I received the following message from a friend in Finland. It is a translation of a Finnish press report regarding the recall of Sako rifles. This is the official word on the matter, and I might add, the final reply to the member who blew off his mouth that the blown up gun was obviously a fake that had been done intentionally!
> Finnish gun manufacturer SAKO recalls faulty hunting weapons. American man
injured when Sako rifle explodes
> The Finnish hunting rifle manufacturer Sako has recalled nearly 3,000 of its
guns with a potential defect that could cause it to break apart when fired. In October,
Mark Almeida, a 45-year-old American living in University Place, Washington, suffered
injuries to his hand when his new Sako 300 Winchester Short Mag Finnlight model
rifle exploded while he was shooting at a firing range.
> "The target was 200 yards away when I pulled the trigger. The gun let
out a powerful explosive sound that I had never heard before, and it broke up in
my hands", he explains. He was rushed to hospital with four broken bones in
his hand. He was in surgery for four hours.
> After the incident, Sako ordered a recall of its series of 2,700 weapons.
> Sako CEO Henry Paasikivi says that a total of six guns are known to have malfunctioned
in the same way - one of them in Finland. In one case, a Swedish boy lost the tip
of his thumb.
> The barrels would break up lengthwise into several fragments, and in some cases,
other parts of the gun also broke. The problem was attributed to a weakness in the
stainless steel used in the manufacture. Guns of the series in question were sold
to several countries, from the United States to New Zealand, before the defect was
noticed.
> All buyers have been notified, and most of the guns have been returned to the
factory for repairs or replacement, except for a few in the United States.
>
> The faulty rifles were manufactured at the company's factory in RiihimxE4ki last
year. They include Sako and Tikka models.
> When the problems arose, Sako immediately discontinued production and deliveries
of the models, and began to recall them from retailers, and contacted individual
buyers.
> However, the company did not make any public statements at the time. "We
did not consider that necessary, because we were able to reach all owners of the
weapons in other ways" , he said.
> "We have got all of the guns back, except in the United States, and 90
percent of the weapons we sold there have been located. All consumers have been
contacted a long time ago."
> Paasikivi says that the weapons will be repaired, if necessary, and sent back
to the owners
> Finnish gun manufacturer SAKO recalls faulty hunting weapons. American man
injured when Sako rifle explodes
> The Finnish hunting rifle manufacturer Sako has recalled nearly 3,000 of its
guns with a potential defect that could cause it to break apart when fired. In October,
Mark Almeida, a 45-year-old American living in University Place, Washington, suffered
injuries to his hand when his new Sako 300 Winchester Short Mag Finnlight model
rifle exploded while he was shooting at a firing range.
> "The target was 200 yards away when I pulled the trigger. The gun let
out a powerful explosive sound that I had never heard before, and it broke up in
my hands", he explains. He was rushed to hospital with four broken bones in
his hand. He was in surgery for four hours.
> After the incident, Sako ordered a recall of its series of 2,700 weapons.
> Sako CEO Henry Paasikivi says that a total of six guns are known to have malfunctioned
in the same way - one of them in Finland. In one case, a Swedish boy lost the tip
of his thumb.
> The barrels would break up lengthwise into several fragments, and in some cases,
other parts of the gun also broke. The problem was attributed to a weakness in the
stainless steel used in the manufacture. Guns of the series in question were sold
to several countries, from the United States to New Zealand, before the defect was
noticed.
> All buyers have been notified, and most of the guns have been returned to the
factory for repairs or replacement, except for a few in the United States.
>
> The faulty rifles were manufactured at the company's factory in RiihimxE4ki last
year. They include Sako and Tikka models.
> When the problems arose, Sako immediately discontinued production and deliveries
of the models, and began to recall them from retailers, and contacted individual
buyers.
> However, the company did not make any public statements at the time. "We
did not consider that necessary, because we were able to reach all owners of the
weapons in other ways" , he said.
> "We have got all of the guns back, except in the United States, and 90
percent of the weapons we sold there have been located. All consumers have been
contacted a long time ago."
> Paasikivi says that the weapons will be repaired, if necessary, and sent back
to the owners
