Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Stolle Panda

Stolle Panda F-Class dual port with the TG ejector and 20 moa rail.

This is the heart of the new 12 pound light gun.
Much prefer the brushed finished on this one than the old sand blasted finish they used to do.




I was told the Bix & Andy triggers were "better" than my old Jewells. I said BS no way.
I was wrong. B&A triggers are unreal.




This last pic shows the hardened insert at the primary extraction point.
I like them better now than I did 30 years ago.
I think Kelbely does a better job with more options



dave

Nice! Looks like Christmas came early. Nitrided bolt?

Yes sir.
dave

Unique serial #.
Is the nitrided bolt much slicker than the standard bolt ?

Hal

Ha first one they made in 2023.
I'll take it.
My first one is from 1988.
They had not thought of doing black nitride back in those days.
I can't say definitively that the black nitride makes the new bolt slicker than the old non-nitrated bolts. But it doesn't hurt.
I actually sent my 1988 Panda back to them a couple years ago. And had a right port added
Did the black stuff then and just have added it to any I buy now or any of my old actions I have them redo.
A good lube like TSI - 301 will slick up a Panda enough you will be hard pressed to tell if there there's nitride on it or not..
As a side note I took a short range BR rifle built in 1988 sent it in. And kelbelys modified it with an extra port and a new bolt.
Find someone else to do that..

dave

Day in and day out, Panda's have always been a great action. It was my first custom action back in the mid 90's, and I've had several since then. They adopted the Remington style ignition system and it has always performed.

Me too! My first 2 were built by Seely Masker.

Dowling built my first in 91, I believe.. It shot very well and I had several after that..

What caliber is your F Class rifle going to be ??

Dan Dowling is a great gunsmith.
It's been awhile but I used him on several builds.
Excellent results.
This Panda will be a 12 pound rifle for the light gun class for the 1000 silhouettes at Ridgeway.
This is what it will look like.

3 piece Walnut laminate from Carl Burnoski.
Chamber will be 6.5 GT.
dave

Cool rifle, what barrel length/profile is typically required to make the 12 pound weight limit with those big scopes? I know my Palma rifle is a little over that with just Iron sights.

Mike.
Yes it requires some trick moves.
I have another 12 pound and I had to get down to a light Palma to make weight. It finished at 25 inches
The new gun will run a Bartlien Rem Varmint.
Which doesn't look anything like a Rem Varmint.. looked like a middle weight Palma. And will finish at 28.
The idea is to get the 17 pound and 12 pound into the same kind/size of stock.
We have actually had 12 pound guns of one flavor or another win the championship.
dave

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a fun match format. Can the targets be hard to tip over?

It's addicting.
http://ridgwayrifleclub.com/
VBR.
10 crows at 850
10 woodchucks at 900
10 bobcats at 950
10 coyotes at 1000.
Average 150 shooters a match.
The coyotes weigh 40 pounds and a low hit with the 6mm Dasher/ BRA will sometimes not knock the target down.
I had 3 last season.
It's frustrating.
My 6.5 GT is doing well.
Dave

My 17 pound 6.5 GT.
It's not a Panda.
It's a Teddy that's been shortened.
And I regret doing it... But that was a long time ago.
CWP laminate Tooley Tracker with a 2 inch toe.
Hawk Hill HV 1-8.
Old Jewell trigger from back in the day.
March 10-60x52
Kelbely 30mm rings built in 25 moa.

dave

That sure sounds like a challenging match! Sure wish something like that was around my area. I still have a Teddy and will leave it intact!

I have two more Teddies and I'm eventually going to rebolt and right port both of them.
Those targets will keep you on your toes.
I've come home with 4moa dialed on.....
Shooting over a valley.
Conditions mid day will drive you nuts..

dave
...

Thanks for the info. That's a great turnout. When I shot the offhand version, the rams could give the same problem with low hits, especially in the wind which is why I was wondering.

The rim fire version.
40 60 80 and 100 meters .
Dave

I think I have an American Rifleman with the Panda on the cover. From the seventies irrc.

When I built my first one.
I was concerned about the body of the action being made of aluminum.
In the mid 80s I had Fred Sinclair build me a 222 on a Rem 40x action. I called Fred and asked him if he had seen any issues with the Panda action.
He told me that he had built quit a few of them and never seen any problems.
He also said that he had refurbished several of Ralph Stolle's first Panda actions from the early 70s.
Some of them had been in service for well over a decade with thousands of rounds fired.Rode hard and put away wet. These early Pandas were gone over thoroughly ,they basically checked everything.
Still straight still square. Bore hole was still round and not wore out of round. He said all they really did was clean them up. Install a new barrel restock them and send them on there way. He was impressed.
That was good enough for me.
dave