The Model 5 Bolt-Action Rifle is a Southpaw’s Dream Come True
Mike Morreale has crafted the perfect rifle just for lefthanders.
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As a kid, and a victim of the savage discrimination left-handed shooters have to live with, I swore that one day I would have my revenge: I would build the best hunting rifles in the world and make them left-handed only. It didn’t work out for me, but for Mike Morreale, a native of upstate New York, it did. As a second career, he founded Bedrock Industries, which sells the Model 5 bolt-action rifle. It is as perfect a gun as you are going to find in this vale of tears, and it’s made for left-handers only. Model 5s are built by John Noveske, a gifted young gunsmith who heads up Noveske LLC.
THE LOWDOWN Noveske assembles top-line components (Pac-Nor barrels, Nesika actions, Jewell triggers, High Tech stocks) and offers you an almost limitless number of options: 60 chamberings from .17 Bench Rest to .510 Wells; eight stock colors; two metal finishes; blind magazine or floor plate; muzzle brake or no; your choice of barrel length and contour; barrel fluting or no; length of pull; trigger weight—you name it. For the money, you get what is the ideal rifle for you and you alone. There will probably not be another like it.
HITS A number of rifles in this price bracket are as good, but there is nothing better. Noveske does virtually perfect work. The Model 5’s functioning is flawless, its accuracy outstanding. I tried Federal Premium Vital-Shok ammo loaded with 160-grain Trophy Bonded bullets and got groups averaging 1.2 inches. One handload with the old Nosler 140-grain Solid Base bullets averaged .749 inch, and another with 160-grain Swift A-Frames averaged .811 inch.
MISSES Noveske rifles are not cheap, but you are going to get something that is worth every cent you paid.
TEST-GUN SPECS
PRICE: $4,380; options add dollars
CALIBER: .280 Remington
WEIGHT: 8 lb. with scope
BARREL: 22″, No. 2 contour
STOCK: Graphite-fiberglass
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TRIGGER PULL:** 3 lb.
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MAGAZINE TYPE AND CAPACITY:** Blind magazine (four rounds in .280; fewer in larger calibers)
BEST GROUP: .339″ with 140-grain Nosler Solid Bases
CONTACT: 541-956-1822 lefthandrifles.com