Is there any demand for an ALL Canadian made bolt action precision rifle?
- Thread starter alberta tactical rifle
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How do you expect a rifle less than 18.5" to be NR? If your talking about bolt action I dont think many would recommend that for a bear gun.
And yes, $5500 is extremely pricey. Buying Canadian is cool, but price is a big factor.
I have 3 Mares legs with 12" barrels two 22 with 12" barrels and shotgun with 14" barrel all NR
I love packing a small rifle in the bush the more I use a short rifle the more I appreciate them.
For a short NR rifle that I can pack in between the handle bars on my Rokon I would pay $5500 for it if in the right caliber 450 marlin or sum thing interesting like that
If I wear ATRS advertising, can I have a free one? Sad to admit, but life is more expensive than previously anticipated, and a rifle of that caliber is looking like it would be feasible after another 20+ years of working and scraping together pennies. I have a feeling that "I might be able to buy one in a few decades." is not really the response you're looking for.
That said, I am thoroughly enthused by the idea of an all Canadian rifle, but wishes don't pay the bills. I think it might be worth exploring what corners could be cut to produce an "entry level" rifle, and perhaps use that to bankroll the more premium content. I dunno, I'm no expert.
Now, if you could somehow develop a production line of new-made rifles of a variety inspired by the older military boltguns but updated with modern innovations, I think that would see exponentially more interest. Essentially a Lee-Enfield for the modern age. Except I suppose we'd have to think of a new name for it.
I'm not sure how much call-in business you guys get, but something along the lines of some more examples of what your components are compatible with and how they can be used would be really helpful for guys like me who know pretty much nothing, but don't want to sound like an idiot if we call you and ask something stupid like if we can just buy one of your one-piece bolts and slap it into our discount SPS Tactical, or if we could buy a custom barrel to put on that same cheap rifle, and then ten years down the road get a custom action from you and transfer the barrel to that. I'm honestly not sure, for all I know it's a cascading effect of components that are only compatible with each other, especially since your website says that you don't sell your Infidel or Maverick actions as components. Though, I'm pretty far from the market you're intending these for.
That said, I am thoroughly enthused by the idea of an all Canadian rifle, but wishes don't pay the bills. I think it might be worth exploring what corners could be cut to produce an "entry level" rifle, and perhaps use that to bankroll the more premium content. I dunno, I'm no expert.
Now, if you could somehow develop a production line of new-made rifles of a variety inspired by the older military boltguns but updated with modern innovations, I think that would see exponentially more interest. Essentially a Lee-Enfield for the modern age. Except I suppose we'd have to think of a new name for it.
I'm not sure how much call-in business you guys get, but something along the lines of some more examples of what your components are compatible with and how they can be used would be really helpful for guys like me who know pretty much nothing, but don't want to sound like an idiot if we call you and ask something stupid like if we can just buy one of your one-piece bolts and slap it into our discount SPS Tactical, or if we could buy a custom barrel to put on that same cheap rifle, and then ten years down the road get a custom action from you and transfer the barrel to that. I'm honestly not sure, for all I know it's a cascading effect of components that are only compatible with each other, especially since your website says that you don't sell your Infidel or Maverick actions as components. Though, I'm pretty far from the market you're intending these for.
Good luck with your endeavor. Although I'm not into the tactical rifle game I do support the fact of an all Canadian built rifle. I try to deal locally as much as possible because dealing across the border is a pain. Rick, if one day you make a bench rest action along the lines of a Bat 3 lug or Stolle Panda, I'll consider giving you my business. The action and trigger of my next build will be the only non Canadian parts.
- Location
- calgary alberta
Pricing on our services are directly related to overhead costs. The machinists who work for me are most likely the highest paid in the province. In the world of precision machining, you really do get what you pay for when it comes to staff. For that matter the rest of my staff members are paid considerably more than what this industry is know to pay, but again experts in any field command more income than a ex-burger flipper from Wendy's who is now working behind the counter for a big box gun store. Every single 1 of my staff members is quite capable of building a rifle and is heavily involved in the long range shooting sport.
Unlike many "gunsmiths" we have a fairly large commercial facility. Rent on the shop is $10K per month. Long ago when I was working out of my home, rates were MUCH cheaper due to no real overhead. Also unlike most "gunsmiths" as well as some of the other Canadian manufacturers, we are fully insured for liability, which is bloody EXPENSIVE.
Our costs are higher for sure, but to help offset the higher costs our warranty and customer service is bullet proof.
The advantage a coned bolt head has is that this enhances feeding as the rear face of the action is cut like a funnel.
- Location
- calgary alberta
You should check out our actions, I would think you will find that they have as good if not better tolerances and precision as BAT or Stolle.
We make them in almost any configuration and just because our main products are geared towards tactical, our actions are bench rest quality that have features that BAT and Stolle do not.
It makes it hard for us to prove our claims unless someone is willing to try our products. I know that they are up to the task but as long as the competition shooter refuse to try homegrown gear "assuming" that it is not up to the task, Canadian products and manufacturers will suffer.
Case in point a couple of guys went to some of the really serious 3 gun matches held in the USA this year, and really turned some heads with our guns. It is kind of neat for them as we can NOT export our AT15s permanently into the USA, so there is some real mystique from that fact. Nice for a change to have something desired by those in a foreign country and for once we can have what they can not.
I would be interested as well and I think this would be a successful venture if done in a built to order fashion as you seem to have described here. I think the market in Canada is limited for the long range/precision game though it is gaining favour. I have been looking at your site and another Canadian manufacturer to the east of you by a couple of provinces (not mentioning names as this is ATRS forum section) and am really torn between the two as I like both products fairly equally.
I think you could have a lot of success with this but the market would be limited, and it doesn't sound like your trying to become a mass production facility which to me is a good thing...hand built with attention to detail and beautifully engineered technology is a wonderful thing and what attracts me to the precision world as a shooter.
I say go for it...and maybe partner with one of your other product lines like Nightforce for instance to do some sort of joint marketing venture to the right audience by including their product as part of the package?
I think you could have a lot of success with this but the market would be limited, and it doesn't sound like your trying to become a mass production facility which to me is a good thing...hand built with attention to detail and beautifully engineered technology is a wonderful thing and what attracts me to the precision world as a shooter.
I say go for it...and maybe partner with one of your other product lines like Nightforce for instance to do some sort of joint marketing venture to the right audience by including their product as part of the package?
If you could make your own signature line of tactical rifles, even like 1-2, like gap precision has, for similar prices, I think you could capture that entire segment of the canadian market, people who want a high end tactical rifle but don't want to have it custom built. If you made it really ###y people will buy it. If I were to have a custom gun built and was paying $5500 I would want the best I wouldn't care if it was made in canada, but if you could offer pre-built all canadian rifle that is a real beauty, and by beauty I mean a tactical war machine, for 3-4k, I think you will get more sales.
oh and make sure you give it a ###y tactical name to, like ABTRS MKI
oh and make sure you give it a ###y tactical name to, like ABTRS MKI
- Location
- calgary alberta
That is also in the works but for later. We can only develop so many projects at 1 time.
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