How much is a 30-35 year old Sako L461 Vixen .222 worth in very good condition ? What’s a fair price for this rifle ?

Look at some of the auction sites. I've seen them go as low as $650 US and as high as $1,500 for a deluxe. There are several for sale on Gunbroker at this time.

The Sako small calibers seem to bring a premium in the U.S., while the opposite appears to be true in Europe. I'm not sure why this phenomenon, but guys in Europe I correspond with on the Sako Collectors forum are always coming up with what appear to be great bargains in small calibers, while the magnums and "Afican" calibers bring more in Europe than in the U.S.

Since Iceland is somewhat "in between", physically, and is, after all, an island, I'm not sure how to value the rifle in question, but Geedubya's price range is a pretty good guide for current U.S. prices.

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Originally posted by Geedubya:
Look at some of the auction sites. I've seen them go as low as $650 US and as high as $1,500 for a deluxe. There are several for sale on Gunbroker at this time.

One went for $1,300 locally...

Thanks guys ! This info has been really helpful....

FWIW I paid 700 and 800 respectively for two L461's I recently got. The first is a .222 single shot conversion in a thumb hole stock and the second a 222 Mag in a nicely figured custom stock. Both are the later internal mag/drop floor plate models, not the earlier detachable mag models with safety on the bolt. I think most of the prices on Gunbroker and the other sites are unreasonably high in general, at least for my purposes.

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. I think most of the prices on Gunbroker and the other sites are unreasonably high

"Asking" prices on Gunbroker are meaningless. If you'll do a search for "completed auctions" to see what actually sells and how much it sells for it will provide you with some fairly useful information. If a Sako is offered on Gunbroker in a no-reserve auction with a starting bid that is within the market, it will almost always sell.

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Stonecreek: guys in Europe I correspond with on the Sako Collectors forum are always coming up with what appear to be great bargains

This is true of just about all vintage guns in Europe compared with the US. I used to buy Mausers and Brnos in Europe for about 60% of what I had to pay in the US, until they got so hard to import. Canada too.

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Originally posted by Stonecreek:
guys in Europe I correspond with on the Sako Collectors forum are always coming up with what appear to be great bargains in small calibers, while the magnums and "Afican" calibers bring more in Europe than in the U.S.

fla3006: I'm happy to be quoted, but not out of context. I'll stand by my statement that large caliber rifles tend to bring more in Europe than in the U.S., while the reverse is true of smaller calibers. Of course, Europe is not a homogenous place and prices will vary from country to country, in part depending on what laws might present legal barriers, limit the number of guns a person can possess, or otherwise influence the market to be higher or lower.

Genuine L461's are very hard to come by certainly in the UK and Ireland. There is a fair bit of later stuff described as a "Vixen" which really is an AI or AII.

I looked at an L461 here a few months ago. It had been butchered and used hard for 30 or 40 years. The muzzle was threaded for a moderator and the metal and wood showed every day of it's use. There was also a dirty great shadow or mark in the bore which I could not get scoped.

Guy was asking £500 (about $775) for it. I would not have paid that.

I know of the existence of at least one mint L461 in 222rem. It is not for sale at any price, but realistically is worth £1250 - £1500 over here.

An AI mint in 222rem is worth £800 - £900 ($1400) and in used condition around £450 to £600.

I know of a 6ppc in an AII I think, it would take the thick end of $2000 to buy it if the guy could be persuaded to sell it.

Last weekend at a gun show in Oaks, PA a guy was walking arount with one with a heavy barrel trying to sell it for $1,000.

Sadly I know of a 1950s vintage in 222, with a Mannlicher stock that is setting in a closet just rusting away...

belonged to Dr friend that bought it new while working at a gunshop in the late 50s in San Francisco...

he carried it with him to Australia where he worked on a sheep station for 2 years in Western Oz..

the old WW 1 Veet supervisor of the station, took an immediate liking to him, as he has the same rifle in the same caliber..

my doctor friend died in 2003...his wife sadly just locked up many of his remaining guns after giving a batch of them away, in a leaky old safe in their barn, here in wet winter Oregon..

some how I ended up with the Rings and the 4X Scope off of it tho..

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Originally posted by Claret_Dabbler:
Genuine L461's are very hard to come by certainly in the UK and Ireland. There is a fair bit of later stuff described as a "Vixen" which really is an AI or AII.

I looked at an L461 here a few months ago. It had been butchered and used hard for 30 or 40 years. The muzzle was threaded for a moderator and the metal and wood showed every day of it's use. There was also a dirty great shadow or mark in the bore which I could not get scoped.

Guy was asking £500 (about $775) for it. I would not have paid that.

I know of the existence of at least one mint L461 in 222rem. It is not for sale at any price, but realistically is worth £1250 - £1500 over here.

