Saubier.com  



Go Back   Saubier.com > Saubier.com Forums > Small Caliber Discussion Board

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-18-2006, 11:57 AM
ogre6br ogre6br is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Melbourne Australia
Posts: 349
Default WWhat ever happened to Rampro guns/actions??

Looking at a 2000 Edition of SCN and it had a Rampro action on the cover- it looks really good- what happeeded to the company that made those actions??

Are they still avail under another name??

thanks

later
p
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-18-2006, 05:05 PM
vmthtr in Green Bay vmthtr in Green Bay is offline
Supporting Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Green Bay, WI
Posts: 511
Default

Not sure what really happened to them, but they are gone and I beleive that someone out west bought the tooling and is going to start making them again. I got to shoot one in a handgun midgrip 6 BR and it was SMOOOOOTH.

Mike
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-18-2006, 07:14 PM
Cajun Blake Cajun Blake is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Youngsville, LA.
Posts: 775
Default

Rampro actions were owned by John Illum as he produced a sweet little action quite a few years ago. For the money, they were hard to beat as action prices were in the $500 range. Shooter Corner used to advertise them for sale as I'm not sure if Bob still has any actions left. The custom rings were hand fit to the action as no base was required. Very nice look although rings and actions were not always a perfect fit.

Many who frequent this board have either owned or still own a Rampro action. John had a good thing going BUT he was not the smartest businessman. Talking on the telephone often kept him from building actions and rifles, which resulted in lengthy delays on delivery times.

As I understand, John had some business partners who knew very little about custom actions. They invested their money in John's action building equipment in order to get a good return on the finished product. As business slowed and their financial expectations were not met, the partners basically locked up the shop and sold whatever they could to recoup their money. Machinery, tooling equipment, actions, etc.... were all sold as it got pretty ugly.

Not exactly sure how much John knew about this as I haven't seen his name mentioned in quite awhile. I'm pretty sure he was responsible for "Shooters News" magazine which lasted for about 3-4 years ?? Very similiar format to SCN yet catered to the benchrest shooting crowd. Lots of promise, yet folded overnight and left some people pretty pissed who had invested in the magazine.

I beleive several contributing forum posters here lost their deposit money and complete rifles which were being built or serviced by John. Basically overnight, the phone lines were disconnected and people waiting on orders were not told a thing.

About the same 3-4 years ago, Brad Stair of Wasatch Precision (Performance ??) bought the rights to re-introduce the new Rampro actions under his company name. Things have been a little slow as I think the actions are now offered for sale yet in limited configurations ... i.e.e R/R SA 700 style action. Much of the delay was centered around the action bolts as Brad had Dave Kiff (PTG) produce some of the first bolts.

here is an address , ph# for Brad's company. Not sure how current this is as I obtained it from a google search.

Performance
3621 S. 4700 W
West Haven Utah 84401

(801) 731-8152


Maybe someone else can share more details. I'm pretty sure Alex C., Ken R., Brooks, Snake Eye, and several others had Rampro built rifles.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-18-2006, 08:54 PM
Alex Alex is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Tidewater, Virginia
Posts: 1,700
Default Blake is right on

I have 4 Rampros, and all are quite nice. John was a superb machinist, but was not a good businessman at all.

There were three actions. The smallest was suitable for Hornet and Fireball sized cases, a medium was just right for up to a 22BR, and the large was 22-250 and up worthy.

I liked John's work, but he woul even call ME every so often to talk about guns. Always got my work done on time, but when he moved things got a little dicey fairly quickly. I had him do some work right at the end and think my rifle was the last thing out of the door before it closed.

Alex
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-18-2006, 09:24 PM
Chuck Miller Chuck Miller is offline
Supporting Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: North Texas - Gods Country
Posts: 3,855
Default Brad Stairs

I've got 2 of the Rampros, a 20VT on their smallest action, and a 6.5-284 on their STP action. Not sure if that is the largest action they make, it fits a Rem SA footprint. Brad Stairs is the one I use for my Rampro needs. He's currently making me a set of bases for my STP using the Kelby dovetail. Here's his email addy, perfguns@gmail.com.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-19-2006, 12:53 AM
drewh drewh is offline
Supporting Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,152
Default Wasatch Actions

Brad is in the process of reintroducing these as Wasatch actions. I have 2 of them and am very pleased. The current size availabe is about 1/2" shorter than a model 7.
Drew





Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-20-2006, 01:26 AM
R.G. Robinett R.G. Robinett is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 16
Red face CB, I have taken the liberty of "editing most of your comment here" . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cajun Blake View Post
Rampro actions were owned by John Illum as he produced a sweet little action quite a few years ago. . . . .

. . . .Not exactly sure how much John knew about this as I haven't seen his name mentioned in quite awhile. I'm pretty sure he was responsible for "Shooters News" magazine which lasted for about 3-4 years ?? Very similiar format to SCN yet catered to the benchrest shooting crowd. Lots of promise, yet folded overnight and left some people pretty pissed who had invested in the magazine. . . . .
Assuming that you have the Rampro makers name correct, he is/was NOT the same John who managed "SHOOTERS NEWS" - that was John Gammuto. R.G.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-20-2006, 01:39 AM
Cajun Blake Cajun Blake is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Youngsville, LA.
Posts: 775
Default

thx for the clarification mr robinett. Been many years since the SN fallout as I definitely got my "Johns" mixed up. Perhaps b/c Mr Illum advertised in SN i mistook him for being responsible for the mag. thx again for clearing that up.

cb
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-20-2006, 02:23 AM
drewh drewh is offline
Supporting Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,152
Default Paul

That particular one is chambered in a short necked variety of .222 Rem (Harrier) which comes from having a .250nk .223 reamer available, and having .222 Redding competition dies already. A repeater is in process, but not available yet.

Drew
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:07 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.