I bought one of these rifles last year. It is the nicer rifle that was tweaked in Birmingham and has the express sights, black forend tip and steel grip cap. It appeared unfired, was packed in "rig" or some equivalent and had the box and papers. It was not sold as new.

I took it to the range and fired 3 shots. It fired every shot. It fed, although rough and I had to man handle it to get the rounds home. Not smooth at all. I took it to a gunsmith for a recoil pad, bedding (did not want the stock to split), trigger job (the trigger was 10LB+) and smooth the action. I got it back and took it to the range. It will not feed the last round and it misfires 1-3 times on every shot. That is with my reloads, as well as factory ammo from Barnes, Hornady and Kynoch.

I returned it to the gunsmith immediately. We talked this morning and he says nothing he did would cause these problems. He is claiming the gun has a non-magnum ammo box and follower and the rails were never opened for a 458. When I told him that is odd as I have the box, he claims it must have came from the factory like that. He also claims the trigger job he did has nothing to do with it misfiring now, that the firing pin spring is bad.

I know my three initial shots with the rifle do not make a solid proof of reliability. However, I get the gun back from the gunsmith and not one single round will fire on the first pull of the trigger?!?! I told him about this and he said we never do a test fire after doing a trigger job or an action job. WTF?!?!

The gunsmith asked this morning what I would like him to do. I was polite yet formal during the entire conversation as courtesy costs nothing. However, I did tell him do not do anything further, I will come and pick up my rifle. If I am an idiot and this gunsmith is correct I am sure many here will point it out to me and that is fine. I welcome everyone's opinion.

Can anyone recommend a reliable gunsmith that would like to look at my rifle and see if this is true and it can be fixed?

Many thanks..........Larry

Going to watch this one. If the MARKX had a magnum box and follower vs std I've sure swapped them over the years.
Short box (spacer in back of normal box. Short follower. Normal box and follower and 375 length with extended follower.

Can's see where a normal trigger job would make a misfire. Bolt clean and shroud on all the way??
Did he screw up the bedding? The MarkX is very forgiving in my 40 yr experience with them. NEVER had a misfire that I can remember. Got a 22-250 with 1000s of round through it fires everytime. Bad main spring??? I doubt it.

I would be concerned with his efforts.

I had two, sold one (.375), still have the .458, had GS slick up the action, changed to a Timney, glass bedded, added extra cross bolt. Both had very good to excellent wood, were excellent shooting and handling rifles with zero malfunctions. I find your experience to be unusual.

Good luck. I do think I would change GS.

It would complicate things, but I would suggest sending it to someone like Jim Kobe or DPCD, member gunsmiths here on AR.

I have owned three or four over the years, including two 458WMs that were converted to 458 Lott. Never had any issues. A gunsmith that knows his business can have this rifle ready for Africa DG in a couple hours.

I would send it to someone else. Jim Kobe would probably be a good bet although he has not done anything that extensive for me.

I have two Mark X rifles, one .458 and one .375. The .375 is being re-done now, including stock, sights, safety, feeding, and function. As purchased, the sights were way off from being properly indexed. After that, I will try to get the feeding and ejection problems fixed on the .458.

They make nice, slim, attractive rifles but based on my sample size of two I am not surprised yours needs work.

I have seen (or at least been told by the gunsmiths that handled them for me) stocks for these rifles that had cross-bolt covers without cross-bolts under them, and apparently am the not-so-proud owner of one that was light wood dyed to look like walnut...

Other people have had better luck than I have.

I would send it, or better yet, bring it to Roger Ferrell. I assume business brings you to Atlanta on occasion.

Thanks to everyone.

Thanks Chad, I am in Atlanta regularly.

Update: I went to pick up my rifle today. The father in the father/son gunsmith team was there. He explained to me that he was not there when the rifle came in and had not done any of the work. He said there appeared to be a communication problem and apologized for the misunderstanding and appreciated my patience. He told me my rifle was fixed and commenced to demonstrating that it was working and firing correctly. We had a wonderful conversation and talked guns and hunting.

This shop had been recommended as the best in South Florida. Until this issue, I had no problems. But, I found out today that the father had always done the work as the son is more into modern (military style) firearms. I don't judge on a mistake as much as I do on how it is handled (or not). This appears to be the age old story of a son damaging the reputation and business a father worked hard to build.

Safe travels to all................L

I also own an Interarms Mark X in 458. Mine didn't feed well. I had to put a replacement magazine follower in it which I acquired from Brownells. It feeds very well now.