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So, now I am even more baffled.
I have a rifle with DG471 sn. When sold, the seller said it is a DG Sportco action but with 3 lugs like Remi. New barrel with 700 rounds through it.
Was listed as job lot on another forum.
Now, I want to take it with me to Kof1M in Romania and for that I need a heck of info for Temp Permit to be issued by Romanian Police.
So naturally I went to Mik and asked him to give me the info needed for the permit.
And he replied that the action was never made in a gun by him.
So now I am stuck as I can not get more info, let alone a certification paper from manufacturer as per new EU Law to be able to apply for a permit to Bucharest and Ilfov county Police Force to be able to go and shoot in Kof1M in Ro.

So what makes a gun a Dolphin Gun? The serial number on receiver, chassis and bolt/barrel? The paper trail back to origins? A simple statement of a dealer which changed a barrel? And with the new regulation to haver ALL parts marked with a form of SN, either complete SN or parts of SN or alphanumeric codes traceable back to SN, including bolts, mags, stock, bipods and any other parts that goes with the gun, would it be the last dealer to work on the gun the new "factory" issuing the gun?

Offtopic:
To make matter worst, on top of Brexit new gun regulations (no more EFP), I have to deal with the new Romanian gun law which is in force since December 2020, and like any good law in that country doesn't has the Methodology of Enforcement of the Law issued yet. Basically the new law says that any gun has to have a paper trace from the original factory to present with stamps from all dealers that handled the gun. Which obviously here in UK is impossible as such stamps don't exists, let alone a paper to accompany a gun every time it changes hands.

Did you buy it as a job lot. Was the action supplied by Dolphin guns to another rifle builder. Has it been proofed if its been sent to the proof house they may have a record of who sent it to be proofed.
As you are finding out it really pays to do your home work if buying guns in the UK especially if they are not run of the mill and been built by an unknown gun smith. Any of the reputable rifle builders would have a full documented history of the build. If dolphin guns supplied the action to another rifle builder they would have records of who it went to.

From Dolphins web site.

We only supply the very best rifle actions on our rifle builds. Please don’t hesitate to ask Mik for advice on selecting the best action to meet your requirements.
All our actions are sourced directly from the manufacturers and we hold the largest stock of actions in Europe.
Actions supplied only as part of a complete rifle build.

That would suggest that they did not build that rifle.

They do sell actions but they are not made by them they are from well known rifle action manufactures and only sell them to the trade.

It sounds like you have bought a duff gun hopefully I will be proved wrong.

How much did you pay for it if it was cheap I suspect you have been had.

Ring Mik at Dolphin and ask him.

Alan

mikygpu wrote: I have a rifle with DG471 sn. When sold, the seller said it is a DG Sportco action but with 3 lugs like Remi. New barrel with 700 rounds through it.

Sportco went out of business in the 80's! Sound like you have a Sportco/Omark 44 target rifle...http://www.sportco.org.au/gallery2/omark-44-1967.jpg and https://www.thamesvalleyguns.co.uk/SportcoM44.pdf (s/n DG008)

I agree with Grant. The action you have is not what you were sold either knowingly or unwittingly. Was that the rifle off UKV?

Who made the action? That is where I start. I did not think Mik made rifle actions.

TIP - The Home Office say all rifle actions manufactured in the UK must display a date stamp or year of manufacture, so next time you pick up a rifle action have a closer look and I do not mean the gun makers proof either.

mikygpu wrote:So, now I am even more baffled.
I have a rifle with DG471 sn. When sold, the seller said it is a DG Sportco action but with 3 lugs like Remi. New barrel with 700 rounds through it.

What makes you think the rifle has anything to do with Dolphin? Is it just the 'DG' prefix of the serial number? When you say 'a DG Sportco action' - do you mean Dolphin Gun? Your use of abbreviations is confusing, especially since 'DG' is not routinely used as a trademark or even in discussion about Dolphin, as far as I've ever heard.

Anyway two letter prefixes, particularly with the first being 'D' are well documented, including DA, DC and DD, and there is specific mention of the DG prefix.

Serial numbers are discussed in depth here:
https://www.gunboards.com/threads/need- ... s.1041799/

Does it look anything like this:

So to answer all posts I'll do one large post with points for each post and include nicknames.
To clarify where my confusion comes from the fact that the seller said it is a Dolphin Gun with SN DG471. I therefore assumed that DG stands for Dolphin Gun. I wasn't aware that barrel chambering companies who put together a gun from an action made by someone and a barrel made by someone else don't put their own serial numbers. It is even more confusing how making of guns works in this country. NVM.

1. Alpha1 - In 1st email Mik said that the action was build in an action in 2014. I had another exchange of emails and now he said he sold the action to another gun smith that is long out of business in 2009 after he acquired it from a dealer retired in 2005. He said the action left his gun shop in a 6mm barrel and sporting stock. I have had no reply from proof houses yet. I'll pursue that venue as it seems to be the only route to go.... unless I get slapped with GDRP. Sounds like a duff gun, but barrel looks pristine on bore scope inspection. Nvm. I hope id shoots straight.... The scope is worth what I have paid for the gun so not much loss there.

2. 20series - I had emailed him, he replied with what I have stated above.

3. Sandgroper - After reading your links, yes, it looks like it is a Sportco action, re-barrelled in .308. Many thanks for the links.

4. SimG Yes it was. I bought the job lot for the 10-22 and the reloading equipment. I want to trace all my guns to origins and sell them only honestly and truthfully for that they are. The beauty of furlough and stay at home....

5. Ovenpaa - Mik told me the history of the action. Considering the SN and the posts above it looks like a Sportco action. I am yet to take the rifle apart and see all SN's and markings. I might do it tomorrow if I have time.

6. rox - The DG471 sn and the seller description made me think it was a Dolphin Gun. So again, there are liars at every corner and they are all for making money misleading in descriptions. Why is it only in this industry like this? Thanks for all info, now I know more about Sportco actions. I'll post pictures of action once I take the rifle apart from chassis.

Considering that until now I have dealt with BSA's, Walther's, Musgrave's, P14's, Steyr's, GSG's, Sabatti and all the well known names of gun makings, I am kinda confused when it comes to custom rifles. There is no unified data of SN's issued by one gun maker or another. I had traced 2 BSA's internationals back to the original date of making by SN alone. But if I get a Dolphin Gun or a HPS or GS Precision.
Southams told me something interesting. They said they would no accept a rifle like that in their gun auction as they are more or less untraceable.

Definitely I won't be dealing in custom rifles anymore as they are untraceable to prove a history. I had some enquiries about some Dolphin Guns from Ro but unless the customers orders them direct from Mik or any other barrel maker, I won't be getting involved at all.

I have included 2 pics here

Anything can happen twixt new and final owner.
I have a Speedmaster that had all the bells and whistles - according to the original build sheet. But as I went through the list it was clear all the best bits - the fluted barrel with Wylde chamber, the high spec Timney trigger, and so on had been robbed and replaced with good quality regular items.