Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Martin Hagn

Just saw on another forum . One of the greatest gunsmiths Martin Hagn has passed . RIP

For those who are unaware of his work.

https://www.hagnriflesandactions.com/?lightbox=dataItem-kgzp3tw21

Sad to hear that. I have had the opportunity to handle some of his rifles and shoot one. They are impressive works of craftsmanship and art!

He was a friend I failed to visit recently, when I knew he was failing. He was an exceedingly skilled gunmaker and a complex personality. I liked him. GD

greydog;
Good evening to you sir, I trust you're all doing well out east.

From looking at the work he did, as well as hearing from folks who knew him as you did, your assessment of him being a skilled gun maker and a complex personality seems spot on.

May he rest in peace.

All the best to you all tonight sir.

Dwayne

The thing that always struck me was, Martin had to know how good he was but he was very matter-of fact when it came to discussing the things he did. He was very free with information and explained things to me just as if I would be able to easily do the same thing. He would ask my opinion on some aspect of gun building, just as if my opinion actually mattered! When I speculated about some process, he would usually be able to say, "I used to do that when I was learning". When he asked me to do something for him, I got the impression he was just trying to make me feel useful. We disagreed on some political matters, but he was OK with that.
I may have already told how I dropped by one day and he decided to show me how he made his checkering tools and his technique for checkering. He picked up a piece of drill rod, made a 20 LPI cutter, put a handle on it, and checkered the grip of a stock he was finishing up; all of this took a little less than an hour. To do the same checkering pattern would take me a day, and it would still need some touching up.
One time he had fitted a forearm and it ended up below the centerline on the barrel. Not by a lot but enough to notice. He asked if I thought it looked OK. I said it looked OK if I had done it but a client would expect more from him. His response was "Hmmph!" He then threw it away and started on another. Twice he made new actions to fit stocks which were finished. Once when it was warped by the heat treatment and once when it was lost in the mail. He accepted these setbacks with remarkable calm; at leat he was calm in my presence. GD

What a loss. I always hoped to meet him…. My condolences to the family.

This is very sad to hear. The custom rifle world has lost another giant.

I briefly met Mr Hagn in the early 1990's while he was visting Montana on some gun business. . A mutual friend knew I liked single shots quite s bit and one day asked me if I would like to meet Martin. I said "Hell YES!"

He was doing some pre purchase inspection of some high end pre- war German rifles that were to be re-patriated back to Germany for one of his clients. He was a very nice fellow.

I knew well of his history before the meeting.John Amber's articles in the "Gun Digest" educated me as to his talents. In my mind's eye I can still see that grainy Black and White photo in Amber's article showing Mr Hagn posing with an Alaskan Grizzy he had shot with one of his falling blocks in 300 Win mag . The stuff of a young hunter's dreams..:)

Never met him or knew anything about him, except that when I saw any of his work in magazines or online, it was exquisite.

Nothing I’d ever hope to afford, never even held one of his rifles, but could appreciate nonetheless.

RIP Mr. Hagn. I’ve enjoyed looking at your work.

Looks like stuff put together in an junior high metal shop.

Never heard of him before, but knowing what a beautiful rifle looks like and looking at the pictures, he certainly was a Master Gunmaker.

Canada has some great gunsmiths, that's for sure!

His work with Ralf Martini is legendary. Martini & Hagn Gunmakers Ltd made some of the finest Farquharson action and bolt action rifles. A real shame, one hopes he passed along some of his technical and artistic abilities to someone worthy of his gifts.

Another gunsmith once told me that Jerry Fisher had told him that he (Fisher) didn't feel worthy to carry Martin's lunchbox. An exaggeration, of course, but a hint of how Martin Hagn was regarded by others in the trade. He truly was in a different category.
Before Ralf Martini went to work with Martin, he stopped in and asked me if I thought it was a good idea. I told him it might be difficult but it would certainly pay off, and it did. Ralf also produces some exceptional work.
The thing is, Martin was not only an artistic gunmaker but a good technician as well. His depth and breadth of knowledge was often surprising to me. He never built specialized target rifles but easily could have. He showed an interest in those I made and toyed with the idea of trying his hand; he just didn't have the time. It is my loss that I didn't spend more time with him.
When many friends and contemporaries are leaving us, it reminds me of my own mortality and that friends are to be treasured. GD

greydog;
Good afternoon my friend, I hope you're all getting the mild weather we are a few valleys west of you and that you're all well.

In the early '90's, the Penticton Gun Show was held in the Sandman instead of the Curling Club. That's what I'm remembering anyways greydog, as I'd been bitten by the drop block single shot bug watching Quigley Down Under and didn't feel like waiting 5 years for a Shiloh Sharps.

