Steve Beaty Ivythorn Sporting

Olaf

Well-Known Member
Hi, having purchased a new rifle I thought I'd post my experience of dealing with Steve Beaty from Ivythorn sporting.
I decided to sell my Sako 75 in 6.5x55 in favour of a .30-06 a couple of months back as I needed a more powerful all rounder that could be used on driven Boar in Germany, as well as on the fallow that I shoot here. So, I put the 75 up for sale, here on this site, and sold it to one of the SD's now even happier members last month.
I decided that it would be a good move to buy a rifle with the option of interchangeable barrels and as such decided to look for either a Sauer, Mauser or Blaser etc. I mentioned this to a friend of mine who pointed me in the direction of Steve Beaty at Ivythorn Sporting as this is his one of his specialisms.
I had a good conversation with Steve and felt encouraged by his thorough and proactive attitude towards dealing with my enquiries. Steve is a breath of fresh air, he runs his business in a way which makes him actually worth trading with.
I asked Steve strait questions and he gave me strait answers. So, having almost decided on a Sauer I took a look at his stock on line and found a completely different rifle - a Schultz and Larsen M97-DL. I rang him back and Steve was a superb guide, he offered me a brilliant deal on it, which I happily accepted, and he gave me a 6 month warranty plus a load of extras.
Having now worked out 20 or so home loads, and put them through it, I've found 2 blisteringly accurate loads, both of which plop one bullet on top of the last and the rifle can only be described as unbelievably accurate. Whilst working my way through the powder charges the rifles poorest group was less than 2" and that was during my bore sighting stage !. The rifle has virtually no recoil to it either thanks to the Pes moderator that Steve threw into the deal with the rifle; its extremely quiet too. The rifle shoots so smoothly that upon taking my 1st shots with it I actually thought there must be something wrong with my home loads because it sounded and felt like only the primers had gone off !
I was also given two sets of Apel swing off mounts and a 5 shot and 3 shot magazine which will be very handy when dealing with my friends Boar problem this Autumn.
Unfortunately, I uncovered a small issue with the trigger after my zeroing session, however, I rang Steve who then had it picked up from me and he had it corrected and on its way back to me within 48hrs.
I simply had to write and say that I'm very impressed by Steve and his assistant Shane, they do a good job well and I heartily recommend their services to anyone who is in the market for a decent rifle.
Steve did not put me up to writing this and I rarely would go to the length of writing such an arse kiss report, but, Steve deserves the praise, he has made me a very happy customer and I wish him and Shane and his little son a fantastic future and great success.

Kind regards, Olaf
 
There is 1 member who might not agree with others opinions on steve beaty:rofl:
I found him helpfull and had plenty of time and advice given freely.
 
Steve is a top bloke!

Did you get to see his stock of zebrano wood? :drool:

Ha ! No, I just did it all by phone as he's too far away for me to drive over. He sent it down to a RFD with no obligation to buy it and no charge either so it was an easy deal to make really.
Have you ever worked with Zebrano ? It smells like cats pee pee ! I've done a fair bit of cabinet work with it, it can look very stunning indeed. How are the stocks ?
 
Great gun that S&L, proper quality at a sensible price. Great looking weather resistant stock too
 
Great gun that S&L, proper quality at a sensible price. Great looking weather resistant stock too


Thanks, I like it and think its build quality is superb, Scandinavian design at its best. Where did you see the rifle ?
 
Olaf, enjoy your rifle; I have enjoyed mine from Steve (a Sauer 6.5x55, and others plus mods).
I have found Steve to be first class in all my dealings with him.
Even better things to come from Ivythorn Sporting, and a shame you are not closer as you could have enjoyed the excellent facilities he has.
 
Always good to hear about pleased customers!
Much more important than always complaining one business partners...
This one sounds like a real customer service in the best way to think of!!
 
Ha ! No, I just did it all by phone as he's too far away for me to drive over.

