Thoughts On Sako Fiberclass 375 H&H

[Sarg]

I see a Sako Fiberclass in .375 H&H up for sale & many years ago I wanted one bad (And a Safari Grade) mainly use 9.3X62 & 458Win myself & was keeping my eye out for a old classic in .375 H&H just to have in the safe really & then this turns up, it's in NZ, I work in SA & have the use of rifles there, it is a little hassle to bring a rifle over every season to .

So thought I would check what the general consensus would be on a rifle like this, not a Classic more a using/carrying rifle ?

A few of the outfits I worked for over the years had normal stocked .375 Sako's in the racks & I carried & used them because of the light weight, so sort of liked the Sako any way .

Not used much by the looks but some one added iron sights (poorly I would say) ugly ones at that .

 

[MLindsay]

I see a Sako Fiberclass in .375 H&H up for sale & many years ago I wanted one bad (And a Safari Grade) mainly use 9.3X62 & 458Win myself & was keeping my eye out for a old classic in .375 H&H just to have in the safe really & then this turns up, it's in NZ, I work in SA & have the use of rifles there, it is a little hassle to bring a rifle over every season to .

So thought I would check what the general consensus would be on a rifle like this, not a Classic more a using/carrying rifle ?

A few of the outfits I worked for over the years had normal stocked .375 Sako's in the racks & I carried & used them because of the light weight, so sort of liked the Sako any way .

Not used much by the looks but some one added iron sights (poorly I would say) ugly ones at that .

View attachment 388853

I have a Sako M995 in 375 h&h and it is fantastic!!! It has been to Africa over 10 times and has been used to take everything from Red Flanked duiker in Cameroon to black bears in Alberta to caribou in Quebec. I would be satisfied with just using that rifle even though I have bad habits of buying other rifles. It is very similar to the Fiberclass and I could not ask for a better rifle

 

[bruce moulds]

problem is it has a sako action and a sako barrel and is made in the sako factory.
this might also mean trigger issue.
there are much better rifles at possibly less money than a sako, because you do not pay extra for the name.
and many of these rifles have a higher probability of being good ones.
bruce.

 

[Sarg]

I have & have had 10's & 10's of Older (& now newer) Sako's, never had a trigger problem, has there been a fault in them ?

I have had a few (lots) of clients with big Sako 85's that have had problems with ejection, one of my colleges was buying a Sako 85 in 500 Jeff as a back up rifle, I talked him out of it as he is my friend & we back each other up on DG hunts !

 

[bruce moulds]

the trigger problem i had was when the trigger came off the receiver in the field.
bruce.

 

[cmk]

the trigger problem i had was when the trigger came off the receiver in the field.
bruce.

That sounds like a bad thing indeed. However, I do not see a lot of complaints about the triggers on Sako, rather the opposite.

@Sarg What model is the rifle? I believe that "Fiberclass" is more of a designation of the stock (and other extras) it came with. (like 'Hunter' 'DeLux' or 'Safari'). IIRC Fiberclass was introduced in the 80's, or even the late 70's.

It is impossible to say from the picture, but at least the bolt shroud indicates that it could be an AIII or AV, both of which are products of the 80's, and normally very good rifles. I guess it could also be an L691 (1990's), which is still a good rifle. It has a better safety than the previous models, i.e. that locks the firing pin, but with a loose recoil lug (rather than being an integral part of the action).

At any rate, if it is an L61R, AIII, AV or L691 they from the pre-Beretta era - when quality was good, and prices reasonable.

 

[CBH Australia]

the trigger problem i had was when the trigger came off the receiver in the field.
bruce.

Bruce, that would be bad on a a DG rifle like a .375h&h

 

[Riksa]

The rifle in picture looks a lot like M995 also know as TRG-S. It is a very good model. I had one in 6.5x55 and it's very accurate, butter smooth and much the same construction as Sako's military TRG. Only place where I would be cautious is to put a very low mounted scope on this rifle. Low mount could potentially (depending on the scope) cause issues when ejecting empty shell. That issue I had with a very low mount S&B PMII 5-25 scope in my rifle. The issue took place mainly when working on the bolt gently. In case I used normal force, then no issues. I'd recommend the rifle anyway as these are usually very good value for the money.

 

[Earle]

Had an M995 a while back. Chambered in 416 remington. It had a detachable magazine, in the truist sense of the word. It became detached every time the rifle was fired. Sold it with full disclosure and bought a CZ.

 

[greyfox]

I own several SAKOs (older models) NEVER had any issues with triggers or ejection.

For the right price, I'd jump on it. Not sure what the process is to get a rifle from NZ to RSA?

 

[TOBY458]

I had a Fiberclass in 416 Rem Mag. It was a very nice rifle. Feeding and ejection was perfect and it held 4 rounds in the magazine. Mine came from the factory with iron sights. The triggers are held in place by one large screw, so perhaps that could come loose. However I've never seen it happen.
The main problem I've heard with these actions with the bolt guide on the side is, there have been cases of them moving forward under recoil and jamming the action. Sako later put two fasteners on them to prevent this. You can tell by looking at the side of the bolt guide and see how many holes you see. You want the one with two holes.

 

[Sarg]

Ok, I thought most would know what was what about these, but I suppose I know the rifle from my history of them & in the country's I know, different model in different country's, I believe this would have the full length AIII or AV can't see the side in pics, later version of L61R & L691 I think, I have owned more small action Sakos than larger .

I thought the Fiberclass model was made for only a few years in the 90's maybe very late 80's, never seen one factory fitted with open sight & no larger Cal than .375 H&H, that .416 Rem would be grand, can we see pics of it please ?

I have never heard of a problem with the triggers on these older models either & have/had a lot, but any thing mechanical can fail .

