Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Sako Forester scope ring help

I scored a never fired pre garcia Sako Forester a couple of weeks back for next to nothing. This thing is beautiful. I am really proud of this rifle. What would be the best scope mounts to use on this?

I think the best-looking mounting system for a Sako is Conetrol
Conetrol

If you want to get the scope nice and low, call up the company and they will advise you. Nice folks to deal with.

John

I recently got a very lightly fired 1966 Forester 243 from the original owner also. It had a few boxes of the original ammo & zero blueing wear. It has a weaver/redfield? scope mounted & came with a fair amount of accessories. He was a nice guy & I didn't try to dicker to much on price & paid $740. I gave it a good once over & in the safe it is. Nice rifle.

Go with the Sako Rings... optilock.... or the leupold rings second....

The optiloks are excellent, but the rear base can get in theway on some scopes. On my AV I had to switch, so I bought some Burris bases and signature rings and I am impressed for about half the cost of the optiloks.

Sako rifles are probably the best made rifle you can buy, short of some hand-crafted custom rifle. I have several. I also have 4 custom rifles made with old Sako actions. 2 on L-57 and 2 on Riihimaki actions.

I must agree with jpb, The Conetrol is by far the most clean and handsome ring/base set you can get. They do work well and I have had no problems with them. There are plenty other rings out there that will work, but none will look better on the rifle.

I have included a picture of 2 of my Sako custom rifles, one with Conetrol, the other with Leupold one piece rings. I had the Leupold rings on there to accomodate a Schmidt and Bender scope. It was too big for the lines of the .223, so I replaced it with a Leupold 4.5-14 Long Range scope and left the rings on it. I am now looking for a Swarovski scope, and when I get it, I will consider Conetrol rings again.

Search around and see if you can find the original old style sako mounts for your pre-garcia (pre-72) rifle. They will have a high polish blue, and will be mirror bright like the receiver. The rear mount has a little tit on it that fits in the groove on the back of the receiver.

Decide on what scope you are going to mount first. The Sako lows will not work with a 36mm objective, but work great on a scope without a bell objective like the Leupold 1.5-5x (20mm). Mediums are your best bet for a 36 mm objective, and if you cannot find mediums, get the high mounts. They will have a hole through the mount.

Or else get the Conetrols. Probably the easiest to find anyway.

What caliber rifle? Full stock or sporter?

Its a 243 with a sporter stock. I only paid $400 for this thing. Thinking about a Leupy 4-14. What height rings do I need?

Hey Shrapnel, Nice rifles. Which rings does the top rifle have?

Sakoluvr, Shrapnel, and others have given you great info above!

I have several sets of the Sako original rings, and they are great. They even have left-right adjustment. I didn't mention them because they are not currently made, and because I was not sure how common they ever were in the US.

Here is a picture of the old style Sako mediums [/img]

I have another pair of these, in the original box, never mounted and dating from 1964! The fit and finish on these 1964 rings is even better than the ones in the picture -- sharp edges, and the parts fit together with barely a hairline. They are a pair of shiny blue jewels! In fact, they are so pretty that I have not been able to bring myself to mount them on my 1964 Sako in .222 Rem even though they would perfectly match the phenomenal maching and polish... I keep wondering what they would be worth to a collector, so I have never mounted them.

John

The rings on the top rifle are the Leupold rings I had on there to accomodate the S&B scope. It had a 30mm tube and 50mm objective, so I had the high rings on there. You don't want that high of a ring with the 4.5-14 scope, you can see how high the scope sits.

Here is a picture of the other 2 rifles with Conetrol rings and bases. One is gloss, the other mat finished. You can see how good they look and they do work well.

Thanks for all the help and pics fellas.

I am kinda liking the Leupold's just cause I am somewhat familiar with how they work. Are the Conetrols easy to put on w/o damaging the scope? I would think they would be sturdier because of the bases but what's your take Shrapnel? I would definately be using a lower height.

I am a believer in the Conetrols because of the clean look. They do take some finesse to mount as they are projectionless, but they are a great ring/base.

If you want sturdy, you won't beat the original Sako ring. They are milled out of solid steel and they are one piece. I just don't care for the look of the blocky-ness and the big thumbscrew on the side.

Leupolds are one piece as well and are easy and sturdy too. I don't think you need "sturdy" so much on a .243 as they won't overwork any rings with recoil.

I have several older Sako's a forester L579 and one's in the A series and my favorite mount is the one that JPB showed you (the old style Sako mount).
I have a Leupold scope on every Sako rifle that I own, with that said the Leupold ring mount system for a Sako is perhaps the worst designed item that Leupold has ever marketed. I dont like the new optiloc system much either. the conetrols are OK but my favorite set up is the Burris dual dove tail bases with Burris signature dual dove tail rings (solid with elevation and windage ajustment because of the inserts and no ring marks)
B

Here's some pics of a Sako Forester .243 with the original style Sako rings mentioned here. These are mediums and the scope is a Leupold VXII 3X9X40.

Not as "clean" looking as the Conetrols, but well made and correct for the period (1968). They came with the rifle when purchased.






Thanks... Rob

I know this is an old one, but I wanted to say thanks for the help. I settled on the Leupold mediums in gloss. Gonna slap a cheap Cabelas scope on here till I can come up with the coin for some nice glass. Working up loads for Nosler 55 gr ballistic tips with Varget. Should be fun.

shrapnel,

What Zeiss is that on the bottom rifle in the conetrols? Is that an old Diavari 3-9x36?

I just picked up a 75 ss/syn in .308 and am looking for the lowest mounts possible to fit a 32mm objective.

I have four old sako rifles and i really love them. 2 garcia finnbears in .338 win and two foresters .308 and .243.
I have Talley bases and rings on all of them.
I would not use the leupold ring system on a Sako. They are WEAK and will break.
The talleys I have are rock solid.

Highbean, how did your .243 work out with the Leupold? Pics man, we need pics!

I went with the Conetrols (Thanks RT!) for my .308. The bases are at Redneck's shop for some cosmetic work so they'll look like the spendy "custums" but matte finished. Not a bad deal. Saved about $60 (Thanks RT! ) not including Conetrol's extra charges to make the custums matte instead of gloss.

As soon as I get the bases back and the scope mounted, I'll post some pics.

On my Sako L61R Finnbear .30-06, it came with the low Sako rings but they wouldn't accommodate a scope with 40mm objective so I mounted it with Millett rings. I like 'em, plus they're windage adjustable. I've hunted with it and shot it for a couple of years now, and they've worked just fine, plus they are light, compact, and look good.

If I've got time this evening, I'll post a pic of them.