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This page is dedicated to the making of firearms from start to finish.
 
It will show the components prior to assembly as well as stages of work and the finished product.
 
We hope you enjoy the process and pictures as well as the tasks involved with making the rifle of your dreams.

John Muller contacted us with a concept for a Heavy Reece Safari Style Rifle.   Drawing from his personal experience with African hunting he had definate ideas regarding the rifle style and caliber.  He provided pictures and information regarding what he was looking for and we built the rifle for him in .416 Taylor. 
 
The following is a letter we received from John regarding the rifle and the picture below if the finished product.
 
Thank You! Mr. Muller

Dear Jane/Fred:

Sorry it took so long to reply, but we have fences and corrals to mend,
new cattle to receive, and water lines to run, and blah, blah, blah.

I have gotten to some of the important stuff, however; and am pleased
to report to you.

First, I want to to know how pleased I am with your work and, just as
importantly, your excellent service, especially response time. Well
done!

The Heavy Recce feeds well, holding the second (left hand) round
securely in the magazine until called upon. I do wonder what you did.

If I were there, we could talk about chamber dimensions, leade, and
other such arcane matters relative to the .416 Taylor, but since the 
rifle shoots well enough, we will let that go.


Load development could be, at least for me, an unending process, but I
have learned to define power and accuracy in terms of mission: The
Heavy Recce is a Buffalo gun, not much good for anything else, really;
so I have applied my 'Buffalo' standards to load development. That
standard is, simply put, to hit an eight-inch target on command at 80
meters twice in five seconds from any available position. Further, to
deliver to that target something in excess of 3,500 pounds of energy
carried by a stoutly constructed bullet.

This is easily done by my .416 RemMag, the .375 H&H Mag, the .458 Win
Mag, and many other cartridges, but because I'm partial to the Mauser
military action, I went, on your recommendation, with the .416 Taylor.
I am not looking for any maximums or extremes, just the standard stated
above.

That goal established, and the 21" Shilen barrel well and properly
broken in, these are the results I have to date:

1. A practice load using a bullet I cast, an LBT, gas-checked, 350
grain, hard-alloyed bullet lubed with LBT Blue, over 37 grains of
SR4759. This chronographs at an average of 1883 fps about 12 feet from
the muzzle. A ten-shot string gives me an extreme spread of 13 fps and
a group of about 2 inches at 100 yards. More importantly, it shares a
POI with the 400 grain Hornady load (described below). This cast
bullet, with a BC of .233 carries about 1800 pounds of energy at 100
yards.

I have taken Leopard with this bullet (out of a .416 Rem Mag) and have
great confidence in it within its limitations. In the Heavy Recce it is
quite comfortable to shoot from any position.

2. A field load using a inexpensive, 'bonded' Hornady 400 grain
round-nose, soft-point bullet over 70 grains of RL15. This chronographs
at an average of 2200 fps with an extreme spread of 3 (!) fps and a
group of about 1.5 inches at 100 yards. This bullet, with a BC of .311,
carries about  3,350 pounds of energy at 100 yards.

Whether this will knock down a Cape remains to be seen, as I have not
to date used it in Africa. I can testify that the .416 RemMag shooting
a 400 grain Swift A-frame will knock a Cape off its feet with one
well-placed shot, making the second shot quite easy, if one can work
the bolt properly. In my Remington 700 Safari, this cartridge delivers
500 more (4,000 vice 3,500) pounds of energy than does the .416 Taylor,
given that the Heavy Recce is shorter, lighter, and altogether more
tactically convenient.

4. A field load using a Speer 350 grain MagTip over 70 grains of RL15.
This chronographs at an average of 2275 fps with an extreme spread of
40 fps and a group of about 1 inch at 100 yards. This bullet, with a BC
of .332 carries about 3,200 pounds of energy at 100 yards.


5. A field load using a Barnes XFB 300 grain bullet over 70 grains of
RL15. This chronographs at an average of 2,350 fps with an extreme
spread of 35.9 fps and a group of about 0.75(!) inches at 100 yards.
This barrel likes this bullet, obviously. This bullet, with a BC of
.394 carries about 3,000 pounds of energy at 100 yards, a bit below my
standard, but sweet and true to shoot. I like this load; it would be
devastating on large bear.

