I don't know how many read my previous thread on the Mini MarkX action I received for use in building a custom. I promised then I would report on the result with Charles Dalys service dept. I have received the action back, and though I would post the outcome.

I have been looking for quite some time for one of the 22/250 actions they list. This rifle (on the Mini Mk X action) is not offered in the US, and I wanted one to build a really light 6BR. There has always been some confusion on this action, since the specs on their website are not totally correct as to bolt face dimension.

Anyway, on 08/04, I went to the KBI website, and was redirected to the Davidson website, where they had one for sale, at an attractive price. I bought it with a $78 deposit and it was delivered late the next day to my local dealer(Friday).

On Saturday, I unpacked it, degreased it and examined it. I measured the bolt face, and it was correct. I was struck by the odd look of the boltface. It didn't match the machining of the rest of the action, and looked like it had been modified manually on a lathe. When I tried to test load some dummy rounds to try the function, they would not load through the top. I loaded them through the floorplate, and they would not function through the action. (These were 22-250 rounds). The only place the cartridges touched the feed rails was just back of the shoulder. The rest of the cartridge simply floated and the rounds layed at various cockeyed angles. When repositioned so the bolt would pick up a round, the action jammed tight. The cartridge wouldn't elevate above the floorplate. I measured the magazine box and it was the shorter length listed for the 223 class actions. I compared the follower to one on an old Interarms rifle (223) and it was a duplicate. On a hunch, I filled the magazine full of 223 rounds. Fed perfectly and smooth as could be. Every indication was that this was a 223 action with the bolt face opened up to .473. I could have done that myself a year ago.

I called CD on Monday morning, and was at first told they wouldn't honor the warranty since the action had been wildcatted. I explained to them that this hadn't happened yet since the gun was not functional enough to warrant the work. They then agreed to ship it back and look at it. I shipped it FedEx that (at their expense) with a detailed letter explaining the problems.

I received the action back today. Their response was:


"Upon examination of your action by our service technicians it was foundtht the magazine box had been altered and entire body was canted. THey adjusted the magazine box and attempted to load cartridges from the top of the action and then test feed them from the magazine.

............ All cartriges loaded and were ejected multiple times using the bolt action without a single malfunction..........

The components of this action you had expressed concern about have been examined and found to be correct for this caliber. This action is within factory allowable tolerances and is in proper working order. ............"

Apparently, they felt the action was OK. On inspection, I found that the rails had been polished or ground, the entire upper edge of the magazine box had been worked on and relocated completely within the action. (It was at least 1/4" higher than before.) The action will now load and feed 22-250 cartridges, just not very smoothly. It appears that now all it needs is a good polishing and a slight reshaping of the follower ridge. (I have a couple of spares, so this is no problem to experiment with.

What irks me about this is that they claimed nothing was wrong, but half the action had been worked on. They also seemed to be indicating I had worked on the action before sending. Since I received the action after their hours on Friday and called them for a Return Authorization the minute their facility opened on Monday, this is a pretty far fetched possiblitity.

My take of the whole situation is that they sold me an action that appeared to have been a half assed modification of one in a different caliber, then did a half assed repair when I returned it, and denied any wrong doing or that they had even attempted to correct the fundamental. I now have an action that needs a minor amount of work to be serviceable vs a total conversion when I first received it.

This is sad, since the old Interarms people were really easy to work with when they handled these, and the Interarms appears to be finished better than the CD. My inclination is to leave them strictly alone. This is unfortunate, since the options for this particular action are limited. There are a number of sources of M98 clones, but the Mini, which is a pretty close knockoff of teh L-461 Sako, is really unavailable anywhere else. The only option is to buy an old Sako and strip it, and these cost three to four times the Mini, assuning you can find one.

I have posted several times about the CD warranty.....they will say you modified it and the warranty is cancelled.....as you found out.....but it seems you got a lot better service than I did.

I have a Zastava magnum action I've beeb barreling to .375 H&H and didn't bother to return it under warranty as I fixed the problems my self.

Charles Daly rates a F- in my book as a reputable supplier of firearms.

Then this outfit is not the only one that is willing to claim "we examined it, and there was nothing wrong" when indeed there was something wrong, and the item had obviously been corrected by the manufacturer to whom it was returned "for inspection"! A friend on mine had a relatively expensive rifle in a proprietary .300 Magnum chambering that had a chamber neck so tight that a fired case would not permit a bullet to pass through the neck into the case. (The rifle was evidencing pressure problems with loads 5 grains below published maximums).

After the rifle was "inspected and found to be O.K." by the maker, it no longer had pressure problems, and the fired cases had necks that were .003" bigger in diameter than they had been previously-brass from the same lot of cases.

Interesting, ain't it? I guess the world is so litigious these days, that no-one ships a rifle out unless it is perfect!!

Art,

Your post actually heartened me a little bit, though I'm sorry for the trouble and the irritation that always accompanies a product that's not right out of the box. I'm considering trying to put a rifle together on one of their lefty actions, but I was nervous because of vapodog's earlier experience. But they fixed yours. Mis-drilled holes that they won't make right are my big fear.

I agree that ideally it should have been right the first time, but I can't see an importer of a $300 action opening each box, cycling shells, then repacking the thing.

And I think El Deguello's right. All these guys are litigation-shy. If they commit to paper that they sent out a firearm component that wasn't perfect, it'll become Exhibit A in a case where some yahoo double loads a shell in a perfectly sound action and blows himself up.

Steve

quote:

I'm considering trying to put a rifle together on one of their lefty actions, but I was nervous because of vapodog's earlier experience. But they fixed yours. Mis-drilled holes that they won't make right are my big fear.

I posted my experience as a warning to others that you may not be happy with their warranty service.

As far as I know they are the only ones that sell a left hand Mauser and I'd recommend you go ahead with your project....just be ready for possible BS if the action isn't right when you get it. FWIW misdrilled holes can be repaired by a skilled smith and for the money you can afford to have them repaired if necessary.

I bought a .25-06 barreled action from them a couple years ago and the holes was misdrilled but I found scope mounts with inserted elliptical bushings that corrected the problem. It shoots well and all in all for the money it's ok. If there's any quality to them at all it's coming from Yugoslavia and not from CG/KBI!!!!!

No guts no gl;ory!!!

I have one of those 22/250 actions in front of me as i type this. THEY ARE A POS!! Everything is EXACTLY as you discribe with your action. They are nothing more than the 223 action with the bolt face opened up. This thing wouldn't feed a greased teflon dummy round! Art check your actions bolt locking lug resesses in the receiver. On the action i have they look like they were cut with VERY dull cutter that chattered like hell. The cam angles cut on the rear corners of the bolt lugs are cut so deep as to remove at least 1/3 of the surface area of the rear lug face on each lug & looks as if it was done with a dremel tool! There is no inner torque coller so the barrel must torque up against that little 1.250 OD receiver ring. My customer brought me this action wanting it barreled up in 6mmBR. I'm REALLY haveing second & third! thoughts about this. I just don't think the action is strong enough. How can a company take somthing with good potential & screw it up so much is beyond me. They think we americans will accept anything!

Vapodog,

Thanks for the advice. I think I will try one out.

If it's not set up to feed a given round, hopefully a good smith can set up the feedrails to make it right.

Steve