New to me, special Sako's

Albert GRANT

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I have been really lucky the last few months to come across some nice finds. First up is a NIB (as far as I or anyone else can tell) Sako AV "classic" L/H in 7mm RM. This model had no records of being produced in LH so these are few and far between. I actually had a big Sako collector tell me this was the first confimation he had that it had been made in left hand, as he had never seen one. The wood is beautiful and there isn't a blemish on the entire rifle. Second set of pictures is a Sako AV L/H in .375 H&H. This one also has beautiful wood and there is a story behind it, to be told a bit later. Both are great rifles, smooth cycling, and excellent crisp triggers with a light pull. Haven't gotten out to shoot either one yet, but am hoping to do so tomorrow, at least enough to get the optics sighted on each.

7mm
7mm 1.jpg
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Very Nice! Thanks for sharing. Hope to hear the full story on the 375.
 
Congrats on the fine rifles. You gotta be ready when you run across a good deal as a lefty, they can be hard to come by. I look everyday and have been fortunate to come across a few different ones lately. Enjoy and we look forward to a hunting report once you put them into action.
 
I have been really lucky the last few months to come across some nice finds. First up is a NIB (as far as I or anyone else can tell) Sako AV "classic" L/H in 7mm RM. This model had no records of being produced in LH so these are few and far between. I actually had a big Sako collector tell me this was the first confimation he had that it had been made in left hand, as he had never seen one. The wood is beautiful and there isn't a blemish on the entire rifle. Second set of pictures is a Sako AV L/H in .375 H&H. This one also has beautiful wood and there is a story behind it, to be told a bit later. Both are great rifles, smooth cycling, and excellent crisp triggers with a light pull. Haven't gotten out to shoot either one yet, but am hoping to do so tomorrow, at least enough to get the optics sighted on each.

7mm
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Congratulations on great finds! Beautiful guns! I had one in 338 caliber. They are great guns!
 
Congrats on the new additions! Beautiful looking rifles!
 
So the story behind these 2 rifles goes like this- I wasn't even looking for rifles back at the beginning of the year. I had made my peace with shooting R/H rifles, mainly due to the lack of availability of new quality L/H rifles and the cost of used ones. That being said, I ended up speaking with an older fellow who has some health issues and was recently told by his doctor he couldn't shoot hard recoiling rifles and had this L/H .375 he wanted to move on to a home it would be used. After much discussion, we agreed on a price in the range that used Browning and Ruger L/H .375's were going for and it was on it's way. To me the Sako's are much higher quality so I was happy with this. This would be my first Sako and when it arrived I was extremely pleased with the action. I could see the wood had a lot of figure in it, with burls, tiger striping and even some curling but with the Monte Carlo cheek pad and finish I was not loving it. Fast forward 3 weeks and I walk into a store that I had no plans to even look at rifles and happen to walk right by the 7mm. As soon as I saw it I knew it had to come home. I did not hesistate and immediately bought it for a price that essentially made the Swaro scope free and put the rifle in the same range as the .375- so pretty darn good! The more I looked at the stock on the 7mm, the more I loved it. I think you can see where this might be going.....
 
This is how the rifle came to me (second pic is with a replacement stock of the same design to show the excessive cheek pad)
Sako 375.jpg
old 375.jpg
 
After much discussion with @Von Gruff, I found the replacement stock in case I screwed things up and commenced doing my best to transform it to more closely resemble the 7mm. After many pain staking hours this was the end result. Although there are some things I'd do differently next time and some improvements that need to be made, I am verey happy with how it came out. In my opinion it looks much better, and the difference in feel is night and day. Looking forward to getting out and testing it's performance!
old
old 375.jpg

New
375 1.jpg
 
Very Nice! Thanks for sharing. Hope to hear the full story on the 375.
See above!
As a Lefty I have to say that's a beautiful rifle in so many ways. Enjoy and good hunting.
I hope and feel like I brought the .375 close to the beauty of the 7mm. I do very much enjoy them both already!
Congrats on the fine rifles. You gotta be ready when you run across a good deal as a lefty, they can be hard to come by. I look everyday and have been fortunate to come across a few different ones lately. Enjoy and we look forward to a hunting report once you put them into action.
There was zero hesitation when I came across the 7mm!
Congratulations on great finds! Beautiful guns! I had one in 338 caliber. They are great guns!
I looked at one in .338 recently- It would be a nice fit with these 2, but I could not get it for as good a deal, so I'm being patient and waiting for the right opportunity. Also hope to find one in 6.5x55, and although I'm not sure they made them in L/H, one of the rare .416 RM's
 
And from the end of my last post- If anyone has these in L/H and wants to part with it for reasonable money, let me know- by PM of course! :E Happy:
 
See above!

I hope and feel like I brought the .375 close to the beauty of the 7mm. I do very much enjoy them both already!

There was zero hesitation when I came across the 7mm!

I looked at one in .338 recently- It would be a nice fit with these 2, but I could not get it for as good a deal, so I'm being patient and waiting for the right opportunity. Also hope to find one in 6.5x55, and although I'm not sure they made them in L/H, one of the rare .416 RM's
I had one in 416rm, lost in the house, the only one I’ve ever seen. Got it at B&B in north Hollyweird. Left out fire
 
Ah, thats too bad. I saw someone on another forum pick one up recently, so there are a few out there....
 
Congrats, great rifles, I just love Sako´s
 

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