I have just received several pictures from D'arcy with a request to scan and post them on this forum, with Saeed's permission. I have no way of posting them so if anyone can help out on this please let me know and I will email them to you.
Maybe this will allow many of us who don't get to the SCI shows to see some of what he does.

[ 09-06-2002, 08:24: Message edited by: John S ]

John,

I'll post them if you'd like me to. Just squirt me an e-mail.

Take Care,

-Steve

Thanks Steve, they're on the way.
Oops, don't see your email addy! Drop me one and I'll return it with pic's.

[ 09-06-2002, 07:47: Message edited by: John S ]

Okay here are the photos from D'Arcy (via JohnS):

M70


M70 Scoped Express


Classic Mauser


Hagn


416


416 (close-up)


Nice looking rifles, BTW!!!

-Steve

[ 09-06-2002, 08:52: Message edited by: Steve ]

Nice but not quite my cup of tea.

Way to much wood and blued steel syt and stainless is the way to go for a working rifle.

Hey! Isn't this the same guy who told Barsness in Rifle magazine that, on his rifles, you could have a scope or irons, just don't even think about asking for both "Ain't gonna do it!" and that he refuses to use any QD mounts cause (unlike Holland and Holland) he's never seen a set that were reliable? Or are these some of the NOS wood stocked rifles that he told Barsness he hadn't sold one of in years?

Joe-
These rifles were built several years ago and at the time D'arcy was willing to use the detachable mounts. However, in the more recent past he has backed away from them due to several factors. Maybe he will post on this thread and explain his position.

Superb work!

I have an addition of Rifle magazine, which covered his work in depth, and from which it is clear that Echols is a master.

I think they are beautiful. Look's like flawless workmanship. I really like the mauser. Look's like he removed the right side of the rear bridge to allow it to eject longer cartridge's. You can see the back end of the extractor.
Their can be little doubt of the man's abilities.

1894,

Not your cup of tea.

Can you elaborate.

Mike

As beautiful as these rifles are, much more effort goes into work that you can't see upon cursory examination. D'Arcy's understanding of heat-treating actions properly, his bedding concepts, and his mastery of chambering, throat and lead dimansions, feeding, balance, and truly weatherproof stock finishes create rifles that are made to hunt with, not just look at.

AD

[ 09-06-2002, 17:22: Message edited by: Wayne Nish ]

John, do you have any photo's of D'Arcy's Black Legend rifles? I have one in .300 Win Mag on order.

Wayne,
I've sent Steve a picture or two of a Legend rifle and hopefully he can get them posted here as well. Actually, those pictures are from Allen and of course are photos of his rifle!

John,

I got some photos and here they are. My mail box was getting full so if sent more, they probably bounced. If you have more please send them to my dsl-only account (reply to my first e-mail that I sent you).

Again great looking rifles.

Allen,

We simply have to get together one of the days, if for nothing else than so you can show me the details of your D'Arcy made guns.

Take Care,

-Steve

Matched Pair


Mauser

Mike 375,

There's no doubt they are beautiful pieces of work it's just that some of the details are not how I would like them.

My custom is probably a humbler affair BUT it has everything exactly as I want and I mean absolutely everything. A bit like your firstborn or first love it is the stamp against which I measure all others. As a result even rifles with a superior level of workmanship are just not quite 'my cup of tea'.

Apart from that I have never been a fan of breaking the line of the stock to accomodate the magazine box.

Steve, I think it's a shame that we haven't gotten together yet, and it's all my fault.

I'll be in touch with you later this morning so we can get a visit figured out. If we can include Sheister, so much the better!

My Echols rifles all wear fiberglass stocks. They're not as lovely as the beauties you and John posted here, but they work!

Wayne, check your mail say, mid-week next week....

AD

Steve would you like for me to resize these photos
so that they fit the page & email them back to you?

Ah too have felt lust in mah heart (said in my best Jimmy Carter accent). - Dan

Does Mr. Echols have a website?

