$42,500???

[iwanna]

This must be a typo.

http://www.gunsinternational.com/gu...orester-243-heavy-barrel.cfm?gun_id=101024837

Drop a zero off the end and it's still a typo.

 

[stonecreek]

No, it's not a typo, just the result of bad information, and this time directly from a well-meaning employee of Sako. I've met Marko and he is a very nice, knowledgeable, and exceedingly helpful young man (and my wife thought quite handsome, too) who works in the Customer Service department. But he has no access to the old records.

The owner posted here on the Forum about this rifle, L579 #10093, a short time ago. He had gotten Marko at Sako to respond to him on his inquiry about its serial number and he got a misleading response that assumed that because the lowest serial number for an L579 is 10091 that his rifle was the third one made. AAAARGH! Thus the owner is speculating that it is somehow worth $40,000+.

However, as we are all now aware, Sako serial numbers have little to do with the order in which they were produced. As you can see in the attachment below of the inspection records for SN's 10076-10125, this rifle was inspected in July of 1960, while other L579's were inspected in early 1959, more than a year before this rifle was built. There were hundreds of L579's built earlier than #10093. In fact, there were 515 L579's shipped in 1959 alone.

I should have said something when the owner originally posted about his rifle, but it didn't seem important at the time. Sorry that the misinformation has lead to this disappointing circumstance.

 

[iwanna]

Ah, thanks for that info. Seller sure is dreaming big on the price.

 

[topgear]

Aftermarket recoil pad too. Also wouldn’t you expect the 1/2 moon release floor plate not the S type?

 

[pow]

So Marko works at the factory and there are no old records on the premises?

 

[stonecreek]

So Marko works at the factory and there are no old records on the premises?

My understanding is that the records Sako has are in the original ledger books and stored some place in one of the administrative buildings. We have one SCC member who has a relative/friend working there who occasionally (but rarely) steals a little time to find the right book in the right stack to look up an SN for him, but typically Sako doesn't delve into these old records since it is time-consuming and difficult due to the nature of the records.

I spoke to an SCC member who very recently visited the factory as a guest and who asked the management about records. The Sako managment's reply was "You guys (SCC) have better records than we do!" This is unfortunate, but apparently true.

 

[stonecreek]

Aftermarket recoil pad too. Also wouldn’t you expect the 1/2 moon release floor plate not the S type?

Yes, you would normally see the half-moon release in one of the earliest L579's. I have no idea exactly when they transitioned, but I strongly suspect that some of the half-moons and some of the "s" releases were being shipped at the same time. However, the rifle does appear (possibly, the photo isn't conclusive) to have the longitudinally grooved bolt shroud which the earliest L579's exhibited. It does seem odd to mix those two features on one gun.

But the L579 had been in production for over a year when this one was made, so there was ample chance for odd parts to be "mixed and matched" as Sako has always had a tendency to do. What's for sure is that Sako didn't mount that recoil pad, however.

 

[paulsonconstruction]

I sent a message thru the Guns International site to the seller informing him of the reality concerning his rifle & that it was unfortunate that "Marko" gave him some misinformation. Recommended that he inquire here for the factory ledger establishing his rifles production date, etc. & read this thread. He cordially responded & thanked me for my concerns & information & that he would "investigate my claims". Haven't heard any more from him to date.

 

[pow]

Well if I had a letter from the factory stating the status of my gun, why would I even consider the opinion of non factory people?

 

[paulsonconstruction]

Well if I had a letter from the factory stating the status of my gun, why would I even consider the opinion of non factory people?

If you would open the PDF in stonecreek's first post you will see the Factory ledger showing the date of production & proving the info from a factory person is erroneous. I doubt "Marko" even has access to the factory records even if Sako still has them. Sako's record keeping was not kept in the same fashion as it's American counterparts, like Colt or Winchester & not deemed all that important to Sako resulting in lost, incomplete, & confusing data. We are extremely fortunate to have the limited records we do have. This allows us, in this case, to definitively refute what some "Customer Service" employee has mistakenly claimed.

 

[stonecreek]

Well if I had a letter from the factory stating the status of my gun, why would I even consider the opinion of non factory people?

He doesn't have a "factory letter". He has an email from an employee in the factory who surmises something without referring to any actual record -- only to references which state that #10091 is the lowest serial number for an L579, not that it is the first L579 made. And information directly from the Sako records isn't an "opinion".

I have no doubt that Marko at Sako was trying to be helpful. I also have no doubt that the guns he works on for customers (those from the current Beretta era) are serial numbered in chronological order and that he would naturally make the same assumption about earlier production.

However, the fact is that L579 SN 10093 was inspected in July of 1960, many hundreds of units into the production of the L579 series which began in the first half of 1959.

Now, let's talk about "firsts" and what that status, if validated, might add to a rifle's value: I have, simply by chance and not design, one of the very first lot of L61R's made and shipped to the U.S. The lot was only 10 rifles, all in .30-06. The very first ones ever received by the venerable Firearms International. The very first ones ever on American soil. The very first of the most popular Sako ever made. Condition is virtually mint and all original. So, what am I bid? I suspect somewhat less than five figures, don't you think?

In fact, I could put that rifle up on Gunbroker with all of the supporting information and I'll bet it wouldn't bring one thin dime more than a similar rifle which came four years and thousands of L61R's later. People don't much give a rat about such things, although I certainly think it is curiosity-piquing, interesting, and somewhat fulfilling to have knowledge of such things. By the way, my "first" L61R isn't really for sale.