I don't have a problem with oil finishing a pre-Garcia Sako if your are not preserving it as a collector. That said, know that if you strip the stock, you're going to be left with a colorless, cheap piece of timber. These Sakos we're sprayed with a "tinting lacquer" containing "stain" and finish all in one. To oil re-finish, you will need to find someone who understands how to "dye" with water or alcohol based aniline dye (not pigment stain) and then do a soft oil finish on top. Demand to see a sample of this kind of work--it is not commonly understood.
I always hated the cheap perforated pad on my '63 Finnbear--a solid Pachmayr or Silver's style is the ticket. Detachable sling swivels
would be highly desireable.
I'd also stay with blued steel on this rifle--coating would be totally out of character--you can tell I'm not a "factory worshiper"
on the subject of refinishing--but I do like the idea of preserving the original style of these wonderful old rifles--you know--"walnut and blue steel." I'm currently doing the same to a '63 Vixen.
Excellent post Kifaru, I thought there was possibly some nice wood under all that lacquer but it sounds like leaving it alone is the way to go. I've decided to leave it wood and blue, I love the character anyways.
What type of pachmayr would you recommend? I'm thinking the brown old english type with a black spacer would look nice and keep the original look since that's the color combo Sako used. Do you have pictures of the one you had put on?
I'm planning to have HCR do the work since they are close to Austin and everyone raves about the quality but they are not cheap (I'm sure it's worth it though). McBride's in Austin is less than half the price for a recoil pad install but they did some work for me on a pistol I wasn't happy with (put some trijicon sights on poorly, front sight is crooked). I'd rather buy once, cry once.
