A question to all Australian members!

[L61R]

Hi all!
As many, or most maybe, probably have noticed ,there is a lot of discussions about the American market and the different importers and so on.
I know that Australia was, and maybe still is, a big market for Sako as well, and I would like to learn more about it! Was there one importer or several, which rifles was imported and so on!
I hope some of you Mates can enlighten me and others here!!
Thanks!!
Jim

 

[mcgrif2243]

Amen Jim!
I for one, would love to here from Sako owners around the world who have something other than a Firearms International, Garcia or Stoeger U.S. import. I have two Sako's, not U.S. imports, whose configurations are different than U.S. imports from the same time period. I possess original Sako literature from 1971, that reads, "More than four-fifths of Sako's production is exported, with this exportation directed to over sixty different countries. So, lets here it from the other 59!
Regards, Will

 

[L61R]

OK!
Someone has to begin and it might as well be me!
As I live in Sweden, I guess the numbers of Sakos imported here are not that many, if you compare it to the US market or the World market.
But nevertheless, Swedes have always loved Sako and there are plenty of them around! ItxB4 s not easy to find some of all the different models, but most are quite cheap if you compare them with international prices.
We have had a lot of Swedish Sako importers and here is my little list.

Calic Ab Early 50xB4s
Gyttorp 1975
Norlett 1979
Huskvarna 1981
Classic Vapen Ab ?
Sako Sweden 2003

Jim

 

[stonecreek]

It would be wonderful to hear from various countries that received Sako imports directly. For starters, I'll take a stab at guessing the leading importers of Sakos by country, in this order:

U.S.

Australia

Great Britain

Germany (with many re-exported by U.S. servicemen

)

Canada

Sweden

Norway

Denmark

France

These are just wild guesses and are based on the size of each country's market with a "windage" factor for the relative popularity of hunting in the country. Anyone know how close or far off I may be?

 

[L61R]

Steve!
I guess you are close to 100% right here? May be some small differences but you are close. IMO!
Jim

 

[mcgrif2243]

Hey all,
I would guess numerous African countries (South Africa, Kenya, etc.) would be up there, as well as Russia with the proximity and relationship as far as competitive shooting sports. Remember Sako and the .220 Russian?
Will

 

[vlindustriesqld1]

HI everyone,

Pete from Australia here. The current sako importer to here is Berretta Australia ,I don't know how long they have been the agents but we were buying sako 243's in western queensland in the mid 60's

from our local gun shop in Roma.

I will try to get some details somewhere and let you know how much i can find out.

Regards to all.

Pete @ vlindustriesqld1

 

[Anonymous]

Although it may take some time, why doesn't someone who is passionate about this issue write to Sako in Finland and ask them if they could provide a record of countries they have exported their rifles to since 1921? I'll look in my book, but this might even be something that can be Googled.
Erstwhile, it will always be nice to hear from our Australian members.

S-A

 

[stonecreek]

Hey all,
I would guess numerous African countries (South Africa, Kenya, etc.) would be up there, as well as Russia with the proximity and relationship as far as competitive shooting sports. Remember Sako and the .220 Russian?
Will

Will, just guessing again, but I doubt very many Sakos were directly exported to African countries. Importing arms to most African countries is complicated and expensive, and import relationships tend to be centered on the European country of which the African nation was once a colony, territory, or protectorate. In other words, imports to Kenya and South Africa used to come mainly through Great Britain or British commonwealth countries. Similarly, there is/was a stronger connection between Tanzania and Namibia with Germany than with most European countries. Since Finland was never an African colonizer it would have established few trade relationships there. So my best guess is that, historically at least, most of the Sakos you'll find in African countries originally came through a third country like Britain or Germany before landing in Africa.

Today may well be a different story. Beretta is now a multi-national conglomerate with trade relationships in many countries. Beretta probably exports to any number of African countries that didn't receive sporting arms exports directly in the past.

I also doubt Russia or the old Soviet states having imported many Sakos. The Soviets were quite proprietary about their arms and always used their own special and exotic equipment for Olympic and International shooting competition. I suspect that only the highest level, most privileged persons in the Kremlin ever got to bring a Sako into the country to hunt with, and even then it would have been completely off of anyone's record. That, too, has changed, but any significant importation of Sakos to the old Soviet Bloc would have only been in the last dozen years or so.

 

[hkguns]

I'm new here so bear with me.
Most of the reading I have done in other forums is negative on the Beretta relationship with Sako. I'm wondering what the prevailing thoughts are here?
I view it as positive, but I am biased, as I own several and highly respect Beretta shotguns. I think Beretta's global reach and export capability adds a lot to Sako's ability to market and sell rifles globally.

 

[stonecreek]

Beretta's nature has changed substantially in the last couple of decades. Their military sales are now vastly larger than their civilian sales, so their corporate outlook reflects this.

