Got a phone call from a buddy last night that lives in Tucson said he just saw a BBK double sq. bridge magnum action in the white for sale at a Tucson shop. Wells was the name of the guy selling it I think. I thought maybe some of you 505 types might get all bothered about this. I don't need one.

The BBK is mfgd by Olympic Arms and is available for around $600US to anyone with an FFL thru them. I have a 470 Capstick, 500 Jeffery, and a wildcat 375/505 built on them. They are very similar to Dakota African Actions (pre-64 Winnie copies) but the bridge is uncut and the barrel threads are 98 Mauser. Timney triggers, winnie 3pos. safety, pre-64 style extractor, etc. Awesome actions for the $$$.

Click on the pic to go to their website. Look at the rifle catalog link on left of page.
BTW, the magazine holds 6 rounds of 375H&H +1. I fit 5+1 of 470 Capstick comfortably!

I have three. All needed the "normal" gunsmithing prep-lugs lapped, secondary torque shoulder squared, bolt face opened and lapped, raceways honed, etc. After I take that much metal from a bolt face, I always send it out for re case hardening. I jewelled all three bolts and they perform flawlessly. The 375/505 I mentioned launches 350gr CNC turned solids with a bc of .715 at just over 3300 fps from 126gr of h1000. The action has never mis-fed, never had a problem with the stock Speedlock pin and spring. Accuracy has so far been 6.73"@1000yds (best) and 15" on average.

I never stated they were similar in quality to the Dakota, but I should have said just design, my apology. Both are copies of pre-64 winnies, the BBK just happens to fit in a Mauser stock with a little massaging and has Mauser 98 style threads with primary and secondary torque shoulders (the strongest design to this day).

The BBK is sold in the white as an unfinished action. I'm sure that the Dakota looks very similar at some point during it's manufacture. Those of us who don't have $2500 to spend on the Dakota African may be genuinely interested in a $600 action that we can finish ourselves and save $$$. The way it stands, I have three working rifles that I am very pleased with, 1 with a pac-nor, one with a Lilja and one with a Douglas, all in custom laminated stocks and one wearing a 32X NFX scope, all for less than the price of one complete Dakota rifle. As a matter of fact, take out the scope and all three rifles cost me less than one Dakota African unbarreled action from Brownells.

www.gunsnstuff.net has them for $544 retail, less for dealers.

Question: What is the difference between the current BBK-01 versus the BBK-02 that was available around 1990?



The -02 was available before the -01, so this reverse-sequence model numbering confuses me.



I got a BBK-02 in 1991. It was first a 460 Weatherby with McGowen barrel. It was recently rebarreled to 470 Mbogo with Pac Nor barrel. Both of these are 1/2 MOA for three shots with the best loads.



BBK: Bauska Brill Korean.



My BBK-02 has "Bauska, Kalispell MT" engraved/roll stamped on the left side of the receiver. I assumed Bauska Arms of Kalispell, Montana was the importer of the Korean made action.



Later, Royal Arms International of Woodland Hills, CA was offering the BBK-02 and the BBK-02L (left hand).



After that, Olympic Arms of Wahington State was carrying the actions, and they were called BBK-01's about that time, and then they were called UltraMag actions recently.



I agree with hhmag on the BBK-01's serviceability for finishing up into a fine rifle, if it is anything like my BBK-02, and I think the BBK-02 and subsequent BBK-01 are identical.



Here is the BBK-02 as 470 Mbogo, with my idiosyncratically finished, reinforced, and decorated Boyd laminate stock. It won't crack now, as there is a lot of steel and epoxy inside and outside of that stock:



This an affordable 470 Mbogo that will take a beating better and shoot as well or better than a Dakota, thanks to expert gunsmithing. Don't blame the gunsmith for the stock work though. I did that myself, then X-rayed it to count the crossbolts (4), pillars (2), and the 1/2" diameter, 7" long steel rod through the grip.

Maybe it is because the BBK-02 came with a bit of polish already done? A BBK-02 is a factory polished BBK-01? For example, the polished bolt handle of the BBK-02 was like that as shipped, IIRC.



Also, note that the BBK-02 has been used for the 577 Tyrannosaur (Mitch), as it has a bolt diameter slightly larger than the BRNO ZKK 602 and CZ 550 Magnum.



Also, McMillan is supposed to have the tooling to make stocks for the BBK-01/BBK-02/UltraMag actions. Ming said they used his action to make the molds.