• 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

L57 .243

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

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Greetings fellow Sako nuts! Glad i found this site, have lots of questions, will save most for later. At the present I have an inquiry about a rifle I just bought.

It is a .243 L57, has the old style safety lever on the bolt shroud and what looks like a micro-groove barrel. Rifle has a Lyman All American 4X scope mounted in Sako rings and this gun has been carried a lot..maybe 50% blue remaining. Evidently somebody liked it! I'd like to know approxomately when it was made. The only numbers on the action is L57 No. 50. I do not know if this means the serial number is 50 or what. It has the original Sako buttplate with gearwheel, no pad. All the screws are in excellent condition, so don't think it's been messed with any. Still has an ancient 3/4" leather sling attached. Normal front sight present, no shroud. Hinged floorplate

I'd like to know what this rifle is worth if anything above and beyond say a more typical L579.

My first experience with a Sako rifle was about 25 years ago when a friend allowed me to shoot his Forester .243 he says he bought in the late 50's. It is a newer model than the above rifle. Anyway, I was hooked..that rifle was and remains extremely accurate. I bought my first Sako about 1978, it was a varmint barreled 7 mag. Shot the barrel out and Stoeger rebarreled it for free! Sold it later to a neighbor. Since then I have owned several Sako's, but have been dissappointed in the stuff that have produced in the last 10 years...haven't seen or tried a model 75 though.

I have a 6PPC sporter that has been a decent rifle, killed lots of deer with it..out to 200 yards. Slow twist won't stablize anything over 75 grains but it sure will shoot 60 grain Sierra bullets well.

I have no knowledge of the various models made over the years, or the understanding of the hoopla concerning Pre-Garcia, pre 72, etc., etc. I know one damned thing, Sako makes (or made) the finest factory rifles I ever owned or shot. If any of you guys with lots of Sako knowledge would care to email me and tell me some of the Sako facts, I'd enjoy hearing from you. I'd like to have some reference books but I don't read anything but English.

As a side note, I have a Sako made model 39 Mosin..darned if that thing doesn't shoot great too!
 
Welcome to the club, You are right Sako's do shoot. The value of your L57 is a little hard to judge but given the condition you described it is difficult to guess. If you send me th eserial number range I can tell you the year of build.

Enjoy the club

Sako Finnbear
Manager
 
I did give you the serial number (true!). The serial number is 50! The same number is on the root of the bolt handle. There is no other number on it anywhere except L57 followed closely by No. 50 and a couple proof marks. The barrel shank near the reciever ring says Cal 243 and again a couple proof marks.

I had it apart today and gave it a bath, sure was filthy, but coming clean. I bet it hasn't been out of the stock in 35-40 years. The Foul Out pulled lots of copper fouling from the bore and is still getting more.

If I had a digital camera, I'd take a picture and attach it.
 
Sorry. I did not notice that before. Year of build in 1957. Condition is everything if were new in the box it would be quite collectible. In a heavily used condition it is priceless to the owner as it should be. Simply if you sell it it is gone and cannot be replaced. Not for $550-600 anyway.

Sean
Sako Finnbear
Manager
 
Thanks Sean. It isn't collectable to me, just a rifle. But to somebody who is really into low numbered rifles, perhaps there is more than a passing interest. I'd much rather have an L579 for my own uses.

By the way, how long did Sako use the micro-groove type rifling and what caused them to revert to a standard 6 groove pattern?

Are you familiar with a man named Jim Lutes, used to see his ads in SGN but quit taking it and have lost his address.

Next question is, do you think Sako would consider a run of rifles in 762x39 and whatever happened to the 7x33 cartridge.
 
Micro groove? I needed a barrel for a 243 rust worn sako in a deal i made. I got one from gun parts in west hurley it was suposed to be a colt sako barrel. It had micro groove also but no other markings strange.is it colt made or sako made?????i wounder????
 

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