Most people believe that the sporting lines that Beretta markets have suffered some neglect because of this. That's not to say that their fine Italian shotguns are not still great sporting arms, nor that some Sakos are not still fine rifles, but Beretta has moved Sako toward marketing very pedestrian black-stocked rifles with gimmicky features and now uses Tikka as the entry line in order to hold Sako prices at a higher priced point. Also, Beretta could care less about supporting older (or even newer) Sako products. They offer no inventory of parts and provide no information for Sako owners who might need customer service on pre-Beretta models.

 

[mcgrif2243]

Hey Stone,
I guess I'm stuck on the original information I possess published by Sako in 1971, where they state, "More than four-fifths of Sako's production is exported, with this exportation directed to OVER sixty (60) different countries". Let's say all of Europe, (minus soviet block) U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand. What's left to cover the 60? I guessed African countries as I was thinking globally about hunting markets. Aside from Europe, North America and Australia (three of the continents on the planet), where would Sako want to market their line of strictly hunting firearms? South America? Asia? Anyway, just going by what Sako published in 1971.
Will

 

[stonecreek]

As I say, I'm just guessing. Maybe someone with actual African experience can enlighten us.

But, it wouldn't be hard to count up 60 countries for Sako exports with few if any African nations in the count. For example, here's a current list of European countries (courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation):

• Albania
• Andorra
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bosnia-Hercegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Malta
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• Vatican

Some of these didn't exist in 1971, but some others that are no longer with us did. At any rate, I'm not saying that no Sakos at all were exported directly to African countries, just that the numbers of actual rifles would be very small compared to the countries I listed on my original list.

I would guess that over half (again, wild guess) of Sako's production since 1950 has been sent to the U.S. And I'm working very hard to get my half of that half

.

 

[deersako]

From what I can gather, D.W Custer were one of the early importers into Australia, say up till the mid/late 70's. After that Olin/Winchester Australia took over and at a guess this was up till the mid 90's. Of course Beretta Australia is now the sole importer.

Hey Jim, maybe some of the advertising I sent you for your Sako paraphernalia site may shed a little more light on our early importers ? I have phoned D.W Custers in search of Sako history but alas they have keep absolutely no records of their Sako imports. They still have Finnish connections though as the importers of Vihtavuori powder.

 

[Anonymous]

deersako,
It was also mentioned on here some time ago that DW Custer had some sort of Sako Commemorative in a limited edition like the SCA did here. It is also not a surprise about Sako being popular in Australia because that was probably the second country of choice for Finnish immigrants to go to when times were bad prior to Finland's independence in 1917. I have relatives there but have never met them.
S-A

 

[mcgrif2243]

Hey Stone,
This is actually very interesting. Maybe the Pope has a Super-Deluxe:bigsmile3:. Anyway, I did some research and as of 2010, there are 195 "countries" in the world. In 1971, there were 125 countries in the U.N., and 34 of them were African countries admitted to the U.N. prior to 1971. Several of them were admitted prior to Finland which was admitted in 1955. So, aside from all of these statistics which, probably don't mean squat, I would have to assume (yea, I know, never assume) that the over 60 countries Sako exported to in 1971; 1) allowed people to own/purchase firearms; 2) Allowed people to hunt; 3) Had something to actually hunt. Being of Danish heritage and having some knowledge of my "home" country, it's geographic size, location and population, I'm not sure exactly what one would do with, or for that matter, hunt for with a Sako! The only place to sight in a rifle at 100 yards would be a Soccer field!
Regards, Will

 

[stonecreek]

Good points, Will. I'll look forward to somebody posting a photo of the Papal Finnbear.:sad2:

Anyhow, I'd love to hear from Africans, Asians, South Americans, and anyone else who can shed light on Sako's worldwide distribution, either historically or currently.

 

[deersako]

Sala-ampuja, D.W Custer's commemorative's were simply stamped "D.W Custer 1 of 175 " etc.
All the Finnwolf's I have had my hands on, 3 in the past 15 years, were stamped as such.
They are uncommon here in Australia and nearly all in .243. Have only spied one .308 for sale on the net after a lot of looking. They always fetch a premium price.
I'm not a lever gun fan but a Finnwolf would would be nice to have in the cache.

 

[Anonymous]

deersako,
Thanks for your confirmation and model identification. I didn't know to what extent they adorned them (extra lettering or engraving), but had heard there was a special run of rifles that went there. I agree that a Finnwolf in .308 would be a nice rifle to have in the bunch.
Thank You,
S-A

 

[extractor]

Stone,

In Australia as mentioned Berretta are the agent.

Their ordering is woeful and anything special may not arrive . They blame the Finns.

However they do offer a rebarrelling service - it isn't cheap but was comparable to gunsmith doing it. Remember it is Australian dollars. If someone had a heirloom piece or was a gun nut this is a good option.