any one ever tried one of these in either the 475 wild west mag or 50 alaskan?? they look fun!

They are not bad guns, but they, as a company, are almost impossible to deal with. Several here say great things about Mic McPherson and Doug Turnbull(who is an AR member). Both are lever gun geniuses and both can do 475 caliber guns. The links below will help more with contacting them. AR member BigDoggy700 has a rifle from Mic that will someday have a duplicate in my safe.

http://www.levergun.com/main_index.htm

http://www.turnbullrestoration.com/

yzm19

A few years ago I had WWG build (or attempt to build) a 50 AK on a Marlin. At the same time I was just starting to work with SSK Industries too. Finally-after many months of delays I received a rifle from WWG supposedly chambered in 50 AK. Not only did it look like crap, it would not even chamber a 50 AK--nor could you put 50 AK in the magazine tube. I ended up having to send it to SSK Industries, spend another $350.00 on it for them to rechamber, and rework the gun so that it would function properly. I did speak to the folks at WWG-they offered to sort it out, but to be honest I had enough of them and why in the world did it not come correct to start with? I paid everything up front and received a gun that would not function. I was so disgusted with them I sold the gun as soon as I received it back from SSK as I decided to have nothing in my gun room with their name on it. Later I had SSK Industries do a Marlin on 50 AK and it works perfectly. Then I developed the 50 B&M AK and we built several of those so far. 50 AK squeezed down to take .500 caliber bullets--the 50 AK is .510 caliber.

If you want one of these, call SSK Industries! You will get a gun that works proper, looks proper, and at a better price! You will also get it in a reasonable time frame.

Michael

What sort of price range are we talking about in these rifles?

A new Winchester 1886 in 45/70 is ~$1500 (CDNN Investments).
A new Marlin seems to be around $600 (gun shows)
A Turnbull Mfg. Co. Marlin Model 1895 is $1650.
A Browning BLR seems to run ~$800 but, isn't really a traditional Lever Action.

Reboring a 45/70 to 45/90 or 45/110 seems to be pretty easy.
A rebarrel to a 50 Alaskan or 50/110 seems to be an attractive alternative.

What else interests people in lever action rifles?

I've been in to WWG once. If you ask a question, any question, they will assume you don't know anything about guns, proceed to tell you that if you don't use what they recommend then you are an idiot, and if you ask another question you will be scolded and ignored as someone not worthy of their time.

If you like their products, not rifles, buy their products and have your own smith install them. Don't buy a gun from them unless it's already completed and in-stock. Whatever you do, don't engage them in conversation; just make your order, pay for it, and be on your way.

They built my co-pilot about 10 years or so now. I love it. Now in the last 10 years there servicehas gone so far down hill, I wont even drive on the same street as there shop.

ABout a year ago, I went in there, got whatever projects of mine they had and cut my losses.

Go to reedercustomguns.com as another option. Gary builds fantastic lever guns.

Greetings,

I live in Anchorage. Sometime around 1999 or 2000, I brought a new Browning 9mm into WW Guns and asked the man behind the counter if he could swap out the delicate adjustable sight for a sturdy fixed one. He said sure and drove out the rear sight while I waited. He then discovered his selection of fixed rear sights would not fit the dovetail on a Browning slide and told me he'd have to order one but, it would take at least a month. I said OK but I wouldn't mind keeping my pistola until then. He said he was too busy to put my original sight back in. I thought he was joking with me at first (taking it out was about a 30 sec. job) but he was serious. There was nobody else in the store except myself that I could see.

I have never darkened the door of Wild West Guns again.
Ard.

I'll second on Gary Reeder. He builds a good lever gun. His engraving sucks, but his metal work and customer service is good.

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by Kay9Cop:
I've been in to WWG once. If you ask a question, any question, they will assume you don't know anything about guns, proceed to tell you that if you don't use what they recommend then you are an idiot, and if you ask another question you will be scolded and ignored as someone not worthy of their time.

That is if they like you !

I went in there just once, with a problem I was having with an 11-87 shotgun.

They don't know half, of what they think they know.

Find someplace else who wants your business and who will treat you with just an oz. of respect.

I would not piss on them if they were on fire. MHO.

quote:

Originally posted by yzm19:
any one ever tried one of these in either the 475 wild west mag or 50 alaskan?? they look fun!

The 457 Wild West Magnum is a superfluous cartridge. One can get the same performance with the 45-70 by modifiying the Marlin 1895 action to cycle 2.67" rounds.

WWG are a bunch of A-HOLES especially the biker looking dude from NYC who thinks he knows everything there is to know about guns and hunting. You don't even have to ask him he'll just start telling you when you walk in the door.

I wouldn't do business with them if they were the last gun store on the planet. The A-HOLE New Yorker is on several web- sites posting as "Wildalaska".

