Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Dakota Model 10

docdb,

No problem. I need to also state that it's not my original idea. I got it from a group of Black Powder Cartridge Silhouette shooters at the range one day. It works great. I'm making one for every rifle I hunt with.

Jeff

It is also pretty simple for a good gunsmith to put a little "dish" in the top of the safety, whereupon a Dakota 10 can be cleaned from the breech end. A friend of mine had this done with a .257 Roberts. The safety still works (and looks) fine.

I've owned a Model 10 in 7x57 for the past five years, and I love the rifle. Every handload I've tried has stayed under 1-1/2" with 3-shot groups. More importantly, it puts the first shot on target from a cold bore. I've never experienced the problem cleaning from the breach that others mention; I just make sure the safety is in the "ON" (rear) position, and my Dewey coated cleaning rod doesn't shave at all.

I called and asked the shop guys about this, and they said the action had been revised to stop this problem. None the less, me no dryfire, and it's the first thing I tell someone that picks it up (if I let them).

Here's a small Montana coyote I called in and took with a Dakota .220 Swift

That's cool! The only coyote I've killed was in Georgia at about 300yds with a .300 RUM. It was quite a show when it was hit!
Don

BTW, that coyote is famous among the nurses and doctors and pharmacy reps that go through my office. I have it full body mounted and quite frankly it's infamous for it's stink! I keep a bottle of Fabreze for the warm days when it really puts off an odor.
Don

I have a friend that owns a Dakota 10 in 7mm Dakota. He can't hit a battleship with it. But, it's not the fault of the firearm.

Yes this is true. Mine had a broken pin when I bought it, very likely from people dry firing it in the store. I bought relacement pins but it had been dry fired enough that it had peened out the firing pin hole and the entire block had to be replaced - which Dakota did at no charge. They made it good.

You can imaging my consternation when I went to the range for the first time with the most expensive rifle I'd ever bought and instead of Boom all I heard was click! It took me a couple years to get over being mad at it.

Supposedly later models have a slightly modified pin arrangement that prevents breakage but I still would never dry fire a Model 10. It's easy to decock them and snap caps are cheap insurance.

I also would NEVER clean my Model 10 from the Muzzle! I just use a small bore guide that fits in front of the safety and a 22 caliber rod that has enough flex to not touch the safety when running the rod through. Maybe someone elses safety is taller than mine but it's not really that hard to clean it from the rear like you should...............................DJ

DJ,
Thanks for the advice. I'm heading to the range this weekend, and I'm going to take every rod I have, as well as the "snake"; and do it the "right" way. I'll also get snap caps.
I'm taking this model 10 to the Yukon in August, so I'll be working out at 200 to 300yds.
Have you (or any others) worked out the mechanics of getting off a second shot (not that I've ever needed one.....ahem) fairly quickly? I'd like to practice that some too. The only time I've ever tried, I was prone over a backpack shooting an antelope at several hundred yards. At the first shot (that fortunately was fatal) I was in a dust cloud, and had to roll over on my back to get the muzzle pointed up enough to let gravity eject the brass, then roll back to prone to insert the next round. It felt pretty clumsy, and I'd have lost sight of the game. Maybe I'll just grow a long finger nail to extract?
Don