There was an earlier model called an Angel Hawk -- somewhat rare and I have never seen one. What does the bolt look like? The 80 designates the year first produced ie 1980.
This is the bolt. Appears to have an Omark #2 Head. Bolt handle appear to be similar to Omark but without the Omark collar where it attaches to the bolt body. Gas port backward of the bolt head pin is oval rather than round. Serial number under the bolt handle in same place as an Omark. Has a serial starting with a "D" like some Omarks. Has serial number on top of cocking piece that doesn't match the D number under that handle but matches one on the action. No other markings on the action.
Looks like a "Dale " made in South Australia. Maker used to take an Omark or Angel bolt and wrap his own receiver around it. Receivers were much heavier that an Omark with integral lugs. He made several versions including one that had a large square bedding area up front with ( I think ) 4 take down screws in the square, as well as rear ones. The bolt does not look like a standard Omark or Angel bolt so if it is a " Dale " then it is a version where the bolt was also manufactured. Richard Braund may be able to shed more light on this.
Cannot be an Omark as the action is too long and to attach that barrel an Omark would need an adaptor.
It is definitely not an Angel as I can see many differences.
I do have a pictures of a Dale action, and I would have to agree with Barry that that action is a Dale. Look to where the barrel and action meet. There is a distinctive taper.
If you cannot get these links to open then copy and paste them into your search box, it should produce the pictures.
Intriguing question; Bernie Dalton the maker of the Dale rifle action was ever experimenting, and as Barry Davies suggested created several variations which relied on a donor Omark bolt or in some cases a proprietary one piece bolt. However, I have not seen an example such as this; Bernie Dalton is a club mate of mine and I have owned 4 Dale actions and seen many more, none of which resemble this particular action. My guess is that this is a bespoke rifle action made by a home enthusiast with an adapted Omark bolt. Tim
Yes, intriguing. The bolt is not an Omark as the omark had a slot cut almost full length for the bolt stop lever. Bolt handle looks like an Omark but without the extra shroud for silver soldering. And this one is bolted on. Cocking piece Shroud is also different to Omark. Hybrid of some sort.
Bolt handle appears to be silver soldered on plus the screw. Apparently it has a very large unusual bedding lug. The cocking shroud/piece seem to be the most different aspect to an Omark bolt. The action displays machining marks and is also as hard as hell.
The rifle belongs to a mate. I will attempt to get some more photos with it removed from the stock. I did tell him that I knew of an excellent forum where I was guaranteed to get an accurate identification.
Last edited by 6.5x55ai on Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ok; still intrigued! I have a number of Dale Match actions which have a large forward recoil lugg with 4 bedding screws and another bedding screw at the rear of the action, but as I said earlier they don't resemble this action and bolt. Would like to see a side and base/underside view of the action. Tim
More pics. The rifle was bought along with an Omark at an Auction. The Omark was listed as an "Omark" but the other was just listed as a "Target Rifle". The Omark and this rifle have similar triggers which may be NZ made "Kiwi" triggers (Ken Meade?)