Sako L61R Finnbear

The History of Sako

Sako (Suojeluskuntain Ase- ja Konepaja Oy) is rifle and ammunition manufacturer located in Riihimäki, Finland. It was founded in 1921, after the rifle repair workshop, opened in former Helsinki brewery, became independent of the civil guard. The workshop grew into a weapons factory, which produced hunting rifles as well as cartridges and moved its headquarters from Helsinki to Riihimäki. The first civilian rifle bearing the name Sako, was the L42, prototyped in 1942 and commercially manufactured a few years later.

After the World War II, domestic hunting culture thrived and Sako invested in development of hunting rifles. Due to this investment, domestic sales increased along with export to the USA and the rest of the world. In the 1980s, Sako merged with another firearm manufacturer, Tikkakoski and gained a valuable rifle line called Tikka. The production of military and law enforcement weapons started when Finnish defence forces ordered assault rifles and cartridges from Sako.

The company has changed multiple owners since 1921, but has ultimately been sold to Italian Beretta Holding in 2000. In 2006, Sako celebrated its 85th anniversary by launching a new hunting rifle family, Sako 85. In 2020, Sako introduced S20, the first truly hybrid rifle, designed for both; hunters and tactical shooters. Another novelty presented by Sako in 2020 was a brand new, lead-free Sako Powerhead bullet.

Sako L61R Finnbear Rifle Review

Introduced by Sako in 1961 for long cartridge shooting, the Finnbear quickly developed a reputation as one of the finest production rifles ever made. This push feed rifle features a tapered dovetail for mounting purpose, with the wide part in the front and narrow part in the back. Mounts made for modern day rifle Sako 85 of receiver length L will fit on this rifle. The L61R covers calibres that fit into 2 different modern-day rifle Sako 85 receiver sizes – M and L, which means the receiver of L61R may not be as rigid as the one of Sako 85 rifles.

These same rifles are also named AIII Finnbear, but they are more or less the same rifle as L61R Finnbear.

Sako L61R Finnbear, chambered for .300 Win. Mag.

Figure 1: Sako L61R Finnbear, chambered for .300 Win. Mag. (Source: https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/sako-rifles/sako---l61r-finnbear----300-win--mag-.cfm?gun_id=100977087)

Sako L61R Finnbear Calibers

L61R is chambered for:

6.5x55
7x64
.270 Win.
.300 Win. Mag.
7mm Rem Mag
.338 Win. Mag.
.30-06 Spr.
.375 H&H Mag.
.25-06 Rem.
9.3x62

Sako L61R Finnbear Variants

The rifle is available in the following variants:

hunter
classic
bavarian
classic deluxe
safari
safari 90 anniversary
hunter stainless
hunter laminated stainless
synthetic stainless
finnlight
kodiak
brown bear
long range

Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Sako L61R Finnbear

One thing worth pointing out when it comes to rifle mounts is that Sako has been using the same tapered dovetail mounting system for a few decades already. This means that some Sako rifles have the same mounting surface on the receiver, despite being decades apart considering their production date. With this, Sako achieved mounting system consistency, so even mounts made for today’s “Sako 85” series of rifles will fit the receivers of older Sako rifles. Rifle mounts manufacturers mainly use only present day Sako rifles (Sako 85) to designate which mount fits which receiver length. Then it’s up to the user to do the research, whether the mount will fit their rifle if they don’t have the newest rifle model.

The receiver of Sako L61R Finnbear, chambered for .300 Win. Mag.

Figure 2. The receiver of Sako L61R Finnbear, chambered for .300 Win. Mag. (Source: https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/sako-rifles/sako---l61r-finnbear----300-win--mag-.cfm?gun_id=100977087)

Rifles which have the same mounting surface as Sako L61R Finnbear:

Sako 85 L
Sako MA 05 L

So, if you want to buy mounts for Sako L61R Finnbear or any other rifle from the list above, there is a high probability they will have Sako 85 L written in their name, because Sako 85 is currently the newest Sako model with tapered dovetail.

Best Scope Mounts for Sako L61R Finnbear

Fixed Scope Mounts for Sako L61R Finnbear

For fixed mounts on this rifle, we recommend Optilock Sako Long or Sako Extended mounting bases. We can insert rings onto these bases, but we must be careful, because Sako Optilock rings are available only for 1inch (25.4mm), 30mm and 34mm diameter scope tubes. One special feature of the Optilock rings are the polymer inserts (except the 34mm ring, which does not include inserts), which prevent scratches on the scope. If we want to install scopes with rails or scopes with tube diameters other than these of Optilock rings, we need to reach for rings of other companies like Recknagel, EAW or Osuma, and they fit Optilock bases as well.

Sako long base Sako extended

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Sako L61R Finnbear

The only Dentler rails available for Sako L61R rifles are Dentler BASIS, which allow only Dentler mounts to be installed on them. It is one of the most reliable and accurate quick release mounts for Sako L61R on the market. Unfortunately, Dentler BASIS bases don't support adjustments on the bases, meaning they are not as revolutionary as the Dentler BASIS VARIO.

