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Tom Turpin

Gallery: Best Engraved And Custom Guns (2020)

Gun Digest‘s annual review of the finest examples of beauty and artistry in the world of custom guns.

What Are The Best Custom And Engraved Guns:

Reto Buehler Custom Springfield M22

Reto Buehler custom rifle
Photos by Brian Dierks

This fantastic rifle began as a desire from a client of Reto Buehler. The client had commissioned two big-game rifles from Reto previously and he expressed a desire to have Reto build him a full-sized rifle, but chambered for the diminutive .22 LR rimfire cartridge. Reto couldn’t resist the challenge. He started with a Springfield M22 training rifle and transformed it into the magnificent rifle shown here. It has all the bells and whistles of an express rifle, but chambered for the rimfire cartridge. All work by Reto Buehler.


Reto Buehler British Express Rifle

Reto Buehler 2 custom gun
Photos by Brian Dierks

A typical Buehler British Express rifle, using a Granite Mountain Arms (GMA) small-ring action, Pac-Nor barrel and custom-machined quarter rib, front sight ramp and barrel band. Turkish walnut stock with 24 lpi checkering and light engravings done by John Todd. The GMA factory bottom metal was replaced with a Blackburn/Swift drop-box magazine.


Brian Powley Colt Single Action

Brian Powley custom revolver
Photos by Sam Welch

The Engravers’ Choice Award of Merit at the annual Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA) Exhibition of 2020 was presented to Brian Powley for his masterful engraving of this Colt Single Action, .38 caliber. Brian executed his engraving pattern in keeping with original factory Colt styling. He did an outstanding job.
Photos by Sam Welch


Brian Hochstrat Browning O/U

Custom Guns 12
Photos by Brian Hochstrat

Brian Hochstrat knows his way around an engraving bench to be sure. A former professional bull rider, Brian learned early on there had to be a better way to make a living, and took up the art of engraving. This Browning O/U is an example of how he has mastered his art. To use the term magnificent is not strong enough to describe his work. This Browning was awarded the Best Engraved Shotgun prize and the Engravers’ Choice Award of Merit by his peers.


Lee Griffiths Custom Cabot Guns 1911

Custom Guns 8
Photos by Sam Welch

Lee Griffiths is one of the most talented and most unique engravers I know. It doesn’t take a lot of experience viewing his artistry to be able to discern his work from across a big room. At the recently concluded FEGA Exhibition, Lee received two awards, the Artistic Uniqueness Award and the Best Engraved Single Shot Rifle Award.


Marty Rabeno Winchester Model 1876

Marty Rabeno
Photo by Sam Welch

A typical example of Marty Rabeno’s outstanding artistry on one of his favorite canvases, a Winchester Model 1876. I’ve seen quite a number of engravings done by Marty and most all have been on lever-action Winchesters. This exquisite ’76 won the award for Best Engraved Rife and also the Engravers’ Choice Award of Merit at the recently completed Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA) Exhibition.


Draw A Bead On Custom Guns


Dale Bass Remington .45 ACP

Dale Bass
Photos by Sam Welch

This Remington .45 ACP was beautifully engraved by Dale Bass of Amarillo, Texas. His work is new to me, but he is obviously turning out excellent engraving. This 1911 would look great in anyone’s collection.


Melissa McMinn Cabot 1911

Melissa McMinn
Photos by Sam Welch

Melissa McMinn is another engraver who is new to me. While I had not previously seen her work, I do know the engraver who mentored her, John Barraclough. Her unique styling is not often seen, but it is exceptionally well-executed. This Cabot 1911 that she embellished won the Best Engraved Handgun Award at the FEGA Exhibition.

Editor's Note: This article is an excerpt from Gun Digest 2021, 75th Edition available now at GunDigestStore.com.

12 Custom & Engraved Guns of Gun Digest 2019

Our Annual Review of the Finest Examples of Beauty and Artistry in the World of the Custom and Engraved Gun.

Best Custom And Engraved Guns:

Reto Buehler Custom Riflemaker

Custom-LEAD-1
Swiss-born and educated, Reto Buehler is one of the new breed of custom gunmakers turning out very high-quality firearms. He and his contemporaries are the future of the custom gun trade. His work is impeccable and his talents seemingly endless, with many years left to further his chosen craft. Except for engraving, he is a one-man, one-stop shop in that he is equally adept at stockmaking and metalwork.

Reto Buehler Custom .404 Jeffery

Custom-2
This lovely rifle is built on a Granite Mountain Arms action and is typical of a Buehler Custom Sporting Arms “English Express” model. Chambered for the old but excellent .404 Jeffery cartridge, it features most all the “bells and whistles” one expects to see on such a rifle. Buehler used a PacNor 24-inch barrel, fitting it with a quarter rib, front sight ramp and sling swivel band. He mounted the Leupold straight tube scope in his own quick detachable cam-lever mount. He also installed a trap grip cap, which holds a peep sight that can be installed on the rear bridge when the scope is detached. Buehler crafted the stock from a spectacular stick of Turkish walnut, finishing it with many coats of hand-rubbed oil, and used a flat-topped checkering pattern with 20 LPI.

Reto Buehler Custom Ruger No.1s

Custom-3-5
A superb pair of No.1 Rugers crafted by Buehler in an unusual chambering combination. The full-length photo shows a No.1 chambered for the .404 Jeffery cartridge. The second rifle is chambered for the .303 cartridge. The factory Ruger actions were heavily modified, including removing the slotted screw in the action, adding new sliding safeties and a steel trigger and other cosmetic touches. He also fitted a set trigger to the smaller-caliber rifle. Both rifles feature PacNor barrels and are stocked in English walnut checkered with “flat-topped” patterns. The fore-ends are attached using the traditional wedge and escutcheons. Buehler installed a recoil reducer in the .404 buttstock, primarily to achieve a better balance due to the heavy .404 barrel. Photos by Brian Dierks


Check Out Past Custom Gun Galleries:


Brian Hochstrat “Best Engraved Rifle Winner”

Custom-18-19-20
Brian Hochstrat is one of the younger master engravers to have reached this level of artistic creative ability. His skills take a back seat to no one. The rifle shown here took the Best Engraved Rifle Award, and the Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA) equivalent to Hollywood's best picture Oscar, the Engravers Choice Award. Photos by Sam Welch

C.J. Cai Engraved Custom Knife

Custom-23
C.J. Cai is one of those master engravers whose style is so distinctive that anyone the least bit knowledgeable about his artistry can recognize his work from across a large room. His talents showcased on this Warren Osborn knife won him two awards at the FEGA Exhibition — Best Engraved Knife and the Best Metal on Metal Inlay. Photos by Sam Welch

Dave Talley: Custom Rifle from the Past

Custom-4
This rifle is not one that was made for me, but was crafted by a good friend of mine, Mr. Dave Talley, many years ago. He used a Mauser action, most likely of WWII Czech manufacture, and the .308-chambered barrel is probably from Douglas. I say probably, as I can't be certain, but I do know he used a lot of Czech actions and Douglas barrels in his work. The action is clearly marked as Talley's work on the recoil lug of the action. The stock is unmarked as to the maker. I suspect that it was crafted by Jere Eggleston, primarily due to the fact that they were both in South Carolina and used each other’s talents frequently. I also showed the stock to a colleague and dear friend of Eggleston, Mr. Gary Goudy. He has seen a lot of Eggleston's work and told me that he thought it was an Eggleston stock, but couldn't be certain.