6. I have tried a couple of loads under my 400 grain Swift A-frame, but
with poor accuracy and mediocre velocity. Load development continues. I
believe that the Swift, being longer than any of the above bullets, is
too long for the .416 Taylor with its very short neck. I'll keep
playing with it, however, being a fan of heavy bullets.


The Heavy Recce now has 114 rounds through it. It delivers a bit of a
jolt from a bench when pushing the 400 grain bullets, but is quite
manageable from field positions.

In a phrase, my friends, it will do the job for me, being light, short,
and reasonable hard hitting. It would certainly be deadly on anything
up to 1,200 pounds. I have to use it on something that goes 2,000
pounds before I could make any other conclusions.

So, I need a few Cape Buffalo down range. I intend to find those
unfortunate beasts later this year, but the future is always uncertain.


Jane, you mentioned that you would like a photo of the Heavy Recce with
its 'scope mounted. Here it is:

That's a 2.5x Leupold Scout 'scope on Ashley's mount, as you know. It
has a Galco Safari Ching Sling. I could not mount my preferred three
point sling because I require flush mounts, at least on the mid-point,
on a hard-recoiling rifle. The rest of the specifications you know
better than I.

Use what you will. Ask if you want anything else in the way of photos
or information.

Respectfully,

John Muller


heavyreece3.jpg
Mr. Muller's Heavy Reece in .416 Taylor

We asked Jason Buckles, Sonora, KY to write  us a story regarding a "switch" barrel rifle we made for him.  The following is what he sent us regarding the rifle plus information on the other rifles we have built for him.  Thank you, Jason.
 
"Custom Bolt rifle with interchangeable barrels at a modest price."
 
LowTech Manufacturing captured my attention way back around the turn of the century with an ad in Shotgun News, "Custom Barreled actions, $285.00."  My interest was peaked, I had been trying to get a 6.5/284 on a farmers budget for a long time.
 
I have been hunting and shooting all my life, killing numerous deer, squirrels, rabbits, etc. on a small Kentucky farm.  Somewhere around 1995 the 6.5/284 cartridge caught my eye, a flat shooting varmint and big game cartridge in the 6.5 caliber.  I called Fred and before I knew it, we had an agreement for medium heavy barrel, Turkish Mauser action, fitted to Fajen Ace Varminter stock, (of my own purchase), bedded and everything.  The way I figured it, I had about $450.00 in the whole rig, scope and all.
 
It's shot like a dream ever since and in the past two years, the better part of 35 coyotes have been taken anywhere from 25 to 450 yards with it.  The 450 yarder was a pretty lucky one for me, but the gun is capable of a lot farther in better hands. 
 
There have been several other project's since then, and 2 or 3 real interesting ones.  A .450 Marlin on a Mauser action was the first of these.  When I asked Fred about it, I already had an action and barrel, I figured it to be a no-brainer. There was a little hesitation in Fred's mind, I speculate mainly because it was a brand new cartridge and because .450 Marlins are lever guns.  After some thought he finally agreed to try it, if they can turn a Siamese Mauser in to a 45/70 why not try a .450 in a regular Mauser?  A star was born.  I have since shot 1/2" 3 shot groups at 100 yards on a regular basis.  How many guns out there can shoot 1/2" clovers, center to center, with a nearly 1/2", 300 grain, Barnes XBT?  I know of one anyway.
 
Another project was a break down bolt gun with interchangable barrels.  When I mentioned this project to Fred, there wasn't nearly as much hesitation.  He had been thinking of the system for quite some time, but had never got around to it.  We decided to proceed on a Mauser action I had lying around.  The only real question was, "what chamberings"?
 
There are plenty of other interchangeable guns out there, Thompson Center, high end customs, and even a Savage 110 type of action.  The T/C is an excellent single shot, the Savage is great if you want to carry a barrel nut wrench and headspace gauge in the case as well, and the high end customs are exactly that $High End$.
 
Upon arrival of Fred's custom  switch-barrel I immediately noticed that I could clean the barrels and never have to pass a patch through the action.  Perhaps, to some folks, this is not that important, but to me it was "manna from above".
 
