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Folks,
What's your thoughts on a post Garcia Sako Finnwolf .308 Winchester?
Soup

It doesn’t matter what importer brought them in, they were made by Sako. I have a few Sakos, but I mostly like the pre-Garcia guns because of their vintage and Bofors steel barrels.

The Funnwolf rifles are standard Sako offerings of exceptional quality and shoot well to boot…

The Finnwolf might be the best internal hammer lever action rifle yet to be made.

They are what the Winchester 88 could have been, strong, accurate, and better stock ergs.

Since lever actions are primarily a North American thing, I have long wondered why it took the Finns to make such a great rifle. Maybe the same reason it took Marlin to make a great Savage 110 series rifle.

I’d like to have one is my thought.

My dad bought one new in I believe .284. He sold it I suspect because the cheekpiece was on the wrong side for him. I'll ask him but think he said it was accurate and a good rifle.

If you can own one you should, that's my thoughts on them.

^^^^^This^^^^^^^^ a guy I know has one in 243 for sale. If it were a 308 it would be home with me.

Could have it rebored to .358.

If I found one in ANY chambering, I would buy it !

I guess one could and wipe out any resale value it has. Not to mention the Sako steel of that era might or might not be a problem for a rebore.

For a good lever gun, they can be great. I have owned 5 of them but I am down to just one, now, a .243. I am too messed up and old to hunt so it will be going away in a month or so. I will try to sell it on the Campfire if at all possible. I have found that parts are difficult to find and the magazines are terribly expensive if you lose one. I have had some trouble with weak stocks, so I had a couple stocks made and finished them. I've even got a composite hunting stock for the .243 plus a real pretty walnut stock for it. The steel in the barrels of the Finnwolfs are all the same. They just didn't mark them "bofors" after1968.-Mike

I have only handled one and the next person purchased in as I handed it back to think over. I will not take pause to think it over next time!!

They are Sako quality for sure though I believe that the wrist is the achilles heel of the rifle. It should be pinned, even with their standard calibers.

To my knowledge, the Finnwolf rifles were only offered in 243 and 308. There may have been some 358 win. guns made early on. I have never seen one.. The early guns were the nicer guns with 4 shot clips (serial # 1001-4000) approx. I believe the 3 shot clip guns started about 1970 and are pretty nice also (serial# 5000-8000) approx.. The first production was 1963 and the last guns made were in 1974. Just so you know, the 3 shot and 4 shot clips are not interchangeable, and all Finnwolf clips are hard to find and expensive. So, don't lose the clip. And don't dry fire them as, the firing pins are hard to find too. I have been fortunate to own and shoot a few of these guns . They are smoother than the Win. 88, but I like the 88's too. Good luck. I may have to shoot one of my Finnwolfs today.

DLS, I just confirmed with my dad that his Finnwolf he bought in the early 1970s was a .284. I saw one other in .284 for sale about a decade ago. The seller was asking a big price for the time and claimed it was one of 5-6 imported in that caliber. I'm not sure if that's true. My dad said his was extremely accurate and a really nice rifle. I've never personally owned one but they sure seem like nice rifles.

Bought a nib 243 Garcia Finnwolf in the mid 70’s for $300.00. Wood on the stock had a reddish tint that collectors referred to as barn board. Dealer had three nib Finnwolfs, could have had them all for $300.00 each which was a lot of money at the time. Believe they were purchased at the Tulsa Show and had an Idaho Pawn Shop address on the boxes.

Desert Mule Deer, Does he still have the 284? I have Sako records of 243. 244, 308, and 358 being made, but never a 284 win. The 284 win was first built by Winchester in 1963 in the model 88. Anything is possible, but your the first 284 finnwolf I have ever heard of. It would be an interesting gun as the standard clips probably would not work for the 284 since it is a fatter case. The 284 was the original short mag in its day. So the clip and feed ramps would be different from the 308 and 243. Definitely an odd duck. I would love to look at that gun. I have handled a lot of Finnwolfs and 88s through the years . I have 2 model 88s in 284 win. Daryl

He sold it years ago. He said he purchased it in 1973. Not sure what the year of production would have been. I didn't ask but at that time, he likely would have purchased it at Reb's Gun Shop in Clovis, NM. Back then, Reb's carried a lot of inventory and guns sometimes sat in the back in boxes for years.

I saw one other .284 Finnwolf for sale on the Internet. It was at least a decade ago and they claimed it to be rare as in single digits for production. At the time, they were asking $3,500 on the Internet gun, which I thought was really high for that time period.

I thought about the magazine issue. Interesting that any were produced given that getting a .284 to feed would probably take some work. Maybe given the low production, they were some sort of prototype?

Never owned one of these Sakos nor I believe many American rifle sportsmen. For good reason. I was in early adulthood as they hit the US market largely in stealth mode. The Win Model 88 was already well beyond beachhead and the greatest two factors the Sako required, better price and the term "Wincheter" on the barrel! A relative unknow, where an Amrican market Goliath firmly in place. Most sporting good stores that sold centerfire rifles sold Winchesters. Most of the Stores that sold Sakos of any flavor were upscale in my mountain West large city. The didn't distinguish themselves from Winchester and they really weren't even a 'blip on Winchester's marketing competition radar'.
Now, half century plus later, collector guns... I'd love to own one but my Win 88 carbine of '68 doing me just fine and I appreciate it. If I'd come across a Finnwolf at the right time & price, but I never saw many at all. Some of the weak sellers in the American market had substantial sales in Europe. I always wondered if it did well there because I surely didn't see Sako making sufficient sales numbers to justify a decade of mfg for the States.
It may have been a great rifle but I believe a Model 88 lookalike witout strong marketing system and something to distingusih them beyond higher price, wasn't a very good marketing plan!
Also honorable mention to the Browning BLR. Other than a styling reminding me of a dog hunkered over, they were quality and in an amazing variety of chamberings. I never owned one but had an acquaitance who swore by one in, I believe the belted 7mm Rem mag.
I can drink to Sako Finnwolf if really knowing little!
Just my take.
Best!
John

Iskra. I own and shoot all the lever gun models that you mentioned including many Savage 99s. They each have qualities and characteristics that makes them special to deferent people, but in my opinion the overall winner is the Sako Finnwolf . If you ever did handle and shoot one, you would know what I am talking about and why they still are very popular to a lot of gun nuts.