Thread: Hardy Custom Rifle Review

Originally Posted by mcche171

I think Hardys are now more interested in the larger volume, large profit generating overseas market rather than the NZ one.

Of course... the NZ market is very small

US is huge

Was in local H&F store a few weeks back. They had one of the Hardy Carbon wrap barrel jobs on display.
Price tag $5k from memory. When I asked the guy why any one would fork out that much moolaaa for a T3 with some tinsel
He said it was silly money & a mate his recently got a Hardy carbon crap in 6.5 creedmore - it was grouping like total shite. He'd tried heaps of pills and loads- all shite. Any gunsmith can have the odd dud barrel but they should stand behind their workmanship. Reading this thread about the shite service on top of variable quality I would not touch this gear with a barge pole.

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Was in local H&F store a few weeks back. They had one of the Hardy Carbon wrap barrel jobs on display.
Price tag $5k from memory. When I asked the guy why any one would fork out that much moolaaa for a T3 with some tinsel
He said it was silly money & a mate his recently got a Hardy carbon crap in 6.5 creedmore - it was grouping like total shite. He'd tried heaps of pills and loads- all shite. Any gunsmith can have the odd dud barrel but they should stand behind their workmanship. Reading this thread about the shite service on top of variable quality I would not touch this gear with a barge pole.

If its that bad I would send it back to have the whole rifle looked at (barrel, bedding, bullets and trigger). It may not be a barrel issue at all. My Hardy carbon barrel is a tack driver. There were two wasps that landed on my target 100 yards away that I shot just using my test loads.
If it was a issue with the barrel, I'm sure Dan would put it right.

Originally Posted by kiwiazonic

If its that bad I would send it back to have the whole rifle looked at. If it was a issue with the barrel, I'm sure Dan would put it right.

Good luck with that

Originally Posted by mcche171

I think Hardys are now more interested in the larger volume, large profit generating overseas market rather than the NZ one.

Haven't heard much about the USA market, but the Aussies are having about as much fun as us....

Not surprising really, pretty hard to go knock on the door when you are in another country.....

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Was in local H&F store a few weeks back. They had one of the Hardy Carbon wrap barrel jobs on display.
Price tag $5k from memory. When I asked the guy why any one would fork out that much moolaaa for a T3 with some tinsel
He said it was silly money & a mate his recently got a Hardy carbon crap in 6.5 creedmore - it was grouping like total shite. He'd tried heaps of pills and loads- all shite. Any gunsmith can have the odd dud barrel but they should stand behind their workmanship. Reading this thread about the shite service on top of variable quality I would not touch this gear with a barge pole.

Seen it today, Rotorua.
Looks like it's been there a while. Seems well over priced. $1500 for a t3x 1000 for a stock. So $2500 for a barrel and suppressor... And I think it's more like $5250.
It's a nothing gun in my opinion, Nothing the standard t3 wouldn't have done.
In saying that, what ever floats your boat.
And Dan himself was very helpful on the phone, and was willing to go beyond any other gun smith I phoned in New Zealand.
Iv never used any of his products.

Originally Posted by IngloriousFame

Hello all,

Just wondering if anyone here has a Hardy custom Rifle (Either the Scout/Tactical off their website or other custom Hardy builds). Curious on the reviews of them, and in comparison to defiance/surgeon actions and or builds.

Cheers guys! (and Gals)

I so pity you boi. I've been in pursuit of accuracy ever since I 'fatally' first read Greg Duley's write up about the Ultimate Handloads, back in 2008, around the time he first started his NZ Hunter magazine, and I may, 'MAY' (with no real degree of certainty) be only just starting to realize my dream about now.

Through personal experience I can tell you first hand, it's neigh upon impossible to find a good competent gun smith/builder within New Zealand, that can slap together a rifle with any degree of accuracy worth writing home about, and I've been through the best of them, believe you me, and 'yes' brother Dan's been one of them!

Advice: If you must go through the painful 'custom build' route, then 'do' build it out of, like you say, a Defiance or a Surgeon type 'American factory trued' Action. 'Don't' build it out of a trued Remington or other 'needing to be' trued action (especially a Hardy action if 'he' makes them from from scratch) Remember, the point of this exercise is to keep incompetent NZ hands that need to do such work, to a bare minimum. It is incredible 'nail biting' stuff knowing that you're at work all day and some NZer is doing 'ANY' work to your rifle, let alone any work that's vital to accuracy!

Second lot of advice: Make damn sure you have an "ENDLESS SUPPLY" of cash... Believe in me, you're gonna need it! With gun building even a "firm written quote" is 'ONLY' a rough estimate at best, always allow 2 or 3 'large' above what they quote as a bare minimum (that way you 'may' have enough change at the end of it to buy yourself a celebratory bag of fish & chips, or something of that nature 'SHOULD' , in the unlikely event, the build emerge a success) and remember, there are no accuracy guarantees, as, despite what 'YOU', 'the naive customer' may believe, you're only paying for their "time" and NOT quality of workmanship or accuracy guarantees. They may say there is a sub harf MOA guarantee (which seems to be the standard crap you tend to hear a lot in custom gun building circles theses days, it's what the customer 'wants' to hear) but at the end of the day there's not, you're totally on your own with regards to accuracy! If it shoots like shit, they'll simply tell you that it doesn't like that particular bullet, or that 'you' can't shoot for shit or 'you've' somehow pulled the barrel off the rifle, or grow a fuc%@kn brain, or something of that nature, rest assured that whatever happens, it is "NEVER THEIR FAULT"! Cash wise, in the past 9 years it has cost me inXS of some $40,000 in the name of accuracy, again, trust in me, it's true!

