I picked up a round top AIII action Not marked Sako,but marked AIII and made in Finland.It is on a custom Rifle I bought.Were these made for Herters or some one else as just actions????The action is level across the top and the scope mounting holes are .500 center to center.I have never seen one like this before.Any info you have would be appreciated.Thanks ahead ,Huntz

Might be an import for Harington & Richardson. Buddy has one in .223.

It could be an older model Sako, try the Sako Collectors Club.

Not absolutely sure but the actions were sold by Stoeger years ago. Stoeger was the importer for Sako at the time the Alll was popular. Sako never put the company name on the rifles they made exclusively. They just said made in Finland. Round top actions, from Sako, were utilized by Browning in their Safari Grade rifles, H&R in some of their rifles and the late forms of Beretta Matos and sporters. American Eagle and Magnum Research also used them in their rifles. I can't think of any more, right off hand.-Mike

Interestingly, the Sako round top actions used in the Browning Safari's had the rear of the receiver milled lower than the front reciever similar to a mauser. Browning was the only round top action to use this differential to my knowledge.

The Sako round top actions used in the H&R rifles had the rear and front of the receivers at the same height.

Huntz,

Here is a pic of a Browning Safari Sako round top action showing the differential.



The rear base hole spacing is .500 and the front is .750

This is an H&R Sako round top which is level.



I can't remember what the hole spacing was though

Does your rifle have two small holes on the right side of the rear receiver?

The action is the same as your bottom photo.No holes tapped on the side.

Interesting, H&R offered very few long action (L61R or AIII) Sako round top actions in their "Ultrarifle". Most of the H&R LA's were built on FN Mauser actions. The H&R round tops that I've seen were unique with two holes in the right side of the rear receiver which were filled with filler screws.

The only other manufacturer that I'm aware of to use a round top long action was Magnum Research, but they used the L691 which was a much later model.

Did your rifle come with scope bases? The round tops are a PIA to find bases for!

Yes ,they look like weaver mounts.They are kind of high and I was hoping to get some lower ones.I am finding that out.Maybe I can get some blanks and make my own.

Yep, other companies used some of the round top actions.

But its very possible it showed up as an ITW action, imported to a Sako dealer, like tons of other Sako parts.

I have a nice blued round top Sako 375 HH here in the safe.

The action showed up exactly like I described, as did maybe three others.
You could order ITW actions from Herters and some guy in K.C., MO (forget his name) was a big dealer in Sako guns, parts, barrels and some ammo. As one said, Stoeger imported the AIII.

Conetrol makes rings for these actions.

Thats what I figured.You could get all kinds of imported actions at Herters.Their store in Beaverdam Wi. was a dream for a Gun loony when I was a kid.Rows of barrels ,actions and stocks.Anything you would want.Huntz