How can . . .

[stonecreek]

. . . anyone fail to recognize when the bottom metal of a Sako has been as grossly mis-assembled as this on, a rifle currently offered on Gunbroker? People take the rifle out of the stock, then fail to get the magazine box properly seated in the receiver, after which they insist on putting "gorilla" effort into cinching down the action screws resulting in badly bowing the bottom metal. There should be prison time for anyone who will do this.

 

[Deleted member 14372]

Even I know enough not to do that!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[marlin92]

WOW worst I have seen

 

[bloorooster]

Yep.
Happens all the time! Same dude will have the scope mounted in reverse, the turrets 90 degrees out and a Harris bipod affixed to the forearm with drywall screws.
Hippie

 

[ArmedT]

Really crazy!

 

[icebear]

This is an all-too-common mistake made by fumble-thumbed Bubbas with more muscle than brains. However, let's admit it - it's also a design flaw. The magazine box is held to the bottom metal by friction of a couple of very small tabs. If the box isn't springy enough, or there's some oil on the parts, or if the parts are worn smooth, the magazine box will slip out of its recess as you're putting the bottom metal in place. I've worked on dozens of Sakos - on some, the box stays in place nicely; on others, it seems determined to escape. It helps if you put the bottom metal on with the gun upright in a gun vise - but that's the opposite of the natural move to flip the gun upside down and drop the bottom assembly into place. That works on every bolt-action rifle on the planet - except a Sako. I've sometimes put a dab of silicone on a particularly recalcitrant magazine box. A very minor design change to have the mag box latch into place would have prevented all this - but Sako never made the change. It's a minor, but annoying flaw in an excellent design.

 

[bloorooster]

This is an all-too common mistake made by fumble-thumbed Bubbas with more muscle than brains. However, let's admit it - it's also a design flaw. The magazine box is held to the bottom metal by friction of a couple of very small tabs. If the box isn't springy enough, or there's some oil on the parts, or if the parts are worn smooth, the magazine box will slip out of its recess as you're putting the bottom metal in place. I've worked on dozens of Sakos - on some, the box stays in place nicely; on others, it seems determined to escape. It helps if you put the bottom metal on with the gun upright in a gun vise - but that's the opposite of the natural move to flip the gun upside down and drop the bottom assembly into place. That works on every bolt-action rifle on the planet - except a Sako. I've sometimes put a dab of silicone on a particularly recalcitrant magazine box. A very minor design change to have the mag box latch into place would have prevented all this - but Sako never made the change. It's a minor, but annoying flaw in an excellent design.

Absolutely true. I’ve done it before in the reassembly process, realizing things were not right, and correcting the misalignment. Some do seem to stick in place better than others.

Hippie

 

[tilleyman]

Yes there should be a special place in Hell for those people... then I realised its only a short train journey from Finland to Norway

Another fave is people not understanding how the trigger group attaches, and the need to nip it down with the front screw and locknut...

Or overtightening the iconic Sako mounts, with the tube misaligned... thus putting crimp marks in a nice vintage steel Pecar scope and galling all the screw heads.

Or attempting to reduce sear engagement by roughly filing off some of the lower face of the cocking piece... took me ages to hone it back smooth and square with some 320/400/600 wet and dry paper on a piece of plate glass.

 

[icebear]

Screwing up the rings is bad enough, but that cocking piece is one of the worst Bubba jobs I have ever seen.

Speaking of steel Pecar and similar scopes, another perennial favorite is cramming a 26mm scope into 1" rings. That can refer a very good scope worthless in a couple of minutes. An awful lot of Americans have no idea that 26mm scopes and rings even exist, or that they are not interchangeable with 1". A year or two I bought a Kahles scope off Gunbroker. The seller, a dealer in North Carolina, advertised it as 1" and even confirmed it to me by e-mail. I figured that was pretty unlikely, since I've never seen or heard of Kahles making a 1" scope. I went ahead and bid, since I do have some 26mm rings. Sure enough, it turned out to be 26mm. Fine with me, I got it at a great price and it had not been buggered by cramming it into 1" rings.

 

[kevinlg]

Or attempting to reduce sear engagement by roughly filing off some of the lower face of the cocking piece... took me ages to hone it back smooth and square with some 320/400/600 wet and dry paper on a piece of plate glass.

I don't see any reason to reduce the bolt sear/cocking piece engagement.........but I do have an old cocking piece that "someone/bubba" had pressed against a bench grinder. No amount of re-dressing would save it. I think it's still in an old scrap parts drawer of mine.

Why???.........you ask?? It was ground "up" to clear an overly long rear action screw end/protrusion through the action tang.
Amazingly......it never occurred to the "gunsmith" to just slightly shorten the rear action screw length.

