There's good news and bad news regarding my recent safari. The good news is that I made it home in one piece. The bad news is that my Sako didn't.

Other than a road trip to Texas, this safari was the first trip for my TuffPak. I packed it according to the directions and the hints I picked up here. The trip over was fine and the rifles required only minor tweaking to be back in action. The return trip however, was not so pleasant. When I finally got around to unpacking the TuffPak last night, this is what I found:





As you can imagine, I'm not a happy camper, nor am I still singing the praises of the TuffPak. Perhaps the stock was already cracked. Perhaps there was a fault of some kind in the structure of the wood. Who knows?

I just thought those of you with TuffPaks would appreciate this, and those of you without should take a look at this before dropping $300 on a gun case.

Were there any signs of external damage to your TuffPac, indicating it may have been crushed or mishandled during the flight?

Dude, that sucks
Was your rifle packed tightly around? Were there any marks/indentations on the outside of your case that match the stock?

The airlines must have thrown your tuffpack in with a gorilla like those old American Toursiter commercials.

I don't claim to be an expert on stock breaks, but I've talked to a few who are (the Stock Doctor, does all the repairs for Holland and Holland and others)and this break is fairly common for airlines. It apparently comes when the barrel is in contact with the end of the case and the case is dropped (thrown) onto concrete or something similar (another hard gun case on a luggage carrier). I'm not sure there is a cure, but for maximum protection there must be some cushioning agent in the end of the Tuffpak. Was the gun in a soft gun case, preferably with clothes etc below it? I'm not defending Tuffpak, not my concern, just trying to point out the probably cause and maybe help someone else out down the line. Sure sorry about your stock, it looked like a nice one.

I had a buddy who had the exact same break happen to a Browning Safari rifle. He was carrying it with a sling over his shoulder, while moose hunting in Northern Manitoba.

He slipped on a smooth, mossy ledge and went down flat on his back. Only his backpack kept him from cracking his head open. Somehow, the gun didn't hit the ground, and the stock broke exactly like yours, but there wasn't a mark on it. Nada.

The only thing we could figure out was that when he went down, the sideways stress on the stock, perhaps hitting his hip or something, caused the stock to break there. To my (untrained) eye, that looks like a natural weak point for sideways stress, even though it can take the full recoil of the rifle straight back.

Another reason for composite stocks. They may not be pretty but sure can take a beating. I have no experience with TP as I use an alum. double case and pack it inside the Cabelas duffel designed to carry the case. It has wheels but just looks like a duffle not a gun case. Once thru clearence the thugs don't know it contains firearms.

Here is what I want to say about all that.
I have been in the past the largest collector of Sako rifles in the world. I have been the guest of the factory in Finland twice and for a total of 21 days.
I have been allowed to wander that factory at will. To see and do as I pleased.
I have purchased over 150 excess stock for older Sakos and sold them all.
Next...I am, to my knowledge, the largest dealer of Tuffpak gun cases. You are the first to lay any blame for damage to his firearm since I have been selling Tuffpak. I know of one set of guns that were in the infamous number of guns found by Louis of Ashton House in the Jo'burg airport. One set of guns in a Tuffpak belonging to Chub Eastman, writer and Nosler guru, had 13 airline stubs on it. This was told me by Chub in Reno two years ago. He said after all that flying around God only knows where...there was no damage to the rifles (some of which belonged to Remington).
Now, in looking at your photo is appears that the grain is not straight thru the wrist as one might hope for proper strength of a stock. It was (is) a pretty stock but not one with the grain running the correct way for many folks.
As you state, there may have been a crack already or maybe a fault in the wood to start with but....here is my deal....if you can prove that your stock was broken due to lack of protection from your Tuffpak I will personally pay for a new factory stock...not some fancy ass custom rig but another factory stock.
In looking at your photos and how the stock broke I bet it was an accident waiting to happen due to the way the grain runs in the wood. Naturally it picked the weakest point of the stock to break.
I am not trying to be a wise ass in this post. I love what few pretty Sako rifles I have left. I just hate to hear a frustrated hunter blame something that most likely was not the cause of his problems.
I have heard customers tell me of what all they have seen their cases go through and it is hard for me to believe your case is the cause of your misfortune. Anything is possible and I am willing to buy you a new stock if there is real proof it was the fault of the Tuffpak.
I myself have never had damage to anything in my personal case. It has been on two safaris that I did not get to go on and all the ones I have done plus other trips in the USA.
I understand your anger, frustration etc. but...are you putting the blame for your misfortune where it should really go?
Mims Reed
817 267 3700
Hunters Headquarters
Bedford, TX

