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Sako P72

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Greetings all !

I have a Sako P72 in .22 hornet. It's a great rifle. However, I have a problem and ask if any of you may offer some help.

The magazine will not stay in. It appears a small spring inside is either lost or the one there is broken .. per the local "gunsmith".. I would like to be able to locate a replacement part .. perhaps the housing the mag fits in.. or the name of a gunsmith that can repair it for me. Also, I can find very little information about this fine little gun. Can anyone tell me where I can locate the owner's manual, or anything at all about the Sako P72 ?

I am in the central Florida area of the US.

Thank You!

Al........ [email protected]
 
I've got one in .22lr. Happened to run up on one a few years ago at a show, and couldn't get my money out fast enough to buy it. Paid a premium price, I must admit. P72s in any caliber are hard to find. This gun, along with the P75 was the forerunner to the P78, which was a Stoeger import in greater production numbers in the same calibers. All of these rifles are little jewels, and finding a manual will be next to impossible. Finding one for the P78 will be hard as well, but that may be your best bet. Whatever you do, don't take off the factory supplied scope bases, they are hard to find, in case you lose them. Then you'll be limited to what scope mount setups you can use.

Here is one thing to consider with regards to your mag: You may have a P78 replacement mag. Is is matte finished? My P72 mags are gloss blued, I've only got two of them, the original was "tinkered with" for whatever reason, and I ended up getting the replacement from the factory (thanks to Pentti !!). In my case, the P78 clips are NOT interchangeable with the P72 clips. Just like with the Finnwolf 3 and 4 round mags, they are not interchangeable. Fact: My P78 mags, and I've got about a dozen of them, will NOT fit into my P72 rifle. I would check the "small spring" situation in more detail if I were you, before letting anyone "repair" your rifle (or mag). It has been my experience that most gunsmiths out there know little about Sako rifles.

DeerGoose
 
Al- there is a "reproduction" of a Mod. 72 owners manual for sale on E-bay. can be had for under 10.00 Mailed. That is painless enough. Regards, Misako
 
Thank you for responding..

My magazine (clip) is fine.. the "housing" that it fits into is not fine.

Please excuse my lack of proper technical terms.. but I'll try to explain ..

When you put the mag into the gun is fits into a "housing".. when you want to remove the mag you have to push a small part to release the mag. That small part is attached to a spring inside the housing. That spring is broken and since there is no tension on it, the mag will not seat in the housing. It just falls out. I thought if I can find the entire housing I won't have to figure out how to get the spring back correctly..or trust a smith to do it..However, It seems unlikely I will locate the housing or the replacement spring.

Not sure how to get this resolved.. suggestions warmly greeted !!! A sako gunsmith would be great !! Perhaps I would get better odds trying to hit the lottery ???


I tried a local gunsmith here, but barely escaped with my gun in one piece.. The gun is in very nice condition.. some nice figure in the wood..

Also any other info on this great little rifle.. Year of production, value, or whatever ..

Thank you again !

Al..
 
Misako50,

I checked E-bay and the manual is for a M72.. and does not include the .22 hornet. Is there enough similiarty between the Model 72 and the P72 hornet so that the manual on e-bay will be useful to me ?

Thank you for helping.

Al
 
NO, the manual for the Model 72 is for the regular L-series centerfire rifles ("Model 72" and "Model 74"). These were short-lived designations for some of the regular Sakos imported by Garcia. The P-72 ("P" standing for the Finnish term for "rimfire") is an entirely different model that was built for rimfires and for the Hornet.

I understand your problem. It is the simple matter of the replacement of the magazine retaining spring. The "gunsmith" you stumbled into isn't one. Any competent gunsmith (or anyone the least bit handy with metal works) should be able to replace the broken spring.

I have a P-78 Hornet. I'll look at its magazine retaining arrangement when I get a chance and let you know what I think it might take to fix yours.
 
Deer goose: I found what I believe to be a P-78 .22LR magazine that works fine in my P-72 .22LR. If your spare magazines would fit in my rifle, would you be interested in selling a couple of them?
 
Stonecreekranch,

Thank you for your help.. please let me know what you think about getting mine fixed. I agree that fixing/replacing that spring does not appear to be "rocket science." However, I have not lived in this area very long and have no insight as to who may or may not be a capable gunsmith. I am quickly learning who is not capable.

By the way .. how does your P78 shoot ? I have not been able to shoot quality groups with my P 72. I tried factory ammo then some careful reloads.. no luck with either. I may try free floating the barrel.. As far as I can tell the crown appears to be OK.. but I can not shoot a consistent group. 5"-6 "s at 100 YDS.. I've cleaned it well, tried two different Leupold vari x iii's 3.5 x 10's , and new leupold rings. But I'll keep trying! Any ideas ? If it's easier just e-mail me at ... [email protected]

Thanx again !


Al
 
StoneCreekRanch is right. The model 72 centerfire is not to be confused w/ the P72. The model 72 has always been considered the ugly duckling in the older Sako lineup, and was only made for a few months. Perhaps this is why you can find so many of them for sale. The giveaway: no checkering on the top of the integral scope bases. If its smooth, then its a model 72.

I'm curious if there is anyone out there that has M78 clips that will fit P72 rifles. Perhaps my P72 is abnormal ??

DeerGoose
 
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