I am looking for an action that would work with 577 nitro express.My gunsmith does not want to take all the metal out it would take to use the Ruger #1 action.
I know that Ross Seyfried had his .600 built on the Shirley falling block action by Giles Whittome (similar to the Farquharson). I wonder what the problem with the #1 is? Hamilton Bowen is doing the .577 on it and he's very careful.
Posts: 4168 | Location: Texas | Registered: 18 June 2001
From my understanding it is breach-thrust from the 577 that gets to the Rugger. You can however have one in 577 2 3/4" BP (650 grains at 1650). I dont believe anyone is interested in putting a 577 in a R #1 except ssk, which kind of tells you something there. I would like to sit down some day and do the dimensional theoretical mech physics on the R 1, perhaps if this semester turns out slow. Giles(s) rifles are very nice, but a bit much in cost for most. One alterative is to find a Farquharson and go from there. They are not entirely uncommon.
Posts: 2045 | Location: West most midwestern town. | Registered: 13 June 2001
I have an email from Dick Leger ( bam@harborside.com ) from a while back as he was/is making a modified Hagn action suitable for up to a 600 NE. This is what Rigby chose for their stalking rifles I understand. I have emailed Dick since then but no replies. Maybe someone else has a more recent email or contact info?
Really, the .500 NE base case is about as high as you should go in the #1. I was under the impression that Shirley actions were no longer being made. I seem to recall that Hartmann & Weiss make up to .600 NE on their Hagn action so I guess the BAM action would do as well. Finding a big Farquharsen action would be very difficult, I think, and would cost very big bucks, too. Didn't Van Horn use to convert T/C 83 actions to .577? I have seen one in .500 NE but it was about 10 years ago.
Ed, the guy who just put my 585 Gehringer together can make single shot custom actions for anything up to and including the 700 nitro express. The catch is they are single shot bolt actions. I think he can make the farqy copies too. Anyway, being in Australia whatever he makes will cost you half as much thanks to our poor dollar. Let me know if you want to contact him
Karl
Posts: 3533 | Location: various | Registered: 03 June 2000
Hey Karl, I'm very interested in a large falling block to build a .577 on and a huge one to build an 8-bore on. I would greatly appreciate any info you could send my way.
-Catter
Posts: 789 | Location: Central Texas, U.S. | Registered: 20 December 2001
Well boy's (Wildcatter, Karl, others), what did we find out on the large single shot actions? Is anyone making one that is affordable? Just curious ;-)
I believe sometime in the past I was on the State Arms site and somewhere in there they mentioned making a action large enough to handle the 50 bmg if you are still interested you might check it out> Good luck RNS
Posts: 767 | Location: Phoenix, Az | Registered: 31 May 2001
If you follow this link you will see that Klaus from State Arms has made single shot falling block actions. I own one of his .50 BMG rifles, he is a great guy to work with and makes an outstanding product. Give him a call and see what he can do for you, and don't try to email him, he won't respond.
Hagn Single Shot Action. If you like NICE single shots, try the Hagn Falling Block Action. This is made by Martini and Hagn in Cranbrook, BC. It was designed by Mr Martin Hagn. If you do your research, you will find that this is the action used by some of the best gunmakers, here and overseas. As far as I know, this action can be had as Small, Medium, or Large. The large action will easily take a .600 NE. I have seen several of the medium actions and one rifle, unfinished, in-the-white, in .500 NE on the large action. Very, very nice work.
Earlier this week, I got an email back from "Sam" at Dick Leger's email address bam@harborside.com , reporting that Dick was presently in the hopsital and he'd reply when he gets back home... Pray for a quick return to health! These actions are built to handle up to .600 NE in size.
The Hagn action is simple and strong. There is no better shop around than Ralf and Martin's. The rifles they produce are second to none in the world. Mr. Hagn has even adapted his patented design into a double!
As mentioned already in some of the replies above, there are a number of falling block actions which will accommodate the .577 NE. Some of these are quite expensive. The Ruger#1 is inexpensive and considered to be enough action to do the job. JDJones of SSK is one who will barrel a Ruger #1 for the .577 NE. In fact, he has a wildcat based on the .577 which is blown out to .600. He has built Ruger #1's on his .600 wildcat also. JD will not do a Ruger #1 in .460 Weatherby or .50 Peacekeeper since he feels that the pressures are too high for the action. However, I know of a number of people who have had Ruger #1's rechambered for .460 WBY, myself included, with no problems. Since the .577 is a low pressure cartridge, there is no question that it will be strong enough. JD Jones may not be universally liked, but he has a great reputation for doing quality work, and for his knowledge. He also backs his work up like few others. Bowen also does very clean .577 conversions on this action.
A Farquharson action would certainly be large enough. Many of them were chambered in this cartridge. Mine could easily be made to receive a .600 NE. But they are old actions which usually need repair if purchased at prices below $2,500. A decent Farquharson action is worth more than $2,500, and it will most likely need some repair to bring it up to new operating condition. A pristine one will usually still be attached to a rifle and worth several thousand. In my opinion, the Ruger #1 is better designed than the old Farquharson, and in most cases even of higher quality. The Farquharsons were built of inferior steels compared with those today, and some of them were very crudely machined and poorly fitted. Of course those actions which came out of H&H or Westley Richards were nicely fitted, but these are even harder to obtain inexpensively.
Hey Ed, Long time--no see. You might check with Butch Searcy. I heard a rumor that he might be about to begin building single shot rifles in calibers up to 700 NE. Good hunting! Andy
------------------ Andy Cooper
Posts: 6711 | Location: Oklahoma, USA | Registered: 14 March 2001
This company makes a farquarsen action and rifle. I e-mailed them to ask if they would be abloe to scale it up for larger rounds. He said no problem. Someday when I can afford it I'll use this action and a Kreiger barrel to build my 8-bore falling block.
Check out the picture of the complete rifle at this link.
