I wonder how much business Dakota Rifles is doing these days. Drove past their shop today and it didn't look like very much was going on there.

I've been there three times and I've never seen a lot of cars out front, but this is their manufacturing space, not a retail store.

They had about 35 persons working in there on the floor.

Dakota makes fantastic rifles. I own (10) of them, and have picked out the stock for my next one (30-06).

I have never been there myself but would love to have a look around if they ever let people see the manufacturing floor.
I am lucky to be one that owns a Dakota 22 lr, it will shoot 3/8th to 1/2 inch groups @50 yds with stuff it likes.

Steve..........

quote:

Originally posted by Steve E.:
I have never been there myself but would love to have a look around if they ever let people see the manufacturing floor.
I am lucky to be one that owns a Dakota 22 lr, it will shoot 3/8th to 1/2 inch groups @50 yds with stuff it likes.

Steve..........

As Dakota has discontinued their 22lr, you are indeed lucky to own one.

Congrats!

I have a few of them... Until I started getting into custom built rifles, they were what I brought.

My main African guns are all Dakotas. .416 Rigby, .375 H&H, and a .30-06.

My Alaska rifle is a .330 Dakota.

They kind of irked me when the .416 had a shot out barrel (after only about 500 rounds) and they charged me a substantial chunk of change, and it didn't shoot nearly as well (it had been a half MOA gun, now its a MOA gun... way more than needed for buffalo, but still...)

That's when I started buying custom made rifles.

They are reliable, controlled round feed, and at least when I was getting them, the wood was reasonable for the price.

The folks at Dakota were always easy to get a hold of, and responsive... until Remington got involved. I had been told that they probably would replace the barrel free, but then the takeover happened, and it was a big bill.

I believe James Anderson and Stu Satterlee both worked a Dakota before the went to Taconic Arms.

Like crbutler I had a few.

However, I thought they were lacking in value relative to their pricing and switch to purchasing custom rifles.

And they also pissed me off twice - I had sent a rifle back for them to repair the safety. The early rifles safety shroud was flat on the right side and I insisted that the rifle come back the same way. Very insistent. But it did not come back that way so the rifle was sold. The second time was in talking to Norma Allen. I was trying to find Pete Grisel and she would not give me any help in finding him all however, she sure trashed him anyway possible. Pete was not too happy about that.

Still today, they are overpriced in my opinion.

When Don Allen was running the place he had great years and not so great years. Norma his wife could be a little "temperamental" and the staff and customers struggled at times with her. But once you got to know them they were good people.

At the time Don had one of the most impressive wood collections I've seen. I was lucky enough to hand select a few stocks from his Bastogne Walnut inventory. Haven't seen anything like it since.

I miss Don. Was one hell of a machinist. I'm still clinging to all my Dakotas but they will never see the field again unfortunately.

I too am one of the lucky ones to have a Dakota 22.
I think the price that they charge for their new rifles is a little steep, but you can find great deals on used ones from time to time. My dad and I have a Model 10, a 76, a 22, and a 97.

quote:

Originally posted by marley7x57:
Like crbutler I had a few.

However, I thought they were lacking in value relative to their pricing and switch to purchasing custom rifles.

And they also pissed me off twice - I had sent a rifle back for them to repair the safety. The early rifles safety shroud was flat on the right side and I insisted that the rifle come back the same way. Very insistent. But it did not come back that way so the rifle was sold. The second time was in talking to Norma Allen. I was trying to find Pete Grisel and she would not give me any help in finding him all however, she sure trashed him anyway possible. Pete was not too happy about that.

Still today, they are overpriced in my opinion.

I agree with you. The one we have is not that impressive as compared to other “custom” rifles. It may have better resale just because of the name, but it doesn’t do too much for me.

quote:

Originally posted by DCS Member:

quote:

Originally posted by marley7x57:
Like crbutler I had a few.

However, I thought they were lacking in value relative to their pricing and switch to purchasing custom rifles.

And they also pissed me off twice - I had sent a rifle back for them to repair the safety. The early rifles safety shroud was flat on the right side and I insisted that the rifle come back the same way. Very insistent. But it did not come back that way so the rifle was sold. The second time was in talking to Norma Allen. I was trying to find Pete Grisel and she would not give me any help in finding him all however, she sure trashed him anyway possible. Pete was not too happy about that.

Still today, they are overpriced in my opinion.

I agree with you. The one we have is not that impressive as compared to other “custom” rifles. It may have better resale just because of the name, but it doesn’t do too much for me.

I've owned 3 (all 76's) and I concur.

Sold them all. When looking at what Dakota charges for a rifle with upgrades you are easily north of 7-8k.

I'd much rather commission a member of the ACGG.

That being said I do believe there is a Dakota 10 in my future.

I wonder if they build their actions in house?

Didn't Brownells sell their actions at one time or another?

quote:

I miss Don. Was one hell of a machinist

He definitely was NOT a machinist, a fine wood worker but nothing in metal!

Don Allen was a airline pilot for Northwest Airlines. He started bringing wood back from all over the world. He built custom stocks before he moved to South Dakota from Minneapolis. I have three rifles all serial number 82. Ordered the first one at the NRA annual meeting in Seattle. That's the number that came. Then I ordered one in a short action. They started with No. one again. Did the same thing with the 22.

quote:

before he moved to South Dakota from Minneapolis.

Actually his shop was out in Northfield, MN. Visited there many times. His "wood shed" was fantastic. He employed a very talented metal man by the name of Mark Lee (if I recall correctly).

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Kobe:

quote:

I miss Don. Was one hell of a machinist

He definitely was NOT a machinist, a fine wood worker but nothing in metal!

