How is the bolt guide rib removed from a M491 Sako? The gun is about 10 years old. The guide rib is secured by a collar & kept from sliding off the collar by a small leaf spring. This spring is located just to the rear of the collar & the tip of the spring is visible thru a hole in the guide rib. Obviously, the spring has to be either depressed or raised in order to allow the guide rib to slide free of the collar.

What's not so obvious, at least to me, is how this is done. I've assaulted the spring with all manner of punches, ground x-acto knife blades, and 1/16" drill rod forged into sharpened little hooks. Depressing the tip of the spring has zero effect. I have not been able to lift the spring either.

Any suggestions are welcome. BTW there is no retaining pin thru the guide rib as in early Sakos. This rifle has only one collar. Thanks for your help.

Roger

I had one of these "springs" break on a .375 and the guide stays forward into the front bridge effectively locking/blocking the action. The pin punch inserted into the little round hole of the guide and tapped back clearing the bridge allowed function. Point of this story is that the "spring" had broken, a lot which had been improperly hardened... I replaced it with one which looks casehardened and never looked back. I believe that if the "spring" was put into the guide properly you should be able to depress the "spring" towards the bolt body and while compressing the collar (small piece of leather and a vise grips works well here" slide the guide toward the rear where it will not contact the bolt handle. I will look at one of these bolts and see if memory is as accurate as the rifle. Good luck! Second solution is to contact "Harry" on this site and he'll know everything Sako. Those that know... shoot Sako!

be careful not to break or loose any parts, they are not available from the importer any longer.

I believe everyone who has worked on Sakos has had this problem. I called the guys at Interarms (I think it was them) a number of years ago with that same question and this is what they told me. Sako makes a tool for removing the guide but it don't work. The best thing to do is to support the bolt body in a padded vise and, from the rear, drive the guide off with a smart rap of a hammer on the back of the guide. What this does is bend those little cloverleaf-like springy thingys and then they need to be replaced. It was not too long ago that I ordered some from the new owner, Beretta and they had them in stock.

Jim

Bless you, Jim Kobe! After two very frustrating hours yesterday trying to remove the bolt guide, it was extremely satisfying to rap the end of the guide & watch it sail off the bolt. No damage to bolt, guide, or collar. The retaining spring got what it deserved & has to be replaced. Thanks.
Roger