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  #11  
Old 07-22-2019, 09:40 PM
jpstratton jpstratton is offline
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Default Predator

Take some pics,and post them up.Love the Dakotas!
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  #12  
Old 07-23-2019, 01:12 AM
SmokinJoe SmokinJoe is offline
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What HillBilly said is correct from what I have seen on my rifles; I do have one with the 3 groove barrel. Can't say that the Lilja shoots any better than the Douglas barreled rifles that I have, both seem to work pretty well. Pricing is a mystery to me because I see the Dakotas selling for about the same as a Cooper, but IMHO the Dakota is quite a bit more rifle plus the original pricing is quite a bit higher. I have bought nice used ones for $1500 and I have one, a 20VT incidentally, that I paid $3600 for brand new. If you know what a Jewell trigger looks like, you won't have any problem knowing what is in the rifle. The Rifle Basix have silver triggers, too, but they are bright finished whereas a Jewell is bead blasted grey and it looks completely different from a Rifle Basix or Remington. BTW, these rifles have not been discontinued, just renamed for whatever reason. I don't think you can get a better varmint rifle than the Dakota unless you go the complete custom route, and then it might be debatable. Hope these tidbits help.
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  #13  
Old 07-23-2019, 01:46 AM
Ganderson Ganderson is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokinJoe View Post
What HillBilly said is correct from what I have seen on my rifles; I do have one with the 3 groove barrel. Can't say that the Lilja shoots any better than the Douglas barreled rifles that I have, both seem to work pretty well. Pricing is a mystery to me because I see the Dakotas selling for about the same as a Cooper, but IMHO the Dakota is quite a bit more rifle plus the original pricing is quite a bit higher. I have bought nice used ones for $1500 and I have one, a 20VT incidentally, that I paid $3600 for brand new. If you know what a Jewell trigger looks like, you won't have any problem knowing what is in the rifle. The Rifle Basix have silver triggers, too, but they are bright finished whereas a Jewell is bead blasted grey and it looks completely different from a Rifle Basix or Remington. BTW, these rifles have not been discontinued, just renamed for whatever reason. I don't think you can get a better varmint rifle than the Dakota unless you go the complete custom route, and then it might be debatable. Hope these tidbits help.
Thanks for the info Smokinjoe, the wood is very good...kind of a "striped" grain...as stated, a couple of dings but they can probably be worked out. After looking at it again, it has the Rifle Basics trigger and not the Jewell. I will be picking it up next week. Would you by chance know what the chamber neck diameter is? I would like to use Lapua brass without neck turning...one poster here said he did not have any issues using Lapua, but if the chamber neck is .232, that is right on the edge of Lapua brass...my loaded rounds of Lapua are .2315/.232. Thanks

Gene
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  #14  
Old 07-27-2019, 03:13 AM
hemi hemi is offline
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I’m a big fan of the Dakota Predator/Varminter as well.
I have one of each in the Sporter Deluxe version. The Predator
was built in in 2005 and came standard with a Douglas barrel
and a Rifle Basix trigger. It is chambered in 20 Tactical and fired
case necks measure .2315”
The Varminter was just recently built in 20 VarTarg and custom chambered
specifically to utilize the Lapua 221 Brass. I sized the neck at .2335” which
might require a skim cut. It also has a Jewell trigger as an option.
My understanding of why Dakota replaced the Predator with the Varminter
was because of a copyright issue. The rifle did not change, just the model
name. However since my rifles were built 14 years apart there are some
minor differences.
Current prices for a “standard” Dakota Varminter range between $1,895
to just over $2,000 on the Guns International website. Those are listings
by First Stop Guns in Rapid City, SD. The most recent builds come with a
high quality SKB hard case and that explains the price difference.
The current price of a Dakota Varminter was dropped about $600 a couple of years ago rather quietly to spur sales. Since that is not well known used prices
don’t always reflect that. Frankly not many used Predator/Varminters come up for sale. My guess is, beside not many produced over the years is that owners
really like their Dakotas and are not interested in selling.
I fall squarely in that camp.
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  #15  
Old 07-27-2019, 03:51 PM
Bayou City Boy Bayou City Boy is offline
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I haven't bought any recent Dakota rifles as Charlie Kokesh and his antics turned me off on Dakota Arms quite a few years back. Now Remington has them which is maybe a step up........... I'm still betting that Don Allen is not happy looking down on what is left of his original Dakota Arms Company.