There was a table there which had 3 or 4 sizes of the Hagn actions in the white on them. I remember chatting with a polite fellow with a German accent, but whether that would have been Ralf by then or Martin himself, I'm not sure.

The person let me handle and examine the actions and I'd have to say that they stand out for their precision and well perfection, even after spending a bunch of my working life on setting up and repairing CNC controlled overhead routers.

The action had to be felt and listened to in order to appreciate how well it was designed and then built.

Somehow other life projects always got in the way of the budget and their prices kept rising too, so a Ruger No. 1 was how I managed to scratch that rifle itch, but for sure it wasn't a Hagn.

Thanks again for some insight into Martin's life and work.

All the best to you all this Christmas Season.

Dwayne

I am very sorry to hear that. Martin finished a beautiful little .17 Hornady Hornet for me on his second to the smallest single-shot action about a year ago. I feel privileged to own it. Such a gentleman. Martin sent me photos of himself splitting firewood about a year ago. Well into his 80s.

Edit: I just visited Martin's website. He was 80 and died on the 25th of November. I hope somehow, someone can continue the production of his wonderful single-shot actions.

Very cool Tarquin, can you post a photo or 2?

Yes. Can you give me a day or two please? I'll have to figure out how to do it and set up some lighting and such, but I'll try to post by tomorrow evening. The wood is not super fancy and I could not afford engraving and gold inlay, but it's a beautiful rifle still the same (to me at least).

To me, the beauty in Martin's rifles is in the work he did, and he did his best, always. All the fitting and finishing of each part in that action was done by him. When he checkered that stock, he did it by hand with tools he made. His rifle were never just an assembly, they were a complete rifle, a total package. On top of that, he was a serious hunter who knew what a rifle had to do. I don't think it is possible to overstate his ability or his knowledge. Engraving and inlays were contracted, but the rest is Martin's handiwork and worth owning. GD

When I got my rifle from Martin, I called him on the phone and asked whether I should buy any spare parts like a firing pin and such. He laughed and said "you could shoot dat rifle ever day for a hunert years and it would still not wear out!" I believe him.

LOL

Can't wait to see your beautiful rifle, it already reminds me of my M1917

i will post photos tonight, for sure. Another funny story about Martin. I was trying to select wood for my stock and over several weeks, I sent him at least 30 photos of two-piece stock blanks that I liked. He scoffed at all of them. I finally found a 2-piece Claro blank that I really liked and was within my price range (really pretty mineral streaks with color and some fiddle back). I was sure Martin would like it too. I sent him photos. His response? "Hah! Dat firewood!" That's when I realized he wasn't building my rifle for me, but for him! So I started looking for wood that I thought he would like. After getting a sense of his preference, I finally found a 2-piece blank that I thought he'd approve. I sent him photos and he said "Yah. Dat good. I use this one." I think he was getting tired of me.

What type of wood was your/ his lol, final selection?

Some sort of Turkish I think. I don't know wood too well....and my photography sucks. I believe the photos of Martin and his wife splitting firewood were taken last winter. The action is nitrided and the barrel is rust blued.




https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/galleries/19019007#Post19019007


This gentleman has several Hagn rifles.

Wood comes from Home Depot 2"x6" rack.

I subscribe to the ACGG newsletter and they have a bit of a tribute to Martin. I have wanted one of his single shot based rifles for years.

Is there any way you can link that tribute or cut and paste it for us?

Not to hijack this thread, but I noticed that John Vest is no longer listed as a guild member. He has a Hoenig stock duplicator and does very nice stock duplicating. Is he still with us and still taking work, if anyone knows?

Beautiful rifle Tarquin, like the gentleman said, it's like owning a Picasso!

Very nice wood. What are you going to hunt with it?

Never met Hagn, but I talked to him on the phone over 25 years ago. It was before he started offering different sized actions. At that time you could buy an action. I hope someone continues the making of his actions. He had a brilliant mechanical mind. I have the Frank Dehass book, in which Frank praises Martins work. RIP Martin.

Thank you Killer. I thought it would be a nice little walking rifle for head-shooting pine hens (Dusky Grouse) here in the west and for squirrels and such. I want to see if I can get good with it using open sights---same as when I was a kid with a .22 LR (and good eyes!).