Another advantage is the fact that someone on a multiple tag trip could take one gun, and the portability is a plus. What I mean is, someone could take prairie dogs, antelope and mulies with a 25/06 Rem., a .270 Win., and a .338-06, respectively, with one bolt gun and 3 barrels.
 
I also believe Fred leads the pack with "economic feasability".  He and Jane are working people and they build guns for working people, functional and asthetic, but not gawdy and pricy.  Don't get me wrong here, they can build some darn fine stuff, too.  Most hunters already have one bolt gun, and this is the next logical step toward versatility, meaning, this conversion can be done to most commercial and military actions.
 
One the minus side of the equation is an inability to shoot magnum and standard cartridges without the swapping of a bolt, the heads are too different.  Althought I could see this as possible, I don't feel it would be smart, too much liability.  Short cartridges in a long action might also lead to a feeding problem.
 
One obvious problem to this system is a safe full of barrels instead of rifles.  Most people would have a hard time convincing their better halves they need a new gun when they have a gun that is already capable of most everthing in rifle work.  Currently, I have no better half, so I'll just have to deal with my conscience.  I do have a girlfriend though and she has a closet full of shoes and purses, so it's pretty much a wash when we start "debating".
 
A universal stock is a bit of a negative in the looks department.  If one were to get an ultra-light 7 x 57 for deer hunting and a heavy barrel 22-250 for varmints, the barrel channel would leave quite a gap on the sides of the 7 x 57 barrel.
 
Ideally this concept would work great with 2 actions, one standard short Remington, Mauser, or Winchester, and a large magnum action from any of the above, or others.  The short, standard could handle anything from: 22-250 for varmints, .260 Rem. for deer, and .358 Win. for anything bigger, within reason that needs to be freight trained.  The long magnum could handle all the big stuff:  .300 Win. Mag. for elk and moose, .338 Win. Mag. for African plains game, and .458 Win. Mag. for anything that might try to stomp your guts out and eat ya'.
 
Some people might wonder about the accuracy and the ability to return to zero.  I'll address the later, first.  Any hunter that goes hunting on a long trip and doesn't recheck his zero when they arrive is just asking for trouble.  It's the same principle with interchangable barrels and scopes.  If I were to change a scope on a gun, my first trip would be to the range, it's the same thing with barrels.
 
However, in an accompanying target that I shot with my 6.5/284 barrel, one might not believe checking zero is not needed.  Fred's guns are synonymous with accuracy and I wasn't dissappointed.  I was extremely impressed at the "return to zero" accuracy after a barrel cooling and change.  I began with a 5 shot string at, 100 yards, of fodder ammo that grouped a little over an inch.  The group was a little off center so I moved the crosshairs 1 m.o.a. to the left and took the barrel off and refitted it to shoot another 5 shot string.  After that string, I was amazed, the second group was exactly an inch to the left and measured 3/4", all at 100 yards.  That is repeatable accuracy.
 
I have not yet tested my other 2 barrels, a 6mm x 284 and a .308 Win. but I know they will be as good as the 6.5 x 284, and I plan to test them soon.  The 6mm x 284 is an experiment on my part but  I don't think it will ever replace my 6.5.   I love the 6.5 x 284!
 
The other target is from another LowTech custom, a 700 Remington long action with a Kreiger #17 heavy barrel contour on a Choate Ultimate Varminter stock.  The cartridge is 6.5 x 284, of course.  One 3 shot group measured just under 5/16" at 100 yards.  The other group, with different ammo, measured right at 3/4" with 9 shots.  These were all shot on a 70 degree February day with winds gusting at 10-15 mph.
 
These are just some examples of Fred's work, so if you find yourself in need of a bolt gun with functional versatility, or any other work, give Fred and Jane a call.  I'm glad I did, my conscience is another story!
 
Jason Buckles
 
 
 
 

jasontarget.jpg

Our first project is a 30-378 Weatherby Magnum built on a Olympic Arms Action with a 30" Douglas barrel.  The stock is a Richard's Microfit with a 5" forearm in a Carribean Blue Laminate.

bushgunstory061.jpg
The action, stock, and barrel for the 30-378 Wby. Mag.

bushgunstory040.jpg
30-378 Ready For Delivery

LowTech
120 Shagbark Ct.
Simpsonville, SC  29680
1-866-308-4570 or 864-967-2820
 
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