I came across an ad on a website listing the rifle for sale at a very attractive price. Further investigation revealed that the seller was also an Arizonan, living in the Phoenix area, making it an easy acquisition. The photo was taken of the rifle exactly as I bought it. I've since had it professionally cleaned up, swapped out the scope mounts for Talleys (what else!), had the recoil pad exchanged with a red Old English pad from Pachmayr, and had the checkering dressed up by Kathy Forster. Some work at the range revealed that the rifle loved Varget powder and, with its preferred load, gives sub-MOA groups with regularity. It’s a neat little rifle that I’m proud to own and use. Photo by Tom Turpin

Hanns Doesel Engraved Floorplate and Grip Cap

custom-6-7
Hanns Doesel studied engraving under my old and dear friend, the late Erich Boessler. Boessler, in addition to being a great master engraver, was an outstanding teacher of this fine art. He passed away in 1997, but his many students are still at the bench all over Germany. A good friend of Doesel’s and a fine engraver in his own right, Terry Wilcox, has several examples of Doesel’s work and I persuaded him to photograph a couple for use in Gun Digest. Photos by Terry Wilcox

James Anderson Custom .22

R7371_GD2019_Custom-Engraved-Guns-26a
One of our best custom gunmakers can be found most anytime in his South Dakota shop turning out exquisite custom rifles. In addition to being exceptionally talented, James Anderson is also one of our younger generation gunmakers in a craft whose superstars are mostly dominated by “mature” craftsmen.

One of his latest creations is this custom .22 rimfire, something not often seen in custom rifles. He started with a factory Remington 40X action, which he modified substantially. In addition to the normal honing and general cleanup, he made a new mag housing to accept Kimber magazines. He also made the floor metal unit and replaced the factory trigger with one made by Jewel.

He fit and match-chambered a Shilen hand-lapped barrel and crafted a set of custom scope mounts for a March 2.5-25X scope to the rifle. He then whittled out the stock from a nice stick of California English walnut and fitted an old Niedner-checkered steel buttplate. He then checkered the stock in a pleasing point pattern. To add a final touch, he took the rifle to his South Dakota neighbor, engraver Jesse Kaufman, who embellished the original factory markings.

To sum up the project in one sentence, it just doesn't get any better than this. Photos by James Anderson

Joint Project Single-Shot Falling Block

Custom-21-22
Members of both the FEGA and the American Custom Gunmakers Guild (ACGG) joined together to craft this lovely single-shot falling block rifle. The metalwork was executed by Glenn Fewless, the stock by Doug Mann, and the outstanding engraving was by Bob Strosin. The modern version of a Daniel Fraser falling block action used in this project was machined by Steve Earl. Photo by Sam Welch

Steve Heilmann Custom .500 Jeffery

Custom-8-11-12
Steve is one of the very best custom gunmakers in the USA today. I would go so far as to expand that statement to encompass the globe. Some of the finest custom guns that I've ever had the pleasure of seeing and handling have come from his Grass Valley, California, shop. Like most superb craftsmen, his creations are always for his clientele and never for himself.

The old saw that the cobbler never makes new shoes for himself notwithstanding, pictured here is a creation that he’s been working on for a while now, and believe it or not, it is for himself. He only works on it when he has a few spare hours, which isn't often, but he intends to finish this one as he wants it. So far, the metalwork is nearing completion.

Starting with a military ‘98 Mauser action, a Ted Blackburn bottom metal set and trigger, Model 70-type safety and shroud, and a .50-caliber 2-inch diameter Krieger barrel blank as raw material, Steve added over 350 hours of his precise metalsmithing. It is now as you see it in these photos.

The barrel has been chambered for the .500 Jeffery cartridge and milled octagonal in shape. The full-length rib, quarter-rib, front sight ramp, extra recoil lug and front sling swivel base are all milled integral with the barrel steel. The Mauser action has been extensively machined and has all the bells and whistles usually found and substantially more. Extended top and bottom tangs are but one example. The sculpted bolt has required more of Heilmann's time than some ‘smiths devote to an entire action.

Heilmann says he has set aside a spectacular Turkish walnut blank for this rifle from his substantial stash of impressive walnut blanks. Eventually, he will inlet, shape and mate the blank to the metal. Hopefully, I will remain above ground long enough to see its completion. If I don't, my successor for these pages will surely do so. It will be a sight to behold. All photos by Steve Heilmann

Lee Griffiths Hagn Single Shot and Custom 1911

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Master Engraver Lee Griffiths is a fantastic engraver and is normally the recipient of several awards at the annual FEGA bash in Las Vegas. The 2018 show was no exception. His artistry on this Hagn-action single shot won him the Best Modern Firearm Award and the Model 1911 pistol won the Best Engraved Handgun Award. Photos by Sam Welch

Marty Rabeno Winchester Model 1876

Custom-27
Master engraver Marty Rabeno engraved this Winchester Model 1876 rifle. Rabeno excels at all styles of engraving, but he is at his absolute best when doing western motif scenes on period firearms. This Model 76 won runner-up Engravers Choice Award at the annual FEGA Exhibition this year. Photo by Mary Rabeno

This article is an excerpt from Gun Digest 2019, 73rd Edition.

10 Custom Guns From Gun Digest 2018

Our annual review of the finest examples of beauty and artistry in the world of custom guns.

Custom Guns, from Gun Digest 2018. Gary Goudy Custom Winchester Model 70

My latest rifle from the shop of Gary Goudy in Dayton, Washington. I started the project with a pre-’64 Winchester Model 70 action that I sent to Danny Petersen, superb barrel maker from Prescott, Arizona, who fitted the action with one of his cut-rifled barrels and chambered it for the .300 Win. Mag. cartridge. When he finished, I sent the barreled action and my very best stick of English walnut to Gary for stocking. I obtained the super stick of English from Jim Bisio of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Gary whittled out the stock and when it was finished, sans checkering, he sent the metal to Bruce Farman for finishing with his lovely slow-rust blue job. While he was doing that, Gary checkered my stock with his fleur-de-lis pattern.

Custom Rifle From The Past

Custom Rifle From The Past

The author’s first sort of commissioned custom rifle. He provided a pre-’64 Model 70 barreled action, chambered for the .270 Winchester cartridge, to a gunsmith in Germany, to do the metalwork. This included making and fitting a quarter-rib with one standing and three folding leafs and a new front sight ramp. He also slicked up the action and adjusted the trigger to a nice crisp 3-pound pull. As instructed, he returned it to me in-the-white for stocking. I then gave the barreled action to one of Germany’s best stockmakers with instructions to shape and bed the stock using a blank of French walnut that I provided, including fitting a rosewood fore-end tip, grip cap and Pachmayr recoil pad. I asked that he deliver the stock back to me finish-sanded, but otherwise unfinished. I then finished and checkered the stock myself. While I was finishing the stock, I returned the barreled action to the metalsmith for finishing in a nice glossy blue, which was in vogue at the time. If I were to build this rifle today, I would change a bunch on it, but it has served me very well as my primary hunting rifle just as it is for several years. Photo by Tom Turpin.

Gun Engraving From The Past

Gun Engraving From The Past

Here is a floorplate engraved by one of my favorite engravers, Lynton McKenzie. Australian-born McKenzie moved around a fair amount during his life, spending his final years in Tucson, Arizona. He engraved this floorplate, part of an extensive engraving job he did on a David Miller Co. rifle. Sadly, he did this engraving toward the end of his life and much too early, as he was diagnosed with cancer not too long after finishing this work. The engraving was very distinctive and easily recognized as his work immediately by those very familiar with it. Photo by Tom Turpin.

Gun Engraving From The Past

Erich Boessler engraved and gold inlaid a mountain goat head on this Model 70 triggerguard. It adorned my hunting rifle for a few years.