What a shame that was a nice looking rig. I guess anything can happen when travelling. I havent priced the tuff pack however if it is 300, that is about 200 too much.I travel with a cheap docksil case that was only 65 dollars no problems yet. As far as a replacment try a synthetic you can have a nice wood stock made while using the plastic one, you might even like it. best of luck Ben (rug)

AAAHHHH!!!!!
That must have been an unfortunate discovery after your trip! I hope you shot some nice trophies with the rifle before the break! Is there any way that stock can be fixed with crossbolts etc, or is it too far gone?

Damned push-feed!

George
P.S. The stock was either already had a slight crack, or it suffered a serious shock while in the case. I always pack my hunting boots (stuffed with socks) in the bottom of the TuffPak, and slide the tip of the soft-case into the boot tops. A down jacket or backpack goes in on top, once inspection has been performed.

If you'd like to get your broken stock repaired, I'd contact John Garvin in Albany, Georgia. He does remarkable work and specializes in repairing stocks back to 100%. He can show you examples of splintered stocks that have been repaired with absolutely no sign that the stock was ever impaired. In most cases, the stock will be stronger after he repairs it than before it was broken. He does work for people all over the country. If you call him (229-888-7891), please tell him I said "hello".



Garvin's Gunstock Shop, Inc

Rug - thanks for the suggestion. I'm leaning towards a replacement synthetic, perhaps a McMillan. They make one with the same shape as the factory stock, which was the main reason I bought this rifle.

Bob - you're right, I meant to say "not." Post edited.

Boghossian - I shot one animal with this rifle - an impala that I did not recover after a full day of tracking. Maybe that hexed it!

George - it's likely, though hard to prove, that the stock already had a fault of some sort. on the push feed comment. A 6.5X55 is hardly a DG rifle though... I tried the boot trick - mine didn't fit.

Spring - thanks for the recommendation, though I'm leaning towards the synthetic. Maybe I'll send the barreled action off to get Tefloned or something and make it more "practical" as a multi-purpose rig. I always felt bad about knocking that stock around - maybe this is a sign.

I would call Jim Lutes in Whitewater, KS. He and I co-founded the Sako Collectors Assn. in 1982. He deals in all kinds of Sako parts. 316 799 2509.
If Jim can not be of service then I do have a buddy at the factory who I will put you in contact with.
There should be a number of take off stocks out there due to people putting glass or custom stocks on.
I too love pretty wood but for all my hard core stuff I have gone to glass. I have never shed a tear upon bumping the pickup door with my glass stock but I have been out of sorts with my clumsy ass with some of my pretty stocks. Then there was the time I had to use my Sako as a crutch coming down a MT mountain. At the bottom I washed the mud off in the creek. I sure would have hated to do that with my wood stock Sako. Oh well...they can be re-finished and many can be repaired. I had a 470 NE double broken completely into at the wrist repaired and it has been on 3 more safaris without a hitch. It even had little splinters that had to be fixed plus a bent bottom tang. I mean...it was BROKE! PLUM!

I guess this just proves nothing is idiot proof! Last trip I saw my tuffpak thrown out of the cargo area onto the pavement below on the way home. I was expecting to find some real damage. I was luckier than you and everything was intact. Last year however, the baggage people managed to bend the tube on a scope. It was bent far enough that I couldnt open the bolt! Somehow we bent it back without breaking the seals. I guess no matter how carefull we are there is no getting around this kind of thing. I now insure the hell out of everything! It is really too bad we cant come back on the airlines for this kind of treatment.

