As the safari season has come to a close in Botswana I began to dream of days past. My first trip to Botswana was in 2001. I shot my first Buffalo a Leopard and plains game with a pair of Echols rifles in .416 Rem and .300 Weatherby. That trip to the Delta started the wheels turning on bigger game and bigger rifles. Several years later I began discussions with D'Arcy on various calibre's. In 2005 myself along with another one of his clients purchased a pair of H&W magnum 98 actions to begin work on a pair .505 Gibbs rifles. The journey has been long, especially for D'Arcy as he spent countless hours redesigning action components and spending time on the details to insure both rifles feed and function flawlessly.

Although the H&W actions are fine actions there was plenty to modify and or rebuild. Below are some of the Echols replacement parts used in both rifles.

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D'Arcy also worked with Randy Brooks during the project to develop a round nose solid bullet (the banded solid) in addition to the TSX bullet offerings. We settled on 525 gr bullets and have found no reason to step up to 600 gr offerings.

Below are the redesigned magazine assemblies with dummy cartridges for both bullet offerings.

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Loads were developed with Reloader 15 and IMR 4831. The same accuracy was achieved with each bullets and powder combination. Below is a 50yd test target shot from a standing bench. It's a little better than minute of Elephant!

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The rifles were built to each clients specification LOP, cast, etc. My rifle was checkered with a point pattern at 26 LPI where as Dr. Tony Bucolo's rifle has 20 LPI checkering. I also chose to have Lisa Tomlin engrave my rifle. Enough of the waiting below is the eye candy!

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Dr. Tony Bucolo's rifle

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In 2009 Tony initiated his Gibbs with a Botswana hunt for Elephant and Buffalo. He had a successful safari taking a 60lb Elephant and a 42" Buffalo. In 2012, I successfully completed an Elephant hunt and Tony followed up with a successful hunt this year.

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In 2009 Tony used Barnes 525 gr TSX bullets with great success and we both used Barnes 525 banded solids in 2012 and 2013. The bullets below were found in the skin on the far side of the Elephant after heart / lung shots. No tumbling, just great performance as you can see from the heart photo.

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All three hunts were booked through Hunters and Guides Africa with PH John Oosthuizen. Tony's hunts were conducted in Johan Calitz's concessions and my hunt was in Butler and Holbrow's Chobe concession.

I sure hope this is not the last time I see the sunset over Botswana!

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Bryan

I don't believe there is a builder who could have done a better job and D'Arcy really understands the quirks of the 505.
Beautiful rifles

quote:

I don't believe there is a builder who could have done a better job and D'Arcy really understands the quirks of the 505.

You can say that again. I handled one at Reno this past year and the thing was as near to perfection as I've seen. Could not keep my hands off of it.

Nice story, photos, and rifle. Anybody would be very proud of them.

Great Stuff, thanks for sharing.

If the combined supreme quality of such an Echols&Co. build could not please someone,
I seriously dont know what could...A fine example of what defines the absolute pinnacle
of custom gunmaking.

Such art and utility in an ideal gun. Thank you for sharing. So glad you like understated elegance.

Great pics and story!

Beautiful rifles getting used like they are meant to. The kind of adventure most of us only dream of.

Shane Thompson

quote:

Originally posted by Bryan W:
...H&W magnum 98 actions....505 Gibbs rifles. ...D'Arcy...spent countless hours redesigning action components and spending time on the details to insure both rifles feed and function flawlessly.

Although the H&W actions are fine actions there was plenty to modify and or rebuild.

Bryan; let me get this straight. Are you saying the rifles built by Gerhard Hartmann are below par, compared to D'Arcy's rifles?

I know two club members with H&W .505 Gibbs rifles. They know about fine classical rifles, and have the finances to pay for the very best on this planet. The H&W rifles are in the premier league. They are the only custom high-end manufacturer, worldwide, to produce their own actions for use in their own rifles.

I have visited the Hartmann & Weiss workshop on three occasions, and can assure you that they are even better than my UK equivalents (H&H, Purdey, Rigby and Westley-Richards), who use old Mauser actions, or new actions from Europe. The unmodified actions seem just fine for Martin Hagn and Ralf Martini.

Why wouldn't Gerhard Hartmann (he makes the rifles; Otto Weiss makes the shotguns) have made the changes himself, having produced the magnum actions for the past 30 years? H&W make the most custom magnum-Mauser .505 Gibbs rifles in Europe; fact.

BTW, your rifles are beautiful. But the implication that the H&W actions are flawed, seems just a tad below the belt. If I was buying a H&W action, I would save up some more and just buy an original H&W rifle. Echols rifle vs H&W rifle? I know which I would choose. Not trying to start something; just saying.

ATB, Peter

http://www.hartmannandweiss.co...nn-weiss-katalog.pdf

points to consider:

Maybe Mr.Echols requested a more basic spec action, prefering to make the required mods for .505cal himself.
Thats not a slur against H&W. Some people just prefer to have more material to start work with.

Echols changed the bolt handle,ie; cut off the orig and welded a new shape one on.
Was the orig. inferior for an opensight rig?,...probably not, but its a custom and the
customer should get what he personally prefers....again nothing against H&W.

Hartmann-Weiss typically had their bottom metal supplied by Blackburn.
The materials and geometry of Echols spec BM are superior.

