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I have a circa 1965 Sako heavy barrel in .222 Magnum with an old Weaver K10 scope and it will shoot into sub-MOA as long as you care to load and fire. It is consistently the most accurate rifle I have ever owned, so after 40+ years of shooting it, I can highly recommend it!

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I got on this Vixen topic a little late but I have one that started life as a .222 and for the life of me I could not get that rifle to do better than an inch and mostly about 1 1/8". So... I parted the gun out and now it's a .20 Practicle with a pretty stock and wears a 4.5 X 14 Zeiss. Slickest little truck/carry gun you could imagine with legit 400 yard range from a good rest. John.

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To this day, I still find myself driving by the spot where I watched my father drop a crow out of a tree in the early 60s. It was in a hedge row that is about 350 yards off the road.
The hedge row is still there, but the crow and my father are both gone.
I still have the beautiful Vixen in .222 Mag, checkered stock and Monte Carlo comb and have never fired it.
Always kept clean and fresh.
Not being a reloader, even though I still have all of his dies, I've decided to part with it and use the $$ on another project.
My father kept all of his weaponry in as good or better condition than it was in when he acquired it, and taught me to do the same.
Any tips on what the value of this example of times-gone-by might be?


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I have a Sako 222 Riihimaki I found in a basement I was cleaning out. It has no fire control or stock and the bbl has some heavy rust/pitting on it. There were two floorplates and two magazines but no trigger.

Does anyone have any suggestions where I can find a trigger, bolt relaese mechanism, and stock for this little jewel?


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Thought I’d revive this thread just because I picked one up here on the classifieds in a 223 varmint barrel.
Anyone wanna share some pics or stories about their Sako Vixen?


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Originally Posted by trouthunterdj
What is the rate of twist in a Vixen 223? I was under the assumption it was 1 in 12.

Does anyone have any history if this would stabilize 60 grain partitions?

Thanks,

ddj
I'm on the second 222 barrel on a little Sako. in between the 222 tubes was a 6x47. it was nice, EXCEPT, the ejection port was too short to eject a loaded 85 grain Sierra hp. Now wouldn't a man think to check such things before he charged ahead?? So, now the rifle wears a 20 inch 12 twist 222. It shoots the 60 gr partition just fine.
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I have had them in a 221 Fireball, 222, and 223 are were great. The Fireball is the only gun I can say that I truly shot the barrel completely out on. I had another one in 222 and I bought it used (as I did the 221) and it was ok but not great. I found out why when cleaning it after the first trip to the range, the barrel had a very small bulge in it (no wonder I got it for the price I did) Once you felt the patch get loose, and knew where to feel, you could feel it on the outside (once again very slight) Anyway I sent it and had a new barrel put on and chambered it in 223.
The only trouble I ever had (other than the barrel issue) was with an extractor. I broke one on the Fireball. I found out that they made a long extractor and a short one. My fireball had a long extractor and I like to have never found a replacement for it, but I did and all was well.
If I could find another Vixen 461L action at a good price, I would love to replace the ones I sold.


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I have a shotgun so I have no need for a 30-06.....
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223 is a 1:12 twist (actually it's metric so the equivalent) the 60 Nos Partition was designed and developed to stabiliae out of a 1:12. I've have very good luck with a max load of Benchmark and 60 gr Nos Parts.

I have shot eactly one deer with it - I though it would be the cat's meow and bee's knees but it was not - not for me.

small buck, shoulder hit (low, angled towards the heart) I watched him through the scope run off, maybe 25 yds, No blood trail, just a small tuft of hair where I hit him.

When I got my SAKO, I called Nosler and asked about a 60 grain bullet and twist rate, told the tech what I was thinking (Bench mark and 60 gr Nos) he said "There you go...."

They won't stabilize vrey well out of a 222 because that's a 1:14 twist.


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Originally Posted by Hook
I have a Sako 222 Riihimaki I found in a basement I was cleaning out. It has no fire control or stock and the bbl has some heavy rust/pitting on it. There were two floorplates and two magazines but no trigger.

Does anyone have any suggestions where I can find a trigger, bolt relaese mechanism, and stock for this little jewel?

helidriver, since I posted this I found enough parts to make the rifle work, albeit as a single shot. I finished the 90% inletted stock found with it and have been enjoying the heck out of it since '09. While checking the feed and extractor, no 222 round was available, so I used a dummy 223 Rem round and was surprised to see the action close all the way. Someone had rechambered it and had not remarked the barrel. No matter, I have no problem with it being in 223 Rem.

It is hands down the most accurate rifle I've ever owned and will not leave my clutches. I don't know what the actual twist rate is but repeated attempts to measure it comes up with something between 1 in 13 and 14. I have tried many different bullets in it with outstanding success up through 55 grains. The 60 gr Partition was minute of deer vitals accurate, but it was easy to see that it was right on the edge. The only exception to the 55 gr limits was the 53 grain (or was it 52?) TTSX which I don't believe is made any more. The 45 gr TTSX shot beautifully, but the 53 gr was too long for the twist.

