Was wondering which action is better Dakota or Waffenfabrik Heim? allen

That is a very interesting question, I can speak to the Dakota part of it as I have had one for 11 years. The Dakota is smooth, well finished and good looking, I have the older style with the ball detente "lock" on th cocking piece which is a p.o.s. I also dislike their version of the "Newton" ejector as the springs that power it are not hell for stout and they are a weird setup that I cannot think are field repairable, the way they are inserted is for a gunsmith to tinker with, IMO.

I have not seen the Hein and I do not know if it has the old "cone breech" of the Mod. 70, so, I cannot tell if I prefer it to the Dakota in that respect. I find the Dakota breech system to be excellent and prefer it to Mod. 70s.

I really like the integral mount bases in "flattops" that Hein offers as an option and have seriously considered driving down from Vancouver, B.C. to Tekoa,WA. to inspect their rifles and actions. I hope some of the other guys will chime in with their opinions as the Hein REALLY interests me.

Kutenay, thanks for the input.I'm about to buy an action and so have been thinking about this.
Hein can give 4 down and 1 up without a drop mag, I thought that it would give a trimer and slimer stock as opposed to Dakota's Safari action.That square bridge would be nice,machine it to take Tally QD ring would be slick.
If you get down to see Hiem let me know what you think.
It just dosen't seem all that much moore expensive to start out with a really nice action, than to go thru a Wincherter
(new blackburn floor plate, tru up ect..) not that theres any thing wrong with wrong with the Winchester. allen

I think is all depends on who you're going to hire to do the work. If you're going to hire a David Miller or a D'Arcy Echols or a Gene Simillion to build a complete rifle, then you can start out with a common Model 70 and end up with possibly a BETTER finished product than with some of the higher-end commercial Mauser-type actions.

AD

I

Yes thats true. But time also is an issue.I would imageine the line is pretty long for those guys.It's not that I can't get a best grade action out of a winchester or such. But when you factor in time plus cost, a Dakota or Hein would make a really nice starting place. Still I'm wondering which would be a better starting point Dakota or Hein. Dakota is somewhat more of a known product and never having seen a Hein yet they sound like they might have some advantages. allen

I haven't seen the Hein, but if they're producing a magazine system that isn't a drop box but holds four belted magnum cartridges down plus one in the chamber, that at least tells me their magazine geometry is fundamentally correct.

With the current bolt-sleeve retention system latch (versus the old ball-bearing detent), I like the Dakota action a whole lot better than the earlier version. That was a change that needed to be made, and I'm happy that Dakota came through on it.

Allen, have you considered Granite Mountain as well?

AD

FYI - Depending on your budget, you might consider a Noreen action. They are expensive! @ $3K last i looked (and that was a while ago), but are scaled and can be built with any integral bases you want and a host of options.

One other thing as I was going over this compairson is with a drop box on the Dakota Safri it's 4 down with a Hein standard box it is 4 down and with a drop box it's 5 down. 4 down without having to go with a drop box would make a bit trimmer stock. Here is web site if anyone wants to see it www.rifleactions.com Heim also has the Mauser bump type bolt guide. I like that not sure why I guess it looks right? allen

I believe Waffenfabrik Heim is the old Noreen action, sold to new management.

Regards, Wayne E.

Anybody have the phone or website info for Granite Mountain Arms? Google keeps turning up phone numbers that ring to the "number not in service" announcement server.

skl1 I dont know if this is a help or not but I did find this www.470mbogo.com/GMA.html not much of a site. Let me know if you find a better site. This is all I was able to find this morn. allen

I am also of the understanding that Wff Hein bought the Noreen action.

I handled one at the SCI Convention, and it certainly *felt* good in operation. They feature five sizes of their action.

I also asked about visiting, and their comment was "come ahead".

jim

Granite Mountain Arms - Michael Roden
GMAhunter@aol.com or
mroden@prochem.com

Brad

skl1, I don't think GM has a web page. I have one of their brochures that I got last summer. The info they have listed on it is:

GMA
3928 E. Air Lane
Phoenix, AZ 85034
602-244-8288
gmanhunter@aol.com

Hope this helps.

The fellows from Heim came up to my room in Reno to show me there action as I was unable to get over the SCI to see it. I was impressed with the action. It is well made. They offer it in seven different sizes and they also offer square bridge and round recievers. The action felt very smooth. It was polished well with no rounded corners or edges. Pete Grisel had one that he stocked at the Guild Show and he said that he liked it very much and felt that it was a good action. They are going to add a Ed LaPour safty that has a little shield on it and make one other change. I was very impressed with the quality of thier action. I can't compair it to a Dakota as I have never really bothered to look at their bolt guns, so here, I am of no help. But I can say that the Heim action is an action that I would build a rifle on. Michael

All,

Thanks for the replies. Anybody know offhand how their action compares price-wise to the Hein?

I like how Hein offers the square bridge action machined to accept fitted ring mounts.

Steve

Contact details in new post .
Price - $3000 as far as I know

Brad

quote:

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Originally posted by Wayne Elmer:
I believe Waffenfabrik Heim is the old Noreen action, sold to new management.

Regards, Wayne E.

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Definitely looks like the same quality as a Noreen... If it is, I'd say that it's more action than a Dakota.

For what it's worth, the Sako Safari I used in Botswana in 1988 held five .375 H&H in the box and one in the chamber. Ditto when rebarreled to .300 H&H.

quote:

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Originally posted by vigillinus:
For what it's worth, the Sako Safari I used in Botswana in 1988 held five .375 H&H in the box and one in the chamber. Ditto when rebarreled to .300 H&H.

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Those are a lot of gun for the money! Especially used, I wish I had a good one in 375.

Just wanted to chime in since our product is the topic of this thread. I won't go into a disertation about how are action is better than anyone elses, I will say it is different and many aspects and we take an extreme amount of pride in every action and rifle we build. I will confirm a few points, it is the old Noreen Action. We purchased the tooling, design and rights of manufacture from Peter Noreen in about 2001. We have spent several years (and dollars) to work out a few design and manufacturing bugs. We are currently offering seven sizes, 5 are scaled in length for varying cartriges, 1 is larger in diameter and length for the long big bores (i.e. 505 Gibbs, 416 Rigby etc...) and 1 is bigger in diameter but similar in length to the M70 long action, specifically designed for the 500 Jeffery. We do have M70 style cone breech. All actions are built specifically for the cartridge it is intended for, the magazine box geometry and feed rails are not produced to fit a "class", but are built for the exact cartridge. The final point I will confirm is that anyone wishing to pay us a visit is welcome, we would however, ask for prior notification. We will have a donated rifle to be auctioned off at the NRA convention in Houston this April and will have a booth there as well and would encourage anyone who is there to pay us a visit.

Regards to all,

Are some of you confusing Heym with Waffenfabrik Hein?

For those of you who are confused, also check

www.heym-waffenfabrik.de

Their site has an english version, just check the correct box. I think you will like their take-down. I wish I had one.