i see this term, "pre-garcia" applied to Sako rifles, specifiaclly the lever action Finnwolf. does it refer to age, style, quality...????? what is the significance??

thanks for the help

IIRC that was the importer .They also imported Beretta [back in the '70s] Most people knew the name from fishing gear.

pre garcia referred to the Sako rifle company prior to being aquired by the "garcia" company a conglomerate noted for Garcia fishing reels. It was felt that the quality of Sako was lessened by Garcia. Any rifle with "Bofors" on the barrel are pre garcia for more info there is a sako owners site on MSN if you google sako +msn you should fine it