I recently purchased a SAKO AI Hunter in 17 Rem. caliber. The Serial No. is 814XXX. All other AI Serial No.'s I have ever seen have been less than 190XXX. What does the jump in Serial No.signify?

My guess is that the step in Serial No.s corresponded with the introduction of CNC manufacturing operations at the SAKO plant. In suppport of this theory, my recently traded S491 Hunter had a Serial No. of 831XXX, and the S491 Actions are reputed to have been made using CNC. I had assumed that the step in Serial No.'s occurred with the introduction of the S491 Action, but this is obviously not true.

The crisp lines and smooth finish of the AI No. 814XXX Action certainly are more like the S491 Action than the AI No. 184XXX Action that I examined.

Thanks in advance for sharing any information that you might have.

rollinghills

I have seen this discussed before with "Sako" folks...there is no rhyme or reason to Sako's serial numbering system at all. The best you can hope for is a "general" knowledge of the approximate age of your rifle based upon the model number of it. Just the Sako way of doing things...great rifles though. I own a ton of 'em.

Hank :

Thanks for the reply. You may be right, that the Serial No. step signifies nothing. The Serial No. sequence appears to have been uninterrupted by some pretty significant design changes: L46 to L461 to AI. So why not step the Serial No. sequence for no good reason. Makes just as much sense.

rollinghills