Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Tell me about the Sako L461

I just ran across a very clean, very nice Sako L461 in 222 Remington at a local store. Is this the "Vixen" action? It was very light and handy, about a 20" barrel with a blade front sight, no rear sight and nicely scrolled caliber marking on the top of the barrel right in front of the front action ring. The store's asking 999 for it, no rings, but no dings and a pretty nice piece of wood. The safety is on the side of the rifle, not on the cocking piece like some of the Sako Foresters I've seen.

What's the story on these Sakos? I've read about the company in American Rifleman, and the older issues of Rifle have quite a bit of information about the barreled actions themselves, but I haven't found much about the 461 as a rifle; with the exception of a Wayne Van Zwoll article on a 218 Bee Sako he had which looked pretty sweet.

Yes that is the same one known as the Vixen. The price seems a bit high though but I am speaking from an Australian perspective. I just picked one up in 222 Rem in a similar condition as yours for $900 Australian (US$600). If it were a Deluxe then IMHO it'd be worth the ask but then again only you can determine if its worth it. You may not see another as good.

Sakos tend to shoot real well as you probably know and the triggers are good and easy to adjust. Before the L461 there was the L46 which only accomodated up to the 222 Rem. The L461 was a bit longer to accomodate the 222 Rem Mag and later the 223. Sako scaled their actions for both bolt diameter and length until the Lx91's series eg L591, L691. Those models were only scaled for length of cartridge not bolt diameter. Hence they are considered less desirable for the smaller cartridges, also some other cost cutting measures like a detachable aliminium recoil lug which disgusted the purists.

There is no rear sight because the std sight was a peep that fitted on the rear dovetail. These are still quite available in Australia. I bought one for about A$30 a few years ago.

The early L461's has a round bolt shroud, the later ones had a more contoured one with a sloping back like the 75 or 85 models. I preferred those. In fact I collect the whole series. L461, L579 & L691 (but if a good L61R came along I'd buy it as well)

The L461 was also known as the Vixen & A1.

Sakos can be addictive!!!

regards,
JohnT

Thanks John, I think this one may be a deluxe as the stock looks much nicer than the factory 461 stocks I've seen online; the checkering is very fine and the pistol grip has a pronounced right hand palm swell.

Ask to shoot it before buying. As old as that one is the barrel could be shot out. This is why I am always cautious about very old guns, you never know how much use it has had.

mine is barrel stamped as a Harrington- Richardson... i gave $600 for it off the kansas city cabelas used rack about a year ago... worth every penny, and then some...

it's a bug hole shooter with remington factory loads... nice walnut, great trigger just as i found it... i've posted these pics before, but check them out again...

[img][IMG]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotstick5p/john002.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][IMG]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotstick5p/john003.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][IMG]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotstick5p/john004.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][IMG]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a52/hotstick5p/img037.jpg[/img][/img]

I love 'em, and generally they do shoot.

Didn't see any at the gun show today. Dammmit!

Oregon45, the deluxe model had a rosewood tip cut at 45 degrees and also had skipline checkering and a rosewood flared grip cap.All the same if it's a standard , it's still a neat rifle I have one with a custom stock and shilen barrel and shoots really well $900 seems a bit high but If you buy it you will not regret it, it's possible to get another $900 but you will not see too many of these again.[ Johnw photo is a standard model ]

Buy it! Try to negotiate a lower price, but do buy it. The L461 in 222 is one of the nicest varmint rifles ever. I sold one 20 years ago and have been looking for another since.

Just be sure any older Sako, especially those smaller actions, are still "all" Sako before shelling out the big Sako $$$$.

The've been around for many, many years - and have been the basis for some "customizing", and what some consider maintainence - like rebarreling.

I bought what I thought was an original Sako .222 L46 a few years ago - until I got it home and dismounted the barreled action from the stock for a general cleaning & "going over".
And there, on the BOTTOM of the barrel, hidden under the forend wood, was the logo "Remington".

It was still a .222, alright - but someone had rebarreled it, with a Remmy takeoff barrel, turning the barrel so the logo wasn't visible in a casual inspection.

.

