Krico rifles were at one time sold in the USA by an importer who had previously imported Husqvarna. The importer had trademarked the brand "Husky" and he used that brand name for Krico rifles. The Krico is a well-made piece. I have one in .30-06; the Krico medium and long actions are basically a better-built copy of a Remington 700. I don't know if the short (.222) action is a Krico original or if it is derivative. The short action Krico has a good reputation for accuracy.
Derek, besides the compactness and beauty of the L461, the feature on Sako L & A series rifles that make them particularly attractive to me, is the bolt guide. Sounds trivial, but for me especially, it's a big deal. I lost use of my right eye while working for Uncle Sam. So by default, I now shoot all my right handed rifles off my left shoulder. The bolt guide does more than just smooth the feel of the bolt, it's there as a very important safety feature. It fills in the locking lug race on the right side when the bolt is in closed position. This was the reason Mauser designed the long extractor, which was carried on by Winchester, Ruger, CZ, the mini Mausers (except the Hornet). And Sako took the design a small step further, by putting a vent hole in the bolt, that lines up with a vent hole in the guide once the bolt is closed. In the event of a case rupture, or catastrophic failure, the bolt guide and vent holes direct gas and small particles in perpendicular directions to the shooter, on both sides of the receiver.
Right! Remington 700 owners often "improve" the marginal extractor of the 700 by installing a Sako extractor. But without the bolt sleeve in place a case head failure directs gas and particles (and perhaps the extractor itself!) straight backward toward the face of the shooter through the new gap machined into the bolt face to accommodate the extractor. Using a Sako extractor makes for more positive extraction on a 700, but creates a potentially hazardous situation for the shooter since there is no bolt sleeve to block the opening.
Yes indeed, I often seen them around $300-400. Stuggart, the city they're made is just a few hours from where I live. Definitely be cool to get my hands on one. I appreciate the insight into your experience with the L461. For the time, I returned the one I bought to the dealer as the accuracy wasn't there, stock wasn't correct and kept getting shafted on the mounts being in stock for the size I needed. I might look in the Sako a bit more when we return to the states, it seemed like a fine rifle and operated flawlessly. I appreciated the hinged floor plate and the bolt cycled smoothly...it felt like a "real" rifle. I often see the Foresters for sale in .243 that look interesting, I may look at one of those as well. Not enough gun safe space for them all. All the best.
Absofriginlutely. I get guys asking me all the time to machine 700 and model seven bolts for Sako, or more popular M16 extractors. I won't do it. It's not safe.
Hadn't noticed this before, Derek... Weidmannsheil! We were stationed in Bavaria in the early '80s, got my Jagdschein and so forth... hunted reh, gams, and wildschwein... but unfortunately never successfully drew for rotwild or mouflon... The hutte I stayed at once on a gams hunt looks pretty much like the one on your website... but one side was relatively tiny inside for jaegers... and the other side was huge, meant for a big group of forsters... At the time I started using a Husqvarna M96/38 (6.5x55) that I got from Frankonia... and eventually changed to a Browning BLR 81 (.308 Win) lever rifle. Latter of course usually caused some serious pro/con conversation around the gasthause or at the parties after a drive hunt. -Chris
Hello Steve, I am very surprised that you made NO mention of the 1950 's / early 1960's BSA HUNTER short action rifles. I own 3 short action BSA HUNTER rifles in .222 Rem. & .22 Hornet calibres. BSA during that time made a short - medium & long action which are Mauser type rifles, and I can tell you that they are " Superb " scaled down rifles. Sadley after 1963 these beauties were no longer made and replaced by the BSA MAJESTIC series of rifles which only included medium & long receivers. A .222 Rem. in a medium receiver did not do it for me. Also the BSA MAJESTIC rifles were made with a plunger type ejector / extractor where as the BSA HUNTERS were made with the Mauser none rotating blade ejector / extractor. The BSA HUNTER rifles were made from 1954 to 1963 with cut rifled and lapped barrels and are amazingly accurate. Sadley times change and products here in England UK in the late 1960's - 70's ceased to be made to a high standard and were only made to a PRICE! A gun / riflemaker friend of mine Keith recently had a long look at one of my BSA HUNTERS which was made in 1956 and said if I wanted a rifle built to the same standard today then I would be looking at alot of £'s, and that one would be looking at a custom rifle build. Blackjack
BSA rifles are all but unknown in the United States. Although BSA stands for "Birmingham Small Arms," probably more Americans know about BSA motorcycles than BSA firearms - and BSA motorcycles have been gone for almost 50 years. Back in the 60's and 70's I owned a couple of BSA bikes and worked for a while as a BSA salesman and mechanic. Don't get me started on Lucas electrics. I had a BSA rifle in 7x57 back around 2000 or so. It was a solid, accurate gun, but I didn't find it especially elegant or finely finished. I eventually sold it to a friend, along with a Tikka brand scope I had picked up in Finland. I wish I had kept the scope. The buyer was Sean, who ran the old Sako Collectors website, and he wanted the scope more than he wanted the gun. I haven't seen a BSA sporting rifle in this country in 20 years, and I go to a lot of gun shows. The BSA name was used for a while here for a line of inexpensive imported scopes. I don't think BSA firearms ever had much distribution or marketing in the USA.
Right, that's another true small action. I've never come across one of the ".222-sized" BSA actions, but they were marketed in the U.S. by Herter's as their "U-9" rifle. Herter's offered bare actions, barreled actions (with BSA barrels - or Douglas barrels for slightly more), and finished rifles fitted with Herter's stocks. There have to be a few of them out there, but they aren't common.
