Recently, I had the pleasure of hunting at Donald Hill’s Oak Creek Ranch in Missouri. Before heading out, I contacted Jay Jarrett at Jarrett Rifles about refurbishing my Beanfield .280. We had to scramble but Jay managed to get it back to me a few days before my trip.
Jay mentioned to me last year that they were really getting into restoring the accuracy to rifles, and not just those built by Jarrett.
“We found that a lot of people who own our rifles, have several more rifles,” Jay told me. “Sometimes 15 or 20. A variety of makes and models. Some they don’t use for one reason or another – either they don’t like the way it shoots, the way it feels, or the stock, or whatever. So, we’re trying to get the word out that we do other gunsmithing work in addition to building custom rifles.
Kenny in the shop
“If someone wants to send us their rifle, we can do a free evaluation, and let them know what we recommend and the cost. With older rifles, we do a complete cleaning. A lot of people think they do a good job of cleaning, but you start getting cleaning solvents down in that trigger mechanism and over time that stuff breaks down and becomes a gum. It can cause your trigger not to reset when you re-cock the action. And, of course, that can cause a misfire.
“So, we take the trigger apart and clean it. The barrel is cleaned. Then we check the bedding and the pillars; check everything mechanically with the rifle; and in some cases, we repaint the metal. Some people want us to repaint the stock. Some want to upgrade to Talley rings and bases. We also do muzzle breaks, and whatever else they might want or need.
“Regardless of the brand, nine out of ten times, if the rifle doesn’t shoot right, it’s because of the barrel. Or if it’s not bedded properly, or sometimes the rings and bases are an issue – there are all kinds of little things that can cause a rifle not to shoot properly. If we can’t find any of those type things wrong, it’s likely the barrel.
“First we look for corrosion of the barrel. It may have throat erosion, which really means your barrel’s worn out. If we do enough work to the rifle – if we do a barrel job and a stocking job – we can actually turn that into what we call a Jarrett Conversion, where we actually pillar bed the new barrel back into the customer’s stock, do all the action work, and a load development on that rifle, so at the end, for about $2850, we’ve taken their rifle and made it something they can use with confidence.”
Preparing to sight in. Sub ½” MOA at 100 yards is the goal.
I asked Jay what it would cost these days if someone wanted a Jarrett Beanfield rifle built from the ground up. He said if a customer supplies them with a Remington action, as I did nearly 20 years ago, they can build that rifle for $6,050. If Jarrett has to find the Remington action, the cost is $6650.
“Of course, we have expanded our line,” Jay continued, “with the Ridge Walker, the Wind Walker and the Professional Hunter being some of the most popular new models.
“And no matter what kind of work we do on somebody’s rifle, or if its brand new, we sight it in before it goes out with the custom load developed especially for that rifle. I sight it in at 200 yards, then check it out at 600 to make sure everything’s correct.”
Jarrett gunsmiths at work
I asked Jay to tell me what was done to my rifle before my trip. He said they disassembled everything, then checked the barrel. They thoroughly cleaned the action and the bolt, and bead-blasted all the metal to allow for a protective paint coating of phenolic resin. They even re-engraved it after the barrel was polished before the new coating was baked on. While they were at it they replaced the Leupold bases and rings with Talleys and swapped out my stock for a new textured black model. Then Jay took a short walk over to the range where, using my original custom Jarrett load, the .280 was zeroed in.
When I arrived at Oak Creek www.oakcreekwhitetailranch.com, I had ultimate confidence in my firearm. When the hunt was over, my confidence had been confirmed.
Regardless of the manufacturer, the Jarrett gunsmiths can restore the accuracy to your rifle. And with most big game seasons closed, now’s a great time to get it done. To set up a free accuracy evaluation, call 803-471-3616. www.jarrettrifles.com.