I enjoyed the video. The first time I saw the inside of one of Martin's actions I was impressed with the simplicity. The trigger system is beautiful, as is the extractor. He also made an optional spring loaded mount for the forearm which is very clever and simple in design. When you add to that the superb workmanship that went into every action, it's no wonder it comes out on top of this comparison.
I once hardened a whole bunch of trigger parts for him and, again, the simplicity of the parts and the system was very impressive to me. We had many discussions about how things worked or how they should be done and he always seemed to actually listen to my ideas and care about my opinions. I appreciated that.
Back to the video: I've been gunsmithing for nearly fifty years and it never occurred to me to use dish soap when removing recoil pads! Instead, I used oil, then used dish soap to clean it up. What a bonehead! I've always said, You can teach an old dog new tricks but you can't teach a dumb dog any tricks! GD

I heard a rumor yesterday (from a very reliable source) that another well-known and highly respected gunmaker will be continuing the production of the Hagn single-shots. I don't feel I'm at liberty to state the name of the gunmaker, but I'm sure it will become known in the next few months.

Awesome story greydog~

"Life is like a bunch of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get", you learn something new every day.

I am in the process of refinishing my M1917, and boy did I ever learn a lot from members here, great experience

All;
Good afternoon, I hope this finds each of you well and as ready for Christmas as you'd hoped to be.

Here's the latest from the same fellow in the above video.



Best to you all and Merry Christmas to you all.

Dwayne

Merry Christmas to you and your family Dwayne, and wishing you a healthy, happy, and joyous 2024!

PS: Looking at the rifles in your screenshot, do you think they are "Oiled and Waxed" or "Polyurethaned"

God Bless

Thanks for posting that Dwayne. Do you know the name of the gentleman in the video?

KillerBee;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day treated you all well.

As far as the finish which Martin used, I'm thinking that greydog would have a better idea or even Tarquin as to what it is, sorry.

Thanks for the Christmas greetings, may I return best wishes for you all out east of the big hills too.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all out there.

Dwayne

Tarquin;
Good evening sir, I hope that Salmon is getting the same mild winter that we are up here and that you're as ready for Christmas as you'd hoped to be.

Sorry to say I don't really know who the fellow in the videos is other than his name is Mike and I believe he lives somewhere in the Lower Mainland - so Fraser Valley or one of the many cities that make up Greater Vancouver.

That's a guess on my part, but he has talked about picking up firearms from a couple different shops down there so that's how I got there.

He has an impressive collection as well as a decent depth of knowledge for most of the stuff he shows in the videos.

All the best to you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Dwayne

Good call Dwayne!

Hi Tarquin, how was your beautiful rifle finished, is it an oil finish, and if so would you happen to know what oil he used?

Merry Christmas to you sir!

Thank you, Dwayne and Merry Christmas to you too. Killer, I wish I knew the finish but I do not. It is a bit too glossy for my taste. I've wondered about how to knock a little of the sheen off, but that would be messing with a Hagn original and additionally, I might screw it up! Still considering options though. Merry Christmas to you too KillerBee!

I hear you buddy, I am in the process of refinishing my M1917, which was sporterized with a Klaus Hiptmayer Original Stock, I went with an Oil Finish using 100% Pure Tung Oil. I had no choice but to refinish it, because I beat the chit out of it hunting for moose and deer. I had to give it the justice it deserved.

I asked because of the screenshot Dwayne posted in that video, looks shiny and has a Polyurethane or Oil/Wax finish.

I've looked at the photos you've been posting of your stock. I'm interested in wood finishes too. I want to finish up a nice piece of walnut so it looks like the finish on US military rifles, like the M1 Garand. I just bought a Mini-14 and some blanks of wood and I think I'll have one carved using my Mini-14 as a pattern and then try finishing it with a combo of beeswax/carnuba wax and linseed and tung oil. There are some interesting recipes on the interweb. The link below is to a guy who makes tabletops from Walnut slabs and uses some pretty exotic/expensive finishes.



https://www.amazon.com/Odies-Oil-Universal-9oz-Jar/dp/B07XKQ4LWX/ref=sr_1_5?crid=6MPHAYPMTVW9&keywords=odie%27s+oil+for+wood&qid=1703149144&sprefix=Odie%27s%2Caps%2C418&sr=8-5

Hi Tarquin, I watched the entire video, I find it fascinating how you can take a piece of wood and turn it into a thing of beauty!

Before I refinished my M1917, I had never done any woodwork as in zero lol. So before I started I watched many YouTube videos and asked the good people here for advice, and the members were so helpful!

I had dents and scratches in mine some bad ones! When my father gave me the rifle he told me to steam out dents if I ever wanted to refinish the rifle, had no idea what he was talking about, but after watching rifle refinishing videos it became clear that he was 100% correct so that is what I did. I had many dents and one very deep scratch, the scratch was deep so I had to sand it out, which I did after stripping off the oil finish with EZ Strip using 400 grit for the sanding. I was really nervous when I put sandpaper to the wood the first time because it's not like I was refinishing a standard off-the-shelf or mass-produced stock.

