Can anyone tell me a little about these actions?

Different action lengths, when they were made etc etc etc??

Have never seen one in real life and the are really scarce here in Scandinavia.

Regards

Jim

As far as I am aware they have only one action length. Much like the Winchester Model 70 the length of the magazine varied according to the cartridge. I have heard of Champlins in chamberings from 243 to 460 Weatherby. They even did a special one of a kind in 505 Gibbs.

I believe they started making the guns in about 1966. They were called the Champlin-Haskins. They originally made both right and left hand versions. After a few years they made some minor changes and dropped the left hand version.

The 1969 Gun Digest has a good article by Les Bowman about the Champlin-Haskins. Stuart Otison has an article about them in his bolt action rifles book. Frank DeHass also covers them in his Bolt action rifles book.

I have a two diget serial number Champlin-Haskins chambered in 338/378 KT. The wood is fantastic but the metal work is even better. Clayton Nelson worked for and stocked the early Champlins. Later Maurice Ottmer went to work for them. The barrel on mine is octagon with a full length integral solid rib, integral front sight and integral sling swivel. The bolt is the smoothest I have ever worked. Both DeHass and Otteson say that it is one of the smoothest operating and strongest actions ever made. You can only appreciate a Champlin by actually holding one. Mine is the last rifle that I would ever give up. Unfortunately, the last I heard they were running upwards of 8000 for a basic gun and were special order only.

I would be happy to send you some pictures of mine or scanned copies of the articles if you would like. Just send me a PM with an email address.

Here is the current Champlin Website
http://champlinarms.com/