Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Sako L61R worked on by HCR

This post is about a rifle I recently sent to Hill Country Rifles in New Braunfels, TX.

After much deliberation I felt it was my obligation to write this. I will preface by saying HCR took care of things as best they could and that Matt gave me his personal attention and apologies to what transpired, but in the end the work was still subpar and I am not a satisfied customer.

I apologize for the lengthy post but want to document what transpired accurately. I also realize for every bad story there are plenty of good ones. Here is my story…

On the recommendation of several on this forum (and others) I sent a Sako L61R 270 to HCR to have a new recoil pad installed, quick detach sling studs installed, and the bolt polished up. When the work was done and I got home with the finished rifle I noticed the bolt guide rib was installed backwards and the bolt was in the action with the guide rib on the wrong side. It could not be placed in the action correctly because the rear (third) locking lug wouldn’t let the guide rib spin all the way around the bolt. To top things off there were spots all over the bolt that I just paid $40 to have polished.

I called HCR (Matt) and after asking questions to verify that I wasn’t “confused” and that it was indeed put together incorrectly he asked me to ship it to him and said they would fix it (at his expense). I hesitantly agreed as Sako bolts are tricky things.

I got off the phone and proceeded to inspect the rest of the rifle. To my surprise the gun was rattling. This is an old Sako from the 1960’s and it was never free floated, everything fit extremely tight and was rock solid. The source was a gap between the barrel and stock and as I rocked the gun back and forth it shook loosely and rattled.

I then noticed the sling studs were installed poorly and protruded from the gun more than on any other rifle I own and thought they looked sloppy. This was functionally okay but I didn’t like the aesthetics and expected more as that was another $40 charge to have done. Lastly I looked at the recoil pad which was a decent job but it was very dirty and had black gunk all over it (no big deal).

I called HCR again and told them about the barrel rattling in the stock. Matt had a hard time believing what I told him so I grabbed the rifle and shook it so he could hear it over the phone. He agreed it was strange but said he didn’t understand how they could have caused it. I agreed it was strange but assured him it wasn’t like that before. After a 30 minute conversation he said he would do a little investigating and call me back. He did and proceeded to ask if I would ship the gun to them at their cost to be fixed, and that he would personally see to the rifle. I hesitantly agreed and sent the rifle to him with a note in the box stating all the issues (pronounced sling studs, bolt not polished properly, guide rib installed backwards, barrel channel fit/barrel rattling). I also asked a couple questions for him regarding my rifle in the note (asked if they cut down the stock to keep the same LOP, and about stock refinishing).

A few days later Matt left me a voicemail stating the rifle was ready and that indeed they did a very poor job. He said it “really was a poorly done assembly job all the way” and that they “corrected all issues.” He said the barrel channel issue was there because “the magazine box was proud in the front” and that the sling studs were pronounced because they had spacers (and that they removed them and he thought I would be happy with the work). He apologized and said “sorry for the poor workmanship.”

End Result: When the rifle got back to me the bolt was polished better and put together correctly and the barrel now fit tight in the stock with no rattle as before, so far so good. The front sling stud looks great, so far so good. The rear sling stud has a gap between its base and the stock (where the spacer was). I can easily slide my fingernail between the sling stud and stock. Aside from being visually unappealing it leaves the area prone to gather oil, mud, dirt, etc. and will require special attention. Not a big deal but it will be an annoyance over the years to come and is not something I expect for the prices charged.

HCR never addressed my additional questions and I’m not going to pursue them as it makes no difference now. HCR did put an HCR Rifles hat in the box which was a nice touch…but I wasn’t reimbursed for the $10.44 I paid to schedule the UPS pickup (as I was told I would be) so I basically paid for the hat.

I understand that I had high expectations but when you pay double what anyone else charges I think that’s expected. I expected at a minimum good work (instead of great) and didn’t even get that.

I won’t have a chance to shoot the rifle for a while because the scope is coming off and going to Leupold for a reticle upgrade but I’m hoping it still puts 5 in a quarter like it always has.

For anyone who has read all the way through this, God bless you.

Below are some pictures of the bolt and a link to a video of the barrel rattling (you will need to turn the volume up on your PC to hear it because the video is poor quality and was recorded on my phone).

Video link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1yzfaerm59y1c4k/IMG_8618.MOV?dl=0

Let the flames begin….

Why would anyone want to flame you? The work was done by a reputable gunsmith(who is not exactly cheap). He attempted to fix the previous work and it still looks like crap.

I think you called it like it is.....piss poor work on HCR's part. You deserved better IMO. I'll be interested how it shoots.

Thank you for the careful and thorough reporting.

Yep, HCR's reputation is much better than that. At least it was...

Maybe they're grown too fast, have let up on their QC. If I was Matt, I'd check everything that went out of the shop, or at least have a senior team member doing just that.

At least he tried to make it right.

That rear sling stud can be screwed in a bit to make it flush with the wood. You may have to bottom out the hole with a drill. That's not a big problem and easily fixed.

I think we all feel your pain.

DF

When you first got the rifle back and it wasn't right, schitt happens, yes it sucks when it happens to you!
But the second time you got it back schitt shouldn't have happened. HCR was made aware of the problems and it should have come back perfect! Shame-on HCR!!