Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Graceful .222 Rifles

Here's a super light Ultra Wildcat 18.5 in pencil barrel.

And a pencil barreled AI 223 in a McMillan Edge.


Don't tell shrapnel, but they do have wood:

Awesome 600! What bottom metal?

model 700 trigger guard fits the HS. When it was in the factory wood it wore a CVMW bm....

I have the same ultra wildcat as Hawk!

Here's a Rhimmiki that I picked up a while back

The last Rhiimaki .222 that I had my grubby little hands on turned out to be stolen. The LGS really hated to tell me the bad news. I had already scoped the darling and found that it loved factory Remington 50 grain ammo and had bought a case of it, dies, a bunch of IMR 4198, etc. But then as sweet as it was, (and the right thing to do) I gave it back. Restution given, but I have never found another to replace it. It was the most accurate centerfire rifle that I ever had. jack

HawkI,

in early 1973, i was sitting in my physical science class, with my sports afield there right in front of me. inside was an article by pete brown titled, "a bear gun--oh no!" (it was a may 1969 issue).

it was about the 17-223, and the article showed two rifles, each made on the graceful sako action; a harrington richardson m 317 ultra wildcat, and the other rig was made by winslow arms, and had a beautiful stock made out of cedar--i was dreaming on cloud nine right there...

the first time i actually handled one of the h&r's, i was instantly struck by how perfectly proportioned eveything was--everything scaled down--to pure perfection. for a while back then, prior to the h&r rigs, i recall there was a fellow named vern o'brien, and he built some beautiful rifles on the diminutive sako action.

the beauty of all of these rifles is that tiny action--the platform they are built upon, with everything so nicely scaled to those graceful proportions...


i see cal74 has a classy riihimaki, with the original set of rings. the barrel contour is the later style i spoke of in an earlier post...


for what it's worth, my wife's grandpa, and her father--both shot most of their deer with the little sako .222--the little 50 gr. sierra pills never bounced off...

the little riihimaki is a thing of pure beauty--the checkering on them is just phenomenal, as it gracefully follows contours of triggerguard, etc., as is the inletting.

scoped up, they are a little harder than the later vixen's to get as comfy with, due to the very significant drop at comb--but when you've got one in hand, you've just simply gotta overlook it--and be taken with all the rest........

About how tall is that shooting rest in the first set of pics?

when collapsed, it is 9 1/4 inches tall.

it is made out of aluminum, with brass hinges, leather saddle and feet, copper rivets, etc. the device is also adjustable via the slide-lock in the front and center.

i don't know if he is offering them, but you might consider a pm to scenarshooter for any other info...

efw,

you will never go wrong with one of these rigs. the riihimaki my wife's grandpa had--the rig she learned to shoot with--and the rigs like geedubya and cal74 posted pics of, are simply just about pure perfection. in my estimation, they are considerably better than the construction/vintage of my wife's current m 74--the checkering is better, the inletting is better, the bolt is a masterpiece of machine work, the stock is much nicer in overall shaping, along with the fact that it is "pear-shaped" in cross section on the forearm, like your hand is if you cup it to hold a forearm--rather than the square 2x2 look of later models. (of course among the "metallurgy snobs", they decry the trigger guard on the riihimaki--"it's soup-can metal", they squeal--but i like that look--it has a simple beauty that relates to our early .22 rf's that we wandered the fields with...)

nevertheless, the later construction rigs like her m 74 have a couple of benefits that the early riihimaki's lack:

1. they have a very high comb, which places the eye in a nearly perfect position behind the ocular--a plus, as anyone using these very accurate rigs will want glass on deck;

2. it has a much slimmer barrel contour than the early riihimaki, which makes it very easy to handle and point, as it balances so well in the hand. the early riihimaki barrel contour is heavier, like what you would find on the sako swift's and 22-250's...

some "pluses and minuses" for you to ponder--and of course you know what that means...it takes you right to the "principle of the resolution of opposites" : we only know light by contrast to dark; rough by contrast to smooth; warm by contrast to cold; etc., etc.


so what it all boils down to is simply this--you gotta find, and buy both...



another pic of the graceful 'ol triple duece:

Not trying to hi-jack this thread, but I saw a Sako in 218 Bee
at a gunshow a couple of years ago and it sold fast, didnt even
know Sako made any 218 Bees til that day.

