I couldn't pass this one up. Yet, I can't decide if I want to keep it or not. I guess I had to have it since it was lightly customized in my home town at Richland gun shop as engraved on the barrel. The AO is froze up on the Weaver scope and the kick plate is totally trashed. However, I may as well shoot it. The extractor was rough and would barely feed. Now, it feeds fine. May as well shoot it. Anyone have any comments these early L46 clip fed Sakos?

I've both owned and shot several of these. They are fine guns and as a rule, quite accurate. Your thought of seeing how it shoots before deciding on its future is sound. I'm guessing you'll be pleasantly surprised. Good luck...

Doesn't appear to have been shot much. The bolt face is clean. Maybe next week. Too hot to shoot today.

I got a 25XXX# with an 8X Lyman Wolverine in SAKO solid rings from a friend now deceased.He killed at least 2500 nutria with it so its had lots down the tube.Will still shoot old Remington yellow&green box 50gr factory into 3/8"Scary.Would love to find a shot out one to build a 6/222M.

Those Sako fine groove barrels are supposed to last and last according to some reports I've read. But, I'm not sure if this is the original barrel although it is a fine groove. I have a third of a box of those yellow/green box 50 grainer solid point Remingtons and some old Hornady Frontier SX 55 grainers to try out.
Nutria shooting sounds like a lot of fun.

I hope so!Varmint hunting not like 60y ago so not a lot of rounds down the bore now.Do you know when SAKO changed from 16 to 14 tw in 222?This one really likes 50gr.

I never checked into the change in the twist rate on these. My guess is early 50's based on some info I found at sakocollectors.

Only that it is one of the finest rifles I have ever owned..I have owned a passel of them even in 22 Hornet and 218 Bee way back when they were cheap and not collectable.. Its always been my favorite 222 rifle, both in rifle and in manlicher form...

The downside to them is everyone I have owned doubled in value and I offed them at that. I'm a gun whore I suppose can't turn down the money and I love to trade, and I know I can always find another for half the price, NOT!!

Had a Shelhamer stocked Hornet&like you when it doubled ,i sold it.Really smart!Friend had a Bee that would shoot<0.5 with 50s quality bullets.Afraid to think what these guns would bring today.

Yep Ray. Gun whore, addict, whatever you call it....Just when I think I've gotten my best/favorite guns lined up single file and nice and neat, I run into another "deal" or "something cool" or "that would look nice in a dandy piece of walnut".

Just bought a L46 222 on another site.Time for that 6X222M.

That was quick.
What's the plan for the new barrel with regard to bullet weight/twist? I'd imagine the speed would drop quite a bit.

SAKO profile,10 tw,use Ray's loads,factory stock,agonizing over scope.Have a 6X Condor,10X Vulture,10XWolverine for the vintage look&lots o 2.5-8 Leupys.Out of country for a wk so plenty of time.

The dovetail profile should take most any scope. Let me know how it shoots. I'm also curious what speed you get out of that round.

quote:

Originally posted by KimR:
Just bought a L46 222 on another site.Time for that 6X222M.

Kim -


Unless you are building a single shot, you may want to check your magazine length. If you're proposing a 6mm x 222 magnum, you need the 222 mag magazine and gun to feed properly. Looked at this before and couldn't justify tearing down a collectable to build one. Believe I tried putting a 222 mag in a 222 magazine and it does not fit properly.

Oh well. Shot it today and the scope AO should be taken apart and cleaned and lubed as I was unable to get a good focus on the crosshairs or the target. Didn't group.
Before I hit the range, I got the set rings off and cleaned off the light rust dust and lubed those. If there is any interest in the scope, let me know and I'll put it in the classifieds. I will keep the steel Sako mounts.

Just back in country.Yep, was worried about case length;thought a mag change was only mod i would need.Now a real dilemma!Maybe just a single shot.Or just have another SAKO L46 222.There are worse things out there.

Yes. They are slick little actions. I just ran a box of Hornady Superformance 50 grainers through mine today after cleaning the deposits out of the barrel and getting the AO on the Weaver to work. Of the final 6 rounds, I had 3 shots pile up darn near in the same hole, 1 out a half inch and 2 more at like 2 inches. I think the scope is in need of a overhaul/lube. Probably sell the whole deal. The action is nice and tight. With the right scope and some hand loads, it should shoot sub MOA. Have fun with your new toy.

My plan was to rebarrel with same contour&use the factory stockbut may have feeding isues.If its REALLY nice may not do anything but change scope to higher power.Has a 4X Lyman AA in solid rings now.

Just listed it FS in classifieds.

I once helped the widow of a coworker dispose of a bunch of guns and gun related items. There were many, many parts all over the basement. We eventually figured out that there was an L46 in there, but the only two parts still attached to each other were the action and the barrel. We found everything but the magazine attachment parts. Rather than try to jury rig something, we just plugged up the mag well and converted it to single shot. The factory stock was gone, but there was a 90% inletted stock with nice figure that would work, so......




After getting the whole rig together, it turned out the thing had been rechambered to 223 REM but not marked as such on the barrel. Wished otherwise, but there it was. No matter, it is supremely accurate.....as good as anything else I own.

Nice one. Not my first choice in stock shape. But, I can't help but appreciate a good shooter and a nice piece of walnut. Is that a Fagen varmint stock?

Don't have a clue about it's origin. There were two identically cut stocks in the basement that had been inletted for this action. The other one was bird's eye maple. I gave it to a buddy in Connecticut.

The metal had suffered the effects of being in the damp basement too long. There were rust blisters in several places on the barrel. They cleaned up better than I would have expected, but the rifle would have needed a complete refinishing to be considered anything other than a rough shooter. I gave the lady what I thought would be a very fair price considering condition, but elected to get it up and running without extra cost.

I thought about cutting the stock down considerably to match the trim little action, but got lazy. I also was concerned about screwing up a really nice piece of wood.

My all time favorite rifle is one I built some years ago under the tuteledge of Tony Barnes. A L461, with a 18 inch ultra lwt. weight Douglas barrel in a bench rest 0 tolerance chamber for the 6x45. I made an African style stock with short forend, Ebony tip, English cheek piece to a simi cresent steel butt plate. The wood is a blood red full fiddle back piece Claro that was exceptionally hard for Claro, and properly cured and I checkered it 26 LPI with no fuzz, awesome!...
Its my African model varmint rifle...It shoots sub .300 inch groups with most loads and more than a few 10 shot groups in the . 250 to .265 class. Tony blessed it with a mod. 70 3-pos safety that he made me from a piece of .308 bull barrel. I have had more than a few high dollar offers for it, but its destined to my grandson at some point, as he shot his first deer with it and many since that time..I've had it for 20 years...Love those old Sakos.

[Love those old Sakos.]
Not bad for a push feed. Yours' sounds nice. I just have no use for a .222. So, I had no inclination to upgrade the stock and scope and got bored with it rather quick. It was fun getting it to feed properly (the extractor tip wouldn't jump the rim correctly). So, it was a learning experience. The cruddy barrel was a challenge too. M-Pro7 worked the best out of 3 cleaners I had on hand. If nobody buys it on here, I'll probably sell it on GunBroker. It should sell at $500 plus shipping. I'll sell the scope and mounts on Ebay if they don't sell on here soon. CB