505 Gibbs Custom Rifle on Vektor Action

[ay2626]

Hello All - I am a new member here but have been enjoying reading your threads for a while. I just purchased a 505 Gibbs that was built by Champlin on a Vektor double square bridge mauser action. I feel like I took a bit of chance because I could not find much information on Vektor actions before the purchase. I was wondering if anyone has experience with these actions and can give any perspective on the good and the bad? Most of the information I've been able to find on Vektor centered around the history and closing of the company, but doesn't provide much insight on the quality of the action. There was one thread on this forum from about a decade ago on this topic, but it didn't seem like anyone had first hand experience at that point. Overall I feel pretty good about the purchase because I know the folks at Champlin have an outstanding reputation, but would love to hear from anyone with experience. Thanks in advance for any insights. I don't have the gun in hand yet but can post some photos and updates when I do.

 

[Papabear55]

Hello All - I am a new member here but have been enjoying reading your threads for a while. I just purchased a 505 Gibbs that was built by Champlin on a Vektor double square bridge mauser action. I feel like I took a bit of chance because I could not find much information on Vektor actions before the purchase. I was wondering if anyone has experience with these actions and can give any perspective on the good and the bad? Most of the information I've been able to find on Vektor centered around the history and closing of the company, but doesn't provide much insight on the quality of the action. There was one thread on this forum from about a decade ago on this topic, but it didn't seem like anyone had first hand experience at that point. Overall I feel pretty good about the purchase because I know the folks at Champlin have an outstanding reputation, but would love to hear from anyone with experience. Thanks in advance for any insights. I don't have the gun in hand yet but can post some photos and updates when I do.

Did this rifle happen to come from a fella in Alaska?

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I look forward to the pictures.

 

[ay2626]

Did this rifle happen to come from a fella in Alaska?

I purchased from a gentleman in Minnesota.

 

[Aaron N]

I purchased from a gentleman in Minnesota.

I just saw it on GI, looks like a nice rifle!

If it came from Champlin, I would not be worried about the quiality!

Congratulations on the purchase

 

[K E Johnson]

Pierre Van Der Walt talks about them in his book African Dangerous Game Cartridges.
My recollection of his writing on Vector was that they were first rate magnum Mauser actions capable of handling just such a round. Nothing derogatory about them at all.

 

[John Telford]

You have one of the best actions in the world! It was made by Vektor under the expert guidance of DJ (Casey) Lewis one of the most respected Mauser collectors in the world. Jon Speed used to stay at his house when in South Africa and many of the rifles in that book belonged to Casey. Vektor made the actions after blue printing original magnum mauser actions using the best German steel and heat treating them to exact specifications. I believe they improved on the original dimensions to make the feed better.
I have had my eye on this rifle for some time and am very envious of your purchase.
When the new government came into power in SA they shut down the Vektor rifle project and the remaining actions were sold various International manufacturers and Smiths such as Butch Searcy, Purdy.
Vektor was a spin off of Lyttleton Engineering Works who made small arms for the old RSA regime including the R1 and R4 assault rifle .

 

[John Telford]

Only 6 Original Vektor magnum rifles in 505 were ever made and they are super collectable ! The more common ones are the Landrover rifles made in:
1. 300 and 375 H&H.
2. 350 and 416 Rigby
3. 404 and 500 Jeffery.
Only one person has the full collection.

 

[John Telford]

Only 6 Original Vektor magnum rifles in 505 were ever made and they are super collectable ! The Landrover rifles were made in:
1. 300 and 375 H&H.
2. 350 and 416 Rigby
3. 404 and 500 Jeffery

 

[ay2626]

Thanks to everyone for all of this great information. I’ll report back once the rifle is in my hands!

 

[SAFARIKIDD]

Would love to see a photo of this gem!!!

 

[TokkieM]

Good solid actions, there where some that "left" the factory before heat treatment and caused a few issues. Those that where actually treated are solid first class actions. The majority of those actions where sold on auction when the factory ceased rifle production. A Norwegian gunsmith bought all of the magnum actions, he passed away last year and those actions are currently tied up in his estate. Considering what Mauser and Rigby charge for a rifle you cannot go wrong with the Vektor, the anti bind feature alone is a stroke of genius.

 

[ay2626]

Good solid actions, there where some that "left" the factory before heat treatment and caused a few issues. Those that where actually treated are solid first class actions. The majority of those actions where sold on auction when the factory ceased rifle production. A Norwegian gunsmith bought all of the magnum actions, he passed away last year and those actions are currently tied up in his estate. Considering what Mauser and Rigby charge for a rifle you cannot go wrong with the Vektor, the anti bind feature alone is a stroke of genius.

Thanks. This is very helpful. Do you believe there are still some actions in circulation with the heat treatment issue? I’m assuming it would be difficult to determine if you had one with this problem until issues started appearing, at least short of having the metal professionally tested? I have a 1903 Springfield that I don’t fire any longer because I found out it’s serial number was in the range of a known bad batch of receivers that weren’t heat treated properly by Springfield Armory in 1917 (although I did shoot it a decent amount before knowing about this without any signs of a problem so who knows).

 

[Frederik]

The chances that, that specific 505 as issues is zero to none. As posted above only six were made and with that only the best gunsmith would have had to work on the limited range. If you can send me the serial number of the rifle you can send it by PM I might track down some more history on it.

 

[ay2626]

The chances that, that specific 505 as issues is zero to none. As posted above only six were made and with that only the best gunsmith would have had to work on the limited range. If you can send me the serial number of the rifle you can send it by PM I might track down some more history on it.

Thanks for clearing this up for me. I understand now that there were six total 505 actions. For some reason I was thinking in terms of completed rifles and that there were additional actions in circulation.

 

[ay2626]

 

[ay2626]

A few photos to check out for those who were interested

 

[machinistbutler]

That's beauty thanks for sharing some pictures!

 

[zephyr]

How do you like the Red Fiber optic front sight

 

[ay2626]

How do you like the Red Fiber optic front sight

I like it a lot. My eyesight is pretty good but I still find it much easier and quicker to pick up than brass or white bead. I have been moving to the red or green fiber optic on everything I can.