Custom Safari rifle by Bill Sturtevant - 416 Rem caliber

[buckstix]

Custom Safari rifle by Bill Sturtevant - 416 Rem caliber

This weekend I added another 416 to the family. I hope to have it in hand in a couple weeks. 416 is my favorite caliber. This makes number 12 - eight (8) 416 Rigbys, a 416 Hoffman, a 416 Taylor, a 416 Van Horn, and now a 416 Remington.

I can find very little information about William (Bill) Sturtevant. I would hope someone here may have additional information about Bill. I would like to get in touch with him in hopes that he might tell me about this most interesting rifle. It appears the action of this rifle was built from scratch as I cannot find any others like it. Here is the information posted on the auction site.

as always I appreciate your comments

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/416rem-000.jpg

 

[Kbhallmark]

I don't know Bill, but my son does. Bill was a student and instructor at Trinidad gun smithing school. He now has a shop in Colorado, but I don't remember where. My son says he's probably as good a gunsmith as ever lived. Mostly builds guns on his own actions now I believe and does a lot of ultra long range prairie dog shooting.

 

[gizmo]

That is a gorgeous rifle.

 

[buckstix]

I don't know Bill, but my son does.

Could you ask your son if he knows how I might contact him?

 

[buckstix]

Well, I got the rifle in hand today - what a remarkable Custom Rifle. Bill Sturtevant is truly a Master Gunsmith. Every aspect of this rifle is absolutely perfect. Everything was made from scratch - action, bolt, and stock. I tried to show all the detail in the pictures below. The custom action is variation of a double square bridge. The tops of the bridges are machined to accept the 30mm Leopold Rings - no bases required. The custom bolt has enlarged locking lugs and a sleek custom shroud with a Winchester style 3-position safety. Stock inletting is perfect and border-less checkering is flawless. L.O.P is 14-3/8" and weight is a recoil absorbing 11 pounds 12 ounces.

As far as I've been able to find - this is the ONLY Sturtevant Arms Bolt Action Rifle ever made. Serial number is SS-001.

The only other Sturtevant rifle found is a Custom .375 H&H Flanged Caliber Dangerous Game Rifle built as a traditional Farquarson action single shot, currently for sale on Guns International.

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpi...16rem-details-000.jpg

 

[buckstix]

Range Report.

I took the rifle to the range today. The load is conservative, velocity to the magic 2150fps. The rifle came sighted perfectly and no scope adjustment was necessary. Its sighted 2-1/2" high at 50yds = 4" high at 100yds = dead=on at 200yds = 6" low at 250yds. So sighted you can aim point-blank over the entire distance and be assured of a kill. With the 12 pounds loaded, recoil was barely noticeable.


http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/416rem-targ-sm.jpg

 

[RR 314]

Glad you like it and it shoots. You always say feedback is welcome, so here it is. .

The aesthetics of the bolt shroud and action are not appealing to me. They appear unfinished and could use some more time on the mill.

The main thing is that you seem to love it. Some people do not care for some of my guns/rifles. As long as I like them, that’s all that matters to me.

I had a buddy in college and had a fat little girlfriend. She made up for it by being mean and ugly as a mud fence as well. . Nobody understood it,but man he loved that girl.

Seriously, it is different and seems to function very well. You have a very diverse collection, and it fits well! Enjoy it! Nice addition!

 

[buckstix]

Yep, Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. I love it. The shroud is somewhat reminiscent to that of Champlin Arms Actions.

 

[Joel.sturtevant]

To OP- Glad you are in love with your rifle, however this is Not the only Sturtevant bolt action made. Not by a long shot

My father (and I) built many many custom rifles over the years. You won’t find them for sale because each was a bespoke creation and they rarely see a second owner. If you have any questions let me know

Joel Sturtevant

 

[Joel.sturtevant]

As for the serial number- typically they were custom numbers to the original owners initials and how many rifles we had built for them

So while this is SS001

The first Sturtevant was a courage which is a falling block farquerson style action- serial number WFS001 William Fredrick Sturtevant that is dad’s personal African rifle.

I believe the first bolt action he ever built was my 22 k-hornet which was my 8th birthday present. TSJC has a very early one also that he built and gave the school.

 

[buckstix]

Hello Joel I sent a private message to you - please reply

 

[Red Leg]

As for the serial number- typically they were custom numbers to the original owners initials and how many rifles we had built for them

So while this is SS001

The first Sturtevant was a courage which is a falling block farquerson style action- serial number WFS001 William Fredrick Sturtevant that is dad’s personal African rifle.

I believe the first bolt action he ever built was my 22 k-hornet which was my 8th birthday present. TSJC has a very early one also that he built and gave the school.

First, welcome to the forum. and second, please stay involved. Having an expert opinion in any discussion is always extremely welcome.

