Saw the brochure on the new Mod.70 type receiver. Machined from round stock for ease of machining. Small bolt release housing bolted to receiver. Trigger hanger bolted to bottom to allow Mod. 70 type trigger, and a separate recoil lug that fits in a counterbore in the front of the receiver and hangs down. All of this allows for a round receiver for ease of manufacture with the features of a model 70 CRF at a price of $1000. The magazine is unique in that it splits vertically frt to rear. You can open it up to easily machine for different cartridges.
I also saw a K? short action Mauser clone with the cutout on the left side of the receiver. Is this Forrest's receiver? Must have been a prototype or a little unfinished. It looked nice but needs finishing.
I only saw Hog Killer and Ray Atkinson. My Grandson wanted me to buy a lottery ticket for tonight so we could go book a couple hunts and a flyfishing trip.
Butch

I had a nice visit there yesterday. I hope they find a decent market for the new action.

The triggerguard and tang are left such that the gunsmith finshing the project can/will shape them as desired if I remember correctly.

I guess no one else went by the booth...

Said hello again today as I was back at the show despite the dire forecast of freezing rain -- have not seen the thermometer drop below 32 degrees yet.

I stopped by his booth and saw the action he was making for the .585 Nyati. Absolutely beautiful and as smooth as butter. How he can produce that action for $3K and his standards for $2K, I'll never know. He said it takes about 80 hrs. per action and that amounts to $25 per hour. Chiken feed wages for what he puts out. He did say that he was getting a CNC machining center. I hope that will allow him more profit and possibly lower the cost of the actions without reducing quality.

I stopped by the WFH and the Empire Rifles booth both. How would you compare the two, head-to-head in terms of design and execution quality?

I went by both places. WFH only had one complete rifle that I saw. I felt it was much smoother than the Empires that I cycled. I didn't ask a price at either place. I haven't been exposed to either in the past and didn't have any preconceived prejudice. I need to go to WFH website. If the K model short mauser receiver is availible, it might be my next project. That is after the 3 that I have going at this time.
Butch

I did not stop by the Empire booth (okay, I looked but did not chat!).

Are the Empire rifles being delivered on time? I am probably confused but it seems there may have been some delays in the past.

I think the .585 Hein action is looking for a buyer if anyone is interested.

Edit: I guess I imagined it as I don't see a reference to delays in delivery of Empire rifles in search results here.

Wasn't it around $6000, Charles. It was as smooth as any rifle I have handled. I'm speaking of the receiver. The length of pull was a little long for my short arms. About the same price as a good piece of wood carved by one of the good guys.
Butch

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
Wasn't it around $6000, Charles. It was as smooth as any rifle I have handled. I'm speaking of the receiver. The length of pull was a little long for my short arms. About the same price as a good piece of wood carved by one of the good guys.
Butch

I handled the wood-stocked rifle but did not look at the price -- it was a .404 Jeffery if I remember correctly. I am no expert but it was quite nice.

The big action on the table was a .585 they built I believe as a protoype for a large action for a customer. I did not ask the price but I believe it was for sale.

I saw the kurz action as well but did not cycle or handle any of them. I will say that both days I was there I was treated very politely even though I am a true tire-kicker.

You are correct, Charles; it was a .404J. Actually, I really liked the (GASP!) synthetic stocked .500 Jeffery in the Empire Rifles booth. The sad truth is that I just seem to drop or knock over wooden stocked rifles in the field, no matter how hard I try not to do so. I don't seem to have that problem with plastic rifles.

That said, I also stopped by the Serengeti booth and was quite favorably impressed with their bonded laminate stocks. They certainly weren't cheap, but they didn't look cheap either. They appeared to be a very nice alternative to the straight plastic stock. I know nothing about them other than what I saw at their booth.

quote:

Originally posted by analog_peninsula:

That said, I also stopped by the Serengeti booth and was quite favorably impressed with their bonded laminate stocks. They certainly weren't cheap, but they didn't look cheap either. They appeared to be a very nice alternative to the straight plastic stock. I know nothing about them other than what I saw at their booth.

I have talked to Serengeti in the past and they were very helpful, but the cost was not justified for my project. They did have some nice examples on display although I did not stop to talk to them.

The Waffenfabrik people were very accomodating. I didn't check the caliber on the wood stock rifle. I just noticed how smooth it was. The Serengeti did look nice for what it is.
Butch

That wood stocked rifle just spent a season in Alaska with Phil Shoemaker. That rust blue holds up pretty good. Greg and Karl are some super nice people. I own a CNC machine shop and what a lot of people don't realize is that Greg and some others like Stuart Satterlee are doing these actions by hand on manual equipment. Unless your a machinist you do not have a clue what these guys are trying to do. All these custom gun smiths out there, no matter how good they are, and some are very good, when you come down to it they are just part changers. Greg Hein and Satterlee are gun makers. Big difference. I wish them the best of luck. They picked a tough row to hoe.

I stopped by a few tmes and saw a few of the AR guys, including ForrestB, JJS, Crusher and a few others. I looked at Empire real close to compare and I firmly believe the Hein was a smoother action and a great loking rifle. You can get them to build you a pretty decent one for about 6500 bucks which is rather reasonable. jorge

I also liked the Hein 404 very much. It's built on their N series action. I particularly liked the radiused quarter rib and thought the stocking was very well done. I dragged Kevin "Doctari" Robertson over to their booth after his seminar and he also gave it a thumbs up, commenting favorably on the stock geometry. I want one on their model 98 clone when it becomes available.