It was a cool and foggy day in the U.K.
Our brave target shooter took his new T3 to the range for its second shakedown cruise.
With a total of 2 1/2 boxes of factory Hornady ammunition down the tube of the .243 in question:

Where did you get this? Do you know the person firsthand?

Not to be contrary, but wasn't Sake working on a new take down version?

Red

Lawndart is this of recent times?

Hi Dago,

I don't know the gentleman personnally, I have just sort of turned into a clearing house for Kablooie pictures of stainless Sako rifles.

This particular rifle was in the list of affected serial numbers, but no one got the word to this owner.

gryphon 1,

This event happened in the last week at a range in England.

I love Sako rifles, own a bunch and will probably get more as time goes by. I think this was a case of internal QC breaking down, and then the bean counters making a decision not to go public.

There may very well be more of these rifles floating around out there.

I'll stick to AVs for now, thank you.

Yes, it is the new takedown model. Unfortunately they forgot to label it as such on the box .

LD

I have to say it flame away if you must................but fuck those T"3's are bloody ugly....................as long as no one was hurt thats the best thing for them

Hey guys, look at it this way. The last blow up posted here, the barrel splint into three pieces, this one only split into two. So does that mean Sako is getting better?

Hog Killer

They do look a bit like a sex toy from Pluto, yes.

Notice that the primer wasn't cratered or flattened.

lawndart

Where's SpringTrap when you need him? I know that this was proofed if it was a UK gun. So much for that procedure.

What are the affected S#'s? I've got several customers that just love sako and won't have anything else. That might be some information they need.

Chad

being the owner of two T3's whats the serial #s or identification to know which ones are bad , I have an older blued hunter 223 I got for my boy 2 years ago and just bought a new stainles varminter 2 weeks ago, they both shoot extremly well, I guess till they go BOOM.

quote:

With a total of 2 1/2 boxes of factory Hornady ammunition down the tube

Probably just wore it out, or is this how SAKO makes a "Take Down" Model?
---

The "Answer" is:

quote:

There may very well be more of these rifles floating around out there.

And the "Question" from SAKO Management(as they are checking the Bottom Line) to the Manufacturing and Quality Directors is, "Do you think all the Bombs we sold and tried our very best to keep a total secret have EXPLODED yet???

Here's the only thing I could find, but I didn't find it on Beretta's website...

BERETTA RECALL OF SAKO, TIKKA RIFLES NEARLY COMPLETE . . . A limited number of recently delivered Sako and Tikka stainless steel rifles have been recalled due to a problem discovered in the steel used in the barrels. The lowest serial number affected by this recall is 419140 and the highest serial number affected is 461951; however, only a small percentage of rifles within this range of numbers is being recalled. In addition, no rifle shipped before February 2004 is involved in the recall. Because only a limited number of recently shipped rifles are involved in the recall, customers being asked to return their rifle are being contacted directly. Although the recall is nearly complete (99% of rifles affected by the recall in the U.S. have already been returned or are in the process of being returned), if you have a stainless steel Sako or Tikka rifle within the serial number range listed above, received by you after February 28, 2004, and you want to check and determine whether it is being recalled, please call 1-800-503-8869. If you have received a written or telephonic recall notice, please follow the instructions for returning the recalled product contained in that notice.

thanks fireball my # is 496378 I guess im OK , and the boys is older and blued

Has anyone seen a Recall Notice from the SAKO/Beretta in any of the Gun Rags?

If it was ever in the NRA American Hunter I just don't remember it.

Not yet, not now, not ever.

So long as no one gets a chunk of steel through the eye or temple everything is cool for berretta.

LD

I guess the .243 really does burn barrels out fast.

How many T3's have blown up in the UK that you know about?

This one, possibly another last year. I don't have my notes handy.

I always wanted one of those “cut-away†actions...but this seems like a pretty drastic way to get one!

By not posting a recall they are covering up the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:
This one, possibly another last year. I don't have my notes handy.

I did a search a couple of months ago to see if I could find out if it was just the Sako or both the T3 and Sako that have had this problem. I know both had the recall. Anyways, I found a link to some forum with pics like that and a story with it out of the UK. So that makes two probably.

tiggertate:

quote:

Where's SpringTrap when you need him? I know that this was proofed if it was a UK gun. So much for that procedure.

UK proofed gun is NOT SABS proofed, pal!

None of this is happening in RSA with our silly little third world SABS tests and proofs!
Tells you something, isn't it?

