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Finnwolf VL63 Finnwolf Variations

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

Paul B.

Well-Known Member
Hi All,

I've been trying to acquire an "early" Finnwolf for some time now. My first 2 Wolves were Garcia-era, 1 in 243 and the other in 308. Both have the flush 3 shot magazines and somewhat "chunky" barrels and stocks and neither have a cheekpiece (I guess these are "ambidextrous" stocks?). I was then able to pick up a slightly older Wolf in 308 with a slimmer barrel profile and a more slender stock. This rifle has the 4 shot "coffin" magazine as well as 3 point checkering. I was fortunate enough for Santa to bring me a 4th Wolf for Christmas. This rifle, also in 308, seems identical to my 3rd however, it's barrel has the Bofors Steel mark and the checkering is of the 2 point/double border variety. I guess my question is, were there any even earlier variations of Finnwolfs that had pistol grip caps, other features, etc.? Perhaps an even slimmer stock?

Thank you!
- Paul B.
 
Ah, I remember when I had 2 .308 and 2 .243 minty condition Finnwolfs. All had 4 rd coffin mags; all had very high gloss blue; one was Bofors marked with 2 point double line grip checkering (bottom rifle), 3 of the 4 Finnwolfs had a white line buttpad spacer, and none had grip caps. I still have the Bofors .308 and a .243. Beautiful rifles from Sako’s golden era.
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When you find one with the ambidextrous stock and black plastic grip cap, you've got it !!! I've never seen one of these things, and if there is one or two of them out there it will probably be a 3-digit serial # or less.

if anyone has one, I know we'd all like to see it !!
DeerGoose
 
Interesting. So, the super early models were equipped with plastic grip caps. Would love to see a picture of one should any member be able to share!
 
Here's my contribution to rare Finnwolfs. It is a factory stock with a left-handed cheekpiece. I've never seen LH cheekpieces (for right handed guns) cataloged or advertised by Sako or any of its distributors, but they definitely made them. I have three -- one on an L46 (birch), one on an L61R, and this one on the Finnwolf. This configuration of Finnwolf would almost have to be one of the scarcest.

But wait -- there's more (as the TV sales pitch for the Vegamatic would say)! This rifle came from an auction of the estate of the former Governor of Maryland, Marvin Mandel. As you can see, his name (possibly a signature facsimile) is engraved on the magazine bottom. The rifle was unfired when I got it, so it was probably a gift to him which he never shot.

On top of that, Marvin Mandel has an interesting history. He was the speaker of the Maryland House when Spiro Agnew, the governor of Maryland, vacated the office to become Nixon's vice president. At that time, Maryland had no Lt. Governor, so the speaker became governor. There was some kind of scandal about horse racing tracks, permits, and payola in which Mandel became embroiled and was convicted of a federal crime. He was sent to prison in Florida. However, Maryland had no provision for removing him from office, so it was only the fact that he was absent from the state that allowed his successor to act as governor. But a short time before Mandel's term was up his conviction was reversed, so he returned to Maryland and served out the last few days of his term as governor.

As you can guess, the combination of LH cheekpiece, pristine condition, and provenance makes this one of my collection which falls into the "cold, dead hands" category.:)

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As Stone said - always a mystery if the Deluxe Finnwoof truly existed - now we know at least one does BEAUTIFUL thanks
for the picture.
 
We discussed this rifle a couple of years ago when SSR bought it. https://sakocollectors.com/forum/threads/sako-finnwolf-deluxe-308.12716/#post-66847 and he was able to tell us who the person was for whom it was made/presented.

We also discussed what is apparently also a presentation rifle I own here: https://sakocollectors.com/forum/th...e-factory-presentation-model.9376/#post-46456 I still don't have a clue as to whose signature appears on the floorplate, much less how it made it to the U.S. without ever having been fired.

Finnwolfs with serial numbers 2, 12, and 47 are identified in the inspection records as being Deluxe and all are from 1963-64. Number 12 is a .243 and the other two are .308. There may be more later on, but my eyes wear out after squinting at the tiny handwriting on a few dozen pages and I haven't come across more yet.

Incidentally, there were two Number 1's: The original in 1959 was a .308. The other Number 1 was from 1970 and was in .375 -- yes, the fabled "magnum" Finnwolf which never went into production.
 
Click on the link to see the first page of the inspection records for the VL63. Note that many of the early serial numbers were never used. The only thing I'll say "never" about when it comes to Sakos is that I'll NEVER figure out why they used their serial numbers the way they did.
 

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This was Sakos sales directors rifle as discussed earlier and SN is also one of those Finnwolfs identified as Finnwolf Deluxe. 3 first one Sako Finnwolf Deluxe have Bofors barrels. 20171023_184056.jpg
 
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