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Sako History

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

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I would like to know what year Sako's were first brought into the USA and by who,as in a supplier or were they imported direct ? Also,when did Garcia distribute them and the year that Stoeger handled them and finaly the year that Beretta started to handle them .
Thanks,Tom
 
Hello Mothball. I can help yo a little. From 1946 till around 61 they were imported direct to dealers. The Kennedy Administration required all firearms during that period to have a US importer and the barrel stamped as such.....part of the Berlin Wall and Cuban missile crisis aftermath. For instance all Zavodi imports were halted as they weren't granted import status....Tito being a commie and all. Anyway, Firearms International became the Sako importer and their mark is on the underside of the barrel just in front of the end of the stock and are referred to as "pre Garcia" which is goofy as older rifles are not referred to as "pre Firearms International"!!! The ones made prior to 1957 are L46 models and refered to as Riihimaki the city in Finland where the plant was located. In 1972, The garcia corp took over the import rights and in 1978, Stoeger took over until Sako was purchased by Beretta in 1997???? I'm sure you could call Beretta and get the exact date. And of course, the first thing Beretta did was screw up a damn fine rifle. I do own one, however, as it's a 7MM STW which were made for only one year in limited quantities making it a collectable in my eyes. God is it ugly. Hope this helps and others may chime in where I have been wrong or actually mis-spoke, thank you Hillary.
[SakoCollectors.com] Sako History
Regards, Rick.
 
First I must admit that I have owned Sakos by the dozens and I have never seen the underside of a pre-Garcia stamped Firearms International. I have seen the Garcia Corp and Stoeger stamps...

The first L46 was thought to have come off the production line on Sept. 3, 1946. It was a 7X33SAKO. June 11, 1947 saw the first full-stock rifle come off the production line and it was serial numbered 1843. L46s sold steadily to both domestic and foreign markets but in snall numbers, approximately two thousand during 1947 and 1948. Sako was more or less owned by a state organization and under the management of Col. Elias Hyden. The gun business wasn't looking very good and the end of Sako rifles was immenent.

That same year a man walked into Abercrombie and Fitch in New York City and bought an unusual little bolt gun for around $60. It was broght back from Europe by a Mr. Nichols and when he realized that the odd 7MM round was now where to be found in the US he put it up for consignement.

The new owner regreted his purchase and thought of ways to refine this otherwise ugly rifle. That man was Jan Winter, president of Firearms International, an import company based in Washington D.C. Unbeknownst to Col. Hayden and Sako a new eara was about to begin.

Winters contacted Sako about refinements to the rifle. At the same time he was consulting with people who were reputed to know something about rifles like Col. Townsend Whelen, Julian Hatcher, Warren Page and All Barr.

First and foremost was the gun to be introduced in calibers that were known on this side of the ocean. So the proposal was made for the following:
Walnut stock without barrel band; American-style rear sight in lieu of the tangent sight; machined steel trigger guard; safety lever on the right hand side; blued metal finish; and 218 BEE and 22 Hornet chamberings

The earliest Sako ad appeared in the Nov 1949, issue of The American Rifleman and reads in part like this: "Firearms International presents the Sako L46 precision varmint rifle; especially designed short action; dual range peep sight; scope mount bases; burl birch stocks; caliber 218 Bee and 22 Hornet. Attention gunsmiths!! Actions and barreled actions available in above calibers. A jobbers ad later stated rifles priced at $117.50 and barreled actions from $97.50 to $89.50 (yes you are reading correctly).

I could go on with the story, but there is just too much detail to spew forth. So was the start of Sako in America
 
Rumor: Garcia bought out FI in 1970, but it took a couple of years for company changes to appear in the rifles.

Hence, "pre-1972" or "pre-Garcia".

Fact: My NIB rifles that are marked "Firearms Int'l Corp., Wash., D.C." were all built in 1970 or 1971.

Garcia probably forced FI to mark the rifles when the company leadership changed. Just my opinion.

DeerGoose
 
Ok, just came up from the gun room. I have upward of 25 Sakos in the vault at this time. All but two are pre-Garcia. Not one is marked FI on the underside of barrel. Two will fall in that 1970 to 1971 range for serial numbers (both 223).

My question is this - how many FI etched guns do you guys know of?

thanks,
 
In all honesty, I thought that a couple or three of my pre-Garcias were marked Firearms International, but of the dozen and a half or so, this .222M HB is the only one. It is also marked "Bofors Steel".