How can Cambridge to Street be to far for a decent gun :shock:
Steve's is without doubt my favourite gun shop, yes it may be nearly 4 hours away, but well worth the drive.

Neil. :)
 
Ha ! No, I just did it all by phone as he's too far away for me to drive over. He sent it down to a RFD with no obligation to buy it and no charge either so it was an easy deal to make really.
Have you ever worked with Zebrano ? It smells like cats pee pee ! I've done a fair bit of cabinet work with it, it can look very stunning indeed. How are the stocks ?

​I hear you brother!
It is how I imagine elephant pi$$ to smell like.
Very sharp tools changed regulary help, a nice even cutting pass works a treat!

As for stocks. We should have the pro hunter prototype ready for Norma 308 to test in the next week - ten days.
we also have a 202 restock in zebrano. A Mauser 66 in English walnut. A stock for Mr Beaty himself! Then We also have three scratch designs ongoing! All that plus the FSW stock system. I am sure I am missing something out too!

Plus I just spent another small fortune upgrading the last two motors! So they now need a reclibration before we start cutting stocks agian.

If you really want a tough wood to cut! Have you ever cut roparla lacewood? I have! It sucks and cuts like jara!
During a conversation with Steve. We talked about lacewood! He just told me I was plain nutts! He is right! But boy after the thousands of sanding sheets you use! The finish is amazing!
 
I bought a Sako 75 25.06 from Steve - the rifle was as described on his website, he provided excellent service and I would certainly use him again. He took a rifle in part exchange, and inspected it more thoroughly than I have seen any other dealer do in the past, which I found reassuring.
 
​I hear you brother!
It is how I imagine elephant pi$$ to smell like.
Very sharp tools changed regulary help, a nice even cutting pass works a treat!

As for stocks. We should have the pro hunter prototype ready for Norma 308 to test in the next week - ten days.
we also have a 202 restock in zebrano. A Mauser 66 in English walnut. A stock for Mr Beaty himself! Then We also have three scratch designs ongoing! All that plus the FSW stock system. I am sure I am missing something out too!

Plus I just spent another small fortune upgrading the last two motors! So they now need a reclibration before we start cutting stocks agian.

If you really want a tough wood to cut! Have you ever cut roparla lacewood? I have! It sucks and cuts like jara!
During a conversation with Steve. We talked about lacewood! He just told me I was plain nutts! He is right! But boy after the thousands of sanding sheets you use! The finish is amazing!

Ho ho ho, Elephant **** eh ! I have not worked with Roparla before. These days I only really sick to the classic cabinet grade European hardwoods as I like to keep the provincial craftsman ethos alive.
Most of my bread and butter work now is bespoke. I go in and measure up for period buildings or high end new builds where something rather choice is simply the only option. I'm lucky to have this as my trade and be in a gifted position of being able to use my hands to make things like I can. I don't claim to be any better than others, I work in my own league, because I've not seen anyone else, in the past 20 years that I've been a woodworker who approaches and completes a design and build project the way I do.
I've seen several people try and copy me and sadly I've watched them all fail and go off to do other things. Their problem being that they have always tried to make money doing it Its not all that simple sometimes. Part of the payment for having this type career is the projects you get to take on, the lifestyle you get to lead, and the people you get to know; it can be a rich experience at times.

Happy hunting and may your fingers stay intact and cut free, Olaf
 
I picked up a moderator and some ammo from Steve when I had collected my X-Bolt from Avalon guns, an unbiased discussion on the merits of different moderators, used his range to zero my rifle, great advice, i would not hesitate to reccomend him to anyone.
 
From my one dealing with Steve he is a straight forward, honest and easy man to deal with plus he is not afraid to stock some of the out of the ordinary top end kit. Nice web site too. Recomended!
 
It is a shame that his adverts on Guntrader have the caps lock stuck on, they are almost unreadable. Really 'offputting'.
 
