I have owned a bunch of Sakos . Many were bought in hopes of turning a profit when the daughters were in college. I did shoot a few. I do not recall an inaccurate one. One of my regrets is that I did not nail one of the small action .223s while they were still readily available and affordable.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful rifles I ever owned was a Stoger DeLux Forester in ..243. I also had a Safari in .338WM that I attempted to hunt with. Looked great, shot great, but it was way too heavy to carry. Must have gone about ten pounds all up. I decided the reason it was called Safari was that one needed a gun bearer to carry it.
The Garcia guns were good. They tried to keep the cost down with a lesser degree of polish on the metal on the standard models. No fall off on huntability, just looks. I never cared for the higher Monte Carlo models. I have my eye on an L61 as I write. I'm also trying to justify the price of a small action .223.
BTW, the early ones were on Mauser actions. One of my friends found me one week doing some college field work, and wanted me to come hunt on the weekend. I had the clothes, but the rifle was 200 miles round trip away. He said come hunt, he had an extra rifle. It was a .270 Sako on a Mauser action. Made the closest deer kill of my career. Something spooked a buck and he almost ran over me in an improvised stand hidden, with tree tops from a recent harvest of mature hardwoods. Maybe a 25' shot.
Jack
Last edited by jt402; 12/07/13.
