Warning: You are about to read my experience owning an Echols' custom rifle. If you the reader have an axe to grind with custom rifle builders and the cost or you just think custom rifles are unnecessary then stop reading here and move on. Take your axe and bash elsewhere...seriously.

I post this experience for anyone seriously interested in owning any custom rifle or an Echols rifle out of my own desire to share what a positive experience it has been for me.


In 2000 I decided to purchase a custom hunting rifle. I ran across the usual names and looked and looked. I believe it was Allen Day (now deceased) who eventually referred me to D'Arcy Echols. I did not know Allen or D'Arcy at the time, only Allen's reputation on the internet hunting forums and what I could find about D'Arcy.

So I called D'Arcy and we talked for a while about what kind of hunting I did and what I planned to do in the future and my experience level with rifles and firearms in general. At the time I knew nothing about a rifle except where the trigger was located and I wasn't sure about that.

D'Arcy is very straight forward and will tell you what he can and can't do or won't do. In other words there is no pretending he is going to give you one thing and then you get something else. You get what he promises you will get.

Even though I knew a lot less than I thought I did about rifles D'Arcy never talked down to me or tried to show me how little I knew. Instead he said before he would sell me a rifle but I had to call 10 of his references first.

At this point I had already decided to purchase an Echols rifle but I called all of his references anyway. It was quite a mix of people who owned his rifles and they all gave excellent reviews of D'Arcy the man and D'Arcy the rifle maker.

Before, during and after construction of the rifle, D'Arcy also offered to have me fly to Utah and spend a day or several days visiting with him and shooting it at the range. I finally settled on 300 Winchester Mag after much mental gymnastics. I don't know how many times I called D'Arcy and his shop asking question after question but they never seemed upset and never rushed me along.

So I ordered a Legend and about 6 months to 1 year later I got it. Of course many phone calls were made along the way at key points of updating during the construction. The rifle arrived in a Kalispel case with instructions on how to care for it and with targets shot by D'Arcy to demonstrate what the rifle was capable of and it is a sporter weight DRILL.

Well I fully intended to visit D'Arcy but life got in the way. Over the course of ownership I took the rifle to Canada a few times and many times deer hunting in my own state. BTW, some of the references for guides to hunt with in Canada came from D'Arcy which he did on his own with NO prompting from me....and they were excellent references.

At this point I had spoken to D'Arcy several times on the phone during the construction of my rifle and a few times afterwards with some emails. Fast forward 13 years

Via email D'Arcy invites me to a speaking engagement he has in Maryland last summer. I happen to be traveling there with my family anyway so I get to attend. Free food, beer and talking about guns and hunting...what could be better? I finally get to meet D'Arcy in person. He has two beautiful rifles there and gives a detailed 30 minute powerpoint presentation on the construction of his rifles.

After the presentation I am looking at D'Arcy's rifles and out of the blue he invites me to Utah to his shop AGAIN to visit with him and to shoot with him at a local range. 13 years later!!!

Well an opportunity comes to visit Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele Utah (Tooele is pronounced 'too well uh' as far as I can tell). So a few months before the trip to Tooele I coordinate a visit with D'Arcy.

What do you know he is a man of his word. He sets aside a whole day to meet with my wife and I, and Completely unsolicited he takes my wife and I out to dinner the evening before.

The following day we visit his shop. I've never been to a rifle builder's shop and frankly D'Arcy's shop was much smaller than I expected but apparently greatness is born out of a humble place. It is typical of a small craftman's shop with some machinery and lot of hard earned experience and knowledge. After spending a couple of hours with D'Arcy and Brian at the shop we go to the range.

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To check zero after the flight we shoot a 3 shot group off the bench at 100yds using a factory Remington Safari load with 200 gr Swift A frames. Rounds go into between 1/2" and 3/4" just like always as this rifle likes this round. My best with this rifle off the bench is a handload with RL-22 and Nosler 180gr partitions which will do 1/4" at 100yds. I did not have any of these handloads available so I took the Remingtons. We then moved the target to the 300yds where a 3 shot group was just over an 1".


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I have not had the opportunity to shoot field positions at 300yds before so it was a new and humbling experience for me. D'Arcy provided me with coaching, encouragement and the necessary level of BS and also gave me a new found sense of urgency to find a 300 yd range to shoot at.

He and I spent the whole day together and while I am sure he had a lot of work to do it always felt like two friends just spending the day together shooting the bull, talking rifles and shooting. D'Arcy talked to me exactly the same as the day I called his shop to order it 13 years ago.

Finally my normal life had to resume and so sadly I left Utah to return home but that trip was just tremendous and I can't wait to go back to Utah. I can't say enough about how beautiful that country is and how much fun I had there. Kudos to Southwest Airlines too. Only one delayed flight and my rifle was delivered as given to them.

My advice to anyone looking to purchase a custom rifle to hunt anywhere in the world or if you just want to own a finest quality firearm because you love them......give D'Arcy a call.

I have bought and sold some toys but I have never ONCE considered selling my Echols Legend and have always considered it an heirloom. To D'Arcy's dismay I try to keep it in immaculate condition but I have hunted with it on warm sunny days and days close to or just below 0 and snowing. When it comes time to pull the trigger it has never let me down. When I am going on a hunt requiring a rifle it is the ONLY rifle I reach for.

I have purchased some toys in my life that cost far more money but I have never been treated better or felt like I got more for my time and money than I have with my D'Arcy Echols Legend. If I have a question about it or where to hunt or with whom D'Arcy is just an email or phone call away.

In my opinion there is not a finer rifle builder than D'Arcy Echols.

Hi,there is a Forum here for threads on Custom built rifles.here is the link. http://forums.accuratereloadin...s/a/frm/f/7971019521

Ok thank you.

Thank you for sharing. If I want a custom bolt gun, now I know who to contact.

+1 on Darcy Echols. None better.

Good information. Happy for you to have such a positive experience.

Ski+3