Nesika made in Poulsba, WA
- Thread starter JD Mock
- Start date
varminthunter1
Club Coordinator
Nesika
Hi James.
I do believe these Poulsbo Nesika actions are every bit as good as the ones you have listed.
I have an extended J myself. Tolerances are very tight. It is a precision tool and worth every penny!
Glen Harrison was running Nesika at the time. and building a very fine product.
He now owns Defiance Machine (406 756 2727) still building actions of the finest quality! He is a great guy too,
feel free to ask him any questions, I`m sure he`ll help in any way he can.
Jeff Lewis
Hi James.
I do believe these Poulsbo Nesika actions are every bit as good as the ones you have listed.
I have an extended J myself. Tolerances are very tight. It is a precision tool and worth every penny!
Glen Harrison was running Nesika at the time. and building a very fine product.
He now owns Defiance Machine (406 756 2727) still building actions of the finest quality! He is a great guy too,
feel free to ask him any questions, I`m sure he`ll help in any way he can. Jeff Lewis
Butch Lambert
Active member
My J model was a POS.
Butch
Butch
N
NesikaChad
Guest
edited: 8.2.10
Hi James,
My name is Chad Dixon. For three years I was a production manager for Nesika. This is what I can share with you regarding these actions.
In Poulsbo Nesika was using an older Okuma machining center to produce receivers under the guidance of a very, very talented machinist named "Nick". That combination worked well but was a bit lethargic as it was an older machine. In Sturgis the actions are/were made on state of the art Kitamura machines. Nick left during the late 04/early05 timeframe and production of receivers was turned over to another individual. There was a learning curve during the transition as the # of employees increased considerably as did the volume of production. Many mistakes were made consequently.
During the "dark times" (05-07) there were some actions that made it out to the public that never should have. They were made from a different material. I believe most/all were returned and the problem was corrected. I doubt seriously the action you are interested in has this problem as the numbers made were quite low.
As for quality. In some ways Nesika outshines others and in other ways they leave a bit to be desired. Galling of the bolt lugs has historically been the Achilles heel. One has to always remember that they are tight tolerance actions and if they ever come out of the proper set up they are very likely to chew themselves to bits. The bolts are chromoly and the receivers are 15-5ph SS. One needs to understand this early on and ensure the action stays sterile. They typically don't fare well in abrasive/dusty environments.
Nesika actions of today. Many know that Remington is now in charge. They absorbed Dakota Arms and Nesika a little over a year ago. Around this time a very, very, very (like supa smart very) sharp machinist was hired from S. Texas. His programming experience with models and surfacing is top shelf! The programming/prints on Nesika actions had evolved over time. Engineering changes were made to drawings after Glen/Mike had left and no one still there knows the product well enough to determine if it was/is beneficial or not. So, in a case like this its often best to resort back to basics and that's what they've done. Archived prints from the late 90's were tracked down and the process of proofing out all the existing code again has begun.
My shop is less than two miles from Nesika and I've seen the new actions as they are delivered. For the most part they look very, very good. There are a couple small items that needed fiddling with and I expressed my comments to the engineering dept. This was about 8 months ago.
The point is, the black cloud that hung over that place for a long time during the old ownership is by and large a thing of the past. Remington didn't obtain the level of success that they enjoy by being stupid. They've put sharp guys back in charge and its working. I personally would have no hesitation ordering/owning/building a customer gun on a Nesika action made from 2009 and later.
I own my own shop now and service Nesika actions on a regular basis. If you decide to purchase a used one and want it looked over I'd be happy to help you. There's no "rocket science" to these things, but there are certain features that need to be paid attention to when servicing/setting them up. A smith who isn't familiar with them can inadvertently mess them up if following the more conventional "smithing" doctrine.
By and large I think they are a good product. Are they as good/bad as others produced? It's a highly debated topic and 99.9% of it is based more on opinion/emotion than anything else. For the most part the bullet has no idea/nor cares what name is on an action when the striker nails it in the arse and lights the boiler.
Good luck.
Chad
Chad Dixon
LongRifles, Inc
Sturgis SD
Hi James,
My name is Chad Dixon. For three years I was a production manager for Nesika. This is what I can share with you regarding these actions.
In Poulsbo Nesika was using an older Okuma machining center to produce receivers under the guidance of a very, very talented machinist named "Nick". That combination worked well but was a bit lethargic as it was an older machine. In Sturgis the actions are/were made on state of the art Kitamura machines. Nick left during the late 04/early05 timeframe and production of receivers was turned over to another individual. There was a learning curve during the transition as the # of employees increased considerably as did the volume of production. Many mistakes were made consequently.
During the "dark times" (05-07) there were some actions that made it out to the public that never should have. They were made from a different material. I believe most/all were returned and the problem was corrected. I doubt seriously the action you are interested in has this problem as the numbers made were quite low.
As for quality. In some ways Nesika outshines others and in other ways they leave a bit to be desired. Galling of the bolt lugs has historically been the Achilles heel. One has to always remember that they are tight tolerance actions and if they ever come out of the proper set up they are very likely to chew themselves to bits. The bolts are chromoly and the receivers are 15-5ph SS. One needs to understand this early on and ensure the action stays sterile. They typically don't fare well in abrasive/dusty environments.
Nesika actions of today. Many know that Remington is now in charge. They absorbed Dakota Arms and Nesika a little over a year ago. Around this time a very, very, very (like supa smart very) sharp machinist was hired from S. Texas. His programming experience with models and surfacing is top shelf! The programming/prints on Nesika actions had evolved over time. Engineering changes were made to drawings after Glen/Mike had left and no one still there knows the product well enough to determine if it was/is beneficial or not. So, in a case like this its often best to resort back to basics and that's what they've done. Archived prints from the late 90's were tracked down and the process of proofing out all the existing code again has begun.
My shop is less than two miles from Nesika and I've seen the new actions as they are delivered. For the most part they look very, very good. There are a couple small items that needed fiddling with and I expressed my comments to the engineering dept. This was about 8 months ago.
The point is, the black cloud that hung over that place for a long time during the old ownership is by and large a thing of the past. Remington didn't obtain the level of success that they enjoy by being stupid. They've put sharp guys back in charge and its working. I personally would have no hesitation ordering/owning/building a customer gun on a Nesika action made from 2009 and later.
I own my own shop now and service Nesika actions on a regular basis. If you decide to purchase a used one and want it looked over I'd be happy to help you. There's no "rocket science" to these things, but there are certain features that need to be paid attention to when servicing/setting them up. A smith who isn't familiar with them can inadvertently mess them up if following the more conventional "smithing" doctrine.
By and large I think they are a good product. Are they as good/bad as others produced? It's a highly debated topic and 99.9% of it is based more on opinion/emotion than anything else. For the most part the bullet has no idea/nor cares what name is on an action when the striker nails it in the arse and lights the boiler.
Good luck.
Chad
Chad Dixon
LongRifles, Inc
Sturgis SD
Last edited by a moderator:
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Don
Guest
How is that for the inside story, bet you do not get this kind of information from many other websites................................Don