Robert Strosin Custom Parker Shotgun

Robert Strosin Custom Parker Shotgun

This Parker shotgun, engraved by Robert Strosin, won the Best Engraved Shotgun award at the recently completed Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA) Exhibition in Las Vegas. Photo by Sam Welch.

Reto Buehler Granite Mountain Arms .300 H&H Magnum

Reto Buehler Granite Mountain Arms .300 H&H Magnum

One of the younger members of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild (ACGG) is also one of the best, Swiss-born Reto Buehler. The rifle shown here is a perfect example of his exceptional talent as a gunmaker. This magnificent rifle began with a Granite Mountain Arms small-ring long action. Chambered for the .300 H&H cartridge, Buehler did all the metal and stockwork on this rifle, including shop fabricating H&H-type scope mounts. Charles Lee did the lovely engraving and Doug Turnbull did his magic color case-hardening on the action. As some wise person once stated, it just doesn’t get any better than this. Photo by Brian Dierks.

Mike Dubber Custom Colts

Mike Dubber Custom Colts

Mike Dubber Custom Colts

Hoosier engraver Mike Dubber has done a lot of engraving on Colt pistols over the years as a Colt Master Engraver. As such, it should come as no great surprise that a couple of his latest engraving canvasses for his artistry are both from Hartford – a Python and a Single Action Army. At the 2017 FEGA Exhibition in Las Vegas, the Python won the Best Engraved Modern Firearm Award. Not to be outdone, the SAA won an Engravers Choice Award of Merit. Photos by Sam Welch.

Keith Heppler Peter Noreen Action .460 Weatherby

Keith Heppler Peter Noreen Action .460 Weatherby

This rifle is an excellent example of the work of gunmaker Keith Heppler. Keith has been turning out exquisite rifles from his California shop for a very long time. This one, built on a custom action from Peter Noreen, is chambered for the massive .460 Weatherby cartridge. He used a magnificent stick of English walnut to craft the stock. He had to watch his P’s and Q’s in selecting the blank for this rifle as the recoil of the .460 is pretty fierce. This one is great with the wonderful figure in the butt and nice, straight grain through the remainder of the stock. Also, please note the detail sculpting around the cheekpiece. Photos by Steve Heilmann.

Lee Griffiths Custom Colt Model 1911

Lee Griffiths Custom Colt Model 1911

This Colt Model 1911 was engraved by Lee Griffiths utilizing a World War I motif. It won the Best Engraved Handgun Award at the recently completed FEGA (Firearms Engravers Guild of America) exhibition in Las Vegas. Photo by Sam Welch.

Editor’s Note: This article appeared in the Gun Digest 2018 annual available exclusively at GunDigestStore.com

Gun Review: The Mauser Brothers and the Model 98

These components were used to craft a lovely hunting rifle chambered for the 9.3x64 cartridge. The DWM-made 1909 Argentine Mauser action was about as pristine as one is apt to find these days. The trigger and bottom metal are from Blackburn-Swift and the three-position safety from Dakota Arms.
These components were used to craft a lovely hunting rifle chambered for the 9.3×64 cartridge. The DWM-made 1909 Argentine Mauser action was about as pristine as one is apt to find these days. The trigger and bottom metal are from Blackburn-Swift and the three-position safety is from Dakota Arms.

The Mauser Model 98 is a true classic when it comes to bolt-action rifles. And with the company's return to this iconic design, it is again turning out a highly engineered gem.

Gun Digest 2017, 71st Edition
Raise your firearms IQ with Gun Digest 2017.

What eventually became the Mauser company began in 1811-1812 as a Royal Arsenal in Oberndorf, Germany, a small village in the Black Forest region. The Mauser brothers, Wilhelm and Paul, came on the scene in about 1867 when they invented a vastly improved rotating bolt system for breechloading rifles, and in 1871 their Model 71 rifle was adopted by the German army as its standard rifle.

Between that event and 1898, the brothers developed several different improvements featured in succeeding models, culminating in the development of the standard upon which just about all bolt-action rifles today are based in one manner or the other, the Model 98.

In 1897, the old Royal Arsenal was turned over to the Mauser brothers, becoming Waffenfabrik Mauser AG. In 1898, the German army bought the Mauser design and its 7.92×57 cartridge as their standard combat rifle.

It was the most important arm in the hands of German troops in World War I. It went through a few modifications to eventually become the K98, the main battle rifle of the German army in World War II.

In addition to manufacturing rifles for the German army, Mauser also produced a line of sporting rifles during the period between the World Wars. These rifles, if in original condition, are highly desirable collectors’ items today.

They also made and sold actions to the trade. Mauser’s agent for the United Kingdom for many years was the respected firm of John Rigby. Rigby custom rifles built on Mauser actions became renowned among big-game hunters around the world.

The factory in Oberndorf was gutted after the war ended and the equipment confiscated and much of it moved to France. Most of the records were destroyed, although some were saved by former Mauser employees. Three Mauser engineers, Alex Seidel, Theodor Koch and Edmund Heckler went on to establish the firm of Heckler & Koch, which is still going strong today.

Like most of the German arms companies, Mauser kept going during the postwar period and its prohibition against arms production by producing other products. In the case of Mauser, they made precision measurement instruments and tools such as micrometers. When they were permitted to do so, Mauser resumed producing hunting and sporting rifles.

The author started this fine rifle with a 1909 Argentine Mauser action made by DWM. The stock is by ace stockmaker Gary Goudy.
The author started this fine rifle with a 1909 Argentine Mauser action made by DWM. The stock is by ace stockmaker Gary Goudy.

In 1966, the Mauser plant introduced a rifle to the sporting market of a totally new design. It was not a Mauser design, but rather one by Walter Gehmann, a well-known inventor, competitive shooter and firearms dealer in Germany. Mauser acquired the production rights to the Gehmann design and began production.

The Mauser Model 66 featured a very short action, quick interchangeability of barrels and calibers. It offered many advantages over standard sporting rifles, but – typical of German fascination with engineering – contained a zillion parts, was expensive, overly heavy and was ugly as sin.

That’s my personal opinion of course, but apparently most in the marketplace agreed with me. I don’t know how popular it was on the Continent, but in the U.S. market it went over like the proverbial lead balloon. The few Model 66s that were sold in this country went mainly to guys named Müller, Schmidt, Fenstermacher and the like.

In the mid-1970s, Mauser entered into an agreement with the old German firearms manufacturer F. W. Heym, to produce a series of rifles — the Models 2000, 3000 and 4000 — which were more or less of traditional design. Unlike the controlled-round feed of the Model 98, however, it was a push-feed action.

They were available in a wide variety of calibers and marketed in the U.S. under the banner of Mauser Bauer. These rifles did enjoy a degree of success in the U.S. for Mauser. When the agreement was terminated, Heym made a few modifications and marketed the rifle worldwide as the Heym Models SR-20, 30 and 40.

Mauser introduced a new rifle and a new design in 1977 called, what else, the Model 77. The Model 77 was also pretty much conventional in design. It was a push-feed action that had a few new features.

I had one of these rifles for a while chambered for the .30-06 cartridge. It shot well and was a good, solid rifle. It also did not do well in the U.S. market.

The company was taken over by the Rheinmetall Group in 1995 or thereabouts, and from then until about 2000 or so Mauser built and marketed a series of rifles, namely the Model 96 and 97. In celebration of the 100th birthday of the Model 98 in 1998, they produced a few military Model 98s and also a few original Model 98 sporting rifles.

