Lawton Actions

[Vulcan]

Just wondering if anyone had ever had any work done by Barney Lawton. Was considering buying one of his actions and having him
build a gun for me. Also any opinions on the Lawton actions.

Thanks

 

[Klong]

I know that George at GA Precision uses them. That is a pretty good recommendation I think.

 

[robbor]

I have heard they are fairly good but little elaboration on what they dont like. Ive seen a few smiths that like them and upon looking further see they use the non comp action alot, which makes no sense to me. Also you will see some action makers offer significant discounts for purchasing alot of actions so are they pushing them because they are making an extra $100 ea, who knows.
I would very much like to try one but if I was going to a larger action that was not 800 i'd probably just go with a bat. Im not crazy about the lawton bolt handles.

 

[Dodge61]

I have two Lawton 7500's. One is a 6.5 x 284 and the other is a 6BR Norma I love both of them, as they are smooth operating and function flawlessly. They are a very nice looking action as well.I think that they are well worth the price.

 

[Klong]

Robbor, I see your point and it is possible that some discounting may break a tie between 2 actions, but I don't think most of the smiths will use an action that they didn't feel would benefit their reputation. It would only take a few guns that did not perform well to ruin a reputation. That is about all a smith has to sell their product. When you are looking to pay the money for a custom weapon, a few hundred bucks either way to get an accurate shooter, is of little concern. Just my opinion.

BTW I have a rifle being built on a Lawton action as we speak. It will be my first with this action. Time will tell!!!

 

[robbor]

Im not say for lawton actions this is the case but I saw a discount breakdown somewhere for some custom action. I have had trouble with the 2 smiths,not br smiths)I have used and my uncle took his gun in about 3 months ago for a new barrel. The barrel was installed with the threads out of spec, no recoil lug, nut tightened to 200'#, dings all over the outside, action bent, and they were instructed to not install barrel and did not even have the bolt. They tried to fix it, and destroyed the action further and put a nice wave in the middle, said they wanted on more shot to fix it, lol. I just dont get why someone would not want a tighter tollerance br action for the same price???