Model  →  Cartridge  →  Finish Grade  →  Options  →  Complete

LEGACY RIFLE   ٠  STANDARD RIFLE   ٠  EAST AFRICA RIFLE   ٠   LIBERTY RIFLE

 

TECHNICAL DISCUSSION – Bolt Action Rifles

 

Each individual Empire Rifle is hand-built to customer order, with uncompromising quality guaranteed.  Our customers select the pattern of rifle, specify length of pull, barrel length, cartridge chambering, and add options ranging from telescopic sights to Rigby floorplates to Special Selection walnut –each rifle becoming a unique reflection of it’s creator’s tastes and individual hunting requirements. 

 

Every Empire Rifle has at its heart a Mauser 98 action.  Each 98 action is a rugged double square bridge design, machined for the utmost strength, accuracy and rugged reliability --hallmarks of the 98 action, the best choice for a serious hunting rifle.

 

Empire's 98L and 98S proprietary Mausers are CNC and EDM machined from solid steel billets, 8620 Chrome-Moly and 17-4 Stainless.  The double-square bridge receivers are machined to accept scope rings.  The bolt in completely integral, with the handle machined from the mass as opposed to welded or braised to the shank.   

 

All Empire Rifle models are available with oversized bottom metal ensuring high capacity. 

 

All Empire Rifle models are available for Left-handed hunters.

 

The EAST AFRICA RIFLE is built on the imposing M98 Magnum Mauser, reminiscent of the great Brevex action.  The 98M will handle the world’s largest cartridges, from the new ultramags to the venerable 505 Gibbs. 

 

Each action is hand-polished, and is  fitted with a match-tuned trigger, machined bottom metal featuring a straddle floor plate with the magazine release button inside the trigger guard.  The three position sear-blocking lateral wing safety is mounted on a full radius, gas-blocking bolt shroud.  The extractor claw is mated to the bolt body with a 20º guide groove, ensuring positive extraction –rearward pressure on the bolt literally cams the extractor blade onto the cartridge rim.  The ejector blade is oversized.  The receiver and bottom metal are secured using Hex head guard screws.  The Legacy Rifle, Liberty Rifle and Standard Rifle will single-feed rounds directly into the chamber. 

 

Every action is fitted for absolute concentricity with the centerline of the match-grade stainless steel barrel.  Customers can specify the barrel length they prefer at no additional cost. The barrel is finished with a recessed match crown.

 

Ceramic weatherproof coating is applied to all metal --this coating is aesthetically indistinguishable from a bead-blasted blue, is more wear resistant, and has 60% more lubricity than Teflon.  Traditional bluing is offered, we recommend a chrome-moly barrel for blued rifles to ensure a uniform finish on the receiver and barrel.

 

The barreled action is hand-bedded in either graphite-reinforced Kevlar or select walnut.  The Field Grade Kevlar stock is not a drop-in stock.  Kevlar, selected because it is stronger and lighter than mere fiberglass, is hand fitted to the action.  For rifles other than the Liberty, precise mating to the CNC-machined 6061-T6  aluminum bedding block is verified, and any minute adjustments are performed.  For added strength, the bedding block extends from the forend down through the stock’s wrist.  Hand bedding also ensures precise fit and finish between the Kevlar, the action, and the barrel.  A Pachmayr Decelerator pad and stainless steel studs complete the package.  As with barrel length, customers can specify a length of pull different from the standard 13 ½ inches at no additional cost.

 

Select quality walnut stocks are offered in Guide, Professional and Express Grades.  Stock grading is subjective, and every blank is different, so we strive to provide a standard stock meeting and exceeding the quality denoted.  Turkish, English (Claro), American, Bastogne, and Moroccan walnut are available, with quality running up through Exhibition to Special Selection.  The blank is fit to the barreled action, and finished by hand with minimum 22 LPI checkering and Pachmayr Decelerator pad.  The East Africa Pattern features an ebony forend and crossbolt. The walnut stock is of course cut to the customer’s specified length of pull.

 

Scope rings mount directly to the double square bridges --eliminating one point of potential failure.  Rings are included as standard equipment on all rifles, mounted directly to the bridges, and the highest quality express sights are mounted and regulated on Express Grade finish level.  Quick detachable rings and traditional claw mounts are offered as an option.

 

The accuracy typically seen in an Empire Rifle averages ½ MOA (One MOA, or Minute Of Angle, is one inch of deviation at 100 yards).  Use of the highest quality components, and our exacting gunsmithing practices, allows Empire Rifles to guarantee every rifle will shoot groups under one MOA with factory hunting ammunition, regardless of caliber, from 220 Swift to 505 Gibbs, assuming no barrel modifications.  We use hunting ammunition and exceed our competitors’ accuracy claims –no caliber restrictions, no handloads, no match ammunition.  The Empire Rifle Company guarantees all rifles with the ammunition you will actually use in the field without gimmicks or caveats.

 

Once the rifle is complete, it is extensively test fired for quality and to sight in the scope.  Once sighted in, the rifle is packed into a presentation case with its certificates, proof target, and field sling, and delivered ready for hunting.

 

We invite you to compare Empire Rifles, on component quality and workmanship, with any rifle on Earth.