Sako also manufactured a 22 Hornet but it was listed under the metric nomenclature. They also made a 7.62x39 in a Forester. All 3, (218 Bee, 22 Hornet, & 7.62x39) are very rare.

I'm a confessed triple deuce slut too! I got my first when I was 18. It was a Remington Varmint special with the barrel cut down to 19". A few years ago I dropped it into a VLS stock. Here it is with one of it's many victims

Around the time I finished college I picked up my first Sako L461 Vixen in 222(which also made me into a Sako slut!!!)This rifle had lived in a ranch pickup and some cowboy had even scratched his brand in to the floor plate! I had the barrel cut behind the front sight to make it a little handier. Great calling gun!!!


It also accounted for this big tom. Thank god it was a deuce and not a 243!


To me Graceful is, as graceful does! I robbed a mcmillan stock off another project and put it on the little vixen. With this being a calling gun, i decided a little paint wouldn't hurt so I.....some of you may want to close your eyes....

I figured Vixen is an appropriate name!!!
Somewhere along the way I acquired a CZ 527

And last year I traded into another Vixen with a heavy barrel!I haven't even scoped or taken pictures of that one!
Truth is with the as perfect as the varmint special and the vixen sporter it's hard to show the others any love!

I'm a big fan of the 222 Rem. This is my newest purchase. Grice special run of the Model 7 gloss blue 20" that was mounted in a Curly Maple stock. Stock was put away and I purchased this McMillan McSwirly off of their web site.





I also listed pictures in a prior post of my 1963 700 carbine 222 Rem & my 1963 700 carbine 222 Rem Mag

Also still have a Browning A-Bolt II 222 Rem with the Dura-Touch camo stock.

Ken

nmpistolero,

great job on bringing that fur to bag--and i think your grin on each pic says it all.

i note in most of the pics there is essentially no damage evident, and very little indication of where those critters were hit--you put the swat to them !

a good friend of mine made his living hunting fur for a few years--he "scientifically" worked at it every day--and in every way--to control all of the variables he possibly could...attempting to lose no edge in any situation. he's a great fan--and user of the sako vixens--yet curiously, in the field he used a rem m 600 mohawk .222 with 4x scope, and bullets he made himself from rolls of copper wire.

those are some pretty nice, and handy rigs you have there. and i also note that you like a shorter tube. i find the shorter tubes to be really nice to use--as they are handy, and fast.

Some great looking rifles, guys. My Remington 660 222 is one of the most accurate rifles I have, but it's about as svelte as a 4x4 post. Works great off the bench but feels awkward off hand. I won't let go of it anytime soon though.

Yes sir Hi Vel, I do believe I need a 600 action in my herd! One of my mentors growing up used to shoot one and that's where the love affair started!

This thread has gotten me fired up to own an early Sako .222. I always admired them as a youngster, but they were too pricey for me. What might an early Riihimaki in excellant condition in .222 be likely to cost me?
(I hope this isn't off subject)
Thanks

Prices have dropped some in the last year, look around long enough and you can find them for 600-700.00

The one I picked up I think I stole at 473.00 off a gun auction site. Handling marks and wearing on the blue, but it's also a 60+ year old firearm that saw some use. I had put a 550.00 bid in during the last few minutes and expected to be outbid, but wasn't. Shipping was 20.00 bucks and included a decent plastic case and my dealer did the transfer free (owed me a favor).

The mounts can be spendy if they're not included (mine were), so keep that in mind.

Here you go,

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/11108728

this heavy barrel Rihimaki went for $881

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/11098464