Serengeti Media Reviews

Serengeti Rifles established a renowned reputation for exceptional customer service. As an example, Clair Rees wrote an article titled Serengeti Walkabout in Successful Hunter magazine, www.successfulhunter.com , May-June 2006 edition, stating: "Serengeti provides the best customer service of any custom rifle-maker I’ve seen".

Serengeti has achieved recognition in numerous industry media articles by the most respected and widely read writers, including:

David E. Petzal, Field & Stream Magazine, February 2006

“Serengeti… builds laminated walnut stocks that are stable yet look like natural wood…. How natural? My gun dealer, who handles many high-grade firearms, didn’t spot the laminations until I pointed them out…. [T]his is first-class work. But does it shoot? With its original factory stock, my Weatherby shot .828 inch…. It now groups the same load in .720 inch. I shot the newly stocked rifle at the beginning of a tropical September, when it was so hot and humid that the targets wilted in my hand. A second session at the end of October, with the temperature 58 degrees lower and the humidity 62 points less, did not move the point of impact.”

John Barsness, Rifle Magazine, January 2006 –

“[A] couple of years ago an itch started for another [rifle], thanks to Serengeti Rifles. These folks make what might be termed "cutting-edge classics," bolt-action hunting rifles that look like the custom sporters carried by a previous generation with elegant, hand checkered walnut stocks and blue-black steel. This sort of rifle has largely been abandoned by most modern hunters, who believe in the reliability and practicality of synthetic stocks and stainless steel. The Serengeti stocks, however, are actually laminated from fancy walnut and are just as stable as synthetics. The steel is stainless but coated with a modern, super-thin compound far tougher and more weatherproof than rust blueing. Serengeti makes rifles on about any bolt action, but given the choice, the Montana 1999 is used, a classic controlled-feed action produced in Serengeti's own hometown of Kalispell, combining the best features of the 98 Mauser and Winchester Model 70. So you can have reliability and looks too. I had to own one. You know the disease…. Even though a Serengeti doesn't cost as much as a complete Jerry Fisher or D'Arcy Echols or Dennis Erhardt "true" classic, it costs enough that one would probably have to suffice. This meant the rifle would be my new PBGR (Primary Big Game Rifle)…. With the little scope in Talley mounts, the rifle weighs exactly 8 pounds, the classic weight for a classic sporter. The hand-lapped bore, of course, shoots plenty accurately. And the downsizing feels just right. Something tells me this little rifle might hang around a little longer than my previous PBGRs. That's often what happens when we make such choices after decades of trying.”

John Haviland, Rifle Shooter Magazine, January 2006 –

“Montana craftsmen don’t believe that strength must be sacrificed for beauty…. The rifle is, in a word, concise. It’s as light as a thin cloud, yet its stock provides a sure grip for steady control. The rifle’s stock is strikingly beautiful, yet the laminate running through it makes the stock more stable and stronger than an ax handle. Add a layer of SereKote on the metal right down to the smallest part, and the rifle is perfectly protected from scratches and the elements. The TigerCat, like all Serengeti rifles, is focused for an intended use and accomplishes it with good looks and strength.”

Wayne van Zwol, Peterson’s Hunting Magazine, October 2005

(See also Guns & Ammo, October 2005) – “The rifle came four months after the initial order, which is about two months quicker than the average turnaround. Having waited years for custom rifles, I consider this quick service…. The stock profile has an easy grace that translates to quick pointing. I like the slim, open grip and the slender fore-end. Checkering is clean, even and sharp. Properly crisp on the edges, and flat where it needs to be, the stock hugs the metal like skin on a trout. The steel grip cap, Talley swivel bases and thin Decelerator pad are expertly fitted. The hard satin finish has a few minor inclusions, but only the unforgiving eye of a dour gun crank will find them. Overall, this Montana/Serengeti rifle is both striking in appearance and a delight in the hand…. How does it shoot?.... The first holes touched; the last shot enlarged the group to just over 5/8 inch. Hoo boy. Pity the deer and the pronghorns.”

Ron Spomer, Sporting Classics Magazine –

“If you’ve been searching for the perfect blend of beauty, performance and dependability, a Serengeti rifle might be your match…. Carry them in rain or snow all week. Use them to paddle your canoe. Serengeti stocks stay straight and stable because they’re laminated without looking laminated…. I nearly fell in love the instant I opened the [case]…. When I picked up and shouldered the rifle, it was infatuation at first grasp. Slim, trim, curved in all the right places, the lively little rifle balanced perfectly, came to cheek and shoulder as if custom molded…. [T]his rifle could hunt…. It is a delight to carry and swing into action.”

John Barsness, Rifle Magazine, November 2004 –

“That’s the heart of Serengeti rifles, a stock made of beautiful wood that’s essentially unwarpable.... The stock tested… had already been tested once by Rifle’s Editor Dave Scovill, who sank it in a bathtub for a week. The stock retained its dimensions…. Since it had already been bathtub-tested, I performed some ‘field research’… by... heading to South Africa. There it was hunted in climates ranging from the dry Karoo... to the wet Cape.... It worked just fine in both places, taking game ranging from springbok to kudu, mostly with a single shot each, at ranges out to nearly 400 yards.... It follows, then, that any rifle that groups 10 factory rounds into a minute of angle is accurate, accurate, accurate. That’s exactly what the Serengeti... did with the Federal load.... This was despite a variable crosswind. Vertically, the group measured under .75 inch…. Pretty is as pretty does. These rifles do.”

Indeed, several of the most highly regarded and knowledgeable writers and professionals in the business have already chosen Serengeti for their own rifles, including Craig Boddington, John Barsness, Ron Spomer, and Clair Rees. In a recent ranking of his top ten hunting rifles, John Barsness characterized his Serengeti Walkabout as “my favorite of favorites” (Rifle Magazine, November 2007).