H&R L461 Ultra Wildcat vs Sako Vixen

S

SGJennings

New member
I'm looking into acquiring a rifle for factory class matches. Right now, I have my heart set on a L461. Can anyone tell me the difference between the H&R L461-actioned Ultra Wildcat and a Sako L461 Vixen?

Thanks in advance,

Greg J.
 
When H&R bought out...............

Vernon O'Brien, it became the "H&R" Ultra Wildcat (as O'Brien coined the name).

Basically, it was a higher-grade stock w/basketweave "checkering" w/some Weatherby-type inlays (a bit farther-out than the SAKO Deluxe) and a custom barrel; a bit garish to some, but I felt the quality of the SAKO action and the overall diminutive rifle (most had 20" barrels, I believe) still made it a class act. H&R had it for a couple years and ran it into the ground, like Colt did w/the modern "Sharps" and then later, Ultra Light Arms.
MANAGERS that think they "know" guns and can capitalize on their buying power, like the Dakota fiasco.

Actually, the Ultra Wildcat used the L461 receiver, and was chambered for the 17 Mach IV; 17 Javelina; 17/222; 17/223; 17/222Mag. and perhaps some of the wildcat cartridge shapes that were in vogue at the time. I've never seen any figures as to how many were made under either ownership. I did see one earlier this year on one of the auction sites. Hope someone w/more knowledge will chime in, I always wanted to know more about the rifle story and about the original developer.
If you found an U/Wildcat in good shape, it would probably be too valuable to use in competition, unless someone had already put a new barrel on it.

You might go over to: www.saubier.com somone there should be able to help out, let us know what you find.....

HTH
 
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I had one in 17 Remington with plain checkering on the stock. Still a good looking gun with the high cheek piece stock, deep bluing and the L461 action. I never could get it to shoot small groups so I sold it to a person in Ohio that collected them. I just came across the H&R brass cleaning rod kit that I got with the rifle, still in the pouch, that has been packed away for 20 years! I do remember a few articles in the gun publications of the time that gave the background information on O'Brien and the guns, seems like Shooting Times was the one that I kept. Now if I could just find that one!
Regards,

JDM
 
Another big difference with the Sako actioned H&R's was that the actions were drilled and tapped for traditional scope bases rather than the Sako tapered integral bases. Smart move actually, as it kept the cost down and offered more mouting flexibility.

The .17 cal. barrels on the little H&R's were shaky at best, and many were simply horrible. :( -Al
 
My little L461 Vixen was the only factory bolt gun chambered in 223 that I could find in the catalogs back in '71 when I purchased it. To an impatient 20yr old, it seemed that it took quite awhile to get it after I'd ordered, but it was worth the wait. It's never been my most accurate 223 (I've since built several with trued actions & custom bbls), but it's still my favorite. It's accounted for more than a few prairie dogs and several coyotes, and is still wearing the same K6 Weaver that was purchased at the same time as the rifle.

I keep daydreaming of finding another L461 action to build a rifle on, but when one shows up on GunBroker, it soon becomes obvious that I'm not the only one wanting another 461. Same goes for the little A1 action with the PPC boltface.....if Sako only knew how many of those actions they could sell, perhaps they'd make a run of bare actions for sale.
 
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