In about 2000, give or take a year, Rheinmetall sold the civilian arms portion of Mauser production to the Lüke-Ortmeier group of investors who then formed Mauser Jagdwaffen GmbH. The group also owned the firms Blaser, SIG and Sauer.

They moved the company from Oberndorf to Isny, Germany, and co-located it with Blaser and Sauer. It is still a separate company with separate manufacturing facilities, but co-located.

This is a modern representation of the Mauser Magnum Square Bridge action from Granite Mountain Arms. Quite a number of rifles chambered for the massive .505 Gibbs cartridge have been crafted using this action.
This is a modern representation of the Mauser Magnum Square Bridge action from Granite Mountain Arms. Quite a number of rifles chambered for the massive .505 Gibbs cartridge have been crafted using this action.

In the interim, the company marketed a few very nice Model 98 sporters; however, I believe that these early 98s were produced by someone else in Germany and marketed by Mauser. A couple of companies had been making and marketing copies for a few years.

Two that I’m aware of are Johannsen and Prechtl, and recently I’ve learned of another, FZH. The prestigious firm of Hartmann & Weiss also makes its own actions.

The Lüke-Ortmeier group also introduced the Model 03 in 2003 and the Model 12 in 2013. The M 03 had a suggested retail price starting at around $4,500 and went up from there depending on the variation, and the M 12 starts at around $1,500 and goes up from that figure. The flagship of the Mauser line, the M 98, starts at a base price of $12,495.

The Lüke-Ortmeier group also purchased the old London firm of John Rigby after numerous ownership changes and tremendous confusion about the company, finally consolidating both the company and its historical records under one ownership. Rigby is now, once again, producing rifles in London using genuine Mauser actions from Germany.

I am not a big fan of modern European firearms design in general, but the return of Mauser to its roots, the Model 98 action as the basis for production, was super interesting to me. The Teutonic fascination with engineering apparently above all else has resulted in some interesting designs, to say the least.

I tend to follow the guidelines my dad taught me many years ago. One of his most important lessons was, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The 98 Mauser has never been broken, and is in no need of fixing.

A cheekpiece side view of the Mauser M98 Magnum. Rifle styling just doesn’t get much nicer than this one.
A cheekpiece side view of the Mauser M98 Magnum. Rifle styling just doesn’t get much nicer than this one.

I prepared a wish list to send to Mauser requesting a test rifle. Before doing so, however, I waited a couple years to ensure this was not a pipe dream, but rather a serious effort at resurrecting the previous glory of the name Mauser. It is, and I sent in the request.

The company sent me a Magnum Model chambered for the .375 H&H cartridge. It features all the bells and whistles of a London-built Express rifle.

It has a slightly extended magazine to permit loading an additional cartridge. It holds four in the magazine and one in the chamber. It also features express sights consisting of one standing leaf for 50 yards and two folding leaves, one for 100 yards and the second for 150 yards.

The action features double square bridges, which are milled to accept Recknagel quick release scope rings. It features a banded ramp front sight with a relatively small bead.

My tired old eyes and a small bead do not go well together, so I asked my son Jeff to come along to the range and do the shooting for me. Anytime I have some serious range work, I usually ask Jeff, likewise an avid hunter, shooter and gun nut like his dad, to tag along just in case I have an off day. The older I get, the more off days I seem to have.

It really is a beautiful rifle. The stock is crafted from a very nice stick of European walnut, well figured and with nice pleasing color.

It is styled like a typical English Express rifle, which is to say, pretty near perfect. It is nicely checkered in a point pattern in what appears to be about 24 LPI and is exceptionally executed, some of the best I’ve ever seen on a German-made rifle. It features nondetachable sling swivels, with the front swivel on a barrelband base.

There is a steel grip cap with the Mauser logo, a black fore-end tip, apparently of ebony, and a black recoil pad. It also features two through-bolts to reinforce the stock. On the downside, however, I noticed a fair number of unfilled pores in the wood finish, indicating that the finisher had quit his chore a mite too soon.

The rifle has a three-position wing-type safety that locks the firing pin when on safe. The trigger is fully adjustable, and the test rifle has a fantastic trigger that fits the old saw “releases like breaking glass.” According to my trigger scale it releases at 3 pounds.

The rifle will soon be available in .375 H&H, .416 Rigby, .450 Dakota, .458 Lott and .500 Jeffrey. Plus, it will eventually be offered in standard calibers, I am told, but exactly when I’ve not been able to find out. The best I’ve been able to determine is “next year at the earliest.”

Having said all that, all positive, the rifle is not perfect, at least not by my standards, whatever they might be worth to anyone else. My first criticism is a simple fix.

My test rifle has a stock length of pull of 14¾ inches. That would be about right for Shaquille O’Neal. I’m over 6 feet tall, weigh 205 pounds and wear a 34-inch sleeve length, and my rifles are 137⁄8-inch LOP.

Mauser uses a nicely shaped steel grip cap with the Mauser logo and coat of arms.
Mauser uses a nicely shaped steel grip cap with the Mauser logo and coat of arms.

Since I lived in Germany for a bunch of years, and have worked with the German firearms industry for about four decades, I understand why this happens. Why are German scope mounts always too high for American shooters?

It is simply that Germans shoot differently than we do. They hunt a great deal from high seats. They usually have lots of time to make their shot. They are taught from an early age to hold their head high when shooting.

Americans, on the other hand, are taught to weld their cheek tightly on the stock. As a result, American shooters demand very low scope mounts, and the German shooters much higher.

That also affects the LOP. The higher the cheek, the longer the LOP required. Simple solution, a hacksaw!

The next problem is also not difficult to solve.

For my use, the barrel is about 2 inches too long. There is no advantage that I am aware of to a 25-inch barrel on a .375 H&H, over one that is 23 inches long.

I can think of a couple disadvantages, in particular. If you’ve ever wrestled through the alders and willows in Alaska, or the mopane scrub in Africa with a long-barrel rifle, you know what I mean.

Some of the ultra high velocity cartridges benefit from long barrels, sometimes significantly so. The .375 H&H, however, is not one of them. This is just my personal opinion though, as some shooters do prefer longer barrels.

Being an ounce or two shy of 10 pounds for a .375 H&H rifle is too heavy by 1 to 1½ pound. It is particularly so when the rifle is empty and unencumbered with a scope and mounts. Scoped, with a sling and fully loaded, it wouldn’t miss the 12-pound mark by much, if any.

I suspect the reason for this is that the magnum calibers that Mauser chambers for are most likely all on the same platform. By that I mean the same action, same barrel contour, etc.

If that is the case, naturally, the .375 would weigh the most, as the hole in the barrel is smaller, thereby causing it to weigh more. That is certainly understandable from a manufacturing perspective, but not from a functional one.

The best group Jeff fired at 100 yards using Federal factory ammo and only the iron sights. The author believes this rifle is ready to go hunting anywhere in the world as is right from the factory.
The best group Jeff fired at 100 yards using Federal factory ammo and only the iron sights. The author believes this rifle is ready to go hunting anywhere in the world as is right from the factory.

Another thing that I would change, had I the power to do so, is the finish on the middle of the bolt release, the bolt knob and bolt long extractor. These three items are polished to a high gloss finish and reflect light like a mirror. Aside from aesthetic objections, I suspect the reflections could spook game from a long distance away.

Before leaving for the range with my son Jeff, I went through my stash of ammo. I was working on a very tight deadline and had no time to order in a bunch of new ammo.

I found a couple boxes of handloads, one box loaded with 260-grain Ballistic Tip bullets and IMR 4320 powder, and the other 285-grain Speer bullets, pushed along by IMR 4064 powder. I also had one box of factory ammo, Federal Premium Cape-Shok loaded with Barnes 300-grain TSX bullets.