I found Steve Beaty to a great bloke ! Initially... I bought my first centrefire rifle from him in January this year. It arrived at my local gun shop for me to look at. It was a mauser M03 in .243. On examination of the rifle I found the description on guntrader to be inaccurate and the rifle to have several "issues". Firstly the stock was touching the barrel at the fore end (not mentioned in the ad), secondly the three marks on the stock (mentioned in the ad) turned out to be thirteen (after that I lost count) and there were holes in the barrel where open sights had been removed leaving gaping opportunity for rust.
Well after a long discussion with Steve I decided to buy the rifle as Steve persuaded me that the marks would come out with an iron and a damp tea towel, secondly the holes in the barrel would be no problem as he would send me grub screws to fill them, or a set of open sights to put back to fill them, lastly he said I could take a piece of dowel and some glass paper and, after removing the barrel I could rub it down so that it wasn't touching the stock - easy! He also said he would send me a mauser cotton baseball cap in brown.
Well the upshot is he has not sent me the baseball cap or the grub screws ( he sent a pair of Sauer open sights- to see if they fit, they didn't so i sent them back).
Its now June and I would like to go out with my rifle but don't want to get any moisture in the screw holes.
What was agreed has not been honoured. I have written several times. His lack of interest in fulfilling our agreement has soured my whole first rifle experience and I won't be buying a single thing from Ivythorne Sporting or Steve Beaty again.
I await the arrival of those things you promised me Steve, until then, you are a liar and a cheat and doing this to a novice, buying his first rifle is an underhand thing to do as I am now stuck asking other mauser dealers/gunsmiths about how to fill the holes :(

Andrew
 
I found Steve Beaty to a great bloke ! Initially... I bought my first centrefire rifle from him in January this year. It arrived at my local gun shop for me to look at. It was a mauser M03 in .243. On examination of the rifle I found the description on guntrader to be inaccurate and the rifle to have several "issues". Firstly the stock was touching the barrel at the fore end (not mentioned in the ad), secondly the three marks on the stock (mentioned in the ad) turned out to be thirteen (after that I lost count) and there were holes in the barrel where open sights had been removed leaving gaping opportunity for rust.
Well after a long discussion with Steve I decided to buy the rifle as Steve persuaded me that the marks would come out with an iron and a damp tea towel, secondly the holes in the barrel would be no problem as he would send me grub screws to fill them, or a set of open sights to put back to fill them, lastly he said I could take a piece of dowel and some glass paper and, after removing the barrel I could rub it down so that it wasn't touching the stock - easy! He also said he would send me a mauser cotton baseball cap in brown.
Well the upshot is he has not sent me the baseball cap or the grub screws ( he sent a pair of Sauer open sights- to see if they fit, they didn't so i sent them back).
Its now June and I would like to go out with my rifle but don't want to get any moisture in the screw holes.
What was agreed has not been honoured. I have written several times. His lack of interest in fulfilling our agreement has soured my whole first rifle experience and I won't be buying a single thing from Ivythorne Sporting or Steve Beaty again.
I await the arrival of those things you promised me Steve, until then, you are a liar and a cheat and doing this to a novice, buying his first rifle is an underhand thing to do as I am now stuck asking other mauser dealers/gunsmiths about how to fill the holes :(

Andrew


If you didn't like the condition of the rifle why did you buy it? I presume it was sent to you on approval as is his usual arrangement as far as I have been told?

Why not fill the screw holes with something temporary while you source grub screws? Could drip some wax in them, then could just melt out carefully if you want to remove it?
Relieve the stock to float the barrel, it's not that difficult.
then you're sorted and can get shooting.
Better than getting bitter and twisted and means that you control the situation rather than waiting for others.
 
That's not good, and I'm a little surprised at Steve for treating you like that, my experience of him has been great, but I do travel down there and not rely on a delivery service.
As for the holes, if your sure they are dry I would fill them with hard wax, a black crayon would do a decent job.
I would last pretty much for ever, but certainly long enough to source a set of screws, which will not be invisible, and without some form of sealer will not be moisture proof either.

Neil. :)
 
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