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Banned
Day 1 dawned grey and wet, but that didn't deter us. After breakfast, a tour bus and guide appeared to take us on our tour of Helsinki. This was great. We learned a lot about the history of Helsinki and Finland, and what Finnish culture, character and tradition was all about (the sort of thing we would later learn Sako prided itself in). Given time limitations and the weather we only stopped at a few landmarks. One of the most memorable of these was the "Stone" church - a whole church literally carved and built out of solid rock!! The design of the place was elegant and timeless - tremendous craftsmanship. It really gave the feeling of strength, reliability. As one Sako guy would tell us later, that church probably best says what Finland and finns are all about - strength in the face of all sorts of extremities. And its the sort of credo that Sako itself tries to follow.Anyway, back to the tour. A minor rebellion broke out on the bus after about the third church we saw. Guys wanted to go to a toy store - ie. a real Finnish gun store! Our obliging hosts agreed, and we cut short the city tour to drop by a small gun store in the middle of the city (I can't remember the name, but Jarkko might help me out here!). Wasn't too interesting for myself - lots of shotguns - and I'm more a rifle man. But some others got really excited about some stuff. We soon got out though when someone yelled that the factory tour would be cut short if we stayed any longer! Packed into the bus asap and headed towards Riihimaki.We arrived in Riihimaki lunchtime, so the first stop was a lovely lodge style restaurant in town. Had a great mince moose patte for mains! After that, it was back on the bus for the short ride to the factory.When I first saw the factory I was totally surprised. Sako produces beautiful rifles, but the factory looked nothing like that! Low and slightly old light-grey buildings dotting the (smallish) site, a simple entry gate manned by one(!) guard, a carpark that held only about a dozen vehicles! You only knew this was the place because on one of the oldest and tallest buildings, an ageing Sako logo had been painted. If it wasn't for that, there was nothing to say these were Sako's premises. Total understatement and simplicity. I was almost happy to some degree. Good to see Sako was putting money back into developing and making great rifles rather than flashy surroundings and car parking for executives!!We were taken to a briefing/reception room on our arrival. And boy, what a room!! It was still being renovated but was it great! On all walls were Sako rifles from the very earliest (including one rifle that was one of the first to roll off the production line - the "mother" of all Sakos!) to the latest models. It took a while to settle us all down for the briefing to start!The briefing was informative - learned about the history and relationship between Sako, Tikka and Valmet, production schedules, market performance, changes in ownership, Berretta's plans for Sako, and new projects coming up. Some interesting points:1. Even though Berretta owns it, Sako seems to have kept its autonomy and can run its own show.2. No more Tikka shotguns - Berretta insists on this, so if anyone is looking for a collectors piece, this may be it.3. Hold on to your seats.....a new version of the model 75 is being planned! This will be a "lightweight" version. There were two prototypes on show and these were passed around. Veeerrry nice!! Stainless synthetic, 20" fluted barrels, new composite materials all around, hollowed stock, possible choice of stock colours, good range of calibres. After some discussion, I think Sako realised a 20" barrel might not be right, so they're going back to the drawing board for a 22" or so. Overall weight is targeted to be about 5-5.5 lbs. The name of the model is still being debated. Sako suggested "acculight", but this was booed. Our group then came up with some suggestions: "tracker", "ranger", and "Finnlight". The last really struck a chord seeing it kept with the heritage of Finnbear, Finnwolf, Finnfire, etc. So they took this quite seriously. Who knows, that may just be what they choose eventually. If they do, you know where it came from!!After all this, we were finally taken for the factory tour. Man, words can't describe this! We were shown everything - right from the blanks of walnut and steel from which stocks, barrels and receivers were milled, the blueing process, to the indoor shooting range where each rifle was tested, to the packing and shipping area where orders were despatched (learned something interesting here - Sako doesn't keep inventories, it only manufactures when it has orders from dealers!) To be honest, the factory itself was really unimpressive. There were some modern pieces of equipment, but by and large the machinery used wasn't very new. There's still a very high premium placed on the skill of the workers there - these people are craftsmen of the highest level. I was very heartened to see this - at every production stage, there was a human controlling things, checking on the quality of the component manufactured, making sure that everything fit right. All of us know this to some extent, I guess - from the hand carved chequering on the stocks maybe? But did you know that this craftsmanship goes all the way from human hands polishing each receiver and bolt? Or a craftsman doing the blueing on each individual rifle? Or the stock finisher applying by hand each layer of lacquer or oil to bring out the beauty of walnut? Like I said man, you had to see this to appreciate the quality, care and dedication of these workers!!We were all totally impressed by all this. Needless to say, we were running late again! So as soon as the tour ended, we were whisked off to a hotel in Riihimaki. Dinner was going to be at Haamelinna Castle that night - another real treat from Sako. But the next day would bring us closer to the real business end of things - hunting!! The first step - passing our shooting tests to get our Finnish hunting licenses!Day 2....to be continued
