.222 Magnum Carbine at the Range (Crime Story, continued)

[icebear]

In a previous post, I related the saga of a Sako L461 Mannlicher-style carbine in .222 Magnum that was stolen from my transfer FFL's shop before I could pick it up, then found and returned by BATF. Well, today I took it to the county range for a 100-yard workout and it is a winner!

Tried it first with some ancient 55 grain Remington soft points I had picked up at a gun show. First three-shot group measured 7/8". Then I switched to Nosler 50 grain Ballistic Tips. Three of those went into 3/4".

I'd say this one is a keeper. If you want to read the original "Crime Story," here's the link. https://sakocollectors.com/forum/threads/crime-story.16538/

I also brought along my L469 carbine in .222 Magnum. I hadn't fired it in about 20 years. First group with the 55-grain Remingtons was half an inch! Succeeding groups weren't as good; maybe something shifted or maybe I was just getting tired. Anyway it showed that the old carbine hadn't lost anything in 20 years in the gun safe.

The target from the L461:


Here are pics of the newly-acquired L461, with its 3-9x Leupold Compact.


And the L469, with a Leupold 4-12x AO. I wonder how many of these Sako made. It's pretty rare - this is the only one I've ever seen; I believe another forum member also has one.

 

[bloorooster]

Pretty wood! On both rifles! Good shooting too!
I’ve never seen a L469 carbine before. It has the later attributes, bottom metal, two point forearm checkering patterns…sweet gun!
I used to own a L 461 Full length mannlicher in .222r. It shot a pretty steady half inch. It would also hold 8 rounds in the box magazine! Wouldn’t be too surprised to find yours will do the same.
Great shooting Icebear!

bloo

 

[douglastwo]

I'll say they certainly are keepers. Both very nice, and I love the color of the wood on the 469. If you got that 222 mag ammo recently, I need to come to your gun shows. I haven't seen any mag ammo at my shows in 3 or 4 years!

 

[icebear]

I haven't seen any mag ammo at my shows in 3 or 4 years!

In Texas? I'm surprised; I thought you could find anything at a gun show in Texas and Arizona was the desert. I see .222 Mag ammo about every third or fourth show, but most of it is badly overpriced. I got my last batch of 3 boxes of Remington a few weeks ago for 20 bucks a box, which I thought was reasonable. The ammo was ancient (matte green and red box) and one box was short a couple of rounds, but it shoots well in the carbine. I have to keep my four .222 Magnum Sakos fed, and I don't have time to reload at the moment. Remington is about all you ever see at a show; once in a while there's a box of Norma but prices for that are somewhere around the moon. I got the Nosler ammo from Midway - not cheap, but it's accurate.

 

[douglastwo]

I just looked at Midway for Nosler 222 mag. They are out of stock and are not taking any back orders, and their last selling price was $109.99 per box of 20. If they had it I wouldn't pay $109.....$50 or 60 maybe! Luckily I have 12 boxes of Remington in the green and yellow box, that I picked up in the 80's at an Albuquerque show. I don't remember what I paid for it but probably $10 or so per box.

 

[icebear]

I just looked at Midway for Nosler 222 mag. They are out of stock and are not taking any back orders, and their last selling price was $109.99 per box of 20. If they had it I wouldn't pay $109.....$50 or 60 maybe! Luckily I have 12 boxes of Remington in the green and yellow box, that I picked up in the 80's at an Albuquerque show. I don't remember what I paid for it but probably $10 or so per box.

Wow, you had me scared there for a minute. That $109.99 is for a box of 50, not 20. That's still high, presumably due to the all-around ammo shortage. Normal price is more like $79.99, and I would expect it to come back down in a few months as the demand for .223 and pistol ammo eases. I stocked up when it was on sale for about $65 a couple of years ago.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1002022448?pid=936282

I've Googled around for .222 Mag ammo and found several small manufacturers advertising it at $25-35 per box of 20. This was before the current ammo shortage, so I don't know what the current status is for price and availability.

 

[douglastwo]

That's me not reading carefully to notice the $109 was for a box of 50. But with this latest shortage, ammo prices have been crazy and hard to keep up with and even harder to pay what they want.

 

[cl_leg]

dude, that L469 222mag is sweet!
trade ya??

 

[icebear]

dude, that L469 222mag is sweet!
trade ya??

Whaddya got? It better be good, I've been looking for a nice one of these for about ten years!

But since we are on opposite sides of the border, we're just pulling each other's leg anyway.