Dakota seems to make a decent action and they comes in either right or left handed in large enough sizes to handle the 458 Lott or 450 dakota and they hold four down. They can be ordered from Brownells for abour $1,600 if you have a business license (shippped to FFL holder of course). Why so little talk about using them on Custom builds?

You are not quoting the correct price for the M76 African, dealer price, unless "Dakota Deflation" has brought the price down $400 over the last 2 years.

Retail was $2500. Dealer $2000, as IRC.

The one I got from Brownells had to have the receiver threads re-cut to a larger size at Dakota, for an extra charge of $200 plus shipping out of my pocket.

Threads were boogered and neither Brownells nor Dakota would accept responsibility. Not the first time such as this has happened to a custom rifle builder using a Dakota action. QC is not what it was when Don Allen was running the show.

I have Nesika Bay (same as Stolle) threads on my Dakota M76 African .395 Tatanka.

Hopefully they gottem square and true the second time around.

Makes me wonder if Brownells gets the rejects dumped by Dakota.

Price I mentioned was for the Safari action that can handle the Lott, etc.
You are correct the price on the African is more expensive. Sorry for the mistake.

for 1600 bucks, you can buy a whole cz or model 70 .. or a ruger.. .. or nearly 3 cz actions.. or a cz 416 rigby, and cover rebarreling to whatever you like, bluing, and safety, and perhaps trigger...

and for the total build price, the gma is close...

and for practical builds, there's no real ENGINEERING difference between the dakota and the montana... except 1/3 the price

Snowwolfe is with the brotherhood of lefties. Cuts down the options

I cannot remember how much we paid for our Dakota 76 actions.

I do remember making a specialy request to Dakota to supply us with just the actions.

Two of those actions have been used to build our two 375/404 rifles. And as many of you know, they have been used every year by several hunters in Africa.

I have since purchased a number of Dakota 76 actions from Germany, and built a number of rifles on them.

Everyone who got one loves them.

Bought a Dakota 76 leftie action only for $1,750 in 1998 and had it married to a Lilja 23" barrel. Used a .350 Rigby magnum stock as template with LOP at 14-1/4". Finally decided that a classic British caliber and heritage required a trip to the London Proof House.

Regards

All good comments but still, for a left hander they seem like a great option.
I own a 375 Wby built by Biesen with a McMillan stock on a 76 and it is ultra smooth compared to the only other "semi" custom I own (MRC). I agree the price of the Dakota Rifles are out of sight with what you get thats why my comments were for the action only.
You can get the action for 1,600, 500 for a good barrel job, and either put it in a syn stock for about 500 or add a few more hundred to get a decent piece of wood. Either way you end up with less than $3,000 and you end up with a CRF leftie that could hold 4 down of anything from 375 H&H to 458 Lott. Even the LH W70 classics only hold three down.
Has anyone ordered a Dakota 76 action lately? I am wondering what the wait time is for them.

I am blessed to own one Dakota rifle, an African in .375 H&H. It is an absolutely outstanding rifle. Probably the best bolt action rifle I own. Looks great, shoots great, feeds great, weight is great . . . damn thing is great all around.

I have a LH Dakota 416 Hoffman built by Robert Winter of SD. I shot my Buffalo with it, beautiful rifle.

I bought a Dakota 76 African in 450 Dak several years ago when Don Allen was running the organization. Very good rifle, smooth action, and acurate. Had it made to my dimensions and weight requirements. Would never consider selling it as the replacement would be iffy.

Dak

Tim Carney,

That's a nice lookin rifle from what we can see. How bout some more pictures of it if you can.

I bought my dakota lefty in 1996. From Tims photo it looks like they made less than 50 a year.

Here's the entire rifle. Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-5 and iron sights. Had Roger Biesen true the action and work on the extractor so I can feed by dropping a round in and slamming the bolt closed if I have to. His daughter checkered the bolt handle.

Regards

Boy Tim that is a nice lookin rig, great colors on the stock. Who did the barrel work and what type of front sight is that.

Tim,

That's a really beautiful rifle. Also being a leftie you just given me some good ideas.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Carney:

Finally decided that a classic British caliber and heritage required a trip to the London Proof House.

What an extravagance, but good on you!


cheers,
- stu

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Carney:
Here's the entire rifle.

That is a stunning rifle!
One that I would love in 375H&H or 404J

Thanks for the comments!

Barrel and stock work were done in Paarl, South Africa at Bennie Laubscher's operation under Alastair Gill's supervision.

Front sight is from NECG and bead insert is made by Recknagel in Germany. I tried to use the drop-in peep sight for the rear EAW pivot, but couldn't get the hang of it, so I had the fold down wide vee backsight welded upright.

Believe another recoil lug would be needed to go to .404...

Regards

O.K. then, Dakota action prices are stagnant for the last 5 years.
Magnum action (.458 Lott three down) FFL-dealer price was $1595 at the same time the African (.416 Rigby or 450 Dakota 4-down) FFL-dealer price was $2000. Retail on the African was $2500. Those prices were the same in 2002 and 2005, from Brownells.

No change since from the latest Brownells' catalog?

Catalog #60, page 87. "Dealer" price on the Safari which will hold 4 down in 375, Lott, etc is $1,595. Magazine length is 3.68.
Dealer price on the African is $2,000. Magazine length is 3.85 and action is sized for 404 Jeffery, 416 Rigby, 450 Rigby, 450 Dakota etc. Will hold either 4 or 5 down.
Anyone with a business licence can get the "dealer" price but the action must still be delivered to an FFL holder.

Yep, Dakota and Brownells are holding the line on inflation.