Gentlemen:

I just scored a Sako L46 in .22 Hornet. It is a rebarrel, but appears in good shape. I did not realize these actions were actually shorter than the L46 in .222 Remington. This L46 is definitely shorter than the L46 chambered in .222 Rem. Question: Are all L46's in .22 Hornet shorter than the L46 in .222 Rem, or is the difference only in the length of the magazine? I assumed that the difference in the L46 when shooting .222 Rem vs. .22 Hornet was merely the length of the magazine. Not so with this rifle. The action is definitely shorter than my other L46 rifles in .222 Rem.

One last question. This rifle has a safety unlike any I've seen. All my other L46 actions have the box-like cocking shroud with safety on the right side of that box. This rifle has a round cocking piece/bolt shroud and the safety is a wing-type contrivance [safety swings left to right acros the rifle] very much like a Swedish Mauser M-38. I've never seen this type of safety on an L46 until now. All my other L46s had the square box type bolt shroud/cocking piece with a safety lever on the right side of the box which moved front to back.

Is this L46 a rare model, or is it just that I've never seen an L46 in .22 Hornet before?

Thanks,

Jordan

Are you certain it's an L46? I was unaware they ever made the L46 action in anything other than the 222/223 boltface..even as just actions. Is it possibly a M78?

Gunnut:

It is definitely an L46. They did make them in .22 Hornet. I know the model 78 and it is definitely not a 78.

Thanks,

Jordan

Jordan,

The original L-46 was made only in 22 Hornet and 218 Bee (also a Finnish 7x33). In 1950 when Remington introduced the 222 Rem, Sako reconfigured the action to handle those. They also changed the safety at that time.

I guess you have one of the originals.

Bob

Thanks Shadow. I presume these original Sakos were relatively well made. Since this action is perhaps 50 years old I wonder how the springs are?

Jordan

Does it have a miltary type tangent rear sight on the barrel? If so, it could be a transitional rifle made during the change from L-42 to L-46. (BTW, they were also made in .218 Bee.)

There were apparently also some very minor changes in mag dimension so far as width, as well as length. At least that seems to be true for the 7x33's. I have several factory mags, all bought new directly from the factory in Finland for my 7x33. The older mags fit fine, but the new ones are a few thousandths too "fat" to go through the floor plate.

AC

Albert:

The rifle does not have the original factory barrel.
I hope to take delivery of it in a week or so and will post some pictures. Assuming it is an L42 and not a 46, I presume the 42 was a well made action. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks,

Jordan

Jordan, what a great find! Sounds like this rifle goes back to near the very origins of the post-war Sako sporting line.

By the way, I recently came by a Sako Model P72 .22 rimfire (that's right, a model 72, not model 78). I think it was built in the late '60's or early '70s. Do you have any information on this rare bird?

Didn't the last American Rifleman do a complete history on Sako? As I recall it mentions these early mauser configured models in some detail. Based on what I remeber (which is not necessarily a good thing) you have an early post war production gun.

The L46 was only made in 22 Hornet and 218 Bee if I am not mistaken...The L-461 was made in 222 and 222 Rem.

The L46 can be converted to 222 but it is pretty tricky they tell me to lengthen the clip. Most make them single shot...I have seen them but unfortunatly did not pay much attention as to how they were converted...Jack Belk likes them...

I prefer the L-461 myself...

I have what I assume is an L-46, ser. no. 6886, was made in 1951, and is a 25-20WCF.