own any that I won’t shoot."
In complete agreement. To me well-maintained used rifles are always more interesting to collect than mint rifles...because I want to shoot them.

 

[icebear]

I think the more appropriate term would be "collector-shooter." I define my own interest in those terms, and I think it's basically the same as yours. I enjoy shooting Sako rifles, I am interested in the history, and I admire the precision and quality that goes into the guns. Adding to my interest is the fact that I have lived in Finland, speak Finnish, have visited the Sako factory at Riihimäki, and also have a collecting interest in Finnish military firearms. My collecting is idiosyncratic; I collect what is interesting to me, not to assemble complete historical sets of calibers, variations, etc. My own Sako collection is about half the size of yours, and when I went to take count I noticed that fully half consists of L46, L469, and L461 rifles in .222 and .222 Magnum. And, in fact, those are also the ones I shoot the most. I also have a pair of Tikka sporting rifles, and one of them is also a .222.

I also have little or no interest in guns that I would not shoot. The concept of "too valuable to shoot" is completely alien to me. If I want a work of art to hang on the wall, I'll buy a painting or print and frame one of my own photographs. I do have guns that I've never shot - but that's a function of lack of time and shifting interests, not any hesitation to shoot even a pristine gun. I just paid a lot of money for a museum-grade flatside C96 Mauser Broomhandle, and that's on the shooting agenda as soon as I have time to take it apart and lube it. And one of these days I simply have to get around to shooting my unfired Costa Mesa AR180. I do have a couple of wall hangers that are either unshootable due to missing parts (anybody know where to find an extractor and cleaning rod for a 10.75mm Vetterli?) or just plain unsafe to shoot (a Winchester 94 I picked up in Mexico). I have only shot a fraction of my Finnish military rifles, but that, once again, is a function of available time, not any shyness about shooting them.

Many collectors will pay a very large premium for a gun that is, or appears to be, unfired. The most obvious example is the Colt SAA collector who wants guns with no turn marks on the cylinder. Not for me. I also stay away from things like the Winchester Model 70 and the Luger where tiny variations can mean hundreds of dollars difference in price, and where you need 20 years of experience to tell a real one from a fake.

Kirk, I think you and I are kindred spirits. Here's to the shooter-collector.