All early Sako's had the calibre printed over the chamber at 90 degrees to the bore just in front of the action. If you get one with the chambering stamped parallel to the bore it is most likely a rebarrel .A lot of them had written " VIXEN L461,FORRESTER L579 OR FINNBEAR L61 .BOFORS STEEL AND MADE IN FINLAND" If you cant find this on the barrel it's 99% a replacement LOOK UP BOLT ACTIONS RIFLES BY FRANK DE HAAS isbn 0-695-80220-8 a good info book . Page 205 is the Sako story. Good Luck

Thanks Win243; this gun has the caliber engraved in scroll on the top of the barrel, directly in front of the front action ring.

Mine is a DeLuxe model with the rosewood grip cap and forend cap. The grip cap has a lighter wood inlaid figure that resembles a fox silhouette. If you look, you can imagine a nose and two ears, though there is no defnition such as eyes or anything. It also has a one inch recoil pad like a big rifle; I'm pretty sure that is original and may even say SAKO on it.

It started life as a 222 and someone rechambered it to 223. It shoots well and the action is scaled perfectly to the 222/223/222 magnum cartridges.

One time on a shooting sports campout at a private range, when we were finished with the 22 rimfires, I brought it out and let the scouts shoot it. It has a 2x7 Leupold on it, it looks like a big game rifle and barks like a big dog. It is sized perfectly for smaller shooters, however. The scouts lined up and I let each one shoot a time or two, and they started asking if they could keep the empties. We take this stuff for granted, but it was an exceptional treat for them.

I have one of those nice old Sako's. I forget the model, but I recall checking my serial number on a list of Sako manufacturing dates to find mine was made in 1964.

Here is the list so any of you interested folks can check your own rifles!

Fine workmanship back then!

Bearbacker, your post reminds me of how many new and experienced shooters liked my little .222 Sako. The tiny bolt, fantastic metal polish and bluing, and good trigger make it popular with all.

Like you, I have used this to interest "experienced" new shooters who want to try a centrefire rifle after using rimfires. It is perfect for that -- a much better choice for an 8 year old than my Sako .375 Holland & Holland!

John

Sorry to dig up an older thread, but...I'm the proud owner of a L461, originally in .222 Mag with a serial number that doesn't appear on the list that jpb linked.

I found the rifle via a mutual friend. It was in sad shape at first glance. The stock was basically firewood, toe broken, wrist cracked, and showed a tremendous rub mark in the barrel channel at about the 7 o'clock position, about 3 inches back from the tip of the stock. Both the chamber and the muzzle were egg-shaped, presumably from cleaning rod wear. There was also a fair amount of surface rust that looked worse that what it was on the action. I offered him a hundred bucks, we settled for $125.

Things change...with the application of a bucket load of $100 bills.

I junked the stock, and took the barreled action to a local gunsmith of good repute, Dan Cowan of Renton, Washington. He re-blued the action, fitted a Hart select match stainless tube turned to factory contour, chambered in .222, 14 inch twist, finished at 24 inches. He also fitted a Lone Wolf Stocks Summit model in black. Scope is a Leupold 2x7, the small one.

The result is a dream to carry, is far more accurate than I am capable of shooting such a light rifle, and is the envy of everyone who sees it at the range or in the woods. She loves 40gr BT's and H322, much to the dismay of a couple of coyotes...I'd post pictures if I could take them worth a damn.

One of these days I'll load up a few TSX pellets for the blacktails that hang around my back yard, getting drunk from the fermenting apples on the ground. Payback for what they do to my garden every damned year...

One like this sold at auction locally for over $1,300.....way over my ceiling.

I own two of these and can tell you that IMO they are the very finest action the .222 family has ever been housed in! These are super premium actions and guns as well.

No need to apologize for resurrecting an older thread -- in fact it is better to do so and have all the info together so other posters can read it all in one place!

There are several books that have more info about Sako production but they are in Finnish (which I am told makes the Klingon language from Star Trek seem easy to learn!).

I am hoping that somebody will update the list that I found on the net since it does have some gaps.

Now BasicBeer, how about posting some pictures of that refurbished Sako? There is a sticky thread here somewhere on posting pictures...

John

That L461 is probably the best action I've ever seen for a 222, 222 Mag, and the 223.
Been drooling over them since the 1950's.
Lately I've been watching for rifles with that action on GunBroker and GunsAmerica. And, I see most of them going for more than the price you quoted.
If had the opportunity to buy that rifle for $1K, I would buy it.

Don

+1, Though I have to get my custom L579 Forester stocked before I get serious about another short or intermediate action Sako.