An AI mint in 222rem is worth £800 - £900 ($1400) and in used condition around £450 to £600.

I know of a 6ppc in an AII I think, it would take the thick end of $2000 to buy it if the guy could be persuaded to sell it.

Claret: I'm sure what you say is true, but isn't it also true that the larger calibers are expensive in the UK and Ireland? If you'll swim across the Baltic to Norway/Sweden/Finland I think you'll find that the L46's and L461's are quite common and bring much less money than in your location.

With rifles it's a bit like real estate. Three of the most important factors in value are location, location, and location.

In Norway, Sweden and Denmark they range from 5000-7000 NOK, which is a more realistic place for him to buy from.

I have seen NIB ones in Sweden for 4000SEk, which is $600.


I bought mine A1, used, with a Leupold scope, original scoperings and moderator/silencer for $1500.

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Originally posted by Stonecreek:

Claret: I'm sure what you say is true, but isn't it also true that the larger calibers are expensive in the UK and Ireland? If you'll swim across the Baltic to Norway/Sweden/Finland I think you'll find that the L46's and L461's are quite common and bring much less money than in your location.

With rifles it's a bit like real estate. Three of the most important factors in value are location, location, and location.

Stonecreek, I can't speak much of mainland Europe or Scandanavia, but in the UK I have not seen enough large bore rifles for sale to see any trend. My gut reation would be that these rifles are a bit cheaper here due to lack of any real market for them. I have been Boar hunting in various countries in various European countries, the 9.3's and 300 mags are fairly common; otherwise it is run of the mill 7mm's and 308's etc you see in use, with some 8x57's in the Czech Rep.

Certainly here in Ireland and the UK, large calibres - say 300 mag and up, are not at all common. We just don't have the large species requiring these rounds. You will very rarely see anything bigger than a 30/06 in the field. I cannot say I have ever seen a Sako for sale in a cartridge larger than 30/06.

The occasional guy here will have a 375H&H or a 9.3, and may use it for deer stalking, but these rifles are generally reserved for travelling.

I know the CF 22's were much more popular in Scandanavia historically than here. They seem to have a long tradition of hunting small game and birds with these rifles that we just don't have - this would be a strictly shotgun proposition here.

For want of nothing else to do I went to a show in Roseburg [OR] a few weeks ago. Being old and kinda crippled I was waiting for the line to go down and , while sitting on a bench outside the show, sold a fairly nice L 461 222 with a 95%+- stock and about the same metal[some muzzle wear]with mint bore and rings for 1500.00. Never made the show!
Aloha, Mark

Just came from the guy who is selling his Sako Vixen .222 and......there was some disappointment....the rifle is in moderately good condition.....BUT...there was a very visible crack on the for-end of the stock, about 6cm (just over 2 inches) long ! I found out from the serial number that it was manufactured between 1971-1972. He wants 750 Euros (1000 USD) for it......I think that’s too much for a rifle with a cracked stock.

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Originally posted by Bohica:
For want of nothing else to do I went to a show in Roseburg [OR] a few weeks ago. Being old and kinda crippled I was waiting for the line to go down and , while sitting on a bench outside the show, sold a fairly nice L 461 222 with a 95%+- stock and about the same metal[some muzzle wear]with mint bore and rings for 1500.00. Never made the show!
Aloha, Mark

I take it that this was a Deluxe model? If not, when is the next show in Roseburg? I want to be there with all of my Sakos.

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Originally posted by Ingvar J. Kristjansson:
Just came from the guy who is selling his Sako Vixen .222 and......there was some disappointment....the rifle is in moderately good condition.....BUT...there was a very visible crack on the for-end of the stock, about 6cm (just over 2 inches) long ! I found out from the serial number that it was manufactured between 1971-1972. He wants 750 Euros (1000 USD) for it......I think that’s too much for a rifle with a cracked stock.

I agree, even in Iceland where a Sako .222 may bring a premium. Condition is important in any gun, but as guns go up the scale in quality, condition is even more important as a percentage of their value.

Last year I sold a L461 sporter in 222 mag with origional rear sight and front sight hood,went to Australia.Buyer paid $1450 for the gun and another $800 + for shipping,export and import fees.Never had a problem with the price.

I have owned a Sako Vixen for over 20 years. All the other coyote rifles have come and gone, but this one has stayed through 2 marriages, moves, career changes, depressions, robberies, you name it. Mine was originally a 222 magnum, but was set back and rechambered to 221. Best move I ever made. Paid $450 US for it then. How do you put a price on such a reliable, accurate, lifelong rifle? They are the cream of the small gun crop, bar none. Pay what you have to but get one and shoot it a lot, life is short.