Jim, agreed Don was not a "machinist". What I was attempting to express was Don was pretty hands-on with the development of the 76 action but Pete Grisel did the lion's share of the metal fabrication work in the early years. And yes, Don was a wood guy and not a metal guy.

Thanks for the correction.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Don was pretty hands-on with the development of the 76 action

I'm not trying to be a dick here. I'd just like to know why you would make that statement.

Magazine articles is my guess. Don didn't live in Bend, OR.

Some years back, Pete sent me all his old prints from his time in Bend, OR. The Grisel 98 style action as well as the M70 project later designated the Dak76. All the title blocks for the prints say drawn in Bend, OR. Unless... the title block was cutout and had another one taped in saying elsewhere. These are all hand drawn, not computer generated. The dates pre-date Dakota arms.

I should have said pissed me off 3 times. The most egregious was when they wrote Pete Grisel out the catalog and his role in developing the Dakota 76 action.

quote:

Originally posted by marley7x57:
Like crbutler I had a few.

However, I thought they were lacking in value relative to their pricing and switch to purchasing custom rifles.

And they also pissed me off twice - I had sent a rifle back for them to repair the safety. The early rifles safety shroud was flat on the right side and I insisted that the rifle come back the same way. Very insistent. But it did not come back that way so the rifle was sold. The second time was in talking to Norma Allen. I was trying to find Pete Grisel and she would not give me any help in finding him all however, she sure trashed him anyway possible. Pete was not too happy about that.

Still today, they are overpriced in my opinion.

I wonder why they developed a new action that basically copies the Model 70 when they already had a good mauser action developed.

quote:

Originally posted by nyrifleman:

quote:

Originally posted by DCS Member:

quote:

Originally posted by marley7x57:
Like crbutler I had a few.

However, I thought they were lacking in value relative to their pricing and switch to purchasing custom rifles.

And they also pissed me off twice - I had sent a rifle back for them to repair the safety. The early rifles safety shroud was flat on the right side and I insisted that the rifle come back the same way. Very insistent. But it did not come back that way so the rifle was sold. The second time was in talking to Norma Allen. I was trying to find Pete Grisel and she would not give me any help in finding him all however, she sure trashed him anyway possible. Pete was not too happy about that.

Still today, they are overpriced in my opinion.

I agree with you. The one we have is not that impressive as compared to other “custom” rifles. It may have better resale just because of the name, but it doesn’t do too much for me.

I've owned 3 (all 76's) and I concur.

Sold them all. When looking at what Dakota charges for a rifle with upgrades you are easily north of 7-8k.

I'd much rather commission a member of the ACGG.

That being said I do believe there is a Dakota 10 in my future.

Ok, I have seen some amazing looking 10s.

quote:

Originally posted by lindy2:
I wonder why they developed a new action that basically copies the Model 70 when they already had a good mauser action developed.

I asked that very question of Pete Grisel during my time there '88 to '97. Pete's response,, the M98 is too slow and expensive to make. He was right then and his answer is right now. Why is it slower to make was my next question...Grisel responds go make a few M98's and you'll know why.

quote:

Originally posted by Timan:

quote:

Originally posted by lindy2:
I wonder why they developed a new action that basically copies the Model 70 when they already had a good mauser action developed.

I asked that very question of Pete Grisel during my time there '88 to '97. Pete's response,, the M98 is too slow and expensive to make. He was right then and his answer is right now. Why is it slower to make was my next question...Grisel responds go make a few M98's and you'll know why.

I own one of Pete's DSB small ring Mausers, stocked by Ottmar.

It is a gem.

Pete told me that at $1500. each for a complete action, the Grisel DSB small ring was too expensive for the custom market. Not sure about any other 98's they were producing prior to going the M70 clone route.
Lots of machine work went into those screw/cam locking square bridges. Same with the one piece bottom metal.
Dakota customer service was great for me through Marla under Remington ownership. Never had a wait on the phone. She told me that quality hadn't changed and that Rem lets them do their thing for the most part. My M10 rifle only took an extra 2 months beyond the estimate to build. Not bad at all.
CB

quote:

Originally posted by gunmaker:

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Don was pretty hands-on with the development of the 76 action

I'm not trying to be a dick here. I'd just like to know why you would make that statement.

Magazine articles is my guess. Don didn't live in Bend, OR.

Some years back, Pete sent me all his old prints from his time in Bend, OR. The Grisel 98 style action as well as the M70 project later designated the Dak76. All the title blocks for the prints say drawn in Bend, OR. Unless... the title block was cutout and had another one taped in saying elsewhere. These are all hand drawn, not computer generated. The dates pre-date Dakota arms.

Before Dakota got started I visited Pete Grisel in Bend with my old friend Gary Goudy. At that time Pete had started making his improved Model 70 actions. I asked him if he would build me a left-hand version. He said he would if I paid for the tooling. Too much for me at that time.

A few years later I met Don Allen and hunted birds with him several tomes. He had no problem giving credit to Pete Grisel for the Dakota 76 action or to Ferlib in their role in helping to manufacture the Legend shotguns. Don was a great guy.

I now have a LH Dakota 76 short action .257 and enjoy it immensely.

quote:

Originally posted by lindy2:
I wonder why they developed a new action that basically copies the Model 70 when they already had a good mauser action developed.

Maybe the same reason D'Arcy Elcols and Miller use the M70 action.

Bedding configuration is tops with the M70 and a very big recoil lug Vs a very small recoil lug with litlle stock material behind the lug and no tang area to bed.

quote:

Pete told me that at $1500. each for a complete action, the Grisel DSB small ring was too expensive for the custom market.

Depends on how many you want (or need)to sell.