Funny I have had more problems over the years with control feed rifles than push feed but some of my hunting areas & time spent there has been like a deployment in a war zone .

On a working rifle, which happened to be a Sako L691 rebarreled from 30/06 to 308Win Super heavy barrel (don't ask my Boss was a idiot back then) in a Buffalo meat shooting camp, we had to head shoot them all, 338Win & 375H&H was expensive & hard to get so we used Hard Ball 30/06 then went to 308Win, any way I shot this Bull & swung on the next Bull working the bolt & it pulled out in my hand, quickly pushed it back in & it pick up a fresh round & shot him in the back of the head .

It turned out the screw on the side holding the bolt stop/ejector had loosen enough to allow the bolt to come out, would be scary in charge & I always tell my guys to work the bolt like they are trying to pull it out on a .375 H&H to combat all the short stroking I have seen over the years with that round !

Couple more pics of the .375 H&H Fiberclass here.

 

[TOBY458]

Ok, I thought most would know what was what about these, but I suppose I know the rifle from my history of them & in the country's I know, different model in different country's, I believe this would have the full length AIII or AV can't see the side in pics, later version of L61R & L691 I think, I have owned more small action Sakos than larger .

I thought the Fiberclass model was made for only a few years in the 90's maybe very late 80's, never seen one factory fitted with open sight & no larger Cal than .375 H&H, that .416 Rem would be grand, can we see pics of it please ?

I have never heard of a problem with the triggers on these older models either & have/had a lot, but any thing mechanical can fail .

Funny I have had more problems over the years with control feed rifles than push feed but some of my hunting areas & time spent there has been like a deployment in a war zone .

On a working rifle, which happened to be a Sako L691 rebarreled from 30/06 to 308Win Super heavy barrel (don't ask my Boss was a idiot back then) in a Buffalo meat shooting camp, we had to head shoot them all, 338Win & 375H&H was expensive & hard to get so we used Hard Ball 30/06 then went to 308Win, any way I shot this Bull & swung on the next Bull working the bolt & it pulled out in my hand, quickly pushed it back in & it pick up a fresh round & shot him in the back of the head .

It turned out the screw on the side holding the bolt stop/ejector had loosen enough to allow the bolt to come out, would be scary in charge & I always tell my guys to work the bolt like they are trying to pull it out on a .375 H&H to combat all the short stroking I have seen over the years with that round !

Couple more pics of the .375 H&H Fiberclass here.

View attachment 388965View attachment 388967View attachment 388969View attachment 388970

Mine was an AV in 416 Rem Mag. The iron sights were definitely factory, because I bought it from a friend of mine who bought it new in the early 90s. One thing I see in the above pictures is, the recoil pad looks to be different from the rifle I owned. The stocks were made for Sako by Mcmillan, so the pads are usually solid, not ventilated.

 

[Sarg]

Mine was an AV in 416 Rem Mag. The iron sights were definitely factory, because I bought it from a friend of mine who bought it new in the early 90s. One thing I see in the above pictures is, the recoil pad looks to be different from the rifle I owned. The stocks were made for Sako by Mcmillan, so the pads are usually solid, not ventilated.

Thank you, would still like to see pics to see what the Fiberclass had fitted as I said info says no sights fitted to them ( no mention of 416 either) but you can never say never as there are always exceptions .

Sounds like factory stock on yours to not retro with the Sako pad, this guy swapped out the Sako pad I think he thought it was too hard ?

All sorts !

 

[TOBY458]

Thank you, would still like to see pics to see what the Fiberclass had fitted as I said info says no sights fitted to them ( no mention of 416 either) but you can never say never as there are always exceptions .

Sounds like factory stock on yours to not retro with the Sako pad, this guy swapped out the Sako pad I think he thought it was too hard ?

All sorts !

It's been a long while back since I owned the 416, so I don't have any pictures.

 

[TOBY458]

Here's a picture of a 416 AV Fiberclass that sold on Gunsamerica awhile back.

 

[Sarg]

Great thank you, yes I have some of those sights & what I might fit if I bought it, move rear sight forward & chop barrel back .

But that doesn't look to be a actual Fiberclass as they all had the classic stock none checked, looks like it could be a AV retro fitted with a McMillan stock as some were added later, again from available info I had & my historic knowledge ?

Was yours stocked like that Toby458 & fitted with the Sako marked recoil pad ?

 

[TOBY458]

Great thank you, yes I have some of those sights & what I might fit if I bought it, move rear sight forward & chop barrel back .

But that doesn't look to be a actual Fiberclass as they all had the classic stock none checked, looks like it could be a AV retro fitted with a McMillan stock as some were added later, again from available info I had & my historic knowledge ?

Was yours stocked like that Toby458 & fitted with the Sako marked recoil pad ?

Yes. It had the exact same stock and sights. I can't remember if the pad was marked Sako or not. However I do know that it was a factory made Fiberclass, as my friend bought it brand new.

 

[Sarg]

Like I said exceptions to rules all the time, maybe they made a different model for the US & that is why also in 416Rem ?

Back in the day as I wanted one I had the Sako catalog & the one above sans open sights & straight stock, largest .375 H&H were the only ones offered, but next year or later who knows what happened or what was offered in other county's, no internet then, only magazines & not much mention of Sako Firearms in them back then either .

We got a Ford Capri V6 3Lt (like small Mustang) in NZ & Australia back in the day, the NZ models some times had more HP than Aussie because of emission control (less in NZ then) but in SA they had same car with Bloody 5Lt V8's in them, lucky buggers !!

 

[Muskox]

Had that exact rifle about 15 years ago. Nice gun, I took it to Alaska when I moved up there and when I left someone bought it from me.

Made a nice carrying weight 375 that would work on animal on earth.