We first set up at 50 yards since the standing leaf rear sight was adjusted for that distance. We learned quickly that the rifle liked neither of our handloads.

While the groups would have killed any large game at that distance, we knew the rifle could do better. Jeff fired a group with the Federal factory ammo and bingo, we found in short order what this rifle preferred.

We moved back to the 100-yard range and shot the remaining Federal ammo. Considering we were shooting with open sights, the accuracy was outstanding.

Jeff shot the best group that measured 1.062 inches, a great group shooting with a scope – let alone just open sights. None of the three-shot groups exceeded 2 MOA.

To say this rifle is a shooter is a gross understatement. If it belonged to me, I wouldn’t even waste time developing handloads for it. I’d just lay in a supply of Federal 300-grain TSX ammo and go hunting. A 300-grain slug leaving the muzzle at 2,470 fps is sufficient to lay most anything low.

Welcome back to the fraternity Mauser. Paul and Wilhelm would be proud.

Editor's Note: This article is an excerpt from Gun Digest 2017.

Photo Gallery: Engraved and Custom Guns of Gun Digest 2016

Our annual review of the finest examples of beauty and artistry in the world of custom guns.

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This photo gallery is an excerpt from Gun Digest 2016, 70th Annual Edition.

Photo Gallery: 14 Amazing Engraved Guns of Gun Digest 2015

Our annual review of the finest examples of beauty and artistry in the world of custom and engraved guns.

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This Photo Gallery is Excerpted from the Gun Digest 2015 Annual Book:

Greatest Cartridges: The Many Uses, Iterations of the 12-Gauge Shotshell

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With the ability to be loaded with many projectiles or just one, there are few other rounds with as much versatility as the 12-gauge shotshell.
With the ability to be loaded with many projectiles or just one, there are few other rounds with as much versatility as the 12-gauge shotshell.

Find out why there may be no more versatile round in all the world of firearms than the venerable 12-gauge shotshell.

Perhaps the most versatile and popular cartridge on the face of the earth is the 12 gauge shotshell.

The only cartridge that I can think of that might equal it in popularity is the .22 rimfire, if there is any ammo for them left. Judging from the availability of ammo for them around my neck of the woods, feeding that popularity with ammo might be difficult. But, I digress.

Practically every hunter owns at least one 12 bore shotgun. Sport shooters shooting trap, skeet or sporting clays for entertainment or competition, likewise own one or more scattergun so chambered, usually more.

Even among non-hunters and sport shooters, at least in my part of Kentucky during my growing up years, practically every farmhouse had a shotgun handy, usually a 12 bore. Among hunting families of that era, it was a right of passage to manhood for a young lad to graduate from the .410 or 20 bore single-shot scattergun that he started with, to a grown up 12 bore.

At some point in our history, some bright fellow figured out that it would be much easier to hit their intended target when unleashing numerous projectiles rather than just a single one. The 12-gauge gun could be used for single projectiles, originally round lead balls, graduating to the plethora of shaped shotgun slugs available on the market today, to an array of multiple projectile loads. From buckshot to birdshot, the scattergun uses had a large choice available to match the load to the intended target.

In addition to the ample choice of projectile loadings, the user also has a choice when it comes to the length of the 12-gauge shell. Ammunition for the 12 bore has been loaded with shell lengths of 2”, 2-1/2”, 2-5/8th”, 2-3/4 inch (most common), 3”, and 3-1/2 inch that I know of. It could be that a few others were loaded that I'm not aware of. Naturally, the longer the shell case, the more powder and shot it will hold, creating a more powerful round.

The military also learned early on that a short barreled, smooth bore scatter gun was just the ticket for military use at close quarters. The same thinking applied to civilian police and security guard use. There were a number of Winchester Model 97 “riot” guns in use in Vietnam. One scattergun was even used in the tussle at the OK Corral in Tombstone, wielded by none other than Doc Holliday. Practically every police cruiser has a tactical shotgun available, often carried in the trunk of the vehicle.

Wilhelm Brenneke invented the shotgun slug in 1898, which greatly improved shotgun performance for big game hunting over the round lead ball.
Wilhelm Brenneke invented the shotgun slug in 1898, which greatly improved shotgun performance for big game hunting over the round lead ball.

Quite a number of our states, usually located in densely populated areas, require a shotgun loaded with slugs for deer hunting. Wilhelm Brenneke invented the shotgun slug in 1898, which greatly improved shotgun performance for big game hunting over the round lead ball. The shotgun has evolved into quite a potent and accurate big game load.

Many shotguns designed specifically for big game hunting are equipped with rifled bore barrels and when loaded with slugs intended for use with rifled bore guns, are very accurate. They also greatly improve the effective ranges from around 40 yards or so for a hollow-base Foster type “punkin ball” slug to 100 yards and more for saboted slugs in rifled bore guns.

A pretty good argument could be made that an individual armed with a .22 RF and a good 12 bore shotgun, is pretty much ready for most anything requiring a firearm, from defending his pea patch, to keeping food on the table.

Greatest Cartridges: The Rise of the 5.56X45 NATO

The adoption of the .223/5.56 NATO was accepted by the U.S. Military in 1963 and was then adopted by NATO as the standard caliber in 1977.
The adoption of the .223/5.56 NATO was accepted by the U.S. Military in 1963 and was then adopted by NATO as the standard caliber in 1977.

At the time this cartridge was adopted for military use in the United States, we were in the middle of a great state of change.

WWII was over with the US forces and it's allies finally rolling over the Nazi powers in Germany, and then ending the conflict in Asia by dropping two newly developed and terrifying bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The ink was hardly dry on the surrender documents when we found ourselves embroiled on the Korean peninsula. We were in the process of changing from piston driven aircraft to the new fangled jet technology.

The military also went through the throes of developing a new cartridge and a new rifle to handle it, and then replaced the M1 Garand chambered for the .30-06 with the M-14 rifle chambered for the 7.62×51 NATO cartridge. About the only thing this change did that was positive, was to finally achieve a NATO standard cartridge. The other issues, those of weight, power, and rate of fire, were essentially very little different from its predecessor.

In the late 50s, the ArmaLite Company along with some others were working on a much smaller high velocity cartridge/assault rifle combination to address the shortfalls in the 7.62×51 cartridge and the M-14 rifle. Initially they considered using the commercially available .222 Remington cartridge, but it was apparent that the cartridge was too small to meet army established requirements.

After considerable experimentation, Remington came out with a similar but larger round, calling it the .223 Remington. This cartridge, named the 5.56×45 by the military, along with ArmaLite's M16 rifle, were adopted by the U.S. Military in 1963, and Remington introduced the civilianized version of the cartridge to the public a year later in 1964.

The military determined that an 8-man team armed with the M16/5.56×45 combo would have the same firepower as an 11-man team armed with the M14/7.62×51. The difference was due to the size and weight differential between the two armaments. NATO agreed in 1977 to accept the 5.56×45 round as a NATO standard, with some minor variations in loading and bullet design.

The acceptance of the M16 and its 5.56×45 cartridge was not without controversy. Initially, the rifle was criticized frequently after its introduction to the battlefield in RVN. It had a habit of jamming at most inopportune times. Some changes were made and most of those criticisms went away.

There has been a continuing debate among the military as to the wisdom of eliminating much of the marksmanship training received by the military recruits, relying much more on firepower than on marksmanship, particularly at longer ranges.

The light .223/5.56 NATO cartridge allowed soldiers more ammunition, thus allowed for an advantage in firepower.
The light .223/5.56 NATO cartridge allowed soldiers more ammunition, thus allowed for an advantage in firepower.

