I see serious problems on the horizon for UK rifle owners. The USA is the major source of components for the UK rifle building industry. The US government are placing ever more stringent rules and regulations on the export of firearms and their contingent parts. Sooner or later it will become either impossible or totally uneconomic to source components from the USA.

What european and non US sources of components are there?
Are there european based riflesmiths capable of building rifles to meet the requirements of UK customers? Who are they?
Do their rates compare with those charged by the US riflesmiths or are they similar to the extortionate UK rates?

Pete is your man.

Fantastic, talented fellow who is not only a perfectionist when it comes to rifles but a great hunting companion with whom you can enjoy a day in the forest with.

When you speak with him say "Hi" from Gerry.

http://www.roedaleprecision.com/epages/index.htm

The US State Department's & Department of Commerce export requirements regulations have been on the books for ages.

Post 9/11 the US decided to seriously enforce them.

Everybody reading the marketing talk of Gerry should be aware that Roedale Precision is discussed heavily, frequently and controversly in the German/ Austrian precision community. The critics outweigh the supporters by a fair margin in my view.

I also know Pete, he's a nice guy. Other than that I don't know of any problems with him.

I know he is as busy as can be. So you might try asking frankly if he has the time to help.

From what I understand Midway Europe is a pain int he ass.

I really have a bone to grind with Roedale Precision.

To cut the long story short I ordered a custom rifle from P L and after over 100 phone calls numerous excuses over a period of 12 months, I was given a rifle.

This rifle was supposed to have a knoxx stock fitted. However after challenging him that the stock is not what I ordered he wrote me an email admitting that the stock was actually bought from Ebay and that he will change it for me without delay. Thats after I had discover the discepency. If I did not spot the difference he would not have done anything.

After receiving the rifle I could not zero it. I got a few friends to help and paid a UK gunsmith to review the rifle. It turned out the action was NOT trued eventhough I paid for it and also the axis of the barrel is not parallel to the action. If I have time I will scan this letter and post it on this forum.

I really dont know where to proceed from here. The buy runs a german company so I have no recourse commercially..............

quote:

Originally posted by D99:
.....From what I understand Midway Europe is a pain int he ass.

I've placed several 80/120€ orders with Midway Italia and I had zero problems; delivery time is 10/12 days.

Londonhunter, your tale is stunning! I was persuaded that RP was one of the best EU gunsmiths.

TT Procter , Wilmslow. Not too busy to deal with the little guy with the irritating repair job!

Guys

The Roedale saga is well documented and has IMO been done to death across a number of fora.

Anyone who has suffered poor service or feels ripped off has my deepest sympathies.

But RPR's is not the only european riflesmith out there surely?

I will scan and post the export report I paid for in the next few days about the rifle I received from Roedale Precision. It will be self explanatory. I just need some advice from fellow members who are more experiecne in this as to what to do next

Midway Germany (Johannsen Family behind it) offers definitely great service, no complaints.

Yes there are numerous outstanding gunsmiths other than Roedale in Germany depending on what you want. If you specify your needs a detailed advise would be easy.

There are plenty of good gunsmiths out there in Europe who produce excellent work.
I have only seen a few in Scandinavia but I can think of Hans Engelt in S.Sweden.Did I spell that right? Nystrom og Krabbe,Jyland,Denmark,Hartmann&Weiss,Hamburg.
And the list goes on...Schultz and Larsen,Jensen.

quote:

Originally posted by SIKA98K:
There are plenty of good gunsmiths out there in Europe who produce excellent work.
I have only seen a few in Scandinavia but I can think of Hans Engelt in S.Sweden.Did I spell that right? Nystrom og Krabbe,Jyland,Denmark,Hartmann&Weiss,Hamburg.
And the list goes on...Schultz and Larsen,Jensen.

Great!

Most of the names you have posted appear to be long established companies. Well those that I could find details on anyway .

I was interested more in the small independent riflesmiths producing semi custom and full custom rifles to defined specifications along the lines of tactical/long distance competition rifles as opposed to the traditional european/afican hunting rifle.

In Sweden Stig Sundberg.

http://www.specialvapen.se

In Austria:
http://www.styriaarms.com/

Very nice work and affordable too. Also a specialist in replacing barrels (stainless, matchgrade etc.) for Sauer 202.