Here is a group I fired earlier this year while trying a 'new to me' powder, DP2200. I had some leftovers, so fired them into one group. This is two different bullets and two different powders.


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

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Beautiful job, Hook, and congratulations on reviving the rifle!!


And these zombies line up and eat from the media’s trough

Cowards CANNOT be free. Nor should they be.


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You guys are making me feel bad again. Sellers remorse big time. This thread started pre-Windfall, but I had one of these slick little Sako Vixen rifles only in .222 Magnum and not handloading back in those days, no more factory loaded ammunition said to me best sell off that one. Big mistake. Oh to have had it in a .222 or .223, but no, that magnum round. What a great little rifle action that I know now would have made into something more available ammo wise. Now I’m in the same hard to get ammo available camp with a .221 Fireball in a Cooper m38.


My other auto is a .45

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I had a Vixen .222 with a full-length "Mannlicher" stock for a while. It was very accurate, but eventually somebody else wanted it more than I did.

A couple years ago I bought one of the earlier Sako L-46's in .222. It had been used pretty hard so the bore wasn't in perfect shape--but it shoots just as well. The only handload I tried was one worked up for the Vixen, and it put five shots into .6 inch....


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Thanks for the pic Hook, that’s a beauty.


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Have a 222 Vixen that I bought at auction about 3 years ago. $547! It is the heavy barrel model. She shoots 50 grain bullets into little bitty dime sized holes.


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Originally Posted by Godogs57
Have a 222 Vixen that I bought at auction about 3 years ago. $547! It is the heavy barrel model. She shoots 50 grain bullets into little bitty dime sized holes.

Same here…About 10 years ago I stumbled into a couple of heavy barreled varmint Vixens in 222 and 223. Both without any fussing around with we’re knot makers.

I later found what I thought from the pictures on GB was another, rarely used Sako Forester with a Bofors tube. Unfortunately it had a small, hairline crack on the fore end of the stock.

Since everything else, metal, rifling, bolt and face confirmed it wasn’t shot much, I went ahead and tricked it out with a MCM stock and Cerakote treatment. It is another very accurate shooting Sako.

Sako Family…A couple have been ‘tripped’ the core group 222, 223, and 243 remained.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]

🦫


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Originally Posted by Beaver10
Originally Posted by Godogs57
Have a 222 Vixen that I bought at auction about 3 years ago. $547! It is the heavy barrel model. She shoots 50 grain bullets into little bitty dime sized holes.

Same here…About 10 years ago I stumbled into a couple of heavy barreled varmint Vixens in 222 and 223. Both without any fussing around with we’re knot makers.

I later found what I thought from the pictures on GB was another, rarely used Sako Forester with a Bofors tube. Unfortunately it had a small, hairline crack on the fore end of the stock.

Since everything else, metal, rifling, bolt and face confirmed it wasn’t shot much, I went ahead and tricked it out with a MCM stock and Cerakote treatment. It is another very accurate shooting Sako.

Sako Family…A couple have been ‘tripped’ the core group 222, 223, and 243 remained.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]

🦫

Sexy pic Beav…


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Month ago today I scored a L461 mint with factory rings in 222 Remington Magnum. 1st group zeroing it was 1 hole at 50 yds. Beautiful fiddleback frt to rear...mb


" Cheapest velocity in the world comes from a long barrel and I sure do like them. MB "
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My Vixen was a 222 magnum but it was a tight fit in the action so I had the barrel set back and chambered to 221 Fireball. Been hunting coyotes with it for decades. Have been considering using the rifle as a donor for a 17 Fireball or maybe a vartarg.


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I have a few Vixens here and I would think there would be a market for such guns today.

The Magnum is a touch too long for modern tipped stuff to magazine feed or to get close to the lands, but every 222 Magnum actioned Vixen I've come across has shot lights out as long as the lands were within an inch.

I've ran a few 223 Vixens but none have ever shot as well as the 222 or 222 Magnums, except an early Bofors barreled one.

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I owned a Garcia Vixen .223, and also a 1960-ish Forester .243. The stock on the Vixen never quite felt right and I traded it for a B78 .45/70 that beat the crap outta me and also went down the road. My son has the Forester. I check for similar stuff online now and then, but when they show, there’s no shortage of interested parties.

Nothing quite like the Vixens, though the CZ 527 came close in many respects, but alas it's gone now too, which probably says something about the changed rifle market. Those who appreciate them and similar stuff should probably get ‘em while they can. Everyone ought to have at least one fine rifle amongst their bunch of plastic fantastics.


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