After all of my research, I went with 100% Pure Tung Oil for several reasons. The primary reason is that after I researched finishing compounds, I did not like the fact that most like Tru-oil are full of chemicals to speed up the drying process, and although most people finish their rifles with it, I wanted the best, not the quickest.

My two final choices were pure Linseed Oil and pure Tung Oil. I went with Tung Oil and in the end, I am really happy that I went with Tung because unlike Linseed oil it does not turn "Yellow" over time and it has better water-resistant properties and it smells great!

The downside is that the curing time of pure Tung oil takes a long time to cure, 30 days, so it is a way longer process. I have also decided to "Finish the finish" by rubbing it out with Pumice ff, then Pumice FFFF, and finally Rottenstone FFFF. Once that is done I am going to complete it with Renaissance Wax. Right now my rifle is curing and I will start the final finishing process on January 10th.

Because I have now had a tiny bit of experience I took a look at all of the cabinets in my kitchen, and now that I know what to look for I realized that the previous owners had not maintained the cabinets and they were dried out! So I did some research on products to use that you can simply wipe on and then polish with microfiber to rejuvenate and restore wood.

I found a product that works wonders, it's called "Touch of Beeswax" which is a solution of oils and beeswax and did that ever do a remarkable job! So instead of having to develop a recipe that works, Touch of Beeswax already does that for you, so I can recommend it as a great way to restore wood, without having to refinish wood by stripping, sanding, and starting from scratch.

I can post pictures of my rifle once it's finished if you like. I am going for a High-Quality Satin Gloss Finish, I am hoping the Renaissance Wax will get me there. Museums in England use it on all of their old and ancient firearms.

Yes. Please post photos of your rifle when finished. Which brand Tung oil did you decide on? I will check out Touch of Beeswax.

I used this brand and I love it, as mentioned I love the smell, my better half caught me smelling my stock and she figures I am cheating on her lol



After stripping and sanding and after Tung Oil application. Should look darker and deeper after I rub it out and finish it with wax.

Nice! Love the Bavarian hogback and schnabel fore-end. By chance is that for a Sako??

Hi Tarquin, good eye! It is a Ferlach Austrian Stock Design and you are correct that it has the Schnabel fore-end treatment, It's my favorite rifle of all time.

No, it is for my M1917, here is a before picture. I like the way the Tung Oil made the grain pop.

As you can see the checkering is loaded in oil, Olive oil to be exact. Knew nothing about oiling stocks, got drunk on JD after a moose hunt, and smeared olive oil on it lol. Never touch a rifle while you are parting with Jack!

Martin was pretty open minded when it came to finishes and I saw him use Varathane, spar varnish, Tru-Oil, and various mixes. He made everything come out well and look easy.
Klaus Hiptmayer was also a very skilled stockmaker. He used a French Polish or shellac on his stocks. He was also very quick and capable at checkering. Klaus roughed out his blanks with a hand saw and used no power tools that I ever saw. GD

That is cool that you know of Klaus greydog.

When he made my stock he lived in Quebec as did we, that was in 1973-74. His wife Heidi was an excellent engraver and artist, she designed and engraved the butt plate on my rifle.

As you know, Klaus's work was exceptional, and both of them were very skilled people. Canada has some hidden treasures hey?

Cheers to Canada's very best gunsmiths, and stockmakers!

Merry Christmas greydog, and wishing you a phenomenal and healthy 2024

Klaus and Heidi spent some time in Kelowna, in 1978 or '79. Klaus worked out of Guncraft in Kelowna. I was in Kamloops at the time but spent the occasional day in Kelowna, helping out. GD

Hi graydog, so you are a master stockmaker as well, and worked with the best artisans, pretty cool!

If I may I have a few questions for you.

If you were finishing a stock with Pure Tung Oil, would you finish it by rubbing it out with Pumice and Rottenstone?

I watched a video and the guy demonstrating how to "Finish the Finish", he finished it by rubbing it out with Pumice FF and FFFF, then Rottenstone FFFF. After rubbing it he waxed the stock with Turtle wax.

I am thinking of doing the same and bought everything, as mentioned I will be using Renaissance Wax, not Turtle wax. The alternative is to simply just wax it, without rubbing it out, and call it a day.

Would you do the same?

If you did rub it out with Pumice and Rottenstone, would you use water as the lubricant or would you use Tung Oil?

Would you wax the stock as the final application, if so which wax would you use?

