Sako Forester - what can you tell me about them?

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Aabradsh

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Hey guys

I've recently picked up a mid 70's Sako Forester, in .308win. The metal, bluing, barrel, rifling, crown, and chamber are all in good order, but the stock needed some TLC (currently with my gun smith having a crack repaired in the tang and a bedding job, then I plan to refinish the stock). I got this rifle for a very reasonable price, so don't mind it needing some work, and it will be a hunting workhorse, so I don't need it to look like a wall hanger.

I really like the general fit and finish of this rifle, the action is smooth and tight, it has an excellent trigger, and the stock ergonomics fit me very well. I'm pretty exited to get this gun into the whitetail bush this fall.

All that said, I don't know much about these rifles. Before I bought it, a bit of forum research told me I should expect it to be a decent shooter, and as with today's Sakos, they were a higher end option, when Winchesters, Remingtons, and Savages ruled the gun racks at most camps.

Any experience with these would be appreciated. Roughly when were these mostly manufactured? how do they stack up against a remington 700, Win model 70, or modern Sakos, say the 75 or 85 series?
 
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A bunch of these well used sakos have been showing up from overseas flooding the market lately. Can’t give away a Husqvarna anymore. Same source.
I like these older sakos but condition is important to me. For a straight up hunting gun they’re good value. Better then a sako 85 for sure. But what isn’t?
 
We have a Sako forester 308 in the family since late 60's. A few good points, she has a very light action, she has a very good trigger. Rest I would not rate at all and prefer my Remmies or T3's. The forester never shot well, only when the barrel was almost red hot (Bofors steel) she would start to group and maybe get 1.5". Clean she would not hit a dinner plate at 50yds. She wounded her share of animals which was how we got into hunting in South Africa. I had the rifle handed down to me about 25 years ago after moving to Ireland. I could not get her to shoot either and posted her to Roedale in Germany to get a Lothar Walther barrel fitted. When back she shot very well when cold, hot, clean or dirty. Drop plate mag system never ever worked reliable, stock is horrible and has huge muzzle flip. So bad, I started making a stock for her which ended up in us manufacturing composite stocks. I fitted an AICS mag system from a Howa short action with a lot of alterations and one of our early carbon stocks. Still had to deal with the abortion of scope mounts.... Recknagel had a rail that fitted. So now the rifle feeds very reliable is very accurate, great trigger and behaves well under recoil. Only gripe left is the bolt opening (cocking) after firing is very hard, maybe someone installed a much stronger firing pin spring I don't know. She is now sitting far back in the safe as I have far better or nicer handling rifles. There is absolutely nothing that would urge me to have another.
edi
 
Interesting post above. My experience is quite different. I would rate the Sako rifles from that era as some of the best there is. I have owned several. Still have A Sako Forester L579 deluxe .308 that will be with me until I die. And another slightly newer AII .308 that is just a little nicer in all respects but the stock doesn't quite fit me as well. One of the wonderful features of the Sako rifles is the small diameter of the bolt and and the action is perfectly proportioned for the family of cartridges that is chambered in. A .308 is put in a .308 size action, not kludged into a .30-06 size action like many older Winchesters or like Tikkas. I have owned several longer action rifles in the same series, still have a AV .25-06 and I'm keeping that one forever too. I also currently have a couple of M85's. I have never once seen a Sako that didn't have excellent fit and finish. All were accurate, except one that had a warped stock that needed attention. All functioned as they should, with the exception of both my M85's which needed some minor tweaking to get them ejecting at the proper angle. I have had numerous Remington M700 rifles and all had various problems both big and small. Warped stock, screw holes off centre, sticking bolt stop, sights miss aligned, a horribly bad gritty trigger, chamber problems, safety problems, bedding issues, and bolt that wasn't square and true to the action. Won't own another Remington, wouldn't use one if it was free. Winchesters M70's have always been decent rifles, but the quality of fit and finish and attention to detail is not up to Sako standards in my opinion.
You have acquired one of the great rifles. enjoy it!
 
I know many have had better luck with their Sako's. For me it is much easier and quicker to put together a very sweet T3 or Rem 700 than to go the old Sako route. Even the Long action of a T3 does not make any issues and is still one of the lightest and stiffest actions out there. That's why it is used quite a lot recently in PRS, never see an old Sako at PRS.
I still have the old Forester with carbon stock, AICS Mag system, Lothar Walther match grade barrel and she shoots as well as my other rifles... just not as nice to handle.

One of two red deer I shot at 420m with our L579. A few years before I shot my first deer with her too.

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My son's Sika Spike in the Rut.

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My father had taken Kudu and Bushbuck with that rifle and I don't see a reason why my grandchildren if any arrive couldn't use her as well.


edi
 
The older Sakos are as good as anything out there and better than most. I have owned a couple with both short and long action. One posters experience with inaccuracy is certainly an aberration in my view. First I have heard of a Sako of 60's ,70's vintage shooting badly. But I guess a lemon is posssible in any brand.
 
I’m sure they are out there, but never seen a bad Sako barrel. I’ve had many over the years. Currently only a .416 Fiberclass.
 
Sako and Tikka use the same barrels now. Only a slight contour difference, they don’t even mark them with a name, other then made in Finland and the cartridge. Older well used sakos have the potential issue of corroded barrels due to poor cleaning/storage.
 
I have a forester in .243 that I inherited from a relative. Very smooth action, great trigger, accurate and lightweight. This rifle has seen plenty of time in the bush and with good care, I believe it will be the only deer rifle I will ever own. I hope you enjoy your .308.
 
Buckmastr said:
A bunch of these well used sakos have been showing up from overseas flooding the market lately. Can’t give away a Husqvarna anymore. Same source.
I like these older sakos but condition is important to me. For a straight up hunting gun they’re good value. Better then a sako 85 for sure. But what isn’t?
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yeah interesting! an Spot on lol.
 
My old man uses one in 243, been his go to deer rig for several decades, other then being heavy, it's a pretty nice rifle.
 
Buckmastr said:
Can’t give away a Husqvarna anymore.
Click to expand...

The current flood of very affordable used sporting rifles from Scandinavia has depressed all Husqvarna prices. This is a bit rough for longtime HVA collectors, but great for everyone else. Although many of the guns coming in need a bit of work, it's generally very light gunsmithing, mostly just tang cracks. Get them while you can. They won't last forever.
 
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Buckmastr said:
A bunch of these well used sakos have been showing up from overseas flooding the market lately. Can’t give away a Husqvarna anymore. Same source.
I like these older sakos but condition is important to me. For a straight up hunting gun they’re good value. Better then a sako 85 for sure. But what isn’t?
Click to expand...
Interesting comment. What exactly is it about the 85s that you dislike? I've owned a number of L-and A-series Sakos, which I have really liked, but fairly recently I picked up an 85. I have to say that it seems like a very nice rifle. It has much a smoother and slicker action (less lateral wobble) and better trigger than any L- or A-series Sakos I've owned. Some owners of 85s have experienced ejection problems (cartridges ejecting too vertically and hitting the scope), but I haven't had this problem with mine.
nIU0tRj.jpg
 
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Buckmastr said:
For that money you should get a gun that ejects from the factory.
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Mine does. I took a look at the extractor and found that it is about as far to the right on the bolt face as it can go, with the bottom of the extractor almost level with the edge of the ejection port. Cases fly out to the right and don't come anywhere near to hitting the scope (and I have the scope mounted fairly low, as can be seen in the picture above). I wonder whether this was something Sako corrected in the later 85s after hearing about ejection problems. I purchased mine about 2 or 3 years ago, so it is a fairly recent 85.
 
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