My little small action Sako collection

[flatlander]

I bought my first Sako rifle way back in 1971 when I decided that shooting prairie dogs with my M70 243 was a bit overkill. I went through all the gun catalogs I had, looking for a nice bolt rifle in 223, and as I recall, the Sako Vixen was the only one I could find at the time. I asked the old retired rancher who'd ordered in the M70 for me to get a Vixen ordered, and a couple of weeks later, it came in, so I headed into town to get it paid for. Always thought the beautiful little Sako could've been a bit more accurate, but I sure enjoyed shooting it, still have it, and don't have any plans to sell or trade it as long as I'm living. Art was a fine old gentleman, born in the early 1890s, and I always enjoyed going in to visit with him, as he told some of the same stories that my maternal Grandfather - who was born in 1895 - had told me. They were both ranchers up in Gove Co. Kansas, along the Smoky Hill river, and had both seen a lot of the same events. I got so much pleasure out of listening to their stories - never got tired of talking with both of them. So that little Sako Vixen 223 has far too much sentimental meaning to me to ever consider selling or trading it.

I didn't buy my 2nd Vixen until a couple of years ago, when I found a nice one in 222, wearing a very nice custom English walnut stock, on an online gun sales website. That kind of opened the floodgates, and after an old friend & his son started taking trips to Europe and buying guns to import back into the States, I found several nice Sako rifles in their shop, and wound up buying several of them from their semi-local gun shop. More recently, I found a Sako DeLuxe L461 in 222 online that has a beautiful stock, so posted the winning bid for it. However, I was disappointed to find that the factory bbl had a lot of pitting from breech to muzzle, and it didn't shoot any better than it looked through a Hawkeye borescope. So I pulled that factory bbl & sent it off to a custom barrel maker to have them copy the profile, but on a 20 cal blank. It's going to be my 2nd 20 VarTarg, and I'm really looking forward to getting that new barrel & getting the rifle finished.

The photo shows - from left to right - the 1st Vixen 223, a similar Vixen 222, Riihamiki DeLuxe 222, L461 DeLuxe 222, A1 DeLuxe 222, and the custom stocked A1 222. Over the past few years, I've also purchased a couple of used Sako 22RF rifles, and have enjoyed shooting them also.

 

[Shutstr8r]

Thank for the post. That’s a beautiful collection you have. You’ll have to update us with pictures of the rebarreled one when you get it back.

—Darrell

 

[Gary in MD]

That’s a good looking collection!

 

[20 TAC]

What a wonderful story and a beautiful collection. You certainly caught my attention with Gove County, KS. Grew up in the county east of there, and have spent adulthood in the county NW of there. Would love to hear the stories you were told. A country with true old-west beauty and resilient people.

 

[High Noon]

Flatlander, thanks for sharing your shooting journey and those beautiful Sako rifles with us. We are so blessed to have the freedom and opportunities during those special years. I’m also glad you’re enjoying those 20 VarTargs!

Todd

 

[Bugs]

Nice collection and an enjoyable read. Thanks for posting.

 

[3Ackleys]

The little Sako's have the perfect action for the 222 class of cartridges. I have my dad's Vixen heavy barrel in 222 Rem. He bought the gun new at a hardware store around 1962

 

[flatlander]

Glad you guys enjoyed my Sako post - sure enjoyed sharing it with the shooters here. One of the most cherished memories I have is of my Grandfather showing me the ruins of a BOD (Butterfield Overland Dispatch) stage station in his pasture along the Smoky Hill river. I'd overheard him talking about it quite a few times, and I guess I was expecting something out of one of the western movies & serials that were so prevalent on TV when I was a kid. So I was a bit disappointed to realize that it was just a sod dugout, nothing like what I'd seen on TV, but very genuine in every respect, just the same. It was known as the Chalk Bluffs station, and had seen its share of Indian attacks according to what I've read in the book "Trails of the Smoky Hill". The BOD started near Atchison and continued out to Cherry Creek, where gold had been discovered. There were line stations where teams were changed, every 14-17 miles, each manned by a station manager & livestock handler. They were armed with a couple of Henry 44RF rifles, and a couple of Spencer Repeating 56RF carbines. This station - like most of the others in the line - was attacked at least twice, most likely by Northern Cheyenne. The first time, the two men of the station were able to either stand-off the attack, or get away - it's not clear which. But the 2nd time, they were both killed, scalped, and tied to the wood corrals before the Indians set the place on fire.

I was 8-9yrs old when Grandpa took me over to the station, and the ruts of the stagecoach trail were still clearly visible. The line operated from 1861-65; since I was born in 1951, it would've been nearly 100yrs since the last stage had traveled that trail. To say that I was fascinated by Grandpa's stories of the BOD would be a gross understatement - he never exaggerated, and besides, I heard many of the same stories from Art, the fellow who sold me my rifles while I was in high school. Over the years, I've taken several friends out to show them the station, and on one occasion, after I'd related all I knew about the BOD to one of my old high school classmates & his wife who live in Arizona, while I'd been scuffing the sod with the toe of my boot, I looked down and saw that I'd uncovered a copper cartridge case, and upon picking it up, I realized it was a Spencer 56RF case. When I told them about the firearms the stations were equipped with, we all got quite a bonus thrill out of the discovery.

