Sako L57 Forester

About the Sako L57 Forester

The Sako L57 Forester is a Finnish medium-action bolt-action hunting rifle produced by Sako from 1957. Built on Sako's medium-length receiver sized for the short .308-family cartridges, it was chambered in .243 Winchester, .308 Winchester and .358 Winchester. It fed from a four-round internal box magazine with a hinged floorplate and featured Sako's own extractor, an adjustable single-stage trigger and a finely finished walnut Monte Carlo stock. Prized for its accuracy and craftsmanship, the L57 was the direct forerunner of the long-running L579 Forester.

The Forester occupied the middle rung of Sako's three-action sporting family, sitting between the small Vixen action and the long Finnbear magnum action, and was purpose-built around the then-new short-fat .308 Winchester case for a lighter, faster-handling deer rifle.

Sako L57 Forester specifications

The L57 was the first of Sako's medium-action Forester sporters. Eino Makinen redeveloped it into the improved L579 around 1958-1961, so early Forester production is often catalogued under both designations.