Has anyone had Dennis do any re-barrel work? What are your thoughts and experience?

Thanks,

Brad

Brad---

I've seen his work several times....all very good.

Brad,

I live near Great Falls, MT and have had a very good experience with Dennis on a rifle project of mine.

I wanted to build a 800-1200 yard rockchuck rifle so I decided to build a fast twist 6mm-284 on a fluted, 30" Lilja stainless steel barrel with a 1-8" rifling twist for the 107gr Sierra Matchking.

The rifle I sent to Dennis was a Winchester M70 Heavy Varmint in 243. The work was done very quickly. I dropped the rifle off on a Saturday morning and picked it up on the next Saturday.

The rifle looks amazing and Dennis even glass bedded the first 5" of barrel to the stock, which is a good idea with a 30" heavy barrel.

The only instructions I gave him was to fit the barrel and chamber it to the 6mm-284 with a throat to allow an O.A.L. using the 107 gr Matchking of 3.050".

At the range, my test loads using RL-22 and CCI-BR2 primers in benchrest prepped cases topped out at an even 3600 fps.

Moving back to my 500 yard range I fired five three shot groups. This was after the barrel had been broken in and a total of about 50 rounds had been down the barrel in load testing, cleaning every 20 rounds.

Of the five groups, non even came close to three inches and two were under 1" with the smallest at an amazing .655" CTC.

This was at the end of last summer with a Burris 4.5-14 Fullfield II scope. Over the winter I purchased a more conventional 1000 yard scope and with its much higher power wanted to try the big 6 out again. With a target set at 540 measured yards, I looked up the range on my drop chart. It said to hold 3 1/4 mil-dots high as my rifle is zeroed at 850 yards.

I held on that mark and sent three of the big sierra down range. I walked to the target which has a 6" black bull as that is about the size of a chucks front end or chest cavity on a coyote. The three rounds made a perfect 2" triangle. The best thing about it is that the wind was quartering toward me at about 10 MPH and the three bullets landed just an inch to the right of center.

Dennis Olson is a very good smith, my 6mm-284 is the only rifle that I have shot that has the ability to hold three rounds right around .5" at 500 yards. I know they are out their but I haven't shot any others.

He is fast, very reasonable in price and very accuracy minded. He is a bit harsh until you get to know him a little. Doesn't talk much but thats fine with me, his work speaks volumes for the man.

Good Luck and Good Shooting!!!

50

Dennis Olson does top notch work, especially for a big bore rifle. When I first deal with him, I thought that he was not very friendly but after having him worked on several projects for me, I come to realize that he is one of the gunsmiths I would trust for a big bore job. I used to ask for a quote for the first two jobs that he did for me but nowadays I just send him the gun and then let him bill me when it is done. He charges very reasonably for his work and he is very straightforward to deal with. I highly recommend his work. Good luck.

Dennis is a man of few words, but don't let that fool you about his expertise when it comes to building quality rifles. He is definately a master crafstman.

Dennis is one of the best smiths I have seen, and he is also a first class person besides. As mentioned above he is a man of few words but whatever he says you can put in the bank. His word is that good. He never tries to talk you into something you don't want and will do whatever you want him to do as long as it is safe. I have had him tell me he wouldn't recomend doing what I asked him to do again but he still did it if I really wanted him to. I have never had him want more money for anything he did for me that was paid for up front and he has usually hit his estimated finish time very closely also.

If you visit his shop a little treat is always enjoyed by him. He loves pie, well okay only two kinds, hot or cold.

The rifle pictured in this thread was all done by Dennis:

http://www.serveroptions.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=004764

Brad, rest assured, Dennis Olson has a great reputation and from all accounts he really does know what he's doing. He seems to properly place emphasis on accuracy and function, which is refreshing.

AD

Well, this is quite a concensus from a knowledgable bunch... thank's gentlemen.

BA

Anyone have a phone number and address?