PIERCE ENGENERING rifles
- Thread starter scorpio 25
- Start date
I shoot at marksmanship training center in Michigan. I see a few guys using peirce actions there as peirce is local and i believe is a supporter of the range.
They are nice. Not really sure what else to say about them. They work and all of the builds i see from them are extremely accurate.
They are nice. Not really sure what else to say about them. They work and all of the builds i see from them are extremely accurate.
If you are talking about Ryan Pierce at piercisionrifles then you are talking about some very fine rifles. I met Ryan back before he opened his business. He is a stand up guy, great shooter, and a hell of a gunsmith. He learned the trade from a hell of a gunsmith (shocking, I know), and Ryan will be building my next rifle.
Nah, he's talking about John Pierce of Pierce Engineering in Michigan.
John and crew are good to go. I've owned one of his tube actions and it was everything you deserve out of a $1,000 bill and then some.
He pinned a lug for me, and that is perfect work. I recently had them thread a..uh...well, a "very very special barrel."
It was threaded tighter than a mouse's ear, as I required, and delivered back to me earlier than expected at the price quoted.
As far as actions are concerned, they are truly full custom like Jim Borden. If you can dream it, they can make one. Compared to their primary business building high performance racing engines, firearms tolerances are relatively loose.
What more does a guy need?
I can think of ZERO reason to fence-sit about something coming from John's shop, and a major key in my opinion is that some very notable smiths agree, even if they make actions of their own.
I've used 3 of their actions since about 2009. One was a single shot, short action for an F-class rifle and it's fine. A definite upgrade over a trued Remington 700. Full 1.350" round chromoly receiver body and stiff. Good primary cam too for low body-taper cases like the WSMs.
The others were repeaters (one steel 2009 vintage, the one titanium 2014 vintage), both short actions. They too are just fine for what they are though there are a lot of options out there today with all sorts of bells and whistles that Pierce doesn't offer as standard. They seem kind of basic by today's standards for a $985 SA repeater.
I've had these receivers for nearly a decade and have shot more than 6000 rounds through them collectively and have only have one real actual failure in the field that was not operator error.
I don't really like the ceracoat finish they apply as it took a while for the bolts to run-in on the repeaters, with everything being bead blasted, lots of grease/oil helps, but attracts dirt in the field. In my examples, there are no "anti-bind" rails EDMed into the races and sometimes they'd "stick" working the bolt quickly in local steel matches when things got dry/dirty. On the two steel receivers, the retaining pin for the cocking piece on the firing pin was soft stainless which bent after a couple thousand firings and was a PITA to remove/replace when I was testing different firing pin springs. A minor complaint, but if I were not working at a machine shop at the time would have been particularly troublesome to disassemble.
On the .473" boltface titanium action the Sako extractor spring plunger hole was drilled towards the outside of the bolt body (maybe for a magnum bolt face?) and allowed the stepped plunger to slip over the extractor preventing it from snapping over the rim of a chambered round. They offered to look at it/fix/replace it but I didn't want to wait a "a few weeks" [sic] for shipping/service so I re-manufactured the stepped-plunger myself.
For me, Pierce actions work, but if I'm buying a new receiver to build another custom gun on, I'm going to buy something else what with the shear variety available today. 2¢
The others were repeaters (one steel 2009 vintage, the one titanium 2014 vintage), both short actions. They too are just fine for what they are though there are a lot of options out there today with all sorts of bells and whistles that Pierce doesn't offer as standard. They seem kind of basic by today's standards for a $985 SA repeater.
I've had these receivers for nearly a decade and have shot more than 6000 rounds through them collectively and have only have one real actual failure in the field that was not operator error.
I don't really like the ceracoat finish they apply as it took a while for the bolts to run-in on the repeaters, with everything being bead blasted, lots of grease/oil helps, but attracts dirt in the field. In my examples, there are no "anti-bind" rails EDMed into the races and sometimes they'd "stick" working the bolt quickly in local steel matches when things got dry/dirty. On the two steel receivers, the retaining pin for the cocking piece on the firing pin was soft stainless which bent after a couple thousand firings and was a PITA to remove/replace when I was testing different firing pin springs. A minor complaint, but if I were not working at a machine shop at the time would have been particularly troublesome to disassemble.
On the .473" boltface titanium action the Sako extractor spring plunger hole was drilled towards the outside of the bolt body (maybe for a magnum bolt face?) and allowed the stepped plunger to slip over the extractor preventing it from snapping over the rim of a chambered round. They offered to look at it/fix/replace it but I didn't want to wait a "a few weeks" [sic] for shipping/service so I re-manufactured the stepped-plunger myself.
For me, Pierce actions work, but if I'm buying a new receiver to build another custom gun on, I'm going to buy something else what with the shear variety available today. 2¢
I have a Pierce action on my 6.5CM rifle built by Accurate Arms and it works. No complaints and the rifle is a hammer. It is not quite as smooth as the Surgeon Action in my 6.5x47L rifle but at the pace I shoot, 5 rounds in 2 minutes, it is not an issue. The 6.5 x 47 is a Greg Tanner build and also a hammer. Different guns, the CM is in an AIAX chassis, the Tanner is a hunting rifle with a much shorter bbl.
Had them barrel my action back in August, went hunting and shot three matches with it so far. No complaints. 
Have two F Class rifles built by Pierce on their actions. One is the Multi Flat with the other being an FTR. Both excellent actions and beautifully made. Their customer service is excellent and a pleasure to deal with.
