• Hey All! Lately there has been more and more scammers on the forum board. They register and replies to members requests for guns and/or parts or other things. The reply contains a gmail or hotmail address or similar ”anonymous” email addresses which they want you to reply to. DO NOT ANSWER ANY STRANGE MESSAGES! They often state something like this: ”Hello! Saw your post about purchasing a stock for a Safari. KnuckleheadBob has one. Email him at: [email protected]” If you receive any strange messages: Check the status of whoever message you. If they have no posts and signed up the same day or very recently, stay away. Same goes for other members they might refer to. Check them too and if they are long standing members, PM them and ask if the message is legit. Most likely it’s not. Then use the report function in each message or post so I can kick them out! Beware of anything that might seem fishy! And again, for all of you who registered your personal name as username, please contact me so I can change it to a more anonymous username. You’d be surprised of how much one can find out about a person from just a username on a forum such ad our! All the best! And be safe! Jim

Browning Safari medium Heavy barrel .243

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

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adirondacks

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Joined
Feb 13, 2011
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50
Location
Lake George, New York ( Adironack Mountains !)
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I have a Browning 243 heavy barrel sako action rifle I acquired several years ago. I used to shot prairie dogs with it when I lived in Utah. It was wicked on those dogs. Used to vaporize them 2 -3 hundred yards out, no problem. Also was a great coyote gun, made some unbelievable shots on them a few times too. I scoped it with a 4 -12x Nikon AO. I never thought much about how good a gun it really is. I traded a guy two Ruger 10/22's for it (Mannlicher stocked, old collector ones) but still thought I got the better deal. I think it is made in 1969, first digits in serial number. I've had it out of the stock and see no evidence of salt issues. What is the years to worry about salt wood. I've seen Browning's that are rusty and pitted right on the stock line from this problem, but have never had any on my 243. If anyone has expertise on these Sako / Brownings I'd like to learn more etc. Thanks for your input.
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ADK's
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I have one identical to yours which I believe is a 1968 model. Like yours, it vaporizes prairie dogs. Just last Sunday I was shooting with some friends at informal long range targets. I used the Browning .243 HB to "kill" a 2-liter soda bottle at 825 yards (the wind was blowing and it required nearly ten feet of windage!)
If it doesn't show salt, then regardless of the year of its production, it's fine. Some wood went through the salt curing process and, for whatever reason, didn't absorb problematic amouts of salt (maybe the blanks were in the middle of the pile or something?)
 
Have any of you that have shot HB 243's in both the Browning and the Sako that showed one or the other to be inherently more accurate than the other? I've been tempted on several occasions to buy a Browning, but that Stepped Barrel contour always worried me that the Browning would generally be less accurate than the pure L579.
 
Bill:

I have a Browning HB in .243 and it's plenty accurate. As compared to its Sako counterpart, the Browning barrel is not quite as heavy and is 24" vs. 23" on the Sako. However, I have no problem getting half-inch groups from it. I have a friend who has the Browning HB in .22-250 and his gun is also fully as accurate as my Sako .22-250 HB. The Browning is a classy rifle that is roughly equivalent in grade to a Sako Deluxe. I woundn't hesitate to buy one if you get the chance.
 
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