Folks,
Can anyone give me so firsthand pros / cons on this rifle.
Mine is a Garcia import .
Thank you in advance for your time .
Semper Fi
Soup
I had a beautiful unfired NIB 308, that was one of the 175 collectors association guns. I bought the rifle to compliment a model 88. Eventually I sold the Sako. It was heavier than the Winchester and it would have cost $1000 to pull the trigger on it. I might end up trading back for it. It’s sitting in a friend’s safe and I’ve got an unfired NIB 1886, extra light, high grade that he’s been trying to get from me. Only time will tell.
The Finnwolf is nice if you don’t mind the weight
They are basically a lever actuated bolt gun.
Pros: Accurate. Beautifully made. Nice polished and blue. Slick lever. Hammerless. Three lug bolt.
Cons: Heavy. Expensive to repair or replace parts (if you can find them). Magazines turn up occasionally, but expect to pay over $100. You can get a fiberglass replacement stock from MPI. But you need to find someone who can install/bed it. I'm not sure if that expertise remains at MPI with Doc's passing. Trigger has a mile of creep...but they're lighter pulling than the Win 88. My sample of two had creepy but predictable triggers. I shot a deer at a distance that had my dad chewing my ass out.
Dad had one. I hunted it and broke the stock...thus the above is from experience. I bought him another one, but they weren't crazy expensive back then.
OK Soup- Here goes. I have had five Finnwolfs over the years. I found them all to be accurate and mostly trouble free. They can get stock damage if you lose control of the rifle removing the stock. The new long bullets can exceed the recommended COAL with .308s. An unused shell that has a bullet that is too long will not eject fully so a person needs to remove the magazine and carefully remove the unspent round. Reloaders will not incur this problem. .243s are no problem.Snap caps are a must. The older FWs can break firing pins if dry fired too much. The rifle should not be left cocked for long periods of time. The hammer spring gets compressed. They hate overloaded cartridges. Most good hunting scopes can be mounted very low on the receiver for a great cheek weld. You will need to be careful going for a quick second shot if you are used to hunting with bolt gun. Thumb in eye can happen. Feel free to ask questions. There is a following here in the US and Down Under.