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Sako Derivatives

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

eddsako

Banned
During my time on the SAKO collectors site its come to my attention that in the U.S sako's have been rebaged and customised by my many specialist rifle manufactors, and also in Europe I am sure. I am trying to gather a list of SAKO derived rifles. Lets begin here:
1. Coltsman (L46, L461, L57, L579, L61R)
2. Winslow Customs
3. Wildcat - one of my favorite rifles.
4. Browning Safari
5. FN combinationations from Europe - sako made.
6. Kimber ?
7. Marlin (322 & 422 (L46)
8. Mauser - sako influenced
9. Military Sako's M39 - Nagant connections
10. Interarms
11. Mossbergs and as CMJR mentioned :\
12. O'Brien
13. H & R (317, 330, 340 & FN Variations)
14.Grendel SRT with folding stock (added thanks to L61r)
15. Japanese-made Dickson Howa Golden Bear (added thanks to Stonecreek)
16. Anshutz- no confirmation, just rumor
17. Beretta- 501 & 502 (L579 & L61R)
18. Browning- Medallion, Olympian, Safari (L461 & L579) L61R? High Power?
19. Flaig's- no data ?
20. Holland & Holland- (L61R) only 500 to 600 made?
21. Ithaca- LSA 55 & 65 (Tikka)
22. JC Higgins- 52 (L46) Sold @ Sears?
23. Karl Mayer- no data ?
24. Lazzeroni- no data ?
25. Magnum Research- Mountain Eagle- (L61R)
26. Montgomery Wards- EIN 750 (L57)
27 North American- Grizzly (L57 or L579?)
28. North American Shooting Systems- Canada, model?, Custom? no data
the list has been added to from paulsonconstruction thread thanks for your hard work also there might be some in the list that are incorrect, I will adjust.

I think from what I have seen the Coltsman and Wildcat models are the best of the derivative rifles.
Add your comments it would be very interesting to find out some more sako relationships that have been forged over the period of production.
- *******:nerd:
 
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Yes forgot to mention O'Brien and H& R both very good gun from what I hear from the american collectors. I will update the list with those thanks cmjr - *******
 
Edd: I don't believe that Kimber or Mossberg ever used a Sako action. Interarms was in some way associated with Firearms International, but I don't believe they had a proprietary rifle with a Sako action, either. If I'm wrong about these three I'd welcome correction.

I'm not familiar with the "Wildcat" brand. Is that of Australian origin?

And as always, there is the Japanese-made Dickson Howa Golden Bear which is a near blueprint copy of the L61R; but the only Sako genes in its DNA are purely cloned.
 
Yes the Fn mausers are intereting as there appears to be a number of variations I have come across in terms of what hardware they came with?
thanks
In regards to Japanese-made Dickson Howa Golden Bear that I have heard about but never seen one!
The wildcat is a U.S gun made by H & R sorry didn;t state the name properly. - great looking gun and have heard it handles unbelievably.
regards
*******
 
Grendel SRT, frankly I'm not sure if you call it a custom or one of the small boutique builders like Winslow or O'Brien, here's a little info on them.

The Grendel SRT is a bolt-action marksman rifle manufactured by GRENDEL, Inc. of Rockledge, FL (currently KEL-TEC CNC, Inc.) from 1986 to 1990. The weapon was based on a SAKO A-II action and a 20-inches Douglas barrel, all bedded on a polymer stock with an underfolding buttstock for easier transport. A polymer detachable magazine held 10 rounds of 7.62x51mm NATO caliber ammunition.
 
I'd love to hear from anyone who owns a North American Arms Grizzly. I think that they were distributed primarily/solely in Canada and were only offered in .308 Win on the L57 (or was it L579?) action. I did see a stock for one on eBay a while back, but other than advertisements that's the closest I've ever come to one.

Likewise, if anyone owns/has owned one of the North American Shooting Systems (NASS) Imperial Magnums please post. I think that while this was primarily a Canadian company based in British Columbia, they had a sister company in Washington State to simplify distribution in the U.S. They specialized in rechambering rifles to their proprietary line of beltless magnums (very similar to the later Remington Ultramags), but they also offered finished rifles on Sako actions.

Another boutique manufacturer which hasn't had much mention on this forum is American Hunting Rifles, which I believe is still around. I think they now use a CZ action and specialize in marketing dinosaur calibers to shooters with matching intellect, but at one time I believe they used Sakos for their proprietary line of Howell cartridges.

Does anyone know if Lazzaroni is still in business? Did they ever use any Sako action other than the TRG-s?
 
Thanks for that link, S-A. Those Lasso-rooney's seem pretty pricey for a plastic rifle that doesn't even use a Sako action any more. As P.T. Barnum said . . . .
 
Flaigs was a custom rifle maker/ gunsmith I believe in in Pennsylvania. He used various actions for his rifles including sako, FN, springfields etc. I think he often used Douglas barrels. You can often find them on gunbroker for various prices.
 
Flaigs was a custom rifle maker/ gunsmith I believe in in Pennsylvania. He used various actions for his rifles including sako, FN, springfields etc. I think he often used Douglas barrels. You can often find them on gunbroker for various prices.

I think that Flaig's did a little more volume than could be classified as simply a custom rifle builder/gunsmith. Flaig's put out a catalog and built spec rifles which they kept in stock for sale. They also built rifles to customer's specifications from a "shopping list" of options they offered. Although not necessarily a "manufacturer" like H&R or Colt, Flaig's could genuinely be classed as a rifle builder much like Winslow. I think they could be legitimately included in the list of "proprietary" rifle brands using Sako actions.

Perhaps a brighter line between the "builders" and the "manufacturers" might be to separate those who used Sakos made specifically for them, rather than just "stock" Sako actions. For instance, Browning and H&R used specially ordered roundtops which were built only for sale to them. These actions didn't even have the name "Sako" anywhere on them, just "Finland" in small lettering, usually below the wood line.
 
Great discussion I would be interested to Know if sako lent any of its hardware to military rifle builders other than the well known TRG sniper rifle ?
 
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