Short Actions Rare 222 A1 Rem Mag for sale in Aus

[piper235b]

This popped up last week, and may have gone under the radar for most. Very few of these came to Australia, and probably very few went anywhere as it would have been an outdated cartridge by the time the A1's were introduced.
The last one for sale on an Aus website was 5 years ago and I bought that one. My rifle's serial number is about 300 more than this one.
I would love to buy the varmint version if anyone has one out there (I've never seen one but I'm guessing they exist).

Cheers
Piper

 

[deergoose]

Nice rifle in a great cartridge !! Can't say I've ever seen one on the AI action.

DeerGoose

 

[icebear]

Asking price translates to about USD 1320. High for an A1, but it is a rare caliber with pretty wood. If it was on this side of the planet, I might be tempted.

 

[stonecreek]

It appears that the A-I's in .222 Magnum were never imported to the U.S. There may be some somewhere else, but Australia seems to have what few there are.

BTW: With an AO Leupold and rings plus brass and dies, the $1,300 USD range seems reasonable to me for a .222 Magnum. Not sure about the "skeletonised grip cap"?

 

[CHAUCER]

It appears that the A-I's in .222 Magnum were never imported to the U.S. There may be some somewhere else, but Australia seems to have what few there are.

BTW: With an AO Leupold and rings plus brass and dies, the $1,300 USD range seems reasonable to me for a .222 Magnum. Not sure about the "skeletonised grip cap"?

As I said in an earlier post, it is not true that AIs in .222 Rem. Mag. were never imported to the U.S. I purchased my AI sporter new in that caliber with a hangtag dated 13 June 1976. It is #152xxx. Sorry I have no way to post a pic.

 

[CHAUCER]

As I said in an earlier post, it is not true that AIs in .222 Rem. Mag. were never imported to the U.S. I purchased my AI sporter new in that caliber with a hangtag dated 13 June 1976. It is #152xxx. Sorry I have no way to post a pic.

After I wrote the post above, I started to wonder if I actually owned such a rifle. Stonecreek knows so much more than I do, that I had to go to the Sako safe and pull out the rifle. The barrel is marked "imported by stoeger", the shape of the stock comb is that of the late Garcia M. 74s, with a high, sloped comb. The bolt shroud is the closed AI style, the action is absent an AI stamp, and is marked L461. The factory box is marked AI. The wood is above-average, with fiddleback from forearm to butt. The butt is black plastic marked Sako, not the later red rubber pad. The barrel is stamped SAKO over 222MAG. I own other early Stoeger rifles in small calibers with the same stock style, and I have always thought of them as early, transitional models from the Garcia M. 74s.

 

[CHAUCER]

After I wrote the post above, I started to wonder if I actually owned such a rifle. Stonecreek knows so much more than I do, that I had to go to the Sako safe and pull out the rifle. The barrel is marked "imported by stoeger", the shape of the stock comb is that of the late Garcia M. 74s, with a high, sloped comb. The bolt shroud is the closed AI style, the action is absent an AI stamp, and is marked L461. The factory box is marked AI. The wood is above-average, with fiddleback from forearm to butt. The butt is black plastic marked Sako, not the later red rubber pad. The barrel is stamped SAKO over 222MAG. I own other early Stoeger rifles in small calibers with the same stock style, and I have always thought of them as early, transitional models from the Garcia M. 74s.

With this, my third post on this subject, I have achieved a new sense of clarity as well as unhappiness. My unhappiness stems from my search for the original factory box which I referred to in my last post. It is gone. My move from the west coast to the sw desert of Wyoming has resulted in a number of missing items, but I never thought that some Sako factory boxes might have been lost. I cannot verify that my notes indicating the notation of "AI" on the factory box are correct. In fact, I now believe that I must have been wrong. The hangtag (which was not lost) indicates this is a Vixen, L461. Let me rehearse a sequence of events I believe to be correct: In 1977, Garcia is purchased by Stoeger, which continued to use the names Vixen, Forester, and Finnbear (along with the action numbers) for the three Sako actions lengths. The short action was offered in 17 Rem, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, and 222 Rem Mag. A streamlined, enclosed bolt shroud is a distinctive change. The "AI" stamping first appeared in Sept, 1979, with serial #156964.
The last AI action was serial #823847 in 1992. (I would appreciate someone confirming that last number.) What does this add up to? First, Stonecreek (as usual) is probably correct. I have not ever seen a rifle marked "AI" which is chambered in 222 Rem. Mag. But it is probably also correct that the rifle I own is not unique: the Stoeger transitional models (which had M. 74-style stocks like both mine and the rifle being offered for sale in Australia) were produced in 222 Rem. Magnum, and my rifle is numbered #152xxx. with the AI appearing at #156964. While this chambering is rare, there must be other Sako Vixens (in all 4 configurations) which exist in the US with serial numbers less than #156964.

 

[CHAUCER]

With this, my third post on this subject, I have achieved a new sense of clarity as well as unhappiness. My unhappiness stems from my search for the original factory box which I referred to in my last post. It is gone. My move from the west coast to the sw desert of Wyoming has resulted in a number of missing items, but I never thought that some Sako factory boxes might have been lost. I cannot verify that my notes indicating the notation of "AI" on the factory box are correct. In fact, I now believe that I must have been wrong. The hangtag (which was not lost) indicates this is a Vixen, L461. Let me rehearse a sequence of events I believe to be correct: In 1977, Garcia is purchased by Stoeger, which continued to use the names Vixen, Forester, and Finnbear (along with the action numbers) for the three Sako actions lengths. The short action was offered in 17 Rem, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, and 222 Rem Mag. A streamlined, enclosed bolt shroud is a distinctive change. The "AI" stamping first appeared in Sept, 1979, with serial #156964.
The last AI action was serial #823847 in 1992. (I would appreciate someone confirming that last number.) What does this add up to? First, Stonecreek (as usual) is probably correct. I have not ever seen a rifle marked "AI" which is chambered in 222 Rem. Mag. But it is probably also correct that the rifle I own is not unique: the Stoeger transitional models (which had M. 74-style stocks like both mine and the rifle being offered for sale in Australia) were produced in 222 Rem. Magnum, and my rifle is numbered #152xxx. with the AI appearing at #156964. While this chambering is rare, there must be other Sako Vixens (in all 4 configurations) which exist in the US with serial numbers less than #156964.

I will try to make this my last post on this subject, but, the more I thought about this, the more puzzled I became. So, back to the Sako safe. And there, two spots down from my 222 Rem. Mag., stands a Sako 222 which is the twin of the Mag (except that the plastic buttplate had been replaced). The 222 is
#157xxx (5000 higher than the Mag), but every aspect of the rifle is unchanged EXCEPT that the receiver is marked AI. So, two otherwise identical rifles, one marked L461 and the other AI. We normally think of the A series of sporter rifles as having the Hunter style stock, but this is clear evidence that the designation AI was used on the earlier configurations. So, once again, I think that stonecreek is probably correct. But if the later 222 is marked AI, why wouldn't the earlier identical rifle in 222 mag be thought of as an AI? "Thought of", of course, means nothing in the world of collectors.