 

[MontanaGrant]

Although I’m sure he knows, Joel give your father the highest regards from us all. The level of craftsmanship and skill in that rifle is amazing. A true standout in a modern age

 

[RR 314]

First, welcome to the forum. and second, please stay involved. Having an expert opinion in any discussion is always extremely welcome.

And third, Joel, apologies for the feedback on the angles of the shroud/action. I’m curious as to the era in which the rifle was built. Did you and your father stick with the design or soften some of the aspects? Very skilled work obviously. Did you/your dad cross paths with Speedy Gonzalez at Trinidad?

 

[Joel.sturtevant]

And third, Joel, apologies for the feedback on the angles of the shroud/action. I’m curious as to the era in which the rifle was built. Did you and your father stick with the design or soften some of the aspects? Very skilled work obviously. Did you/your dad cross paths with Speedy Gonzalez at Trinidad?

We always favored dramatic angles, style preference of a sturtevant design, though we did round out some shrouds for guys that wanted that aesthetic. No need to apologize beauty is in the eye of the beholder and why “custom” rifles exist and this rifle was 2000-2015 era of manufacture but the inherent design is from late 1980s

Yes we know speedy

 

[RR 314]

We always favored dramatic angles, style preference of a sturtevant design, though we did round out some shrouds for guys that wanted that aesthetic. No need to apologize beauty is in the eye of the beholder and why “custom” rifles exist and this rifle was 2000-2015 era of manufacture but the inherent design is from late 1980s

Yes we know speedy

Good deal. Some of my guns look like they were designed in a French whore house—but I love them.

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Nice rifle in very good calibere. Congrats.

 

[buckstix]

Thank you Joel, for the conversation this afternoon telling the details about this fantastic rifle. I look forward to documenting all the information and keeping it with the rifle.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Joel since you know Speedy Gonzales (world champ bench rest) you must know Eric Cortina (world champ F open class)
The reason I bring it up. Eric has an after market bolt shroud he uses and sells. He is such a stickler that he believes factory shrouds are not precise enough and give inconsistent primer strikes.

So, does your bolt shroud design have anything to do with Eric Cortina’s belief of a more aligned and precise firing pin strike?

By the way, the svelte action and long straight bolt are handsome.

 

[Joel.sturtevant]

And third, Joel, apologies for the feedback on the angles of the shroud/action. I’m curious as to the era in which the rifle was built. Did you and your father stick with the design or soften some of the aspects? Very skilled work obviously. Did you/your dad cross paths with Speedy Gonzalez at Trinidad

Joel since you know Speedy Gonzales (world champ bench rest) you must know Eric Cortina (world champ F open class)
The reason I bring it up. Eric has an after market bolt shroud he uses and sells. He is such a stickler that he believes factory shrouds are not precise enough and give inconsistent primer strikes.

So, does your bolt shroud design have anything to do with Eric Cortina’s belief of a more aligned and precise firing pin strike?

By the way, the svelte action and long straight bolt are handsome.

Altitude sickness - when talking about design of firearms there’s a huge difference between the benchrest world F class guns and something like an African safari rifle or in this case this rifle was originally built as an Alaskan rifle, which is why it’s marked Reliant, our Alaskan guide series rifle. Absolutely in the benchrest world, precise alignment of the firing pin, cocking piece, shroud, and chamber are vitally important, and several of our design features on the Prowess, which is our bench rifle incorporate features for this precise reason. The exterior cosmetics are a design and style choice based on appearance not alignment, but the internal features are different between our Reliant, or Black mamba rifles which are the Alaskan and African Bolt actions and the prowess or vigilant, which were our bench and long range accuracy rifles. When hunting things that can bite back and in extreme weather conditions, things like lock time play second fiddle to reliability and functionality. When a match score is all that matters precision accuracy design features take over. There is no perfect design that makes the most of accuracy and functionality and reliability, the design of the action therefore needs to incorporate what matters most for this rifle. Ferrari and Lamborghini build engines entirely different than caterpillar and I don’t want a Ferrari engine in my dump truck. It would be useless. I also I’m not gonna put a caterpillar diesel on the F1 racetrack. Both engines are the best at what they do, but they don’t work for a completely different purpose or use case.. we do make the design of the firing system on our dangerous game rifles as accurate as possible, but we don’t sacrifice reliability to gain a small amount of accuracy. on a precision rifle, we sacrifice the small chance of a malfunction for the ultimate alignment and accuracy.

Some very basic differences between a prowess and a reliant that I will outline: the prowess is a three lug action that is built from aircraft grade 7075 aluminum with a 15 -5 stainless steel locking insert. It uses an extractor that is very small and puts no pressure on the cartridge case. The Reliant is built from 15-5 stainless throughout the action and the bolt is a two lug design with a claw extractor. The action material and the extractor are totally different on these two designs, but their cosmetic appearance is quite similar, looking at just the action from a left-hand side view.

I hope that answers some of your questions