Dealing with custom Sakos over the years, I've had the occasional "long" rear screw appear.....and have developed a method of shortening the screw, such that afterwards, you'd be hard pressed to even see the rear action screw hole.
Looks nice, and worth the effort.

 

[icebear]

Why???.........you ask?? It was ground "up" to clear an overly long rear action screw end/protrusion through the action tang.
Amazingly......it never occurred to the "gunsmith" to just slightly shorten the rear action screw length.

A chronic issue with my Krico 700 as the wood dries out and shrinks. Every few years the rear action screw gets a bit loose, I tighten it up and it blocks the bolt. So I grind a little bit off the screw and cold blue the end. No big deal, just a nuisance. Grinding the cocking piece is the WRONG answer!

 

[Foxhunter223]

since I've never seen or heard of Kahles making a 1" scope

Sorry to tell you but I have a Kahles 8x56 with a 1" tube on my Sako 222.

Pete

 

[icebear]

Sorry to tell you but I have a Kahles 8x56 with a 1" tube on my Sako 222.

Pete

OK, now I have. Any idea when the scope was made?

 

[Tomball]

OK, now I have. Any idea when the scope was made?

I likewise have the same as Foxhunter. I was a distributor for Kahles in early 80s for a few years. I do not know where my literature is but early 80s for my scope. There was a range of scopes in 1” tubes for this market. My Kahles contact was Dave Buden located upstate NY IIRC.

 

[stonecreek]

Speaking of action screws which are too long -- coupled with poor designs: A Remington 700's front action screw hole penetrates the front action ring all the way through to the bottom (RH) lug recess. I once placed a new stock on a Rem 700, tightened down the action screws, and was puzzled that the bolt wouldn't open. Took me a while to figure out that the front action screw was bearing against the bolt lug and serving as a set screw.

 

[icebear]

I likewise have the same as Foxhunter. I was a distributor for Kahles in early 80s for a few years. I do not know where my literature is but early 80s for my scope. There was a range of scopes in 1” tubes for this market. My Kahles contact was Dave Buden located upstate NY IIRC.

Thanks. I very seldom see Kahles scopes at all. They don't seem to have gotten much market penetration in the US, compared to Zeiss or Swarovski or Steiner (which has a co-production deal with Burris). Excellent scopes, but pricey. Every once in a while you can get lucky and find one at a fire-sale price.

I have a Kahles 6x and a Stith 26mm mount for an L46. I was looking around for an L46 to put it on, and found the perfect rifle - a wing-safety .222 in great shape. Bought it on sight, but it already had an original 6x Kollmorgen in a Stith mount, in perfect condition. So, I still have the Kahles and the mount sitting in a box.

Thanks again for the info. Now I know something I didn't know two days ago.

 

[tilleyman]

~snip~
Dealing with custom Sakos over the years, I've had the occasional "long" rear screw appear.....and have developed a method of shortening the screw, such that afterwards, you'd be hard pressed to even see the rear action screw hole.
Looks nice, and worth the effort.

Sounds like a worthwhile exercise... be keen to see some pics please.
I just file them off to the right length then mount the screw in a drill and dress off the shortened end with a fine file and different grades of wet and dry paper lubricated with kero.
Ends up looking quite factory original when completely reblued along with the rest of the gun... or even just some cold blue on the end.

 

[Foxhunter223]

OK, now I have. Any idea when the scope was made?

Here is a pic of the Sako 17 Rem with the Kahles scope on it that I bought in 2012. From what I was told it was set up for Fox shooting in the 70's but did very little work as the chap who owned it did a lot of overseas traveling. I bought it from the dealer as it was never picked up. In fact he only offered it to me because he knew I liked the Euro scopes and I bought the whole outfit because I liked it. The youngest daughter laid claim to it the first time she used it but was not keen on the scope so it now wears a Leupold 3-9x50 scope which she prefers. Yes I know, their is no accounting for taste.

Sako 17 Rem with Kahles scope

 

[Branxhunter]

The iconic Aussie fox shooting set up - perfect for your forum handle!

Marcus

 

[Foxhunter223]

The iconic Aussie fox shooting set up - perfect for your forum handle!

To be totally honest I used a Sako L461 in 223 back then. Loaded with Reloader 7 and Sako 50gn full metal jacket projectiles for fox. Punched little tiny holes in and out, mostly. Very occasionally I would get a huge exit hole. Never understood why but assumed the projectile would break up if it hit a bone. I used a 223 as where I shot had feral goats as well and we shot them for meat. Even now still prefer goat to deer meat.

Sako 223

Hunter and me with his first Fox, he was only about 8 months old then. He is now over 10 years old.

Pete