An explanation of Dentler mounts can be seen in our Roundtable video:

If you would prefer pivot mounts, we would recommend purchasing MAKlassic two piece design mount, because they are the lowest of all pivot mounts. Pivot mounts are usually not among the lowest, but with Sako rifles, they are usually even higher than on an average rifle because of their special tapered dovetail mounting system.

Picatinny Rails for Sako L61R Finnbear

All of the Picatinny rails for Sako L61R are made similarly, all of them made from multiple parts.

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you have this rifle or any other rifle at home, we would really appreciate it if you could send us some photos of the rifle receiver (mounting surface of the rifle when there are no mounts installed), because it would help us expand our rifle mounts database. If you send us a photo of rifle receiver which we don’t already have, that would be of great value to us and we will definitely reward you for your help.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: info@optics-trade.eu

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ERA-TAC picatinny rail - Sako 75 / MAO5 I / II / III, 85 / MAO05 XS / SM / S

$115.00

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Sako 85 Short (0 MOA)

Contessa Picatinny Rail for Sako 85 S, SM (Short, Short Magnum)

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Sako 85 S, SM (Short, Short Magnum) (20 MOA)

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Rusan Picatinny rail - Sako 75/85 (S)

$105.00

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MAKuick One-piece Mount, Sako 85 S, Picatinny rail

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Sako 85 S, SM (0 MOA), Chromed

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Sako S/SM extended for NV

Contessa Picatinny Rail for Sako 85 S, SM (Short, Short Magnum), extended for NV

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INNOmount Fixed Variable Mount for Sako, Picatinny rail

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VIDEO

Introduction

In recent years we can observe that a trend of Picatinny rail has become widespread and global. It is driven by the NATO standardized rails, more commonly known as the Picatinny rail standard. Picatinny rail being the New Jersey Arsenal that developed it in 1995.

These mounting options are revolutionary. The biggest and best advantage being that the Picatinny rail can be used its entire length and not bordered to a few pre-designed slots like for example the Weaver rail standard was before.

The other main advantage is the ease of use and interchangeability. If a product is meant for a Picatinny rail design it will fit all Picatinny-rails, no matter the manufacturer or date of production.

Picatinny/Weaver Rail

Picatinny Rail and Weaver rail profile

Design

The Picatinny rail is almost exclusively crafted from a single piece of metal (in some cases aluminum). In this manner, the axis of the Picatinny rail is perfectly straight and aligned with the axis of the firearm. Therefore the rifle scope which is mounted onto this kind of configuration is certainly aligned with the rifle / gun and the trajectory of the ammunition.

Weaver rail design on the other hand is usually manufactured in two separate pieces, greatly increasing the possibilities for the axis to be crooked, overlapping, and out of line.

It is always harder to align two separate pieces to a third line than it is to align one piece to another. In this way, the lapping of two mounting rings on a single-piece Picatinny rail is no longer required.

The single-piece rail will assure that both rings are perfectly aligned to each other and that no unwished stress is transferred to the riflescope.

Picatinny compare to Weaver Rail

The Picatinny rail itself is an evolutionary step forward from the older Weaver rail. The main difference between Picatinny rail and Weaver rail is the spacing of the slots. Picatinny rail design has them evenly placed exactly 5.23 mm from one slot to the other, 3 mm deep. For this reason, the mounting options are repeatable and the same as other firearms using the Picatinny rail standard.

Interchangeability was a major driving force in the development of the new standard as different NATO armies need to be compatible with each other.

Weaver rail has 3.8mm wide slots and these slots can be placed anywhere on the Weaver rail and in any number that the producer wished.

Advantages of Picatinny design

A big advantage for using the Picatinny rail design is the ever-present recoil stop. Furthermore, the manufacturing of the rail is not very technically demanding and can be done without the use of state-of-the-art machines which greatly reduces the cost of the finished product, making it very affordable.

The Picatinny rail is easy to mount and usually, this type of configuration does not transfer negative stresses and forces from the fired weapon to the rifle scope.

In addition, the Picatinny rail with its very long useable surface works well for mounting longer rifle scopes or to achieve optimum eye relief.

The durability and toughness are other big pluses for this solution.

Manufacturers of Popular Models

A majority of the Picatinny rings are fixed, but a number of best rated European manufacturers (EAW, MAK,..) have, in recent years, put a lot of effort into the development of detachable ring with100% repeatability, with which it becomes easy to remove the scope from the weapon without the use of tools.

No re-zeroing is needed with such mount options, but these models tend to be expensive.

Weaver and Picatinny Rings

Picatinny rail and weaver rail share one more thing. It is possible to use the Weaver ring and the Picatinny ring on the Picatinny-rails, but it is usually impossible to use the Picatinny ring on the Weaver base. The reason being the above-mentioned positioning and spacing of the slots.

Picatinny mounts have a 5mm recoil stop that goes into the rail slot and since
Weaver rail only has 3.8mm wide slots such rings do not fit on Weaver rails.

Due to this reason, the Picatinny-rails are popular and prevailing on the market in recent years and eventually, these options will completely oust the Weaver rail from the market.

Sako L61R Finnbear

The History of Sako