I have a couple questions about a Sako carbine I own,

It is a .338 win with a carbine barrel and a mannlicher stock, barrel band sling swivel and two metal recoil lugs? thru the stock at the front and back of the reciever. It has not been shot much and doesn't look to me like it's very old (1980's maybe?). Marking on the barrel is SAKO CAL 338 WIN. MAG MADE IN FINLAND on the receiver is SAKO AV 590xxx and on the other side: IMP'D BY STOEGER INC. N.J.

Bolt knob is a full round and top of the reciever is "checkered".

Like other SAKOs I've owned it has a nice trigger and is accurate, seems to be easy to keep 1" groups, though the carbine barrel lets you know when you touch off a 250gr nosler partition. Overall it seems very nicely made.

What is the "official" model designation of this SAKO?

Can anyone tell me the age?

For hunting purposes I would like to replace the still near new condition mannlicher stock with either a cheaper wood or synthetic one that I won't care if it gets beat up while hunting here in Alaska. Any suggestions on a replacement stock? I don't care if it's mannlicher style or not. I can deal with some inletting/fitting but the closer to drop in the better.

Thanks for your help.

Eric

EricG
I had [my brother has it now] a SAKO 375 H&H with a 20" bbl that was called the "Handy" rifle. They were offered in wood and in a McMillan fiberglass stock. Mine had the McMillan stock. It was a very [ I almost said handy ] comfortable stock. I recommend you contact McMillan or maybe the current importer and see if they can help you. The Mcmillan stocks are not cheap, but they are very good. My 375 broke 3 sets of SAKO factory rings. I went to Warne rings and had no futher problems.

Does your stock have the triangular forend and cheekpiece, or is the forend rounded and the cheekpiece teardrop in shape?



Your rifle is known as the Sako AV Mannlicher. The AV series was made in the 1980's. It was preceeded by the L61R, and followed in 1991 by the L691 model. If your stock has the rounded features, it was made around 1989 or 1990. If it has the triangular features, it was made between 1980 and 88.



The last Mannlicher was made in 1996 on the L691 model. There have been no Mannlicher made on the current 75 series.

KurtC has it about right.

Any stock for the AV should fit your barreled action as I don't think there was much if any difference in the barrel contour between the rifle and the Mannlicher-style carbine. If you should go with a lightweight synthetic stock, your recoil is going to be right on up there, and combined with the extra muzzle blast from a barrel four inches shorter than typical for this caliber, will make shooting it a memorable experience.

If you'll watch eBay, Sako stocks come up with fair regularity. A somewhat beat up stock like you're looking for shouldn't cost that much.

Kurt and Stonecreek,
Thanks for your help. It has the triangle type forend and cheekpiece. I will keep my eyes open for a suitable stock for an AV type action. I was confused by the photos of L61R and L691 guns etc.. and didn't realize the "AV" stamping was a model designation.

It really is a pretty sweet rifle, I'm pretty used to .338's and the occasional .375 so I don't mind the blast and recoil too much. That short barrel sure is nice for using in heavy cover. The trigger isn't quite as nice as the older .222 and .243 sakos I've had but there is no creep and the gun shoots where you point it.

Thanks again.

Eric