Early Finnbear Standard or Deluxe?

[Guest]

HI:

I need some help from you folks with a lot more experience with Sako's than I have.

I recently purchased a Finnbear in 30-06. Serial No. 1290. The gun is in excellent condition with no marks on the wood or metal. The barrel is marked Bofors steel and the action is markedL61R. It has the third locking lug. There are no import markings. The stock is dark reddish brown and has a rosewood slanted forend tip but does not have a rosewood grip cap or engraving on the floorplate, nor does it have skipline checkering. There is a ventilated Sako recoil pad that is badly compressed from sitting in a cabinet. Is this a standard or a deluxe or something in between?

I attempted to add some photos as an attachment. This is my first attempt to add photos so if it doesn't work I may need some help in that department as well.

Thanks for your help

Ike

 

[Guest]

It seems that in my first attempt I only got one picture file so here are a few more. It seems I need to wok on my photography a bit.

Ike

 

[Guest]

That is a very early number for an L61R.

It is, in my opinion, a "standard" grade. At that early date the contrasting fore end may have been something Sako "tried" as a factory attribute. However, the placement of the sling swivel causes me to believe that the fore end may have been added by an owner at some time or another, as these were popular "dress up" additions (complete with white line spacer) in the early sixties. You might or might not be able to determine if it was an after-market add on by inspecting the interior of the stock.

At any rate, you have a very nice early L61R.

 

[Guest]

"On further review", as the football referee would say, I have a couple of additional comments: The pad has a white line spacer. I've never seen this on a Sako from that era as they had only the black between the wood and the pad. Also, Sako's Deluxe models used a contrasting fore end piece, but with no white line spacer. (The grip caps always had white line spacers.) All of this causes me to believe that the tip is an add-on and that the customizer also added the "fancy" white-line spacer to the butt pad. Otherwise, the stock is classical pre-Garcia Sako standard grade.

By the way, white line spacers (now grossly out-of-fashion) were so popular in the late 50's and early 60's that I remember seeing "do it yourself" articles that pointed out how you could make a white line spacer by cutting it out of a bleach bottle. As a twelve year-old, I did that on a Model 24 Remington .22LR. A couple of years later I removed same, recognizing it to be roughly the equivalent of dressing your grandmother in hooker's hot pants.

 

[misako50]

Stonecreek- All of the deluxes that I have or have had, had white line spacers between the forend piece and the stock. All are pre-garcia.- Regards, Mike

 

[Guest]

Misako: Right you are! I said it backwards. It was the later Deluxes that had no white spacer between the stock and contrasting forearm. However, they did not have white line spacers between the stock and buttpad (although the standard models with buttplates did have a white spacer).

Still, my best guess is that the gun in question is a Standard grade with an added fore end (although it is far from impossible that it is factory).

 

[misako50]

Stonecreek- Nice to know that you are human. The Finnbear that Ike has, looks enough out of character to warrant a stock change. I think it would look great with an ebony forend and no spacer. Ike liked it well enough to buy it and I'm sure the critters won't care. Best-Mike

 

[Guest]

Yeah, I wrote a contradictory statement about sling swivels in a single paragraph in another thread a few days ago. By the time they cart me off to the nursing home (or insane asylum, whichever comes first) I won't be making any sense at all.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the information. I remember the whiteline spacer craze. It was great at the time but in retrospect I like the classic 90 degree ebony forearm the best, no spacer. If I get a little time this weekend I'll pull the stock and see what it looks like underneath. The finish on the stock and the foreend tip appear identical outside. I had passed up a similar Finnbear about a year ago so I couldn't let this one get away as the price was quite reasonable. I wondered about the stock when I bought it but really didn't think about it being replaced. The swivel placement seems to be too far forward as Stonecreek suggested.

Thanks again

Ike

 

[Guest]

I am looking at a never-been-fired Finnbear out of an estate sale...I only know what I have read in about an hour anything about SAKO. I think I am already a fan. I don't know if it's a standard or Deluxe. It looks perpect to me...no marks of any kind on the stock or metal. The leather strap is new, the box is new. What years were the Finnbears made. It's 30-06 without a scope...what should I look for?

 

[deergoose]

Standard and Deluxe feature differences are obvious. Dark stock only for the Standard Sporter. Skipline checkering, high polish blue, engraved floorplate/trigger guard, rosewood caps, etc. for the deluxe model. Serial # less than 65,000 or so will indicate pre-1972 produced rifles, which is what us Sako Collectors look for. Good luck !, and let us know about your find.

DeerGoose