I like the AV action and about 20 years ago had a custom rifle made using one. Since then I've accumulated other favorite rifles, but the old AV still has appeal.
Recently I found an AV in a .270 that has caught my attention. I haven't actually held the gun yet but it appears to be in good shape.
If I was going to take this gun to a gunsmith with the hope of making it better (smoother shooting or more accurate) what would I suggest that he do to it?

You could have him fit a quality barrel to it, clean up the factory trigger and install it in a good stock. I mean, that's about all you can do to it without adding bells and whistles. I just finished one up. I fit a Shilen hand lapped CromeMoly barrel, custom throat etc., tuned the factory trigger to a crisp 2 3/4 lb pull, installed a McMillian stock with pillars, and to top it off, I replaced the Sako integral scope mount with a nice custom one piece picatinny rail.

Dear Spring:

I would shoot it first, assuming that you want to keep it in 270 Winchester.

My last AV in 6.5x55 shot five shot groups at 100 yards into 3/4" on average, and my present L-579 243 Winchester has thrown two 5/8" groups with 100 gr. Nosler Partitions. The L-579 averages under 1" groups for the vast majority of bullets that I have used to date.

About the only thing that I have done to each Sako was to remove the machine marks under the rails and on the feed ramp.

In my experience these earlier Sako's are beautifully manufactured, and extremely accurate in their original format.

About the only thing I don't like about the Sako's are the triggers. They just don't feel as nice as a Blackburn, an original M-98 with matching serial numbers or an old pre-64 model 70. But they are still pretty decent.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

quote:

Originally posted by Spring:
Recently I found an AV in a .270 that has caught my attention. I haven't actually held the gun yet but it appears to be in good shape.
If I was going to take this gun to a gunsmith with the hope of making it better (smoother shooting or more accurate) what would I suggest that he do to it?

This is exactly what happens when someone (me) doesn't take the time to read every word before responding. I failed to see, for all the writing, that you were contemplating purchasing the rifle. I apologize.

I agree with Chris, shoot it first to see what it does. The obvious things to look at, in the order of importance, are the condition of the bore, the crown, bedding and trigger. The condition of any of these areas will either make or break the accuracy potential of the gun. Your gunsmith should start at the muzzle and his way work back. Maybe have him inspect it before you make the purchase. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:

quote:

Originally posted by Spring:
Recently I found an AV in a .270 that has caught my attention. I haven't actually held the gun yet but it appears to be in good shape.
If I was going to take this gun to a gunsmith with the hope of making it better (smoother shooting or more accurate) what would I suggest that he do to it?

This is exactly what happens when someone (me) doesn't take the time to read every word before responding. I failed to see, for all the writing, that you were contemplating purchasing the rifle. I apologize.

I agree with Chris, shoot it first to see what it does. The obvious things to look at, in the order of importance, are the condition of the bore, the crown, bedding and trigger. The condition of any of these areas will either make or break the accuracy potential of the gun. Your gunsmith should start at the muzzle and his way work back. Maybe have him inspect it before you make the purchase. Good luck.

Westpac gave you some good advice here. In my opinion, if you were going to do anything to it, it would have to be rebarrel it to a different caliber. I firmly believe the Sakos were the finest rifles ever imported to the US

This is an AV that Mark Bansner went over. The gun was already very accurate, he just fine tuned everything, I kept the factory bbl, but put a Hi-tech stock w/ pillars & had it electroluss nickel plated.
Shoots pretty darn good

How to improve an AV?

Tune the trigger and put on a McMillan stock if you are headed out into messy weather or thorny country.

It will be hard to beat an AV in 270. They are just the best

Well I guess I am in the outcast here. I rebarreled my 30-06 L-61 to .270 with a Pac-Nor barrel because I like the caliber. I also squared the action and polished it up even smoother. The trigger was whale snot slick with a little tuning so I didn’t mess with it. I welded on a new bolt handle and fitter one of Ed’s Safeties. I stocked the whole thing in a nice piece of lumber then took it hunting. I have a Magnum A-III that I plan on doing something with one of these days.

I've had two L-61 triggers wear out and busted a stock on a .375 from recoil, even though it was bedded and bolted. Couple of phone calls and some CC charges later they sit in McMillan stocks with Timney triggers.

I'm a fan.

I have a Sako AV action that was purchased new when they still just sold actions. It has a Shilen barrel, old Fajen stock and the trigger done. Nice gun and a real shooter.

Bigb

Well, I bought the gun, put a scope on it, and yesterday pretty much sighted it in. I don't believe this gun had previously been shot and the trigger was too heavy at about 5 lbs. Last night I lightened the trigger but am considering getting a trigger job done on the gun.
So far I very much like this gun and am looking forward to using it some this fall. For a factory gun, Sako did a really good job with this one.

It's hard not to like the old Sako actions. They are generally well made and nicely finished. They are not perfect, however, and can benefit from some alterations.
The first alteration is fairly important and consists of pinning the "rib", which is actually a gas block, behind the collars to prevent it moving forward and locking up the action. There is a little spring clip under the rib which is supposed to do this but it often fails in it's task.
Other than this, any other mods which may be made are just to improve the precision.
The bolt may be a fairly sloppy fit in the bore. To make matters worse, the geometry of the sear and cocking piece is such that considerable upward force is induced when the rifle is cocked. The upward forrce can be largely eliminated by changing the trigger to a Timney Mauser trigger and altering the cocking piece so the contact surface is vertical. The bolt can be tightened up in the receiver by the installation of inserts at the rear of the bolt so the bolt is tight and aligned when closed.
In a best case scenario, these mods will probably net a 1/4 moa improvment. Not a total waste of time but not a great deal of gain per dollar either. To put things in perspective, on one I did for myself, I did nothing to the action except for pinning the rib. The rifle, a light 270, was nice to carry and shot boringly well. I traded it for an old Model 70 for a project which may never get done. Regards, Bill

ditto what Bill said on pinning the rib. i had an L579 in 308 that locked up. thankfully i had a gunsmith that knew the issue and was able to fix it. If I remember correctly he had to pull the barell.

quote:

pinning the "rib",

Is the concept of "pinning the rib" fairly well known to most gunsmiths or should I search for someone that particularly knows the older Sakos?

quote:

Originally posted by Spring:

quote:

pinning the "rib",

Is the concept of "pinning the rib" fairly well known to most gunsmiths or should I search for someone that particularly knows the older Sakos?

there is a kit available, consisting of an updated rib that has lightening slots milled into it, and uses a retainer on both collars rather than just one. IIRC it was only 20-30 bucks.