 

[redrockranger]

Glad you guys enjoyed my Sako post - sure enjoyed sharing it with the shooters here. One of the most cherished memories I have is of my Grandfather showing me the ruins of a BOD (Butterfield Overland Dispatch) stage station in his pasture along the Smoky Hill river. I'd overheard him talking about it quite a few times, and I guess I was expecting something out of one of the western movies & serials that were so prevalent on TV when I was a kid. So I was a bit disappointed to realize that it was just a sod dugout, nothing like what I'd seen on TV, but very genuine in every respect, just the same. It was known as the Chalk Bluffs station, and had seen its share of Indian attacks according to what I've read in the book "Trails of the Smoky Hill". The BOD started near Atchison and continued out to Cherry Creek, where gold had been discovered. There were line stations where teams were changed, every 14-17 miles, each manned by a station manager & livestock handler. They were armed with a couple of Henry 44RF rifles, and a couple of Spencer Repeating 56RF carbines. This station - like most of the others in the line - was attacked at least twice, most likely by Northern Cheyenne. The first time, the two men of the station were able to either stand-off the attack, or get away - it's not clear which. But the 2nd time, they were both killed, scalped, and tied to the wood corrals before the Indians set the place on fire.

I was 8-9yrs old when Grandpa took me over to the station, and the ruts of the stagecoach trail were still clearly visible. The line operated from 1861-65; since I was born in 1951, it would've been nearly 100yrs since the last stage had traveled that trail. To say that I was fascinated by Grandpa's stories of the BOD would be a gross understatement - he never exaggerated, and besides, I heard many of the same stories from Art, the fellow who sold me my rifles while I was in high school. Over the years, I've taken several friends out to show them the station, and on one occasion, after I'd related all I knew about the BOD to one of my old high school classmates & his wife who live in Arizona, while I'd been scuffing the sod with the toe of my boot, I looked down and saw that I'd uncovered a copper cartridge case, and upon picking it up, I realized it was a Spencer 56RF case. When I told them about the firearms the stations were equipped with, we all got quite a bonus thrill out of the discovery.

Sounds like a good place to go metal detecting.

 

[flatlander]

My uncle & I spent some time looking in the chalk bluffs that that BOD station was named for, and found a few large-caliber lead bullets over the years - I figured they were out of the 56 Spencers. The USAAF declared that area of Gove Co. as an aerial gunnery range during WWII, requiring residents of a large area to move out for the duration. It's still not uncommon to find 50 BMG bullets in the chalk bluffs up there. Grandpa had a string of linked 50 BMG ammo that he'd picked up out of one of his pastures not long after the war. I guess gunners aboard the bombers would kick them out of an open hatch - maybe after one of them had shot away the tow cable pulling the target sleeves, or maybe they just got tired of shooting and kicked out the last bit of a string of ammo?

Members of our family bought Grandpa a metal detector back in the early 1970s IIRC, but from what my uncle told me, most of what they round while using it were old nails & an occasional pop-top from a beer or soda can. I don't recall Grandpa ever finding anything with it that was worth showing us during a family dinner...

 

[20 TAC]

Remarkable stuff. I need to meet you. I’ve read that book and also find the BOD history fascinating. Sorry, don’t want to derail your post about the beautiful Sako’s. I’ll DM you.

 

[BAM]

What are you doing about ejector springs, aren't they as scares as hens teeth???

 

[flatlander]

Haven't had the need to replace an ejector spring in any of my Sakos so far...knock on wood.

 

[SmokinJoe]

Nice collection, especially #2,4 & 6, love that pretty wood. I have several Sako rifles myself. Have always loved them, particularly the small action rifles, that is until I got into Dakota Predator/ Varminters. But still have most of my Sako rifles, too.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

That custom stock is a stunner

 

[jbell]

What a great collection of very fine rifles! Thank you for sharing them and the stories Dennis. I hope you & yours are well - Jesse

 

[ISS]

Named after Carlos Gove. Read up on him someday...

 

[flatlander]

Jesse - good to see you here! Much as I'm enjoying the Sako rifles, I'm still always looking for a good day to get the Vudoo, Kimber, Anschutz, Cooper, Winchester, and other repeaters out & tune-up my 22RF shooting skills. This time of year, it's a little hard to find the time on a nice day to do much shooting, since I'm still farming full time, and right now, there's several spraying jobs that need done in a timely manner to keep ahead of the weeds. One of these days, I'm going to have to get serious about retirement, before I get too old to enjoy shooting in my spare time...

 

[RabbitSlayer]

Beautiful. I enjoyed shooting my uncle's 222 sako, a vixen as I recall.