By Ron Dan
The average hunter doesn’t need a Gunwerks rifle because you don’t need a $8k rifle to hunt whitetail out of a blind in Georgia. Gunwerks doesn’t build rifles for the average guy and they’re perfectly fine with it. However, if you’re going to push hunting to the limits in some of the harshest terrain in the world and you need that one single shot to count, the money you spend on a Gunwerks will be one of the easiest investments you’ll ever make. I’ve been a fan of Gunwerks for years and have been blessed enough to spend time at their new shooting and manufacturing facilities in Cody, Wyo. One of the most valuable shooting classes I ever took was with the talented instructors at Gunwerks, and that’s where you really start to appreciate some of the finer details put into these guns.
Gunwerks is known for making some of the finest hard-use bolt guns out there. These aren’t your collectors’ guns that are full of fancy engraving and meant to sit in a safe for their lifetime. These guns are purpose built from the ground up to withstand the toughest conditions and perform at the highest levels, all while being some of the most compact and lightweight guns out there. The big tagline for Gunwerks is “1,000 yards out of the box.” That may not mean anything to some of you, but if you’ve gone out and tested guns past 800 yards, there’s a massive performance difference between the average guns on the market and absolute best guns. It doesn’t take a long time behind a Gunwerks rifle to understand how valuable the finer details are that they include in their models. You’ll quickly see why they are able to make a 1,000-yard claim so confidently.
Like many of you, when I first saw the price tag of these guns, I had immediate sticker shock and couldn’t justify spending two-to-four-times the money on a rifle over some of the more common options that were out there. After all, for $1,600 I could get a good bolt gun from a reputable manufacturer with a carbon-wrapped barrel. With the hunts I had been exposed to at that point in my life, that’s really all I needed.
Proven in Wild Country
When I started hunting out west, I quickly learned the benefits of watching every ounce and pound of your equipment. I then started appreciating the ability to reach out and touch something at 600+ yards instead of the long stretch of 300 yards that I had only been exposed to before. Also, as I got older, I realized that I won’t always have the time or available equipment to make sure my rifle and optic are squared away before I go on a hunt. That’s where Gunwerks shines the most. When they tell you your gun is ready to shoot out of the box, you never have to question it. That confidence alone is worth the price tag of the gun.
Gunwerks makes several models of rifles. My first Gunwerks gun was a 7LRM Magnus rifle, and I think they put the special technology in that rifle, so it was impossible to miss any target. The Magnus is a great rifle, and at the time I couldn’t think of a way to improve upon that design for long-range mountain hunting. When I heard about the development of a folding-stock rifle, I was very intrigued. If you look at my personal trends in guns, I am always looking for the lightest and most compact packages for almost all applications. That’s where the new Gunwerks Endex really shines. The Endex has an innovative folding-stock mechanism that gives you all the feel and stability of a traditional fixed-stock rifle while still having the flexibility to be folded in a secure manner for compact storage and transport in the field.
My long-time, go-to hunting pack has been the Eberlestock H2 Gunrunner. I’m a big fan of Eberlestock’s built-in sheath system, and I like having a smaller, lighter pack with me when possible. The only snag point with this setup is having a stock hanging out of the top of your pack. I am excited to try the Endex with this pack to see how well it reduces the overall physical footprint of my load.
Gunwerks Endex Details
For shooting, the Endex is about as boring as every other Gunwerks rifle. Gunwerks makes it so simple by sending ammunition that is paired with your rifle. The second you take the gun out of the box and chamber it with the perfectly paired loads, the gun will shoot more accurately than you can. Like all Gunwerks rifles, this sub-MOA gun will be as accurate as you can realistically shoot in the field. The Endex rifle we have at the office is in 7mm PRC, which is a great all-around cartridge for long-range applications The Endex is also available in 6.5 PRC, 28 Nosler, and 300 PRC. If I had to build a rifle from scratch, I might lean towards the 300 PRC, but you really can’t go wrong.
For glass on the rifle, our Endex came with a Revic Radikl RS25b 4-25 scope. With no advanced experience, this scope will instinctively do everything you need a traditional scope to do, but with the right training, it will give you almost endless advantages in the field. Revic optics were developed by real shooters and hunters for real shooting and hunting applications. If you are going to spend the money on a Gunwerks rifle, you should really make the small investment to go out to the Gunwerks Long Range University. Even as a seasoned shooter, I was able to learn a lot from these instructors. You will learn so much about the rifle and optics that will help you on your next hunt. Also, if you go take the class with your buddies, there is a little competition at the end that really tests your skills from the class and can give you endless bragging rights (I hope you’re reading this, Brendan Burns).
With the Endex being as lightweight as it is, the muzzle brake on the end helps tame the recoil, but this is certainly a gun you will prefer to shoot with a suppressor on. I did the testing without the suppressor and the recoil was negligible, but I felt bad for anyone on the sides of the gun. Gunwerks has a great selection of suppressors that pair up with their rifles. Lately I have been leaning towards the Rugged Suppressors Alaskan 360 Ti. For an ultra-lightweight hunting suppressor, it’s hard to beat and would pair very well with the Endex. Like every suppressor we get, I go through SilencerShop to make the process as painless as possible.
Elite Package
Overall, the Endex might be the best design from Gunwerks yet. As a fan of compact and lightweight guns, you would be hard pressed to find a better option for a gun that can easily handle any animal in North America. Every time you take out this gun, you will find another detail that you appreciate. You will have fun picking out your preferred caliber and barrel length combination for this build. You’ll also have to pick your preferred glass between Kahles, Leupold, and Revic. No matter what you decide, you can be confident knowing that you have one of the finest built rifles ready to perform on your next hunt.
Price: The Endex rifle starts at $7,975, and you can build it here (https://www.gunwerks.com/endex-rifle-system).
Pros: If you want the best combination for a lightweight, accurate, and compact rifle that can handle any animal and any hunting situation in North America, you should just spend the money once and buy an Endex.
Cons: The Endex is not the lightest option from Gunwerks. If weight saving is your ultimate goal, check out the ClymR series that starts at a mere 5.6 pounds.
