Legendary Arms Works Rifles May be the Best American Rifles for the Money

If you’re looking for a well-made, all-American bolt-action rifle with a lifetime guarantee–the gun’s lifetime, that is–and a guarantee of sub-MOA accuracy, you’d do well to take a look at the rifles being made by Legendary Arms Works (LAW).

I had a chance to speak with the guys from LAW at the SHOT Show 2015 Range Day and fired a couple rounds downrange with one of their rifles. No big deal–just squeeze and nail a steel target 484 yards away. Yawn.

I’m oversimplifying, of course. But all I really had to do was steady up on the target (not that tough since we were using a good rest) and squeeze the crisp trigger when the crosshairs were lined up.

These are really fine rifles. They are made with the 704 action developed by Ed Brown of 1911 pistol fame. The LAW folks now own the right to manufacture the 704 action, and it’s largely a mixture of the best stuff from a number of well-known rifle actions.

There’s the round bottom receiver, a la Remington 700; the side-pivoting bolt-mounted three-position safety, reminiscent of the Winchester Model 70; he controlled round feed, which the Mauser 98 made famous; a bolt release that reminds me of a Browning A-Bolt; and a quick-disassembly bolt that’s its own animal.

The actions and included scope mounts are all machined in Pennsylvania, USA out of 416 stainless steel and hardened to a Rockwell hardness of 42. They can be had in short or long lengths, and chamberings range from 22-250 Remington to 458 Lott. The one I fired was chambered for 308 Winchester, which is their most popular cartridge.

Barrels are described as “match grade, lapped, stainless steel.” Some are fluted and some come with muzzle brakes.

All models currently come in gray or black Cerakote. Trigger guards are one piece, with magazine floor plate release inside the trigger guard. The Closer and the Professional have aluminum trigger guards, and the Big Five’s guard is made of steel.

Chamberings are “available in all common calibers, no extra charge for magnums.”

Above, I mentioned the fine trigger on the rifle I fired. All models come with “custom tuned” Timney triggers. Timney makes great triggers and have done so for decades.

Stocks are made by LAW’s sister company, High-Tech Specialties, of hand laid fiberglass “with aluminum bedding blocks for added strength and accuracy.” Each stock wears a one-inch Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad on its rear. Each stock has a speckle paint finish.

I was told that the street price for The Closer, the lowest-priced LAW offering at this time, was expected to be around $1399. I’ll be honest, I can’t justify spending that much money for a rifle, but if I were in a position to do so and needed a fine bolt gun, I would seriously consider LAW.

Where else will you get such a well-made, well-designed rifle, with every single screw and spring (literally lock, stock, and barrel) made in the USA, with a lifetime guarantee, with an accuracy guarantee, Cerakoted for extreme use–for that kind of money? Nowhere that I know of.

Check them out.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.