With the increase in popularity of longer range hunting, target shooting, and “tactical” type rifles recently, there has also been a growing awareness of the short-comings and lack of quality control in some of the mass-produced “factory rifle” offerings in the market today.
If you are concerned about spending your money wisely, and would prefer to see your hard-earned dollars going into quality components and workmanship (as opposed to importer and dealer mark-ups), then having a “custom” rifle made could be a sensible and cost-effective option for you. This page has been recently added to update our site to more accurately reflect a lot of the work I am involved with now.
The high end walnut/blued rifles are still available for those who want or can afford them, but the vast majority of my custom rifle builds nowadays are McMillan-stocked, stainless metalwork, highly accurate bolt action type rifles. This is just what seems to be the most popular to suit the demands of the NZ market nowadays. We do still hold a few medium to high-grade NZ walnut blanks in stock to accommodate the occasional request for traditional walnut hunting rifle stocks.
We are authorised New Zealand agents for Stiller rifle actions (since 2013), and McMillian Fibreglass and composite stocks (since 1998). We are able to special order almost anything from these companies product lists which you may require.
Some of the reasons for ordering a custom rifle to be made for you by D.F. Maisey Gunsmithing Services:
- You get to choose the calibre/chambering that you want and not being limited to what is available off the shelf, or what the factory can provide.
- Custom actions or fully “trued” factory actions are options as a starting point.
- Match grade barrels only – no bargain bin seconds! The fitting costs are the same for cheap barrels vs quality barrels, and it is simply a risk to my reputation to fit anything of less-than-acceptable quality. Therefore, I normally prefer to supply and order the custom barrel blank from the maker on your behalf, but I can also fit customer-supplied barrel blanks. (Costs for fitting are based on the total time taken. There are no accuracy guarantees or warranties with customer-supplied barrels.)
- You get to choose the stock type and style, as well as synthetic, laminated, or walnut.
- ‘Blued’ or stainless. (though now (2023) we rarely fit any chrome-moly (blued) barrels – it’s 99% stainless barrels that we deal with now.) We can also offer Cerakote or Gunkote (‘milspec coating’) of stainless metalwork in stain black, or some other colour option such as tan, olive, or camo, etc. (Both of these coating applications are contracted-out.)
- Your choice of scope mounting set-up. In some instances we may be able to assist with optics selection from our NZ retail partners.
- Muzzlebrakes – for large calibres we are a NZ leader in muzzlebrake design and development in recent years.
- Silencers/suppressors – we do make our own line of suppressors now but can also supply some other high quality brands if specifically requested as part of a custom rifle build. Or we can install customer-supplied units provided they are of acceptable quality.
- Quality workmanship and construction, reliable function and feeding, etc. My experience as one of NZ’s only true qualified gunsmiths means I have the knowledge, personal commitment and work-ethic to ensure that your project rifle is completed to high standards, and is “fit for purpose”. (2023) Now over 25 years as a qualified gunsmith, and clocked up over 70,000 hours of workshop and machined time served.
- Value for money – if I am to supply an action, barrel, and stock, then the “ballpark figure” starting price for a custom build may be around as little as $5000.00 incl. GST (though most builds involving custom actions will be over the $7k mark now). This is already cheaper than, or comparable with, many factory rifle offerings. If you already have a donor action or stock, then the build price could be less. However, this all depends on the options and extras that you may choose, and as such we recommend you ask us for an estimate first. A lot of the custom rifle builds that we are doing now are based on Stiller custom actions, McMillian Stocks, Ultramatch stainless barrels, jewell triggers plus a muzzle brake or
suppressor supplied and fitted, are generally around the $6000-$8000 mark as an rough indication. But do email us if you require a more accurate estimate as individual build specifics will vary the price accordingly.
Accuracy is something that often comes up in conversation with customs rifles, such as “Can you offer me an accuracy guarantee?”. That’s a tricky one, as accuracy is the sum of many influencing factors. The rifle, ammo, shooter, quality of scope/mounts, and even weather conditions on the day can all play a part during the testing or evaluation of a new rifle. Load development can also take some time for particular rifles, and some barrels will just tend to prefer certain types of bullets over others. It also needs to be clearly understood that not everyone is a match winning benchrest or F-class shooter, and the ability of the shooter to be able to read wind accurately and shoot consistently will have a major influence on the results of any performance test. To be clear, is simply not all about the rifle. Accuracy is a combination of all things working in unison.
Based on the above facts (rather than any sort of sales pitch), I can assure any prospective clients that your new custom rifle will incorporate the highest quality components (and that they will in fact be the ones quoted for you not some cheaper replacement), the highest “best practice” standards of workmanship available, and that where possible I will endeavour to meet the estimated timelines for completion of your rifle build. The results of my many satisfied customers speak for themselves, over 20 years in the guntrade in NZ. In addition to this I have also won a National Championship for F-class target shooting, 3 years in a row now, proving to any doubters that I can also “walk-the-walk”, and am therefore well qualified to provide guidance and advice on the subject of rifle accuracy.
Chamber Reamer List
Click here to view our current chamber reamer list. Chambers not listed here may be available on special order.
Information on barrel fluting
Click here to view our fluting notes.
Kaimai Rifle Concept – .308Win (for subsonic and high velocity ammunition)
Suppressed rifle with a fast twist barrel for close to medium range hunting applications, with subsonic lead loads, or specialist brass controlled-fracture bullets. As well as all standard .308win high velocity ammunition. Click on the link to go to our dedicated website for the Kaimai Rifle for more information
More custom rifle images…
For more custom rifle images – see the Gallery Section.
