James Calhoon

[Mark M.]

Are there any reviews out there from you folks that have had work done by James Calhoon or have used any of his products, thinking about having him convert my CZ 17 hornet over to the 19 Bagder, any info would be appreciated, thanks

 

[L.Sherm]

I've bought his 19 Badger brass to neck down for my 17 Badger. I also use his CZ 527 bore guide and bought one of his 19 Badger FL dies had it converted to a bushing die for my 17.
All has been very good.
Hes a great guy to talk to also.

 

[TAJ45]

A good guy, yes interesting, I shoot one of his 19-223s. No worries Mate.

 

[L.Sherm]

I've thought for along time of doing one of his 19 Badgers

 

[17VLD]

I have a Ruger he built in 19 Calhoon Hornet,the quality of workmanship is very good and it is very accurate too.I would not hesitate to call him and get the ball rolling.He is a great guy to talk with about all things guys like.
Matt

 

[JSH]

I understood they supplied all the 19 stuff and smith work was done out of house.

 

[Oso]

Great person to deal with. I have bought a couple of his single shot followers for my CZ527 as well as a Kevlar stock that was with milled slots to help barrel cool.

 

[Oso]

I understood they supplied all the 19 stuff and smith work was done out of house.

I believe he has a local gunsmith that he has been working with for years who does all his work.

 

[jbarnwell]

Good folks to work with. I have a 19 Calhoon built on a Ruger 77 that is a blast to shoot. James will help you with any problems or questions.

 

[EXTREME]

I bought a 19 Badger in a CZ 527 "Kevlar" with modified bolt handle, rings and a Leupold Scope. I added some 19 caliber brushes, a bore guide and a set of his Forster BR FL dies. He didn't have any newly formed 19 Badger brass so he offered my some "once fired" in his CZ 527 Kevlar which I later found would have been a perfect fit in my chamber had I neck sized them. However when I asked if he had any "neck sizing" dies he just smiled so I figured that the FL dies must be matched to his chambers. When I did FL size the brass, for my chamber, I found that a loaded round had 0.001" clearance at the neck, shoulder and base datum.

James didn't have any 32 grain double HP bullets ready but he and wife Cathy were working on them in the house. I bought 1000 28 grain DBL HP bullets and 9# of AA 2200 as he didn't have any AA1680 along with a box of 50 of his Loaded 32 grain ammo and some Berry boxes like his ammo came in. James told me how much of that lot of AA 2200 to load with the 28 grain bullets and I was good to go. First target shot at 300 yards with Jim's recommended 28 DBL HP load & second target at 100 yards with his 32 DBL HP ammo, just after barrel break in and sighting rifle:


I shot many a gopher with that 28 grain load and some were 1/4 mile away.

James and Cathy made all of their bullets , with local help when they showed up, and I believe James Robert Leahy did the gunsmithing. I think that James Calhoon is Mr. Leahy's alter ego and they are both top notch people. You can't go wrong with one of his 19 Badgers and components unless you decide to go with a 19 -.223 and try to use Lapua Brass without turning the necks.