Thread: Sako finbear what's it worth and is it worth salvaging ?

Back at the range today all sorted, bloody impressive for a 50 year old rifle.
3 shots at 100yds and I definitely pulled one, but only just.

These ELDX just work in the 270

Is it just me or are they shiny Marks on the cases in your hotter load

Originally Posted by distant stalker

Is it just me or are they shiny Marks on the cases in your hotter load

I thought that too but its just shite cell phone camera it really didn't want to focus on the base of the case, they are a little blurred and the light is coming from behind. I checked the cases after posting the pics and no shiny ring.

Thiink about this Danny. The 270 was a cartridge of its day, flat shooting and fairly powerful. Its' forte was from 200 to 300 yd in the days when we didn't have range finders. You've got to respect it for what it was. If you consign it to being a "bush gun" you may as well chop the barrel to 18" and put on a suppressor....

No, you need to be testing this with slooow 5 shot groups at 300m before you decide if its a keeper.
The other key qualities are stability of zero (no shame in a new bedding job probably with pillars with 50 year old wood) which can almost certainly be brought up to scratch.
and feed and action performance. Any misfeeds of slam fires in a hurry ? Safety working OK ?

Then give some thought to a classic but superb scope. Sako-Leupold is traditional in NZ but a european brand would also match. 3-9x40 should see you right to 300m but you might like more. The S&B 3-12x42 would be pretty good or even the fixed 6x42 if you want to be eccentric.

This rifle needs to be a great performer for open county hunting or it will stay in your safe for another generation. If you have another 300m rifle then you need to get rid of that. Perhaps this sako could be a spare / "loaner" but don't keep it unless its one of your best working rifles.

Danny, in the .270 using 2213 I have gone up to 63 gns behind a 130 in a long throated Remington 700.

You should also try 54 to 55 gns of 2209 or ww760 behind a 230. Sometimes these two quicker powders give better accuracy.


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Took my longest shot on an animal today with her, a nice fat fallow doe @275yds, sacked it on the spot

Originally Posted by dannyb

Took my longest shot on an animal today with her, a nice fat fallow doe @275yds, sacked it on the spot

Cock a doodle do !!

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Cock a doodle do !!

Was windy as shit up in the hills, had to hold over 6" to the right and trust the dude making the wind calls (he was on the money) topped out at 32 degrees where we were which made for a very long steep miserable recovery. Character building they say.....

@Bagheera yup, feeds good and holds zero well, certainly looking at getting it bedded as insurance. I do not have another rifle in this caliber so it's a keeper for sure.

I had mind in the late 70's early 80's when I lived in and around Otira. She got carried up the Taramakau, Taipo, Trent, Haupiri, Deception, Poulter, Wilberforce and others never ever let me down, any misses were my fault, enjoy it she wiil be a keeper.

Originally Posted by nor-west

I had mind in the late 70's early 80's when I lived in and around Otira. She got carried up the Taramakau, Taipo, Trent, Haupiri, Deception, Poulter, Wilberforce and others never ever let me down, any misses were my fault, enjoy it she wiil be a keeper.

If only she could talk

sounds like you are on the right track and she is a beauty....
if you want to stick some pillars in the stock flick me a PM with your address and I will send you same arrow shaft....got a heap off off cuts here off a nice seller on trademe.

ELD etc might be really great projectiles as it appears to be...but 50 quid to a knob of goat turds if you load up some 150 grn partitions (even if you only decide to use them for spook n shoot)you will not be dissapointed
for what its worth re loads...MY winchester mod 70 with a very long throat that Ive played with loads for years with is quite happy 2-3grns above book max most of the time,whereas my mates rem77 prefers something about 2grns below,each rifle is different,the chamber /barrel specs have a lot to do with how they handle pressure and I believe the length of non rifled barrel in front of your case/throat/leade has even more to do with it..long bullet space walk isnt entirely a bad thing.

Looks like it is a keeper alright, nice to hear you blooded the rifle already, must be a sign of things to come.

Those Finnbears are a bloody good hunting rifle. They have the best positive half-cock of any action I can think of. They are smooth and quiet to load a round like a 98 if you bring your left fingers around the action to follow the case as the bolt travels forward. The little bar on the bolt keeps crap out of the action when pushing through scrub. The fore-stock is the perfect shape to get to a solid level hold very fast, with that flat underside and slightly inward tapered sides. They are the action that set the standard for modern plunger ejector design and machining excellence.
The only thing to watch is rust if camped in a wet area.
I predict that despite the Finnbear being a little heavier, you will get sights on animals faster and shoot more game than your mates with newer rifles dannyb.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Those Finnbears are a bloody good hunting rifle. They have the best positive half-cock of any action I can think of. They are smooth and quiet to load a round like a 98 if you bring your left fingers around the action to follow the case as the bolt travels forward. The little bar on the bolt keeps crap out of the action when pushing through scrub. The fore-stock is the perfect shape to get to a solid level hold very fast, with that flat underside and slightly inward tapered sides. They are the action that set the standard for modern plunger ejector design and machining excellence.
The only thing to watch is rust if camped in a wet area.
I predict that despite the Finnbear being a little heavier, you will get sights on animals faster and shoot more game than your mates with newer rifles dannyb.

Yup fair to say I'm pretty happy with it, it is a little heavier than some of the new lightweight rifles but it's not stupidly heavey I would say similar weight to a howa or weatherby, but it's an absolute pussycat to shoot dunno if it's the extra weight or the shape of the stock but its much lighter on the recoil than my A7 was.
It also seems quieter must be a longer barrel (I haven't measured it ).
No complaints about the action it's very slick and feeds well, and I can see what you mean about the bar keeping the shit out that's an added bonus.
I need to suss a recoil pad out as the one on it is pretty perished and getting passed it, there seems to be only one place in the states that sells replica ones and they ain't cheap @ around NZ$200 and they won't ship to NZ but I think it would be wrong to put an aftermarket limbsaver on it. I have a mate going over for a trip later this year so he is going to pick one up for me.
In the mean time once the roar is done I will concentrate on getting it pillar bedded, crowning the muzzle, sorting the free float out and maybe tidy up the stock asthetically (the jury is out on tidying the stock up I kinda like it's character).
I would love to get the blueing restored though, so that may happen before I ever think about the stock