New to me old Sako

[TheSkyBuster]

Just got this a couple days ago. 

Sako L579 Forester Deluxe in .308 WIN 

Serial # 292xx  I haven't got an exact date yet but it is roughly late 1950's


This Gun is freakin beautiful and I had to share



Here is a bunch of Pictures:











Scope is a 2.5-8 Vari-X III  and the rings are Kesselrings.   
















Anyone here familier with these Rifles?  Where is a good place to find the Date of Manufacture?

I haven't shot it yet but the action is smooth and crisp, the trigger has Zero creep and breaks clean at about 4 lbs
The quality on this old gun is amazing.   

[Huntbear]

Not sure how to find the year.... but am totally jealous.. if I could afford it, ALL my rifles would be Sakos and as old as I could find...

 

[D-Rock425]

I have an older sako in 7mm-08 great shooter.   Nice looking gun you got there. 

[carpsniperg2]

I flatout love sako rifles! I have several and love them all very much. I have a finnbear that is the love of my collection. Was given to my dad from my grandpa and then to me. One of the guns I trust my life to.

[Wacenturion]

Bought my daughter her first gun for her first hunt in 1996 when she was 12.  It was an early Sako Deluxe like yours in a .243.  It was virtually brand new.  Killed a nice Whitetail buck with it....one shot...dead.  Still in the safe.

Early L579 serial numbers are as follows.........

Started 10/29/1960.......10091

 Ended 02/15/1973........118961

In my reference stuff there is one .308 L579 individual serial number that is dated as follows....

.308 caliber L579.......32105.....08/30/1963

Found an L579 in .243 ....19890....10/17/1961

Yours is obviously earlier than the .308 above but later than the .243.  I would venture to guess 1962 is the production year on yours.

Great pickup.  Those are extremely nice weapons if you can find them.  Early Sako's are very well made, too costly by today's standards.  Did you get a good deal on it?

I also have a L579 in .308 except it's not a Deluxe, but rather a Mannlicher, which are very rare.  My favorite Whitetail gun being lightweight and a joy to pack, not to mention accurate.

Congratulations!  Hope the above helps.

[D-Rock425]

How do you find that info?

[Wacenturion]

Buster....The only difference in my Daughter's and your is the design on the floorplate and trigger guard.  The wood on her's is perhaps somewhat blonder, but that could just be the lighting in the photo.  All of the ones I've seen are a very nice light wood hue.  Her .243 plate and guard looks like this (appears to something along the line of an African Antelope)..............

[Wacenturion]

How do you find that info?

Gleaned it off the internet a couple years ago and made copies to put in the safe for reference.  Some from the Sako sight itself....see link below.  It has some old Sako Rifle PDF data as well as other downloads....manuals etc.  If I remember right some of the other information (individual serial number dates) may have come from Sako Collector sites, or something similar.  Hope that helps.

http://www.sako.fi/downloads.php

[Wacenturion]

All this stimulated my curiosity so I looked at my Daughter's serial number and mine, as it's been awhile since I dated them.

Her Sako Deluxe .243....16XXX (1960)

My L579 .308 Mannlicher.....36XXX  (1964)

[Wacenturion]

Here's a couple photos of a early L579 .308 Mannlicher like mine.

[TheSkyBuster]

Wacenturion, Thanks for the Info on the dates, I had hit a couple dead ends trying to find it online, 

This rifle has been in the family since it was new, my Great Uncle bought it new and my father bought it from him,  I was kinda hoping for a hand me down some day but I ended up buying it on short notice from my dad,  I think he got a wild hair and decided he was going to sell it to fund a vacation.    So I payed less than its worth But I still have to sell a gun or 2 to build my "Emergency Gun Buying Fund" back up.

[TheSkyBuster]

Here's a couple photos of a early L579 .308 Mannlicher like mine.

Is that called a Forester as well?  the full stock model or does it have a different name? 

[TheSkyBuster]

Here is an old photo of the original owner of the rifle.  This was taken before he bought the gun in the mid 1950's near Glacier.   I'm not sure what aunty is holding in this picture.

[Wacenturion]

Wacenturion, Thanks for the Info on the dates, I had hit a couple dead ends trying to find it online, 

This rifle has been in the family since it was new, my Great Uncle bought it new and my father bought it from him,  I was kinda hoping for a hand me down some day but I ended up buying it on short notice from my dad,  I think he got a wild hair and decided he was going to sell it to fund a vacation.    So I payed less than its worth But I still have to sell a gun or 2 to build my "Emergency Gun Buying Fund" back up.

I know how that goes...lol.  My gun funds barely start to get built up and I find something else to deplete them with.

It's nice that the gun has some history, being in the family and all.  Makes it somewhat more special.

[TheSkyBuster]

Yeah definitely,  there will always be room in my safe for this one.  I might even take it deer hunting this year.