Hi Folks!

A buddy of mine in Austin has a Winchester M70 Super Express in .375 that needs a bit of tweaking to feed properly. Nothing drastic; it feeds well enough if you work the bolt smartly but is occasionally bashful about picking a round up from the stack if you work the bolt gently.

Does anyone have any experience with a smith in the Central Texas area who understands CRF actions? I doubt he'd want to ship the rifle unless forced into it. Any info would be appreciated!

Mark

Tip Burns. Canyon Lake,Tx. about 25 miles away from Austin.
Burns Gun Refinishing
(830)935-3338

I will second Tip Burns. Talked to him Thursday and he will be closed till after the 1st.

Deans

Thanks gents!

Could either of you give me a feel for what kind of work Tip has done for you? Obviously you were pleased with it, whatever it was.

Anyone else with favorites in the area?

Thanks in advance...

Mark

Mr. Burns is building matching left and right-hand .404s for Rusty on Montana actions. He has posted pictures. I have talked to him about doing some work for me on a Whitworth .458 but have not gotten all the pieces together and to him yet. I hope to do that in January.

Bill Wiseman in College Station has a good reputation, but I have never used him. Several people on this board have also used Hill Country Rifles.

Thank you, Mr. Helm...that helps a lot.

Refinishing guns is one thing, building DGRs is another, and building DGRs for folks who know DGRs is something else entirely. I'm in...

I'll happily pass the recommendation of you three gentlemen on to my pard when I see him in camp later this next week.

Many thanks!

Mark

Hill Country Rifles did my M70 LH .375 a couple of years ago. I wasn't happy with the way it was shooting, and asked them to do their 'accurizing' process on it, as well as sealing the barrel channel and butt stock. It turned out well, shoots much better now and I haven't had any problems with wood swelling after two trips to Southeast Alaska, as well as a couple of trips to Africa. Good turn-around time, too. The only thing I didn't like was that they messed with the trigger, even after I told them not to, as the previous smith who had teflon'd it had also done a very nice trigger job.

I can second or third both Bill Wiseman and Hill Country Rifles. Good luck!

218 Bee

Along with the normal gs work Tip recently rebarreled my Browning FN 300 H&H with a Shilen match barrel to original 3 step contour, blueprinted the action and blued the barrel.

Deans

Mr. Wiseman may be good, but to me his personality would keep me from doing any business with him.
Butch

You can bet Matt at HCR will do you a great job. Also a good time of year to talk to him about your work. I have used HCR on several rifles and am well satisfied. Certainly not cheap but hey what is that works.

Sorry Folks; been trying to "Reply" most of the day w/o success...let's give this "Quick Reply" option a go...

Thanks to all for your feedback / experiences / opinions; I'll be relaying same to my buddy later this week and he can decide from there.

As always the folks at AR have the knowledge needed...I've been away from Austin for years and didn't have a CLUE as to where to send him...

Thanks again,

Mark

Bill is definitely different - very opinionated in that ex-military sort of way, but he and I get along pretty well. I'm now shooting H-S Precision guns, but have been having work done on my other guns at Hill Country. Bill is just closer, which comes in handy sometimes.

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
Mr. Wiseman may be good, but to me his personality would keep me from doing any business with him.
Butch

Met him about 20 years ago, came to the same opinion back then.

Hog Killer

Gotogirl3, I think I know what you are trying to say, but my Dad was a crusty 27 yr. Master Sgt. and he was never like Mr. Wiseman. That ain't old military! He is just a very rude person. Butch

Not a guarantee by any means, but
Tip has turned around work for me exceptionally quickly by gunsmith standards.

bob