I believe that the rifles talked about here are still built around what used to be the Nesika Bay actions which are very good rifle actions. I have no idea if the current Dakota quality is still the same quality as the original Nesika actions were when Kokesh/Dakota gobbled Nesika up. The two custom Nesika Bay actioned rifles that I have are extremely accurate.

The only thing that I find to be aesthetically lacking on the current Dakota rifles is the lack of checkering on many of them. When you shell out $2K plus for a rifle with nice wood, you would expect it to be checkered. At least I do. Without checkering, the rifles look unfinished to my eyes.

JMO - BCB
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Last edited by Bayou City Boy; 07-27-2019 at 04:25 PM. Reason: clarification..................
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  #16  
Old 07-28-2019, 04:14 PM
hemi hemi is offline
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BCB,
I agree I like the checkering as well, and both of my Dakotas have checkering but it is difficult to see in the photo because of the lighting. The Dakota Predictor/ Varminter deluxe model comes with upgraded wood and checkering. The 2019 varminter in 20 vartarg is on the left and the 2005 20 tactical is on the right. I am very happy with the quality of both.


http://saubier.com/forum/picture.php...pictureid=1486

Last edited by hemi; 07-28-2019 at 04:16 PM.
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  #17  
Old 07-28-2019, 04:18 PM
Bill K Bill K is offline
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Those are two very fine looking rifles. Good wood is hard too beat.
Bill K
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  #18  
Old 07-28-2019, 05:04 PM
Ganderson Ganderson is offline
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Will be picking the rifle up tomorrow(Monday).
Regarding BCB's post, I was told that this/these rifles are actually Nesika actions, just "branded" as Dakota Arms.
I can't seem to find when they actually came out with the Predator...does anyone know the first year of production on them? Thanks

Gene
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  #19  
Old 07-28-2019, 06:15 PM
Bayou City Boy Bayou City Boy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganderson View Post
Will be picking the rifle up tomorrow(Monday).
Regarding BCB's post, I was told that this/these rifles are actually Nesika actions, just "branded" as Dakota Arms.
I can't seem to find when they actually came out with the Predator...does anyone know the first year of production on them? Thanks

Gene
Following Don Allen's death and when Charlie Kokesh ran Dakota Arms, Nesika was gobbled up by Dakota in much the same manner that Dakota gained exclusive rights to TK's creations.

My question was are the actions still the same quality that they were under the original Nesika Bay company banner.

-BCB
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I miss mean Tweets, competence, and $1.79 per gallon gasoline.

Yo no creo en santos que orinan.

Women and cats will do as they please. Men and dogs should relax and just get used to the idea.

Going keyboard postal over something that you read on the internet is like seeing a pile of dog crap on the sidewalk and choosing to step in it rather than stepping around it.

If You're Afraid To Offend, You Can't Be Honest - Thomas Paine
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  #20  
Old 07-28-2019, 06:17 PM
hemi hemi is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganderson View Post
Will be picking the rifle up tomorrow(Monday).
Regarding BCB's post, I was told that this/these rifles are actually Nesika actions, just "branded" as Dakota Arms.
I can't seem to find when they actually came out with the Predator...does anyone know the first year of production on them? Thanks

Gene
Not 100% sure when they began building the Predator. My serial #PRO152 was built in 2005 if that tells you anything. It did come with a Douglas barrel whereas they started with a Lilja barrel. Smokin Joe may have some thoughts on this as well.
When Dakota bought Nesika, Glen Harrison came along for a couple of years. Glen was the leader in designing the Nesika actions and he led the design of the Dakota Predator action. It looks like a downsized Nesika action. Nesika was moved to the Dakota Arms facility in Sturgis, SD and it seems was just integrated into the building of all the Dakota offerings. Glen moved on from Dakota/Nesika after a couple of years and eventually started Defiance Machine and their actions are outstanding.
Today the Dakota Arms facility in Sturgis is also, The Remington Custom Shop, Marlin Custom Shop, and Nesika. They have there hands full. I have visited the facility 3 times in the last 2 years while passing through. They have always treated me very very well........however my recent Varminter build did have many delays and complications along the way. That's a whole other story. Having said that, every rifle I have seen produced while there were outstanding works of art and those that build them very talented.
They are fine "shootin irons" and I am proud to own two beautiful examples.
hemi
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