Picked up a nice looking rifle today that is sitting on the used gun rack at the local gunshop. It was marked as an Ithaca, but said it was made in Finland. The model number is LSA-55. It has a very '80s-'90s Sako look to the stock. It has an in-line detachable magazine. Chambered for .308. They are asking $530 for it. Nice looking and handling rifle.
Expat
The LSA was indeed a Sako-actioned rifle sold by Ithaca. Good rig. Enjoy it.
Comment from a thread at Sako collectors:
"Having owned two ithaca lsa(one 55 and one 65). Which are the same rifle but Ithaca imported them in their name..Were manufactured by Oy Tikkakoski AB, Tikkakoski Finland. Between 1965 aand 1988 or 1989.They were not part of Sako back then.I beleived Sako bought them in 1989.It is a very well made rifle and usually very accurate.The barrel was made of bofors steel which is desireable(older Sakos had them also).It is a mauser type action availble in 222.Rem,22-250,6mm.Rem.,243 Win.,and 308. Weight about 6.8 pounds,22.8 inch barrel and a metal 3shot removeable magazine.(which is sometimes hard to remove)and checkered walnut stock..They were also some varations like deluxe and a heavy barrel...If you can find the book Bolt Action Rifles by Frank de Haas it has a chapter on the Ithaca Lsa rifles (#58)."
http://sakocollectors.lefora.com/2007/02/23/tikka-308-55-lsa/page1/243 at Cabelas:
http://www.cabelas.com/gun-inventory---la-vista---fine-rifle---1100129-ithaca243-lav.shtmlArticle:
http://www.shootingtimes.co.uk/features/387135/Classic_Guns__Tikka_LSA_55.html
bcp is right, that is a Tikka, not a Sako. I had two, a 6mm Rem and a 270; both very accurate rifles.
I bought one new in 1977 in a LSA 65 30-06. My neighbour at the time who was a certified rifle loony, asked me where I go the nice little Sako. I told him it was an Ithaca, and he said, Ithaca doesn't make a rifle like that. I said well, it was made by Tikka, and he said a lot of the barrels and parts for Tikka were made by Sako.
The outside of mine is real lack lustre, bt t has the heart of a Tikka, and has always been a tack driver -- excepionally crisp and clean trigger. I also have a Tikka M65 30-06 which is so similar to the LSA 65, they look identical. The mags fit from one to another, as do the bolts, hough I have never shot them that way. The Tikka variant has a nicer stock, and richer bluing, and it shoots just a smidge better than the Ithaca, but the triggers are identical.
Bough the M65 unfired in 2007 after the original purchaser died. He had bought it new in 1978. My first 3 shot group with it at 100 yards measured 0.230" centre to centre. I'm keepin it!
My wife owns the Ithaca now, and has killed a deer and a moose with it - both one shot kills.
I too was lucky enough to stumble across a very clean LSA-55 Deluxe a couple of years ago.
Very nice stock and superb bluing that todays rifles just dont have.
I actually saw a LSA-65 270 a few weeks ago at a gun shop that was priced at $349.00.
I am not so sure they really knew what they had there.
My LSA is in 243 and recently i bought a Nikon Pro Staff 3x9x40 to put on it.
Unfortunately the bell housing of the scope was touching the barrel.
And since the base ring setup is the originals from the early 1970's when scopes had not grown quite so large i decided to just order me a 2x7x32 scope.
These are very well made rifles.
lee24 made it.
(duh)
You miss him, don't you Dave??
Ingwe
Seen him posting opn the European forum, where hopefully folks don't know him as well....
Ingwe
This has been an interesting thread. I had an Ithaca LSA .243 briefly back in the early 1970s (before I really knew anything about rifles other than Winchesters and Remingtons). The guy that I got it from told me that they were made by Sako, and the stock design certainly looked like the Sakos that I had seen. I traded it for a shotgun (a Winchester Model 50 that had belonged to my grandfather) without ever shooting it. Makes me wish I had shot it--if so, I might still have it!
I stopped into the local gunshop one morning in the early 70's and the owner asked if I was interested in a good buy. He had just got in two Ithaca LSA-55 deluxe in .222 and .22-250. He offered me my choice for $189. I really wanted that sweet little .222, but I said that I couldn't afford it right now. I could have squeezed it in somehow and have always regretted that I didn't.