I have a McMillian synthetic stock on my Sako A5 action on a custom gun I had made. Fits like a glove. The teflon finish is nice as well, though it will rub off some over time if you hunt hard like some of us do.

"I shot one animal with this rifle - an impala that I did not recover after a full day of tracking. Maybe that hexed it!"

If impala's could hex a rifle, my Browning .30-06 would have come back as ashes.

I took a "golf bag carrier" type case to Africa in 2003 with a CZ 550 within. I chose the case (I've forgotten the name brand) because it was a "clam-shell" design with a full-length piano hinge, figuring that it would be easy to open up the case for inspection. Also, several of my PGA Tour friends had used this brand for their clubs for years, without damage, albeit, most travel in private jets!



I first packed the rifle in a padded soft case (with a heavy leather muzzle guard at the tip). I had already completely lined the hard case with 1" closed-cell foam from a sleeping pad. With the foam attached, the hard case was still about 6" longer than the rifle/soft case. I placed two folded towels and a paperback book under both the butt and the muzzle. Clothes were carefully placed around the rifle to cushion and "float" it in the center of the hard case. The hard case is about 3/8" of an inch thick, and even more than that at each end. The case was tough (not Tuff ). When I first bought it, I stood my fat body on the closed case and couldn't even get it to flex.



I arrived in the Selous and began to unpack the hard case and much to my surprise, I found the leather tip of the soft case protruding an inch or so from the bottom of the hard case. There was a 2" round hole in the bottom of the fiberglass. Since I had the case in sight during all parts of transit after arriving in Dar es Salaam, the damage had to be prior to that. In other words, some idiot had dropped the case from a height sufficent to cause the rifle to poke through towels, a paperback book and more than 3/8" of reinforced fiberglass. Having brought only one rifle, I about crapped right then. With a not-so-slight tremble, I opened the soft case. I could find no damage to the rifle or the front sight. I installed my lever Talley's and the 1.5x5 Leupold and found the zero to still be perfect. I even killed two buffalo, a zebra, a kongoni, and an impala, etc... Must have bent the barrel and made misses hit, or something?



I write all this to say that it makes little difference in the quality of packing or the case if the rifle is dropped from the airplane (maybe 15' or so) to concrete. Something will give. Luckily for me, it was the case and not the rifle.



I lost another stock to mishandling when U.P.S. dropped (or tossed) a Model 22 Brno. I talked to the folks at Americase about it when making an insurance claim. (The case was NOT an Americase) They informed me that their studies show that the majority of broken stocks result from contact of the muzzle AND the tip of the buttstock, their being in contact with something rigid... and then someone dropping the case on a hard surface. Think about it. If the case that weighs 15 pounds (the gun being 9 of that) is dropped 5 feet, all of that weight will be transmitted down the barrel and up the stock to the weakest point, which is the wrist. They said that wrist breaks (such as yours) are classically caused by such a shock. Americase, at least in their higher value cases, puts restraining straps within their products to lessen the chance of the barrel/stock compressing the within foam to the point the gun could be damaged... I've added velcro straps to my "conventional" cases, btw.



Just my thoughts... and, Mims, I think Tuffpaks are the best. I, would, however, glue heavy, closed-cell padding on the top and bottom of the case and do whatever necessary to assure that the muzzle and stock can not hit the sides, if dropped... which WILL happen eventually, understanding, however, some fool will always find a way to break your favorite rifle. Insurance cost me $18@1000 and is well worth it for expensive guns.



Another possibility on why your gun was broken... Unbeknownst to you, could TSA have removed/rearranged some of your clothing that you placed as protection???? thereby alowing contact with the hard sides of the case. Betcha they did.

DesertRam ..Sorry to hear about what happened to your rifle. Has anybody used the heavy duty aluminum gun cases? Any problems?

