The new September/October 2002 issue of "RifleShooter" arrived today, and in was a very respectable pair of articles on Lazzeroni rifles and cartridges. I like the looks of the L2000SA rifle very much!

I appreciate riflesmiths like Lazzeroni: These guys are building rifles to HUNT with, and they understand the advantages of synthetic stocks. 1930s-style cosmetics and the "British look" be buggered!

AD

I'll have to check it out-thanks Allen

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

I met him in one of our Mexico camps-seems like a good fella. I'm doing a bit of thinking about buying a Savage in his Patriot for a light rifle.
We all know that the Savage is accurate-he says this one is no exception. I just ordered a Savage 308 Tactical today-bet it'll shoot.

I have two of John's rifles...a Patriot and the first 9.53 HellCat he made.

Allen,

We have several of John's rifles here. Every single one of them shot as good as he said they would or better, and the velocity he states is also correct.

I spoke to him on several occasions, he is a true gentleman, and knows what he is talking about.

When I asked him if he intended to make a 375 based on his 416 case, he said he might in the future, but if I was interested, he will be happy to build me one.

He was as good as his word, and I think I got one of the first - if not the first - 375. He sent me 416 brass, as he did not have any 375 yet.

I used that rifle on one of my safaris - it shoots a 300 grain Barnes X at 3140 fps!

Talk about a flat shooting rifle!

Whoa Nellie! That's more than 6550 ftlbs of muzzle energy.

Bill,

The rifle is very accurate, and would be great for long range shooting.

But, as I have mentioned before on several occasions, I found the extra velocity tends to reduce the penetration of the bullet.

In fact, that is why I have reduced the velocity of my own 375/404 to around 2650 as a compromise,

I had Virgin Valley fabricate a 27" Shilen barrel for my Encore in the Patriot. I am getting 3,200 fps with 165 grain Hornady SPBT's, great round!

I just got down reading the article on the Lazzeroni's too.. Good articles. I makes me wish I could afford on of his L2000 rifles. I would take 7.82 Warbird anyday. I think if I got one though I'd have to have one of the L2000's and not a Sako trgs. I think the 27" barrel is a much better choice for that big powder burnin caliber.. I wonder if I could get another custom maker to make me one for around 2-3 grand instead of 5..Ouch! I have spoken to Mr. Lazzeroni too and he is a great man. True to his word and doesn't mind taking the time to speak with me.. even though I probably will never be able to afford one his beauties. Good post Allen! One question though.. Have you shot one? What did you think? You should try to test one out for Next years Gear review for Outdoor life??? Thanks again and good post!

Boman...there are several good 'smiths around that make rifles in Lazzeroni cartridges and you can certainly cut the cost a bit but it still won't be cheap because, in a bolt-action, you should really use the McMillan action and Sunny Hill bottom metal and so you're in the hole about $1500 to start..a quality stock another $500...a good barrel another $300 etc etc...you can eat up $3000 pretty quick. You might talk to Mark Bansner in Pennsylvania...he does a lot of them and he has a web-site too.

Bowman,

For economy, I think the easiest way is to use the Wby Mark V and you could do this in one of a couple ways.

Firstly, you could start with the Wby Synthetic in 30/378. Don't believe the bad press about synthetic stocks. A few of us inn Australia have done some extensive testing with the Rem 700 "rubber" stock and our view at the moment is that for high recoil calibers it may in fact provide a better accuracy platform than fiberglass stocks, including those with the aluminium bedding block.

The Wby site lists those rifles at $1150US so I guess you could buy one for $950US.

Then you could rebarrel to the Lazzeronin 308 Warbird with match grade barrel.

The other alternative is to start with a Wby on say 300 Wby.

Wby Mark 5s do not use the rails of the action for feeding, so you could have the bolt face opened and buy the magazine box and follower for the 378 based calibers.

The 30/378s do have some Wby style freebore and you will get opposing views on that subject. However, if were opposed, I think you would be better off with a 30/378 chambered with a reamer that had conventional freebore. Manson reamers would have no trouble in making such a reamer.

I think the plus for the 30/378, given the price of 30/378 or Lazzeroni brass does not excatly help with stockpiling brass, is that brass supply will always be more reliable than the Lazzeroni cartridge.

I am not sure but DB Bill could clarify, I think the McMillan action uses a detachable recoil lug like a Rem 700 whereas the Mark 5 has integral recoil lug, which is much better if you want to have any barrel switcihing capability.

The Mark V trigger, when it has the car suspension type trigger return spring replaced, easily comes down to under a pound and can be adjusted for both weight of pull and sear engagement without taking the rifle apart.

When you start to talk about these big bangers, the Wby Mark V all of a sudden becomes great value.

The candidate of course would be to start with a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby. You culd in fact make a nice switch barrel rifles there with the original Rigby barrel and a 308 Warbird barrel. If you go to big Big Bore forum there is a thread there on big bore part 2 or similar, and in it there is discussion on how to eliminate the need for a barrel mounted recoil lug on big kickers because having a barrel lug makes barrel switching a bit on the hard side.

Mike

[ 08-13-2002, 06:07: Message edited by: Mike375 ]

Thanks for the info guys. I see I am going to have to do my research. This will be a nice side project for me. thanks for all your help and suggestions..You guys sure do know your stuff!

Boman,

Thanks for posting back and good luck with what you do.

Mike

BOMAN

Why not buy a SAKO TRG from Lazzeroni for about 900$ ready to go. You can get it with stainless barrel.

Cheers
/JOHAN

Johan,

I've thought about that and the Sako Trg s sounds good but I think for that caliber I would rather have the 27" barrel. And also I think it needs a custom rig to make it as effective as it can be. I do like the Sako package they offer with the gun with nickel plating and the burris scope for $2000, that seems like a great setup?? I need to do more research..Thanks

Boman....don't take this the wrong way but if you are the type to shoot your rifle a lot at the range, the Warbird may not be for you. I have 2 friends who have them...one who basically hunts with it(a custom Ruger #1) and the other who likes to shoot it on weekends(a McMillan MCRT action). They both got them at about the same time and the first shooter is still getting great accuracy while the other is on his 3rd barrel....he figures accuracy life, for full-power loads, is somewhere between 800-1000 rounds. They both have 28" barrels.

DB Bill
You son of a gun, I was just about to metion that too BOMAN. All these high velocity cartridges are the golden days for all barrel makers

It doesn't take many rounds before the rifling has been washed out and the throat looks like the surface of the moon

My latest rifle is in 300 wby an old and slow caliber, but it would do for me
The barrel will last a bit longer than a lazzeroni.

Cheers
/ JOHAN

[ 08-15-2002, 00:42: Message edited by: JOHAN ]

Just stay away from the trgs in 30-378. I have one and it's a real wierd shooter. Haven't seen anyone with good luck with them except some of the guys that have been running below rated speed.
I also read the article and found it real interesting in how the L2000 was about 175 fps faster than the trgs with just a 1" longer barrel.
Made me realize you get what you pay for. One of these days I'm gonna sell off about 3 of my $600 guns and get a good $2000 gun. OH YAH--I'll take my leopold scopes off those used ones and let some idiot on e bay pay me right next door to new price for that used one to help finance my project!!