This debate continues, but the arguments are not against the 5.56×45 cartridge per se, but more against the training and employment doctrines. Those arguments will, most likely, continue until us old timers have all died off and no one remembers long range marksmanship training as it used to be.

As a matter of interest, the 5.56×45 and the .223 Remington, while very similar, are not precisely identical. The military version is loaded to somewhat higher pressures than is the civilian version. There are some slight variations in some commercial chamber dimensions, and if the military 5.56×45 ammunition is fired in a .223 Remington chamber, SAAMI established pressure maximums can sometimes be exceeded.

While I personally have never heard of any real problems from this situation, firing military ammo in commercial .223 chambered rifles is not a good idea.

Greatest Cartridges: .458 Winchester Magnum, Taming Dangerous Game

When facing brutes, such as Cape Buffalo, the .458 Winchester Magnum has become the modern standard. Dangerous game hunters wouldn't want to face Mbogo with anything less.
When facing brutes, such as Cape Buffalo, the .458 Winchester Magnum has become the modern standard. Dangerous game hunters wouldn't want to face Mbogo with anything less.

In the days when “the sun never set” on the British Empire, the colonization of vast areas on the African continent and most all of India resulted in a requirement for heavy caliber, powerful rifles and ammunition to protect the homesteads from large and often dangerous animals.

In addition, a fledgling business of outfitting and guiding foreign hunters in pursuit of these animals was developing, primarily in Kenya, but spreading throughout the continent. Rifles chambered for such exotic sounding names like .470 Nitro Express (NE), .475 #2 NE, .500 NE, and many others, along with the necessary ammunition, began showing up in both Africa and India. With few exceptions there was but one source of the necessary ammunition, and that was the UK firm called Kynoch.

Things went along just peachy for a while. Eventually, however, Kynoch learned that, as necessary as the ammunition manufacture for these big game cartridges was, they couldn't make any money loading them. The volume requirements required to make it profitable just weren't there, so, they did what prudent businessmen do and ceased production on most of the cartridges. This had the effect of turning lots of very handsome and very expensive firearms effectively into boat anchors. Without ammunition they were essentially useless.

In the early fifties, the Management at Olin Corp. saw an opportunity to fill the void by introducing their famous Winchester Model 70 bolt action rifle in some new chamberings, one of which was designed specifically for dangerous-game hunting in both Africa and India. They called it the .458 Winchester Magnum.

Olin introduced it to the shooting world in 1956. It was designed to duplicate the ballistics of the .450 NE, .470 NE and other similar cartridges. Winchester engineers modified and shortened the .375 H&H cartridge case, and loaded a 500 grain bullet in front of enough powder to provide a muzzle velocity of about 2150 feet per second (FPS), basically replicating the Nitro Express cartridges ballistically.

Olin then hired African Professional Hunter David Ommanney to be their “Winchester's Man in Africa,” and followed up with a blistering advertising campaign to sell both rifles and ammunition. It became an initial success, with PHs, wardens, wildlife managers and other professionals, along with the few visiting hunters venturing to that part of the world searching for elephant, buffalo, rhino, lions, tigers, etc., arming themselves with the new development.

The .458 Winchester Magnum became the world standard dangerous-game cartridge rather quickly, due in part to the fact that both the ammunition and rifles to shoot it were very substantially less expensive than British-made rifles, particularly since no ammunition was being produced for them.

Alas, after a few years in the field, problems began cropping up. Muzzle velocities were often discovered to be substantially less than the advertised velocities, frequently less than 2000 fps instead of 2150, and erratic performance issues.

Winchester investigated and found that the heavily compressed loads of ball powder that they were using, had a habit of clumping together causing fickle ignition and less than desirable performance. These were not welcome attributes for a dangerous-game rifle. Winchester addressed the problem and corrected it, but considerable damage was already done to the reputation of the cartridge.

A comparison of different .458-caliber ammunition. From the left, .458 Winchester Magnum, .458 Lott, .460 Weatherby Magnum.
A comparison of different .458-caliber ammunition. From the left, .458 Winchester Magnum, .458 Lott, .460 Weatherby Magnum. Photo: Peter Gnanapragasam.

Well known outdoor writer Jack Lott, managed to get himself into a tussle with a cape buffalo he had wounded using the .458 Win Mag. Needless to say, he didn't win the wrestling match and was hammered pretty good. He didn't do Winchester any favors writing about his experience in the outdoor press. As a result of his experience, he lengthened the .458 Winchester cartridge case by .300” and called his creation the .458 Lott. The added powder capacity, as well as advances in powder technology, made achieving Winchester's goal with the Win Mag round easily achievable.

Even so, the .458 Winchester Magnum set the standard for dangerous-game cartridges.

Most ammunition manufacturers load factory ammo for it, and most rifle manufacturers make rifles chambered for the round. In spite of past glitches with the ammo, it works and it works very well. Armed with a quality rifle chambered for the .458 Win Mag, and the ability to shoot it accurately, the hunter need fear very little in today's hunting world.

Greatest Cartridges: 6.5-284 Norma, the Long Shot

The .284 Winchester almost slipped into obscurity, but was saved when it was embraced by F-Class and other long-distance shooters and was reborn as the 6.5x284 Norma.
The .284 Winchester almost slipped into obscurity, but was saved when it was embraced by F-Class and other long-distance shooters and was reborn as the 6.5×284 Norma.

Back in 1963, the cartridge designers at Winchester introduced a new cartridge to the marketplace. Dubbed the .284 Winchester, it was designed specifically to produce ballistics equal to the .270 Winchester and .280 Remington, but in a case that was the same general length as the .308 case that would fit in the Winchester Model 100 autoloader and the Winchester Model 88 lever action rifles.

They succeeded by designing a rebated rim case with a greater diameter that provided a powder capacity about the same as the .270 and .280.

Although the designers met their design goal, the cartridge, and the rifles it was designed for, turned out to be considerably less than a smashing success. Savage made a few Model 99s in that chambering, and Ruger also did a run of M77 rifles chambered for the cartridge. To my knowledge, no other cartridge manufacturer except Winchester ever loaded the cartridge.

By all reasonable measures, an unpopular cartridge chambered in relatively unpopular rifles, and available from only one source, should quickly disappear from the market. The .284 Winchester cartridge was headed in that direction and would have made it there quickly had it not been for one factory.

Wildcatters found the case design suited the development of a few very useful non-standard cartridges, primary of which was the 6.5-284, legitimized by the Swedish ammunition maker Norma in 1999 and renamed the 6.5-284 Norma cartridge. The reason — the cartridge found its niche among long-range target shooters.

I am told that these days it is the most widely used non-wildcat cartridge in F-Class and 1000 yard benchrest matches. For awhile, a variation of the 6.5-284 Norma held the 1000 yard benchrest record of 1.564 inch! That record was broken (group size 1.403”) in 2007, but the cartridge is still very popular with long-range competitors.

It is slowly gaining an inroad into the hunter's market as well.

For awhile, a variation of the 6.5x284 Norma held the 1000 yard benchrest record of 1.564 inch!
For awhile, a variation of the 6.5×284 Norma held the 1000 yard benchrest record of 1.564 inch!

The 6.5mm chambering in various forms have long been popular in Europe and in Africa, but have gained acceptance in the US market very slowly. The US sporting market aversion to any cartridge designated with a mm following it has long had a very hard row to hoe among American shooters. That seems to be changing however.

