Gunmaker's craft - ultralight rifles in wood and steel

[mehulkamdar]

These days when lightweight rifles have synthetic stocks, one company in Germany specialises in making ultralight rifles in wood and steel http://kesslerin.de/ Check out their Classic Neu in particular.

The US has individual gunsmiths who also do this very well, though this seems to be the only company specialising in lightweight "mountain" rifles in wood and steel.

Cheers!

Mehul

[Vikram]

Mehul,

I didn't see the pointer to Classic Neu though it was in bold. I went to the website and fell immediately in love with it. Looks lovely. Not overly adorned, if you know what I mean. Nice clean lines. I wonder how you dig up these little known to rest of the world rifle makers! Thanks for sharing.

Best- Vikram

[mehulkamdar]

Vikram,

Kessler are a very famous name in Central Europe though they are not that well known in English speaking parts of the world. The price of their rifles has gone up steeply in the past few years - the amount of work that they put in makes them as expensive as they are.

Yes, I like their rifles because they are understated. A gun with too much bling bling is not easy to carry in the field and hunt with!

Glad you liked the website,

Mehul

[vishosingh]

excellent rifles . i especially like the fact that the barrel length outside the butt is quite small.
thanks for sharing mehul

[Sujay]

At least this maker continues with open sights. In Kimber, I could find none.

Mehul, just as a matter of interest, how much do they cost in Europe ? And also, they might not be popular in US, but are they available ?

[badshah0522]

Very good Guns.

[mehulkamdar]

Sujay,

There is no comparison at all between the Kessler and Kimber rifles. The Kesslers run from Euro 3500 to 9000 depending on options and the top of the line Kimber, the SUper Americas run at about $ 1500. The Kessler rifles are a custom gun and Kimbers are high grade production rifles.

As far as sights are concerned, many ultralight rifles do not have them so that the gun builders could pare the weight down to a minimum.

Cheers!

[vishosingh]

hi mehul,
doesent the weight influence the recoil???

[mehulkamdar]

Vishosingh,

Most experts draw a line between felt recoil and actual recoil. There are ways of reducing the felt recoil in a heavy recoiling gun - the use of spring loaded recoil pads or pads of thick material that absorbs recoil like Sorbothane, the use of muzzle brakes etc. Also, the British perfected the design of stocks so that when heavy recoiling guns were fired, the energy would be dissipated by the barrel going upwards - the reason why you get heavy barrel rise in some rifles. These days, the trend is for straight recoiling guns and that is why other measures like I listed (partially, as there are many more) are used or else the rifle would literally pound the shooter by going straight back into his/her shoulder.

The problem with very heavy rifles is that carrying them could tire a hunter out, not a good thing if someone is going to walk long distances. That is why skilled gunsmiths employ a host of methods to reduce felt recoil in custom rifles and some of these methods trickle into production rifles though, of course, all of them could never be employed on a production gun. That is why a Kimber is a lovely production lightweight rifle but the Kessler is considerably superior in quality - the work that goes into a Kessler cannot be put into a Kimber if the Kimber is to be offered at it's current price.

If you like the idea of big bores and heavy rifles, then you must register at the Nitro Express forums. There are many experts there who are seasoned big bore gun shooters and the forums are also sponsors of the Big Game RIfle Club of Australia and daughter clubs in North America, Europe and other parts of the world. And, that is a very friendly crowd, always happy to advise and support newcomers with the collective expertise of it's senior members.

Cheers!

[Grumpy]

Really nice lines and lovely engineering.
I doubt that the Classic Neu is much of a lightweight......not being chambered for the 9.3x62 which is a substantial `thumper`.
Yes, good stock design and a decent recoil pad allow substantial weight savings although some American manufacturers are taking the lightweight concept to a ridiculous extreme with substantial magnum calibre rifles weighing in at around 4 1/2 lbs - quite ridiculous. Lighter calibres are available in rifles weighing 3 1/2lbs. The macho bang and recoil culture rearing its ugly head again. How they achieve such weights I have no idea - the barrel profiles must be such that they are very easily bent and the stocks made out of balsawood ( )
Lightweight composite stocks are rarely seen nowadays because they are just not rigid enough. When composite stocks are used it is for all-round all-weather use or for absolute rigidity in target stocks.
As I get older I appreciate the lightweight concept more and more. Lower back problems make hauling a 9 1/2-10lb ( including scope and mounts......and even more with the tripod ) rifle around less and less attractive. There`s no reason a .243 shouldn`t weigh 4 1/2 lbs and a 6.5x55 Swede about the same or maybe about 5 lbs - that would be a really punchy lightweight package. A falling block offers plenty of scope for losing weight and ejecting/loading isn`t much slower than with a bolt action.
- As you can see, I`ve been giving this matter some thought !

[mehulkamdar]

Grumpy,

There is a lovely Waffen DSchulnigg kipplauf in 222 Rem for sale here with a private seller at my club. The man is particularly unlucky the rifle is in the US - were it in Europe he would have sold it in a trice. It weighs only 5 lbs or so and is very nicely put together. Will try to post pics here if I get to meet him this weekend. He is a nice old man and we get together to have some beers sometimes.

Will look forward to hearing about what gun you decide on. I am certain that it would be superb whatever you decide on, finally.

Cheers, buddy!

[Grumpy]

The .222 Rem is a lovely calibre - quiet and intrinsically accurate. I`ve had a couple of Baikal IZH-18MH Kipplaufs recently, both chambered in .222 Rem and they were both ridiculously accurate.........cheap as chips, ugly as heck but very accurate. Currently I have an IZH-18MH in .223 Rem. Not quite as accurate ( but still MOA - and better ) but a little more `Ooomph` ........ and just as ugly ! Weight is around 7 lbs......which is substantial for a Kipplauf type rifle - especially one in .222 or .223 Rem - but Baikal chamber the rifle in calibres up to the 9.3x74R which is a substantial thumper.
I have been thinking about getting a Ruger No.1 for some time Mehul. It`s not the most elegant of falling blocks but is well-built. I know how to optimise the accuracy and the barrels are easy enough to turn down to a slimmer profile......and to rebore/re-chamber to another calibre.
By the way, talking about falling blocks, my BSA Martini `collection` is up to four rifles now and I`ve just about finished sporterising one of them and am about half way through a second. I`ve rechambered both to .22 Win Rimfire Magnum - a lot easier than messing about converting them to .22 Hornet. I`ll take some photos of the `finished` rifle when I`ve got some spare time and will post it here.

[vishosingh]

thanks for the info mehul..... it was the real tech info i was looking for.