Thanks

AKA,

I used the Kalispell cases on my four safaris with no problems, but CTB had one of his rifles split at the grip despite using a similar aluminum case. I believe he used duct tape as a 'field-expedient repair'.

George

George..thank you for the post. It sort of seems like it's a crap shoot if you get your rifles back in one piece. I guess that is the price i will have to pay next year!

You guys may want to try taking your gun apart. Several years ago I began using the shorter case, one basically designed for breakdown shotguns. I take the barreled action out of the stock, put the screwdrivers right there in the case. Two things gained, at least: 1) Now the stock is by itself, much less suseptable to breakage. 2) Now my case looks a bit less like a gun (I also use a canvas slipcover) so maybe is subjected to a little less abuse. Might give it a try.

I saw this exact same stock fracture in my father's 700 Rem (300 Weatherby) walnut stock (factory stock).

The rifle was in my Browning Gun Vault case (with my rifle in a composite stock), on our way back from an elk hunt in Colorado. There was no sign of damage to the case.

He did get some nominal amount of money from the airline, and I bought him a Fajen laminate stock as a birthday present, and glassbedded it with a friend's help.

It went from shooting .75" groups, to .5" groups.

Better lucky than good.

Garrett

Arts:

Let me add to that. This year I took two doubles to Africa in a heavy aluminum "takedown" case. It was designed to fit within a rolling duffle (also available from Cabelas). TSA didn't flinch when they inspected the guncase within the bag setup (it's like a false bottom to the duffle). They just looked at the rifles, relocked the lock and zipped up the duffel. One bag convenience... however!!! In RSA, some minion about wet his pants when he saw that the gun(s) were within a case (within a case), if you understand... He didn't. I had the canvas cover for the aluminum case ready and just pulled the guncase out of the duffle and slipped the canvas over it... got a big white-toothed smile.. waited until he left, put the guncase back back in the duffel where it belonged, went through gun control without a hitch (they could have cared less about the combination) and got aboard the flight home. All was intact upon arrival in ATL.

Taking apart a rifle will surely reduce the ft/lbs of impact upon the fragile parts when...not it... some fool tries a caber toss.

Desert,
I have four of the Mcmillan stocks on Sako's. The contour is exact, and they are very rugged. The McMillan stock painter has the technique down cold. I usually have my local gunsmith bed them, but I've heard (don't know personally) that McMillan does a good job of pillar bedding their stocks. If you don't want the stock painted the marbled olive and black pattern looks good, and is a decent GP camoflage.

I think the Judge is onto something. After returning through Atlanta last year we rechecked after US customs at that adjacent counter, no TSA in sight. Upon arriving home, I had a TSA zip tie where my lock had been and the bag was not packed in the same manner as when sealed in Africa. Same for those I was traveling with.We have no clue where that inspection occurred as we had nothing missing and did not follow up.

Imaginative engineering if you think that a Tuff Pak has anything to do with the stock cracking. You need a good gun case for the rifle and then that packed in the Tuff Pak.

I've had regular foam/aluminum cases where the barrel was sticking out of the end of the case after being unloaded from the plane. So is that better?

The dimwits probably threw the case off the airplane.

"Has anybody used the heavy duty aluminum gun cases? Any problems?"

On my first safari both me and my hunting partner used Americases (bought on a recommendation). My .338 Win. Mag. was shooting about 5-6 inches high when we sighted in at camp. After correction, the rifle held zero for the entire safari. On the return trip my partners' case had a hole punched through the side which fortunately didn't damage the rifles. It turns out Americase doesn't use metal all around in constructing the case. What we thought were decorative panels turned out to be heavy fiber board. After the return it was still on zero.

On the second trip we bought Zeigel guncases (on yet another recommendation) and on arrival to Africa my .30-06 was shooting about 18 inches to the right. After correction, the rifle held zero for the entire safari. After the return there was a good sized dent in the top of my gun case but the rifle was still on zero.