Even my old pal and fellow curmudgeon David Petzal, seems to have taken a liking to the cartridge. Dave, for those readers that have been languishing under a very large rock for a half-century or so, has been writing for Field & Stream since the era of the quill pen and ink well. He has, during those many decades, earned the enviable reputation of not liking much of anything. However, even Dave wrote a two-part review of the 6.5-284 Norma in his Field & Stream blog that is reasonably favorable. Reasonably favorable from Petzal would be the equivalent of a gun-wrenching, wall climbing, flag waving, brass-band booming hoopla coming from anyone else.

He found the cartridge capable of extreme accuracy, while delivering the goods with light recoil. Typical of Petzal, he also wrote, “And one other fringe benefit: If, when someone asks you in hunting camp what caliber your rifle is, and you say “6.5-284,” people will have no idea what the hell you're talking about and will think you know all about guns and shooting. I've been dining off this for years.”

I sure wish I had come up with that one!

Greatest Cartridges: .300 Weatherby Magnum, Still Packing a Punch

When it was first developed the .300 Weatherby Magnum produced nearly unheard of velocities. Around 70 years later, and the round is still consider one of the world's blistering hot magnums.
When it was first developed the .300 Weatherby Magnum produced nearly unheard of velocities. Around 70 years later, and the round is still consider one of the world's blistering hot magnums.

I have been told, and I suspect that it is very accurate information, that the .300 Weatherby Magnum is the most popular cartridge in the Weatherby line of high intensity cartridges.

Roy Weatherby initially developed four cartridges in the mid-to-late 1940s. These were the .220 Rocket, based on the .220 Swift case, and the first three of the Weatherby line of magnums, the .257 WM, .270 WM, and .300 WM. Weatherby's brainchild developed a muzzle velocity of over 3500 fps with the 150 grain bullet, almost 3400 fps with the 165 grain, 3250 fps with the 180 grain, and over 3,050 fps with the 200 grain bullet. For the time, those velocities were eye-openers, and even today are still sizzling down range.

The ballistics provided by the .300 Wby. made it about as close to ideal as one is apt to find for the all-around one-gun hunter. One example is that of C.J. McElroy, the founder of Safari Club International. Mr. McElroy hunted all over the world and for many years used nothing but a Weatherby Mark V rifle chambered for the .300 Wby cartridge. He used it for almost everything he hunted. I knew Mac quite well and last time I saw the rifle, it was about as dilapidated as a rifle could be and still function.

Mac was not a gun nut and to him, the rifle was nothing but a tool. He once told me that the rifle was like an extension of his arm in the field. Finally as the effects of his advanced age finally began to affect him, he switched rifles for the remainder of his hunting years. It was another Weatherby Mark V rifle, but chambered for the 7mm Wby. instead of another .300.

Another well known international hunter that used nothing but a .300 Wby. chambered Mark V for his hunting was Elgin Gates. Gates wrote numerous magazine articles about his exploits with the rifle, and also wrote a book or two about his adventures with it. Both McElroy and Gates could have afforded most any rifle they wanted, but both were more than pleased with their Weatherby rifles.

Well known custom rifle maker David Miller also is a one-rifle hunter. His hunting rifle is one of his own make, but chambered for the .300 Wby. David specializes in chasing big Coues deer around the mountains of southern Arizona and northern Mexico. He has taken more trophy bucks than anyone I know or have ever heard of.

Now I fully understand that a very large Coues buck is not a very large animal, and a rifle as powerful as the .300 Wby. is not needed to slay such a buck. However, big trophy bucks are very wary animals, and if spotted at all, are generally seen at long ranges. Miller and his .300 have taken several book sized bucks at ranges exceeding 500 yards, a few exceedingly so.

There are those hunters who have found the Weatherby Mark V, chambered in .300 Weatherby Magnum to be all the gun they ever needed, no matter their quarry.
There are those hunters who have found the Weatherby Mark V, chambered in .300 Weatherby Magnum to be all the gun they ever needed, no matter their quarry.

Personally, I have owned but one rifle chambered for that cartridge, a German-made Mark V that I bought in Germany at a US Army Rod & Gun Club in Stuttgart about 1964. I kept it for a while, but at the time had no real need for it, so traded it for something else, I've long since forgotten what. It was a pleasant rifle to shoot, very accurate with factory ammo (I hadn't started handloading at the time), and an attractive rifle, even with its California styling. At the time, the styling was acceptable to me, although these days, it gives me the “vapors” as O'Connor used to write.

The Weatherby line of “hyper” velocity cartridges was the earliest of the genre that I'm aware of. There were few, if any coming before, and plenty coming after. The downside, if it is a downside, is that in order to achieve such velocities, the cartridge is loaded to the max pressure wise, or very close to it. They also have considerable free-bore in the chamber to tame the high pressures somewhat.

Still, I've not heard of a Weatherby rifle so chambered causing any damage. I have heard of a few blown primers, but that was about it. For the one gun hunter, a much worse choice could be made than the .300 Weatherby.

Greatest Cartridges: .44 Magnum a Silverscreen Sensation

Through the urging of handloaders and outdoor writers, among them Elmer Keith, the .44 Magnum became a factory load in 1956. Smith & Wesson also released the Model 29, chambered for the round, the same year.
Through the urging of handloaders and outdoor writers, among them Elmer Keith, the .44 Magnum became a factory load in 1956. Smith & Wesson also released the Model 29, chambered for the round, the same year.

The powerful .44 magnum cartridge, along with a new revolver to chamber it, the Smith & Wesson Model 29, were introduced to the shooting public in 1956. The shooting industry finally legitimized the big .44 after years of handloaders loading up the .44 Special cartridge to handle heavier bullets at increased velocities.

Elmer Keith was a member of the group clamoring for the factories to build on their experiences and to introduce the cartridge and handguns to handle it. Elmer was a well-known and respected outdoor writer and his sermon from that bully pulpit carried a bit more weight with the industry than did the average handloader.

Keith had loaded the .44 Special cartridge substantially heavier than the factory fodder available, for a long time, and proclaimed the improvements in the “improved” round long and loud. Industry finally heeded the message and the first two production S&W Model 29 revolvers went to Julian Hatcher of the American Rifleman and none other than Elmer Keith. Bill Ruger followed suit not long after and introduced a Ruger revolver later in 1956.

As Elmer told the story in his book Keith An Autobiography (Later reworked and republished as Hell, I Was There):

I wanted two things from Remington. I wanted them to factory-load my heavy .44 Special load, and I also wanted a 1-1/4-ounce Magnum 16-bore load that I'd been hand-loading successfully for years. There was no problem whatever on the 16-bore load. Petersen had called the boys all together, and they agreed on it right off the reel. But they were afraid of the old triple-lock Smith & Wesson .44 with my heavy loads. I told them I'd been shooting it for ten to fifteen years in the old gun I'd got from McGivern with no problems what-ever, fine accuracy, no undue pressure. However, they were skeptical of the old gun holding it. So I told them, “Why not make the case one-tenth inch longer and call it a .44 Magnum?” They agreed that would be a good idea.

In the end, Remington agreed to make the ammo, and S&W agreed to wrap a handgun around it, and the .44 Magnum was born.

The cartridge and new revolvers were popular enough after their introductions, but in a quirk of fate, the thing that really lit the flame of desire in many otherwise disinterested shooters was the release of the movie Dirty Harry in 1971 starring Clint Eastwood.

After detective Harry Callahan began singing the praises of the “most powerful handgun” on the screen as well as mowing down the criminal element with his S&W Model 29, the firearms literally flew off the dealers’ shelves. Within a short period of time, it was almost impossible to find a Model 29 anywhere, and in the rare event one could be found, the selling price was well north of the MSRP. The factory couldn't keep up with the orders and I was told were actually rationing Model 29s to their distributor/dealer network.

