Beware of buying Dakota actions from Brownell's.
My one experience with that required sending the action back to Dakota to get the action threads recut, at my expense.

Apparently after a gunsmith looks at an action, Dakota can blame him for boogering the action threads.

My one Dakota 76 African action was re-threaded by Dakota to same threads as on the Nesika Bay action: 1.062" x 0.985" x 18 TPI
Thanks Dakota!

And it is in an MPI stock that just needs the saggy paint sanded off and sprayed again.

My .395 Tatanka and .423/.338 Lapua Magnum switch-barrel Dakota 76 African:

Is that perfection or what?

For my purposes a CZ 550 Magnum is better than a Dakota 76 African, at a $2000 savings. My condolences to the lefties.

Thanks for your codolences. I'm blind in my right eye, so I had to learn to shoot left handed, and the Dakota is likely the best choice. I'd much rather save the money with a CZ or a variety of cheaper rifles but I don't have that option since Winchester doesn't manufacture heavy LH rifles any more.

Lovely rifle Jetdrvr.

JPK

Thanks. After all the trials and tribs, it's growing on me.

I just bought a M-76 in .404 Jeff. I'll be giving a report on it as soon as I get it.

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
I just bought a M-76 in .404 Jeff. I'll be giving a report on it as soon as I get it.

Ooh la la! Should be a beeyootee!

barrel specs
magazine capacity and box dimensions
bare naked weight of rifle (may include Talley bases if present)
balance point of rifle
LOP
pictures of a gun-pornographic nature
accuracy target scan or photo

That's not asking too much is it?

I'll bet it feeds and functions flawlessly.
404 Jeffery rifles built on a Rigby-sized action are easy that way.

The 404 Jeffery is a fine chambering for a Dakota 76 African.

Neither the 404 Dakota nor .423 Dakota Lapua can equal the standard 404 Jeffery in horsepower of handloads, nor performance in the field.

Congratulations on an excellent choice if you just had to go Dakota.

You got it Doc...

Should be here Monday the 25th.


I had a .404 Jeff project in the works for almost 5 years and it finally fell through. So when I saw this one pop up I just had to have it since I had a good chunk of the money in hand from my dead custom project.

I didn't just have to have a Dakota. But when this one came along the day after my project flopped AND in my all time most lusted after caliber it was like a sign from Dianna herself and I was forced, on a spiritual level of course, to buy it immediately.

I wouldn't want to anger the goddess of hunting after all.

I am just trying to figure out how to get this one past Dr. Wife...Shes a pretty sharp cookie.
I guess I'll be having a slew of rifles and shotguns for sale pretty quick to partially absolve myself with the ole ball and.....Uhhmm, I mean my lovely bride.

I hope it wasn't that one on the Champlin Arms site-I've been eyeing that one for awhile!

My only big bore is a 375 H&H Dakota which I bought used, new it would be over $7000, not worth that in terms of pretty, but at $4000 used but like new, pretty good value. Function, accuracy all excellent; most important it happens to fit me very well. I am told by folks who should know that this is an older rifle, built prior to "troubles" and change of ownership. I have toyed with having a custom rifle put together in 404J, as near as I can tell, even with fairly plain wood, I'm liable to run up a bill close to what I paid for the used Dakota. To be honest, if I were doing it over, I would find a Mdl 70 375H&H, not worry about wood, do whatever it took to make sure of function and fit, save the money for hunting.

Dakotas are fine rifles. WHile there has been a good bit of discussion as to whether they are worth the price tag of $6 or $7 grand, I haven't seen much in the way of a knock on their quality.

True, there are "better" rifles out there, but they are also more expensive. I would not trade my M98 Mauser Magnum for a Dakota, but the price tag on that rifle is about 30% higher than a Dakota.

And yes, you can get a custom for around the same price as a Dakota or a little less, but the values of those custom prices drop by about 40% in the resale market as soon as you put your hands on it. And the custom jobs I have seen that I would rank better than a Dakota, are more expensive.

There are a lot of very good rifles for less than a Dakota - the AHR's are one shining example. But even with those, you start to creep up in prices once you start adding bells and whistles.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have one Dakota - an African Traveler in 416 Ribgy with a second barrel in 338 Laupa. In my pointy headed way of thinking, I got two great calibers in for the cost of a second barrel. And I really liked their take down version.

Are they worth the price? That is something people need to assess on their own. Kind of like buying a car - one man's dream car is another man's head scratcher. Regardless, they are great rifles.

I don't know which I like better, Jim's .416 Rigby & .338 Lapua Mag. Traveler-take-down, or surestrike's 404 Jeffery.
That could be a tough "Miss Dakota" pageant to judge.

quote:

Originally posted by rdelius:
I hope it wasn't that one on the Champlin Arms site-I've been eyeing that one for awhile!

rdelius,

Yup that was the one. Sorry dude.

Thanks for all the input on Dakota rifles. I was at the same cross roads about 6mo ago. I was going to sell of a big lot of guns to buy that one prized Dakota. This happened after I saw a very nice Dakota African 375 H&H go for $4200 in the classifieds. I decided to wait and buy some rifles just to shoot and really see what I like I was able to pick up the following (REM BIG GAME Synth 416 [$730] Win Mod 70 375 H&H Classic safari CRF + Leup 1.75x6scope [$1100] RSM 416rigby + Leup 1.5x5scope [$1250] RSM 458lott NIB [$1200] ) so for $4280 I have 4 nice rifles 3 with good wood and one synth to shoot to my hearts delight and I most likely can get 80% or more of my money out of them. If I could only own one rifle then maybe the 15k double or a Dakota switch barrel but for now I'll take my shooters and wait on the custom gun for a while (MRC PH on order)

Thanks Again Brad