Hello:

Can anyone give their impression of the Heym bolt rifles, particularly the SR21? Their doubles seem to be among the finest and their website looks like they make a high quality rifle. Can anyone give me some first hand info? Are they worth the money? Looks like alot of fine rifles can be had in that price range, ie. pre-64 Wins, used high-end customs, Coopers, Kimbers, etc. Thanks for the help.

I had one in my hands a year and a half ago and did not buy it, have been kicking myself ever since.Other than the pores in the wood could have been filled a little better the rifle was a quality piece of work and the action was like glass on glass when you worked it and I liked the safety as well.

A friend of mine in Germany speaks highly of their workmanship as well.

I do think they are worth the money and would probably buy the next one I got in my hands.

I have owned a few of them. They are very good quality but it seems over a period of a few years since the went away from the Mauser claw extractor they haaave had trouble ejecting brass. There were several changes in the the years, and I don't know years these were made but I think through the late eighties and nineties, that changed the shape or the location (around the bolt) of the Sako style (sort of) extractor. Some of these would cause the ejected rounded to hit the scope or just case it to flip out swap ends and fall back into the action. I have had two very lovely SR21 that did this. One was a 7x57 mannlicher and the other 7x64 with standard stock and 23.6" barrel. I have had others in my hands with similar type problems. At one time I had three different guns of the same model,in my hands and all three had different shaped extractor lips and/or different position of extractor and two of the three had ejection problems (both of mine). I really like the rifles but couldn't handle those difficulties. I haven't seen any of the recently made guns and surely this has been remedied by now. It seems obvious that Heym recognized a problem with them with the changes. They are very high quality and good looking rifles.

I found one used a couple of years ago, but it was in a caliber I didn't want - 300 Win Mag. I liked the quality and balance - much better than the Sako Deluxe I compared it to. It actually felt lighter than the Sako, and the gunstore hangers-on were surprised when my kitchen scale showed it was heavier.

Armed with that info I went looking for a new one in 270 or 30-06, finally phoning a dealer in West Virginia. He basically told me he wasn't interested in selling the SR-21 or SR-30, since it took him just as much time to sell one of those as the pricier doubles.

I then wrote off the Heym, based on the assumption that if I had trouble just buying one, what kind of support could I expect with accessories or repairs?

Nice rifle, but not worth effort for me.

The ejection of spent brass would be something to check out before making a purchase considering the price of the Heyms today.

I spoke to a fellow in Texas about 9 months ago who said he was a Heym importer and he seemed to be an upstanding kind of guy so I would not be concerned with not getting good factory support.

I would still buy one provided it ejected.

My hunting partner has a sr20 .243 win with double set triggers unfired. It's a fine piece of craftsmanship. I am trying to swindle it out of him but he knows what it is worth.