In my Americase, the rifles were extremely tight inside the case compressing the thin foam against the sides and it was a 1/2 top x 1/2 bottom clamshell design whereas in my Zeigel the guns are held below the top and the top does not form part of the support system per se. The Zeigel uses a much heavier foam than Americase and does not cradle the rifles tightly against the structure but provides some foam inserts to be used to snug the rifle in place. Both my partners cases are the flat double rifle types.

If I were buying a new case now, I would buy one that used soft packs integral to the storage of the rifles within the case and I'm not referring to Tuff packs.

Is that rifle a heavy caliber? It's possible the stock fractured while shooting it, before you packed it. And then it just came apart due to the vibration etc. The grain direction is absolutely wrong for a heavy-recoiling rifle. Almost to the point of being a mfg defect. I would return it to Sako and see if they will replace it.

That guy that fixes broken stocks...wow! I have his site put aside for future reference. He is a wizard from the looks of things. Thanks for posting his address.
Now, my old buddy Lutes has taken more than one Sako out of the stock. He put it all in his backpack and then re-assembled atop the mtn. and shot elk on the way down.
I think a good way to travel might be to take your rifle out of the stock and re-assemble at camp esp. if you can sight in again. If done right I doubt you will be off much once put back together. I will not do that myself but nothing wrong with the idea.
I don't disagree with putting something soft in top and bottom of Tuffpak. I put my shoes and jacket in the bottom and then in go my guns in their soft cases. Guess having a big foot may count for something...good padding in a gun case. I don't need anything at the top as I have so much stuff in there my guns can't hit the top anyway! Last time my wife had 5 wooden nesting bowls and some feathers and...
In looking at the photos I really do think the grain was just wrong for the wrist.
For nearly 20 years I was in the manniquin business. Those babies were $600 plus in the 70's. Now we had to ship those "naked ladies" all over the world and to the 8 southwestern states I covered. You want to see an unhappy camper...see some limp wristed display director for a major dept. store that is set to open in X days with a broken manniquin. The factory packed the hell out of those things but...if you dropped one flat off the back of a truck onto the ground...we most likely had a broken manniquin. It is akin to hitting the ice cube in your hand with a spoon...now you have many pcs. of ice! The shock not the force of the hit broke the ice. The "flat" lick seem to really be the curse...dropped on corner or end etc. was not a real culprit.
I was always amazed at some stupid X!@#^& that would say, "You shipped me a broken manniquin!" Oh hell yes I did. I wanted to make you mad and loose my commission and never sell you another manniquin as long as I live so I thought for good clean fun I would just ship you a broken honey! Jeeeze Louise!!!
By the way...I am still not sure I agree with the velcro strap around the wrist and bbl. inside your case...I think I would rather have supposed equal pressure over the whole of the rifle rather than having it held at some point when the case takes a lick. Just my feelings...some other case manuf. not too keen on that concept either.

Sorry to see that happen Desertram, another good reason my guns look like this.
and this

Harry--Why would you not take your barreled action out of the stock to travel? I do it regularly, as it makes a better travelling package and protects against the breakage we saw here. I have yet to have to adjust my scope upon arrival and reassembly, and I've travelled this way all over the world.

Sakos, at least the pre '75 version, had little shims under the action and if you take the thing apart, shims fly everywhere and you can't figure out how many were under the recoil lug and how many under the rear of the action. So not a great idea to take this particular rifle apart.

Just a warning!

I can tell you that your stock was improperly laid out to begin with and thats one of the problems, the grain is laid out to shear as you can see...and when the airlines drops one out of the baggage compartment thats about a one story fall, the barrel hits dead on somethings gotta give with any case and the grip gave in your gun...It can be repair to look like new and may even be stronger with a repair....

I have hauled my guns to Africa about 15 times or more in a tuff case without a problem as have many here...I do however stuff a heavy jacket in the bottom of mine and have a very thick soft case that it rides in...

Sorry about your gun, thats a nice piece of fiddle back.