I'm always hearing the tale that if a gun doesn't have an import mark, then it was brought to the U.S. by a returning serviceman from Europe. Hogwash. It is true that Sakos were a quite popular item for servicemen to purchase overseas, especially at a base in Germany I believe, but the vast majority of F.I. guns had no import mark.

By the way, does anyone know whether U.S. servicemen (and women) can still bring home sporting arms purchased overseas the way they once could?
 
Sakospirit: Have you had all of them out of the stock? Although to my knowledge none of my guns are so marked, I have been told that some of the import marks were further rearward on the barrel and are thus underneath the forearm. This may be yet another of the seemingly endless Sako myths, but I thought I'd mention it to you in order to give you something to do on a rainy day.
[SakoCollectors.com] Sako History
 
Stonecreekranch,

I have not had all of them out of the stock, but many of them. You might be right about that markt being under the wood. I might take a few apart and see what i can come up.

These rifles just fascinate me!
 
SCR. I was referring to Garcia imported rifles. None of those rifles purchased in the Rod and Gun clubs in Europe were import marked because they were never shipped from the plant to the states. It is not hogwash I assure you as I own 2 of them and a good friend owns 5 of them and none are import marked. Additionally, over the years, GI's brought back thousands of Sako rifles because they were extremely affordable and the quality was much better than the Remingtons and Winchesters also available in the R and G's. You see, we were allowed, under the status of forces agreement, to hunt big game in Germany and had the same priveleges as any other German hunter. Many if not all of us didn't know that until we got there and none of us shipped their Privately Owned Weapons to Germany.....hence you had to buy a rifle if you wanted to go hunting. In 1977, my 243 cost 165 dollars and my 7 mag was 175. I also bought a short stock Mod M Steyr in 7MM for $375 and it's in my safe to this day.

My 1970 Firearms International is import marked and I'll check my others in a few months when I do my semi-annual cleaning. I think perhaps the import mark was moved from under the barrel at some point in time. I also own a 1968 '06 that is not import marked anywhere as it was brought back from Germany in 1968/9 by a friend or mine. Also, I know my 1959 .308 is not import marked as I have taken it apart. It will be interesting to find out where and when the import markings started. Regards, Rick.
 
Rick,

I think you've misinterpreted my post. It is true that Sakos brought home by returning serviceman bore no import mark. What is not true is that if a gun bears no import mark then it must be a servicman's rifle. My point is that many distributor-imported Sakos (particularly from the FI era) bore no import mark. There are far more of the unmarked FI imports than there are serviceman-imported Sakos.
 
Many years ago I bought a "History of Winchester Firearms" book and I was wondering if one existed for Sako or if one or more of you Sako experts has planned one. I know the market would be a little limited but I know that you would sell at least one copy. I can't help much with the history but I would be willing to help out in some capacity, thanks
Ian
 
Ian,
I have a book titled SAKO 1921-1971 which documents the company for this time period. It comes in Finnish, but it is also sold (if you can find it) with an English translation.
S-A
 
Sakospirit,

Some nostalgia:

HerexB4s some of the content of a letter addressed by Jan Winter on August 29,1959:

" Chairman, Board of Directors

Oy Sako Ab

Riihimaki, Finland

Dear Sir:

The enclosed CONSUMER REPORTS for September, 1959, carries beginning of page 480, a report on rifles. A Check Rating, as that given to the Sako rifle, is as great a business compliment as can be expected in the United States, and therefore it is much coveted in the industry. Consumers Union, the

publishers of the REPORTS, is an independent organization and their ratings cannot be bought for love or money. Nor, as you will notice in the masthead, can their findings be advertised in any manner.

Even without it, though, the rating given Sako will have, we assure you, a great impact on the trade and on consumers. We will help it along by purchasing on the news stands large quantities of the REPORTS to be mailed out to the trade.

This is, perhaps, as opportune a time as any to express our deep appreciation for the cooperation of

the staff of Sako who made, each in their own capacity, the Sako name a symbol of quality throughout

the U.S. shooting world.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

that made it possible for us, by starting from little more than zero, to reach the point where Sako rifles

are now respected as among the best designed and best functioning.

With best wishes, I am

Yours sincerely,

FIREARMS INTERNATIONAL

Jan Winter

President

JW:aw

Enclosures "


The Spirit was there.....

Brgds,

SS
 

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