Thirdly: Before going ahead with 'ANY' custom rifle build, slip your hands down your underpants and have a damn good feel around first. If you feel a swelling, lump or bulge, that 'shouldn't' normally be there (other than perhaps the barr-on that you may be experiencing, over the thought of your new rifle build) then 'DON'T' whatever you do, go ahead with the build... you'll be dead before you see it! Be warned, a custom rifle build takes forever plus one day!

Follow these simple, basic principals and you shouldn't go too far wrong... Have fun

@.300 RUM Guy and I thought buying a concentricity gauge was bad enough.

So.....who have you found to be the the best of the bunch? & worst?

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

@.300 RUM Guy and I thought buying a concentricity gauge was bad enough.

So.....who have you found to be the the best of the bunch? & worst?

No one decent enough in nz to be classed as 'best' apparently, haha.

Originally Posted by .300 RUM Guy

I so pity you boi. I've been in pursuit of accuracy ever since I 'fatally' first read Greg Duley's write up about the Ultimate Handloads, back in 2008, around the time he first started his NZ Hunter magazine, and I may, 'MAY' (with no real degree of certainty) be only just starting to realize my dream about now.

Through personal experience I can tell you first hand, it's neigh upon impossible to find a good competent gun smith/builder within New Zealand, that can slap together a rifle with any degree of accuracy worth writing home about, and I've been through the best of them, believe you me, and 'yes' brother Dan's been one of them!

Advice: If you must go through the painful 'custom build' route, then 'do' build it out of, like you say, a Defiance or a Surgeon type 'American factory trued' Action. 'Don't' build it out of a trued Remington or other 'needing to be' trued action (especially a Hardy action if 'he' makes them from from scratch) Remember, the point of this exercise is to keep incompetent NZ hands that need to do such work, to a bare minimum. It is incredible 'nail biting' stuff knowing that you're at work all day and some NZer is doing 'ANY' work to your rifle, let alone any work that's vital to accuracy!

Second lot of advice: Make damn sure you have an "ENDLESS SUPPLY" of cash... Believe in me, you're gonna need it! With gun building even a "firm written quote" is 'ONLY' a rough estimate at best, always allow 2 or 3 'large' above what they quote as a bare minimum (that way you 'may' have enough change at the end of it to buy yourself a celebratory bag of fish & chips, or something of that nature 'SHOULD' , in the unlikely event, the build emerge a success) and remember, there are no accuracy guarantees, as, despite what 'YOU', 'the naive customer' may believe, you're only paying for their "time" and NOT quality of workmanship or accuracy guarantees. They may say there is a sub harf MOA guarantee (which seems to be the standard crap you tend to hear a lot in custom gun building circles theses days, it's what the customer 'wants' to hear) but at the end of the day there's not, you're totally on your own with regards to accuracy! If it shoots like shit, they'll simply tell you that it doesn't like that particular bullet, or that 'you' can't shoot for shit or 'you've' somehow pulled the barrel off the rifle, or grow a fuc%@kn brain, or something of that nature, rest assured that whatever happens, it is "NEVER THEIR FAULT"! Cash wise, in the past 9 years it has cost me inXS of some $40,000 in the name of accuracy, again, trust in me, it's true!

Thirdly: Before going ahead with 'ANY' custom rifle build, slip your hands down your underpants and have a damn good feel around first. If you feel a swelling, lump or bulge, that 'shouldn't' normally be there (other than perhaps the barr-on that you may be experiencing, over the thought of your new rifle build) then 'DON'T' whatever you do, go ahead with the build... you'll be dead before you see it! Be warned, a custom rifle build takes forever plus one day!

Follow these simple, basic principals and you shouldn't go too far wrong... Have fun

custom rifles.txt


buy a Tikka

Wow @300rum $40k is a big outlay. I guess the definition of "accuracy" & expectations can vary. I'm a hunter so anything around or under 0.5 Moa is my standard. Have done 5 custom builds mostly on R.E.M 700 actions and one Sako75.
All have met the 0.5 Moa or better. Also own 2 other custom builds which I bought as 2nd hand rifles. One wsm which is 0.3 Moa and one 284 which runs in between 0.5 & 0.7 Moa. The 284 is not a full on custom build- just a 7mm08 rechambered to 284. But at 5&1/2 lb it's my fav bush gun & gives me legs out to 700 yds

I got NZ Hunter to build a 7 saum using a Pierce titanium action, McMillan stock and a Bartlein barrel. With a 26 inch fluted barrel and brake it weighs a touch over 7 1/4 lb with scope. Shoots well. Verified my drop drop chart at 500 yards with a 2 inch group. The carry and balance is superb. I'm happy! And it's custom!

Originally Posted by Ginga

I got NZ Hunter to build a 7 saum using a Pierce titanium action, McMillan stock and a Bartlein barrel. With a 26 inch fluted barrel and brake it weighs a touch over 7 1/4 lb with scope. Shoots well. Verified my drop drop chart at 500 yards with a 2 inch group. The carry and balance is superb. I'm happy! And it's custom!

Sounds nice got any pics

Yeah but fu$k knows how to post one!

Originally Posted by Ginga

Yeah but fu$k knows how to post one!

click the picture frame with the tree in it at the top of the reply box......two to the right of the envelope.