Cheers

Does anyone know what work Martin did himself in his actions ? Like were they roughed out for him from forgings ? My Dehass book says Martin had the actions made by Hartman and Weiss. Too bad there was not videos made of Martin doing the work on his guns. He was a master of his trade. Alan

Martin generally got the investment cast receivers and breech blocks from Hartmann & Weiss, but not always! I recall one occasion when he bought a piece of two inch plate from the machine shop I was working in and built the receiver from that. In many cases, Martin finished and fitted the breech block to the receiver, by hand, using files. Later on, Ralf Martini performed this task for him, and did a perfect job of it, I might add. Martin made levers, trigger parts, and tangs from scratch. Later on, he contracted some fitting and finishing to people with CNC machines but continued to do some in house. There was, quite literally, no part he could not make, no task he could not perform. When he contracted others to do some work, it was often a matter of expedience or, I suspect, an act of kindness. When he asked me to lap a barrel for him, it wasn't because he could not have done at least as well himself; it was because he had identified one task I could do and not screw it up!
So, when you got an action from Martin, the amount of work he did might be unknown but he would not allow any work to go out which was not to his standards.
By the way, I am not, nor have I ever been, a master stock maker. In fact, my shop motto, when came to stock making, has always been, "Stockwork by Leeper, it won't make ya puke". GD

Would be cool to see some of your beautiful work!

G.D. Thanks for the info ! I enjoyed reading it. I always wondered how Martin machined the action for the breach block. I thought broaching or EDM. I would like to make an action one day. I made a Stevens favorite 25 years ago from scratch from 400 series stainless. I was inspired reading De Hass books. Merry Christmas!

Hi greydog,

Since you have worked with Klaus, I thought you may get a kick out of this.

After hunting with my father's M1917 that Klaus made one of his custom stocks for, I thought it was about time that I refinished it. After bush and prairie hunting with it for deer and moose for over 20 years, it was pretty banged up with deep scratches and bad dents.

So I completely stripped it, lightly sanded all of the deep scratches out, and steamed the dents out of the stock with an iron on high steam. After that, I put 20 coats of 100% Pure Tung Oil on it, then finished it with an additional 5 coats of Renaissance Wax.

I do believe that my father and Klaus would be happy with the outcome. It is my favorite rifle not just because of its innate beauty, but it is also an extremely accurate and deadly hunting rifle.

Can't imagine what it would have been like to have been shot by one in WWI or II! My crappy pictures do not do it justice.

Cheers ~

I'm fond of the Pattern of 1914 series of rifles. The Model of 1917 was the main battle rifle of the US Army in WWI. Col. Hatcher thought it should have been retained. It saw little use in WW2 . The Filipino army got surplus ones as did the British. The Canadians bought 100,000 for use in Canada. The zombies sent to Alaska were likely armed with it. The Filipino army fought the Japanese. The British didn't have much 30-06 ammo for theirs , so it was used for the Home Guard.

Hi downwindtracker2,

An interesting fact that a nice member here shared with me a few months back. I was very surprised!

The Sirius Patrol in Greenland is still using the M1917 when on patrol, because of their dependability. Pretty incredible since the rifle is 107 years old. I personally would have no issues using it in battle, because it is a Killing Machine, in the harshest environments!

They have killed a lot of Polar bears with them, chambered in .30-06.

You can read about it further here:

https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/m1917-rifle-in-21st-century-greenland/

Cheers ~

The only issue they have is the ejector spring breaking. 5 minutes with a Dremel and coil spring fixes that. Unlike other rifles of their era, the receiver is made of an alloy steel . Total interchangeability of parts. A very well made rifle.

Thank you for that info downwindtracker2.

I have never had an ejector failure or any other failure to date, and I have killed more animals with my M1917 than I can remember.

If that happens to me, I will definitely take your considered advice and do the replacement with the same. In the meantime, I will go by the saying “If it ain't broke, don't fix it.”

I kind of like slaying critters just the way it is, which is perfect!

Your dad may have done it already. It was a common Numrich kit for the "Enfield" . I had to modify the ejector on my P-14 as there wasn't a kit for the P-14 like the P-17. That little leaf spring breaks. It's not the extractor, it's the blade that flips the case out.

I doubt it My father would have told me.

He was quite the collector, which I am not. He took a lot of pride in his collection, myself, I am just a Peasant meat hunter.

He had a remarkable shotgun collection. One time at an auction in Maryland while we were goose and duck hunting on the Chesapeake Bay, he purchased two Punt Guns that were used in the early 1900's when hunting for the meat market was legal.

They were pretty cool.