I have viewed-inspected take-down rifles from H&W, overall they are great rifles,
However, I found the fit/close tolerances Ralf Martini could achieve in a H&W action for take-down,
were better than those I sampled at H&W.

H&W will supply me an action alone, a barreled action [fixed or T/D] ,..with or without sights,
and didnt express offence if I opted to get less-rather than more- and have the other work done elsewhere.
H&W were also prepared to accommodate, by fitting the 3 pos.safety of my preference, and probably the best
of its type ever made i.e; a Jasper Rabourn unit.

Great replies and great questions on the H&W actions. The reason for choosing the H&W action was the superior quality and honestly I spend quite a bit of time looking over the H&W rifles at SCI. Their rifles and craftmanship are incredible. Otto and Gerhart were great to work with throughout the process of building the Gibbs. The evolution of the various changes are outlined below and I am not taking a swipe at H&W.

PD999,

I did not want a petite english style forend which would have been the case with the Blackburn Magazine assembly that was supplied with the H&W action. The Blackburn was also made with free machining steel and came with a very thin front and back wall that would have likely become dented after repeated firing. D'Arcy designed a replacement magazine that was had much less forward taper in the magazine to allow a larger forend that I could hang on to. I have found I prefer a substantial forend to hold on to with big kicking calibres. He made this magazine from a 4130 Chrome Moly steel that was not going to be deformed by FMJ'S or the follower in recoil. After firing hundreds of rounds through my rifle the magazine has not been dimpled in the least, so this was good move without a doubt.

The bolt stop supplied with the action was from an original standard length 98, the shoulder stop had been cut back so far for the much longer Gibbs case that is was reduced to a razors edge. D'Arcy reproduced a bolt stop that was standard on the early # 20 actions which were made for the longer cartridges. D'Arcy is still very, very impressed with the H&W magnum action and was damn happy with the purchase. This attention to my request by D'Arcy got me the Gibbs I ultimately wanted.

Trax,

You are correct, the original straight down bolt handle was not inferior, Tony and I did not set out to duplicate the pre-war style Gibbs. The swept bolt handle was a preference for ease of use in cycling the bolt. Between the two rifles, I would say there are ~1,000 rounds fired and the handle has yet to whack a knuckle! Again the rifles are a result of personal preference and the expertise of D'Arcy to bring it together.

Bryan

I would say Mr.Echols modifications&improvements actually compliment the excellent H&W action,
In much the same way that H&W has modified-improved the orig. design of the bespoke english SxS,
and all for the better.

example:
Hartmann-Weiss base their gun builds on a modified-improved design, i.e.; Beesley and Boss-Robertson.
small but significant changes in materials & design are made that improve wear resistance,function and reliability of the weapon;

- Many of their self openers have springs built into the cocking rods and safety sears, eliminating parts and screws.

- At the junction where their U/O ejectors cam on the action, hardened steel insert prevents wear,
they also modified the Boss single trigger turret to make it easier to disassemble,
where possible they use roller tips on mainsprings, eliminating the breakage prone tumbler link.

In effect H&W can build a Beesley design actioned gun with Boss triggers and H&H Southgate extractors.
...all in order to offer the best in style and mechanical design.

Some people question why Echols & Co. spend so much time and effort on a build,
....well lets look at someone with the same work ethos:

Gerhard Hartmann considers Peter Nelson the best SxS builder in the world.
Peter had a reputation at Purdey at taking longer than the bean counters wanted.
He was more dedicated to getting the firearms finished to his own personal high standard rather than
trying to have it finished within Purdeys higher profit time frame.
In his "obsessive quest for perfection" Nelson has been quoted as saying he spends
900hrs getting a SxS to the engraving stage, 1200hrs for an U/O.
Peter Nelson went on to build firearms for H&W and helped establish a location for H&W, in London.

In much the same way H&W appreciated & respected the skill and dedication of Peter Nelson,
Id say they are also rather respectful & understanding of Mr.Echols high-level work ethos.

One can go to Mercedes and purchase one of their select high-end luxury vehicles.
or step-up one and opt for their more elite High-performance 'AMG' tuned series vehicles,..but wait!
Mercedes then also offer an even more limited release-further improved 'AMG Black' series.
If thats still not enough, there is one hyper-step further.....
You can send your big$$ 'AMG Black' to the BRABUS Co. for the pinnacle of refinement & performance.

quote:

Originally posted by PD999:
The unmodified actions seem just fine for Martin Hagn and Ralf Martini.

Martin Hagn created his now well respected falling block action, after finding
the Heeeren single shot that Gerhard Hartmann [was selling] and using on a hunt together in 1973,
was not the best design and set out to make something better.
Hagn came up with the MHK-1, bus was far from pleased with the result.
Next came the MHK-2, with a much different & improved internal mechanism.
Not long after, the MHK-3 came to be but there was still room for improvement
and it took several yrs to finally create with the MHK-4.
Waiting to develop the MHK-4 didnt stop Hagn and H&W from building rifles on the MHK-3.

quote:

Originally posted by Bryan W:
I did not want a petite english style forend which would have been the case with the Blackburn Magazine assembly that was supplied with the H&W action. .... D'Arcy designed a replacement magazine that was had much less forward taper in the magazine to allow a larger forend that I could hang on to.
Bryan

Huh? Since when does a narrow magazine force a narrow forend? You can leave as much wood as you want...

Vertical depth, not width

quote:

Originally posted by dave wesbrook:
Vertical depth, not width

Aha, thanks!