Finnish-made rifle causes more injuries than manufacturer reported

Gun manufacturer paid compensation to Finnish hunter for injuries caused by faulty rifle

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Defective hunting rifles manufactured by the Finnish company Sako have injured a total of three people. In each case, the gun exploded as the user was firing the weapon.
      On Friday, Sako CEO Henry Paasikivi insisted that only one person, a Swede, had been injured.
      Paasikivi failed to mention the case of Nicklas Törnkvist, a 31-year-old hunter from Helsinki, whom he had personally
      met at least twice.
      Törnkvist says that his finger was fractured and his hearing was damaged "probably permanently" when his rifle, a Tikka T3 Stainless manufactured by Sako, exploded as he was shooting in Taivalkoski in September.
      Törnkvist's ears have been ringing since the accident.
      "It was a terribly loud bang", he explains.
     
Törnkvist contacted the manufacturer, and received an invitation to visit the Sako factory in Riihimäki, where he also met Paasikivi.
      Later Paasikivi personally gave him a new gun. Sako also paid Törnkvist  EUR 700 in compensation for pain and suffering.
      Törnkvist's rifle was one of the approximately 2,700 faulty Sako hunting weapons which reached the market last year.
      The company has launched a recall effort and has successfully contacted the owners of all of the faulty firearms.
     
Six of the defective rifles have exploded when firing. Previously Helsingin Sanomat reported on one case in which an American man suffered four fractures in his hand when a Sako rifle shattered as he was shooting at a firing range.
      On Friday Paasikivi told Helsingin Sanomat of the accident in Sweden, in which a boy firing a Sako rifle sustained an injured thumb while firing the gun. He said that no other people had been injured.
      Later on Friday Paasikivi noted that the Swedish boy had lost the tip of his thumb. He also said that Niklas Törnkvist had received only scratches.
      On Monday Paasikivi confirmed that there were actually three injuries: Törnkvist, whom he had met personally, the American man interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat, and the Swedish boy.
      "Then [on Friday] I meant that there were no others [than the Swedish boy] who had been injured seriously."
     
Sako never gave any public statements on the faulty weapons.
      Consumer Ombudsman Marita Wilska says that the company acted properly, even though it did not put out public information on the matter.
      "If the company is able to track down the buyers, then there is no need to put out a press release", she says.
      At least one of the rifles exploded after Sako and Finnish officials were made aware of the problem.
      The company reported the defect involving the composition stainless steel that the rifles are made of to the Ministry of the Interior on October 12th, and the American man was injured on October 13th.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish gun manufacturer recalls faulty hunting weapons (17.1.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat