Allen,

Why D'Arcy Echols above all others.

Roland

Roland:

Actually, I have four Duane Wiebe rifles, including one that he is now finishing for me. I will admit to a bias in Duane's favor in that he is a good friend, but I met him after buying a used rifle he built. I subsequently had the other three put together, and will have him start on one for my daughter in the next few months. As to the others, I have handled most of their work, and like Forrest, from your list prefer Heilman's style.

Dave

Roland, I put D'Arcy's work right up at the top with Dave Miller's.

I don't know of anyone who puts the same amount of art, science, and rock-solid work into a rifle as D'Arcy does. He is the modern master of truly proper feeding and fool-proof reliability, combined with fine accuracy. His magazine box system and bottommetal is the very best to be had, and his scope mounting system is also the very best, and offers the most lattitude for the user. He knows how to stock a rifle to minimize recoil, and bed and finish it for precision as well as durability. D'Arcy isn't lost in the mists of the past, either. He isn't trying to re-create pre-war British rifles, isn't stuck on ancient technology at the expense of performance. He combines the best old-school technology with the best modern technology, which is a very intelligent approach for any gunmaker to take.

Some gunmakers haven't popped a cap on one of their rifles for years. That's an ugly little secret that some of them don't want you to know about. What you get back might be pretty all right, but pretty is as pretty does, and unless that rifle is tested and proven in advance, you don't know what you have. Echols, like Dave Miller, sends out no unproven rifles, and he doesn't prioritize cosmetics over function. Form follows function, always. He shoots them extensively, tests every aspect of feeding and accuracy, and you have a rifle you can bet your hunting investment on, as well as your life, as soon as you receive it. He goes the distance 100% on every project, and to this day I have not owned a better rifle than the ones Echols has built for me.

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Allen,

I like that �He combines the best old-school technology with the best modern technology�
My September trip Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Idaho. I will visit D�arcy.

Thanks again all of you,
Roland

D'Arcy is a hunting fool, and this fall he's got a few tags to fill so give him a call to make sure he's around.

Chuck