Folks,

Here are the final photo's. I believe that these are of Allen's rifle. I'm sure that Allen can confirm.

Bear Claw,

Thanks for the offer!

I can resize them, though. I thought about resizing them before I posted them. I felt that I would lose some of the detail that these rifles deserve and it was getting late last night. I also thought that they are John and D'Arcy's photos and I didn't feel right altering them too much without permission. If John would like me to resize them, then I'll go ahead and do it.

I did split the last photo that John sent me in to two, so they better fit the page (editorial license... ).

Take Care,

-Steve

Right


Left

OK, they're beautiful. Now, for a little sticker shock, maybe some of you could share the prices on these pieces?

On another subject, who can post photo's for me here? I have a few shots from my Namibia hunt last month I would like to add to my trip report.

Thanks.

Joe R,

The black Legend rifles go for $6000 plus FET and scope, slightly higher for the 300 Weatherby and Dangerous Game models in 416, 458 etc.

I don't have the pricing info on D'Arcy's Classic models in walnut. I have heard in the neighborhood of $20 grand. If that is true, it is a bargain when compared to the top end British makers like Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, et al. Those guys charge $35K to start.

[ 09-06-2002, 19:15: Message edited by: Wayne Nish ]

Steve,
Feel free to resize the pic's, no problem. D'arcy just wanted to get a few of them up so folks could see what he does.
The cost of the Legend is now $6000, but if you supply the action there is no FET to pay. The wood guns are $15,000 plus the costs of the action and wood blank.

Those are great rifles. The wood stocked ones made me shiver. Did you notice the red recoil pad? See how much better they look. I always wondered what D'Arcy's rifles looked like in wood. Thank you for sharing.

I have seen his work on the Legend rifles. His skill is so far beyond my ability to comprehend. I will own one of his rifles someday.

If you feel he makes a fine rifle. I will tell you that he is an even finer gentleman. I would do business with him no matter what line of work he was in.

Longbob,

I have some excellent news for you which is going to save a great deal of money. Thus you can add a 416 Rigby to go with all those dies, cases and bullets you have

DonMartin29 can organise a factory rifle for you that after he has cast his eye over it, will be superior to the Echols guns.

Mike

Longbob,

You got that right! Mr. Echols has gone above and beyond for me I assure you, and that is a big deal to me.

JohnS & Steve & Allen

Thanks for making the effort to post the picture, for all of us to see.

Many Thanks

HBH

John (et al.),

Okay, re-sized as requested (you may have to refresh the page to get the new images).

Now I just have to talk to D'Arcy about that 'advertizing' layout fee that I'm going to have to charge him. Maybe we can work out a trade...

Take Care,

-Steve

[ 09-06-2002, 21:06: Message edited by: Steve ]

Considering the time, knowledge, talent and equipment necessary to create a rifle of the level of the Legend, $6000 is an absolute bargain. There are people selling rebarreled Remington 700s for close to that.

I have stayed out of the Miller/Echols vs. stockgun argument until now, but...

In a previous life I built custom cars. Very finely detailed and expensive vehicles that often ran into the 30-50000 dollar category. I have dealt with the folks who can't see quality and the folks who resent anyone spending that kind of money. You can take them by the elbow and show them quality and explain why something needs to be changed from the way the factory made something. They will keep their eyes and mind shut and refuse to admit anyone should be allowed to want anything better than what the factories can crank out.

After beating my head against that wall enough, I quit arguing with those folks. "You can lead a whore to church, but you can't make her think!" It's enough that some people CAN see quality work and ARE willing to pay for it.

Joe.

Very well put, JMac.

The wood-stocked rifles are beautiful, especially the Hagn single shot. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this kind of work at the Custom Gun Guild show in Reno.

I apologize that the photo quality on the black rifle isn't better. Quite simply, I brought it upstairs, leaned it against the front door, and snapped a few photos. The ones you see I sent to John via conventional mail.

