http://www.hallowellco.com/her...om%2022%20action.htm

Thoughts?

If I could afford it, you wouldn't even have a chance at it. I'd already own it. Herman is very ill and will not do anymore gunwork, ever. He is one of the best. If I owned that barreled action, I'd send it up to Gary Goudy and turn him loose on the stock. I'd imagine the resulting rifle would be as good as it gets.

TT

Doug, Tom is right. That is an encredible piece! Herman is very ill and it is too damn bad. I don't have any of his work but enjoyed visiting with him by phone from time to time.
Don't let it go.
Butch

OK, this is my oportunity to gain some knowledge here. I don't recognize the action. While I agree that it is quite nice and I'd sure like to own it, I don't know what it is. Is it one of the rimfire mauser training rifles that has been modified? I have a MAS in .22RF that I loaned to my Mom years ago and she liked it so much she won't give it back. This action looks like it could have been based on something like that.

The action is scratch built....think that took much time? I do.

It is an interesting action. Just scaling the magazine size up, it looks to be near the same size as a Kurz or shortened mauser. Does anyone know the specific history of the rifle? My impression in looking at it was that it is a highly modified mauser, not a new fabrication. I base that on the fact that it looks like some kind of existing .22 bolt (maybe Model 52) front was mated to the rear of a mauser bolt, and that the plate holding the clip assembly is fit into a normal looking magazine recess and attached with a screw. I would have thought that a full custom design would have had a little more elegant solution. All in all, I would have bet that he took the parts of a 98, the parts of a 52 and combined them into one action.

As an aside, it may sell better if that is true. It looks like storage hasn't been kind to it, and the bolt appears to have significant pitting. If the front half is from a 52, it would be relatively easy to replace. It could be that the design isn't critical as to the clearance of the front part of the bolt in the raceway, in which case it could maybe be polished enough to get rid of them. The rest of the corrosion looks to be surface only, except for the trigger internals, which would be cheap to replace.

Butch, Turp, thanks for the responses. I've long admired Waldron's work.

I am concerned about the pitting as Art points out, also curious about the action.

I'm going to give Hallowell a call and inquire.

Thanks all.

I have wanted a custom .22 RF for a very long time and that one would surely ease the pain. There are certainly things on it I would have spec-ed differently, but that could be said for most every rifle.

It has UNIQUE written all over it and I really like that in a high end custom

As for the price. Well, I don't really know. You can figure you're about 40% into it once the barreled action is purchaced and there is still a lot of waiting to be done after it's yours. I'm guessing you could probably start from scratch and wouldn't have much more in the metal work and have it exactly like you want it. That said, it wouldn't have Herman Waldron's name on it. Not sure how important that is to you though. I don't think the pitting is of any concern.

My best advice if you're going to buy it is have it sent directly to a top tier gunsmith for his evaluation and a quote on what it'll take to complete the project.

It looks like the begining of a world class rimfire but only you can decide if that's what you really want.

Terry