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
WWG are a bunch of A-HOLES especially the biker looking dude from NYC who thinks he knows everything there is to know about guns and hunting. You don't even have to ask him he'll just start telling you when you walk in the door.

I wouldn't do business with them if they were the last gun store on the planet. The A-HOLE New Yorker is on several web- sites posting as "Wildalaska".

How often does everyone's opinion on a topic agree down the line? Must be truth to it.

That's good intel. Care to drop me a PM and let me know which web sites? Thanks.

Hello,
At DSC this year I asked them about building me an 1895 in 450 Alaskan. All they did is tell me it was impossible and try to sell me on there 457 magnum cartridge.
I was treated like an idiot. I had done my research and the rim diameter between the 348 Win and 45/70 are .610 and .608 respectively.
There is very little modification if any needed to achieve smooth feeding, this is why Doug obviously chose this as his base for his 475 and 470.
All they managed to do is talk them selves out of my business.

Nitro450exp

quote:

Originally posted by Joel/AK:
....I wont even drive on the same street as there shop.

+1

To expand a little on my 1 and only ever experience with WWGs, I had sent the rifle to be converted to 50 Alaskan in April of 2005. Along with a check for $1350 or so as I recall, paid in full for the conversion. They said the rifle would be ready in October. October came and passed, I called around mid November, they said it would be ready in December. December came and passed, I called mid January. They said being shipped in two weeks! OK, mid Feb I called again, being shipped 1st of March. This time I called first of March. They say being shipped first thing tomorrow! OK, a week passes no gun? I call and they say my account has not been paid?? What? I sent a check with the gun? Oh, you need to pay $25 for shipping. OK gave them the credit card, they could have asked that a long time ago, or called me for it right? I then sorta forgot about it for two weeks, still no gun? Called up and they told me they have not shipped it yet because they did not have a box to ship it in! Jesus Christ what a bunch of idiots!

Then of course I get the gun and not only does it look awful, but cannot put a 50 AK thru the loading gate into the magazine, and it will not chamber a 50 Alaskan cartridge at all.

Like I said I was so disgusted with them once the gun was put in working order by SSK I sold it soon as I got it in my hands. I wanted nothing with their name on it in my gun room! I have had no further dealings with them and won't.
Michael

It's been probably 10 years since I set foot in WWG. I handled a "custom" 375 H&H win mdl 70 that looked to have substandard work done, and their prices were nearly double what an average smith would charge for such work.

It's my understanding that their vaunted co-pilot was the work of Andy Hawk, who left them many years ago.

I think it can be summed best with, once you cut through the bravado and bull shit, there just isn't much left.

I may as well add my stories. I went in once and asked if they had a 257W reamer on hand for a Ruger No 1 25-06 project. They proceeded to tell me what a terrible cartridge that was, how all ruger rifles suck, etc. I left without them ever having answered the question.

Being a slow learner, a few years later I went back with a Marlin I wanted converted to 50AK. I asked how long, and they said "two months." I didn't believe them but I always double gunsmith and taxidermist's estimates anyway. Four months go by and I call them up. They proceeded to give me a song and dance about Bill Clinton downsizing the military in the 90s, and now with the war in Iraq all gunsmiths are behind schedule, etc! I pointed out that Clinton had been out of office for years and the war wasn't new when the quoted me 2 months. As they had shipped the barrel to a subcontractor, I couldn't even collect my parts and leave. 13 months later they finished it, and no, you couldn't fit a round through the loading gate.

I rank them far behind the IRS and DMV, as they honestly seem to actively hate their customers.

The stories about WWG and it's rifles are fairly common throughout the shooting community.
My own personal experience with Doug Turnbull Restorations and their work/products has been without question "as good as it gets..." Got questions, comments, remarks, etc., they listen and will provide you with courteous and professional answers or guidance if you need such. A firm such as Turnbull Restorations should be considered as a "national treasure" in my opinion. Yes, you could say I have a very high opinion of Turnbull.

+1, Turnbull exceeded all expectactions on the 50ak levergun they did for me.

Maybe somebody should email the link to this thread to WWG, so they can see what the public thinks about their store?

Cold Zero,

He was on the THR before he got his butt kicked off. I don't know where or even if he posts anymore under that handle anymore. This was several years ago.

I do like their drop in trigger and large loop bale.

All of thier good smiths left and only a few guys left over that don't really know what thier doing. Their parts are pretty good though, they have several good parts for marlins and some scout scope mounts and rings that they get special, all from different sources though.

And yes they are complete A-holes %90 of the time. You can get thier parts from brownells and midway though, I like their ghost ring sight and marlin ejectors. Some of thier old smiths did pretty darn good work though.