The company has changed multiple owners since 1921, but has ultimately been sold to Italian Beretta Holding in 2000. The production of military and law enforcement weapons started when Finnish defence forces ordered assault rifles and cartridges from Sako. In the 1980s, Sako merged with another firearm manufacturer, Tikkakoski and gained a valuable rifle line called Tikka. Due to this investment, domestic sales increased along with export to the USA and the rest of the world. The first civilian rifle bearing the name Sako, was the L42, prototyped in 1942 and commercially manufactured a few years later.Īfter the World War II, domestic hunting culture thrived and Sako invested in development of hunting rifles. The workshop grew into a weapons factory, which produced hunting rifles as well as cartridges and moved its headquarters from Helsinki to Riihimäki. It was founded in 1921, after the rifle repair workshop, opened in former Helsinki brewery, became independent of the civil guard. Enjoy your rifle.Sako (Suojeluskuntain Ase- ja Konepaja Oy) is rifle and ammunition manufacturer located in Riihimäki, Finland.
#Sako finnbear 338 serial numbers
Have all the serial numbers recorded and info about each one. The barrels are very good cold hammer forged as are all SAKO's and excellent shooters. I've seen lots of these rifles of this era and thee pre Garcia guns marked BOFORS Steel are often sold at a premium. Your sketch is very good and has what I believe is a wolf. Before 1968 some guns were not stamped with importers stamp.and of course some had no serial number. The importers stamp is more like an etching of a slight grey color under the barrel just in front of the fore end tip.
![sako finnbear 338 sako finnbear 338](https://www.gunsamerica.com/UserImages/137536/980906240/wm_4068861.jpg)
Firearms International became the Garcia corporation and I think I remember this as in 1972, (pre Garcia) so it would be Firearms International, Wash, DC. The importers stamp will be on the bottom of the barrel just in front of the fore end. It is likely 1966 or 1967 manufacture and is of the original L61 design. This was the first run of the original L61 rifles. Well one little digit does matter 45,042.
![sako finnbear 338 sako finnbear 338](https://images.gunsinternational.com/listings_sub/acc_329/gi_101083784/Sako-Finnbear-L579-Custom-338-Win-Mag_101083784_329_34B78285DD9EE71C.jpg)
Do you see an importers stamp on the gun? Firearms International or Garcia anywhere on the barrel? If it is 45,420 it would have been made about 1967. But I think there is an error in your S/N.
#Sako finnbear 338 serial number
(Actually the 61 indicates the year of the design as 1961.) If your serial number is correct it slipped through the records system and was most likely made about 1973. The 338 WM was first chambered about 1958 by US makers and the true L61R action was modified first about 1978 at about 530538 S/N so it was in between those dates or more specifically if stamped L61 it was made after 1962. The reason for all this numbering is that the serial number 450420 doesn't show up as any L61R actioned rifle in any of the research I've made on these rifles.
![sako finnbear 338 sako finnbear 338](https://www.gunsamerica.com/UserImages/123119/901739714/wm_12302484.jpg)
![sako finnbear 338 sako finnbear 338](https://s3.amazonaws.com/mgm-content/sites/armslist/uploads/posts/2020/04/22/11652751_03_sako_finnbear_375_h_h_640.jpg)
After that other changes in design, importer and numbering changes clutter the field somewhat and make it more complex to trace a particular model. In 1974 they restarted their serial numbering (and changed importers about that time), to run from 500001 to 530537 which ended in 1977. In 1973 they made another run of special numbers from 1 to 537. In 1970 they made a run of special serial numbers for their 50th anniversary year numbering from 1 to 1001.
#Sako finnbear 338 series
This series of numbers continued up to S/N 90954 which was made in 1973. The L61R action began about 1962 at serial number 1. Several chamberings were available in rifles made on that action including the 308 and 358 Norma. In about 1957 the company began chambering the 30-06 in a Mauser action made for them in Belgium (FN). The L61R rifle is the first action manufactured by SAKO for the 30-06 length cartridge.