I also found it very interesting that not a single comment by anybody was made on the link in the other thread I provided re the poor gunsmith work in your own backyard.
It won't go away if you ignore it.

These things need attention and the sooner the better for all of you.

hi
it has happened before and it is going to happen again as far as the gunmakers using high % phosfor cheap stainless steel called 416 steel . this kind of steel is not for making barrel, but for making screws in automatic machins,
regards
yes

It's high sulphur rather than high phosphorous.The version made by Crucible has a limited amount of sulfur...Is this one fluted ?

416 SS is the industry standard for barrel steel. There are thousands of these barrels being used all over the world without mishaps.
Blaming the steel for one manufacturers oversight is rediculous. If the steel were the problem, Shilen, Hart, Lilja, Schneider, Spencer, Broughton, et al, would not be in business.

hi mete
you are right it is sulfur added for easy machining, this kind of steel is called free machining automatic steel which is used for making cheap devices with no or low expectation for strenght. this problem has accured with MAB barrels in australia too , not only sako. crucible 416R has much lower sulfur than usuall 416 nearly as ½ .but still it has some amount of sulfur.
hi eddieharren
famous barrel makers are using 416 R it is because you can get much smoother surface in button rifled barrels for target shooting . i have heared that kreiger do not use this kind of steel in sporter class barrels. this problem often occurs in sporter and light barrels. in scandinavia some sako light( with fluted barrel) has explodede too.
regards
yes

Krieger uses 410 stainless steel barrels in their lighter tapers. Less chance of Kabloomskie in cold weather. It is harder to machine, but so what, spend a few extra dollars.

LD

I repeat, if its the fault of the type of steel, why are the blow-ups exclusively on Sako 75s? Why not on Win., Rem.,Sav.?

Think some top barrel makers x ray their blanks to check for faults in the steel . Most also keep records of which batch of steel went into each barrel .
Have read that MAB in Australia had a major problem because their records weren't up to scratch . The MAB barrel that failed was in a .308 target rifle with heavy barrel . Apparently that particular batch of steel didn't meet quoted factory specs .

quote:

I repeat, if its the fault of the type of steel, why are the blow-ups exclusively on Sako 75s? Why not on Win., Rem.,Sav.?

It is not the type specification at issue, it is the specific lot of steel.

Both my grandma's used the same recipe for gravy at the big Thanksgiving dinners when I was little. Same ingredients, same stove top temperature; maybe even the same brands of cornstarch and whisks. My maternal grandma's gravy was light and smooth. My paternal grandma's gravy was heavy and lumpy. Same thing with barrel steels; mix it right, or end up with inclusions. Inclusions lead to fault lines that lead to barrel failures that lead to scary pictures on AR that lead to long threads populated by weak-ass gravy analogies.

LD

Oh, now I see. Sako/Berretta were the only ones to get the bad steel. Now THAT makes sense.

Ok, I know that this is a question that will stir things up, but it will settle a dispute my friend and I are having.

Isn't chrome moly steel a better "fit" for a rifle barrel than stainless? I mean that chrome moly has better properties for dealing with the pressures when firing a bullet (more flexible, less brittle etc.)

Just wondering. He does a lot of welding and is very hesitant to use a SS rifle.

Your friend is wise.

I have several rifles with thick set target barrels; most are cut rifled. Those do very well in the accuracy, precision and wear departments. When it is time to go a hunting and the temperature is a plunging, I reach for something in a conservative shade of chrome moly, for the very reasons you have cited.
That is also why Krieger sells 410 SS in his thinner tapers, and why you can always get a thinner chrome-moly barrel from Krieger than 416 SS.

LD

Thanks again fireball,i have read about these ones recalled and have seen others that really came unglued. Berrata tried a different process in there steel manufacturing aand found out that sulphur was causing the problem with the stainless,so they quit fooling around and went back to the method Sako was using before the buy out. van p.s wish Sako would go back to there designed they had like in the 1960,s !

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:
Your friend is wise.

I have several rifles with thick set target barrels; most are cut rifled. Those do very well in the accuracy, precision and wear departments. When it is time to go a hunting and the temperature is a plunging, I reach for something in a conservative shade of chrome moly, for the very reasons you have cited.
That is also why Krieger sells 410 SS in his thinner tapers, and why you can always get a thinner chrome-moly barrel from Krieger than 416 SS.

LD

Thanks.

It is interesting that so many want to show materials into an application where they are just not the best choice.

Several years ago I saw a Browning A bolt SS rifle with the barrel split 3/4 of the way down towards the muzzle. And have heard of others.