The rifle is chambered in .300 Win. Mag. It has an Echols contour 24" barrel, Echols scope mounts, Leica 3.5-10X scope, a built-up and checkered bolt release, and special bottom metal built to D'Arcy's specs by Tom Burgess. This rifle shoots a wide variety of loads well, and has kept five shots with premium bullets in the .300" range on several occasions. It thrives on a load of Reloader 22, Winchester cases, Federal 215 primers, and Nosler's 180 gr. Protected Point. A safari veteran, it's taken animals ranging in size from Damaraland dik dik to Cape eland. I used it on a hunt in New Mexico with John for pronghorn this year. It'll be used for elk in Utah, blacktail in California, and Texas for whitetails yet this season. I'll also take it to Canada for spring grizzly next year, and we'll see what comes after that. My go-to rifle for all seasons..........

I should clear two things up: D'Arcy will indeed build a rifle with iron sights and detachable mounts, but he will ONLY used detachable rings that are built by Tom Burgess. These are hard to come by, and are currently unavailable. When they are in season, they're only available for 1" scopes, and those scopes must weigh 12 ounces or less for best recoil-proof reliability. I have a set of these on my Echols-built .375 H&H, and they carry a 1.75-6X Leupold. When these rings are employed, D'Arcy makes the bases himself from scratch to perfectly fit the receiver and rings, and these bases are heat-treated for maximum strength and durability.

The walnut-stocked beauty in the black & white photo is a .416 Rigby built on an Enfield action. Tom Burgess performed all of the metalwork on this rifle (an incredible amount of work, actually), and D'Arcy created the stock. This is a rare specimen in that regard.

AD

These are certainly beautifully crafted rifles; but; IMHO, I thought the custom maker was to cater to the wishes of the customer. No iron sights and scope mount unless you use a certain mount and your scope weighs 12 oz. or less (and, from some of D'Arcy's posts on another forum, it seems he is somehow in bed with Leupold) and, BTW, these mounts are not available and any caliber as long as it is a belted magnum! The man is certainly welcome to his opinions and I have had just as opinionated craftsmen as he make guns for me (Larry Vickers, 1911 Colt)but I am the customer and I should have some say in what I am paying for. I don't care if he is THE MAN in custom rifles, I'll pass, thank you.

Joe-
When you're talking about the Legend rifle it is a belted magnum proposition only, however the wood guns are open to about anything the customer wants. Darcy builds many fine looking 270s and '06s!
The detachable scope mount issue came aboutin part because of many customers insistence on using a huge Euro type scope in detachable mounts on big magnum rifles. The scopes break, the mounts won't hold them in place, etc etc. Big hassle.
The Burgess mounts will hold a lightweight scope in place on something up to a 416Remington, but anything like a 458 Lott and it's trouble. He has tried other brands of detach mounts but none held up and/or kept the scope in place.
I understand your position and can agree with you in part, but after hearing Darcy tell me a few of his horror tales involving these setups I'm inclined to agree with his decision even though I prefer a scope and irons on my big bores.
BTW, he isn't "in bed" with Leupold or any other scope maker. He's destroyed Leupolds and most other brands in testing his rifles, and has a lot of good to say about the Leica scopes.

I for one appreciate the time you guys took to post the pics of his rifles, the wood stocked guns are really fine. I wouldn't be able to spend the money on one of these (two kids currently in college) but I do believe a fine firearm is a joy. My plainest hunting rifle is a Ruger 77 RSI (Mannlicher type stock) and even being "plain" it looks good. The other two I use most often are a Grade III and Grade IV BAR, both Belgian made guns, both bought used for a very reasonable price. The quality of the wood, checkering and carving cannot be beat, equal quality on a new custom gun would cost at least a grand or more. So for those of us who can't afford the best custom guns take a look at some of the high grade factory work from the 70's and 80's. I got the Grade III unfired, still coated in the factory grease for $800 US and the Gr. IV which had been hunted with but was still excellent for $1100 US.

You just had to post the picture of that Echols Hagn actioned rifle, didn't you? Now I've got drool all over my computer!!!

Someday, not today, but someday....