In order to prevent a shooter from inadvertently stuffing a .44 Magnum round into one of the old revolvers chambered for the .44 Special cartridge, the Magnum case is a bit longer than the Special case, eliminating that potential disaster.

The .44 Magnum utilizes a case 1/10 of an inch longer than the .44 Special. Increasing the brass' length was meant to dissuade shooters from using the more potent round in the .44 Special.
The .44 Magnum utilizes a case 1/10 of an inch longer than the .44 Special. Increasing the brass' length was meant to dissuade shooters from using the more potent round in the .44 Special.

The cartridge is factory loaded to between 1,300 and 1,500 fps depending on the load and bullet weight, and at pressures up to 36,000 psi. So loaded, it is a pretty fair hunting cartridge for a handgun, provided the shooter is experienced and can handle the recoil. It requires considerable practice to master. I was living in Alaska at the time of the height of its popularity, and .44 Magnum chambered revolvers were in great demand for carrying in bear country.

Although designed as a powerful revolver cartridge, it didn't take long after its introduction for manufacturers to come out with handy rifles chambered for the cartridge. Ruger brought out the first one that I'm aware of, a handy little semi-auto rifle. Marlin followed with a lever action rifle not long after, and these days there are quite a few available from several manufacturers.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was not uncommon for a shooter to carry a sidearm and a handy rifle, both firing the same cartridge. Three such cartridges were the .32-20, .38-40, and 44-40. At one time, I owned a Winchester Model 73 and a Colt Single-Action, both chambered for the .44-40 cartridge. I wish I still had them.

Greatest Cartridges: 6MM/.244 Remington and the Name Game

The 6mm/.244 Remington traveled a twisting road on its way to gaining a foothold in the shooting world.
The 6mm/.244 Remington traveled a twisting road on its way to gaining a foothold in the shooting world.

The 6mm Remington cartridge dimensions, and the .244 Remington cartridge dimensions, are exactly the same. However, rifles chambered for the cartridge and factory loaded ammo for each usually differ a bit.

The reason for this anomaly, at least to me it is an anomaly, makes an interesting story. Remington has done it at least once more that I'm aware of, and perhaps more than that. More later on this issue.

In 1955, both Remington and Winchester introduced similar 6mm cartridges to the marketplace. Winchester's version was the .243 Winchester, and Remington dubbed their version the .244 Remington. The two cartridges were quite similar. Winchester made theirs by necking down .308 cases to 6mm and chambered its Model 70 and Model 88 lever action rifles for the new cartridge.

Many other manufacturers began chambering for the cartridge shortly thereafter. Winchester developed the cartridge as a combination varmint round using lighter weight bullets, and a light deer/antelope rifle using 100 grain bullets. Winchester fitted their rifles with a 1:10 twist barrel, which would stabilize all bullet weights suitable for both purposes.

Remington, on the other hand, saw their .244 cartridge as a varmint/predator cartridge and discounted any demand for it as a deer/antelope rifle. Therefore they fitted their rifles with a 1:12 twist, perfect for the 80-90 grain bullet weights, but wouldn't always stabilize the 100 grain and heavier bullet weights that hunters wanted to use on deer and antelope. As the old adage goes, the rest is history. Winchester's .243 became a very popular cartridge and Remington's .244 almost withered on the vine, even though technically it offered slight advantages over the .243.

Remington finally saw the error of their ways and in 1963, they changed the twist from 1:12 to 1:9, which would stabilize all available 6mm bullet weights available on the market. Since they realized that the damage had already been done to the .244 Remington, they changed its name at that time to the 6mm Remington. With the head start of the .243, the 6mm Remington has never caught up with the popularity of Winchesters offering, but it has, as best I can tell, become a reasonably successful cartridge offering for Remington, as well it should.

As mentioned earlier, it offers a slight ballistic advantage over its Winchester rival. Remington chose the 7×57 Mauser cartridge as the parent case for its 6mm offering, which gives it a slightly greater powder capacity than the .308 based .243. It also provides a slightly longer cartridge neck, which most handloaders prefer, including this one. Practically speaking, however, if that is permitted these days, they are ballistic twins. What one will do, so will the other and equally well.

Remington chose the 7x57 Mauser cartridge as the parent case for its 6mm offering.
Remington chose the 7×57 Mauser cartridge as the parent case for its 6mm offering.

And now, as the late Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story!”

I mentioned earlier that Remington had changed cartridge names at least one other time that I am aware of. In that case, it was with the .280 Remington, the 7mm Remington Express, and back to the .280 Remington again. You'd think they would learn. The cartridge never changed, only the name, and for different reasons than the .244 vs. 6mm Remington debacle.

Winchester introduced the .270 Winchester in 1925. I've written about it here in this series as it is one of my designated “greatest cartridges.” Remington did not have a really similar cartridge offering so in 1957, they introduced the .280 Remington (which had been around in a slightly different guise as the 7×64 Brenneke for even a bit longer than the .270 as it was introduced in 1917.)

The .280 is basically the .30-06 case necked down to .284” with a couple slight modifications to prevent a .270 cartridge being chambered in a .280 chamber. The resulting cartridge is a very good one, in some ways a bit better than the .270, but it has never caught up with the .270's head start.

In an effort to boost sales, from 1979 to 1980, Remington cataloged the round as the 7mm Express Remington, which did nothing for sales and confused the hell out of a lot of folks! Again, they saw the error of their ways and went back to calling it the .280 Remington.

Greatest Cartridges: .416 Rigby, of Harry Selby Fame

African Professional Hunter Harry Selby was one of the driving forces in popularizing the .416 Rigby.
African Professional Hunter Harry Selby was one of the driving forces in popularizing the .416 Rigby.

We often hear the story that the .270 Winchester was a cartridge made successful by one man, Jack O'Connor. Well, I think that is a bit of an exaggeration.

There is no question that O'Connor's writing about his experiences with the cartridge helped it along immensely, he didn't “make” it. The cartridge was good enough to make it on its own, O'Connor just speeded up the process.

Another cartridge that has been very successful in the game fields of the world whose success has largely been attributed to one man is the .416 Rigby cartridge and African Professional Hunter, Harry Selby. How that came to be is an interesting story.

Like all self-respecting Professional Hunters in Africa, Harry Selby used a heavy caliber English double rifle for his work. On one safari, his trusty double managed to get run over by the Land Cruiser, causing enough damage that it had to be returned to England for repairs which would take several months to complete.

In the interim, Selby visited a gunshop in Nairobi and purchased a John Rigby made Mauser rifle chambered for the .416 Rigby cartridge. It worked so well for him that even after his double was repaired, he never went back to it and remained with his .416 magazine rifle.

Here's what John “Pondoro” Taylor had to say about it in his iconic book African Rifles and Cartridges, “John Rigby clinched his reputation as African gunsmith when he placed his .416 Mauser on the market for heavy and dangerous game. If for any reason you prefer a magazine rifle to a double, there is no finer or more satisfactory weapon for all-around use against dangerous animals than this .416.”

He also wrote, “This was Blunt's favorite rifle, and the weapon with which Daly shot most of his elephant.”

The cartridge was designed by John Rigby & Company in 1911 as a magazine rifle suitable for use in India and Africa. At about the same time, Jeffery came out with its .404 cartridge and Westley Richards with its .425, all designed for magazine rifles. These three cartridges were made possible largely due to the development of Cordite smokeless powder and mauser's great 98 Mauser action. Both the .404 and .416 became very popular in Africa – the .425 less so.

The original loading of the .416 Rigby used a 410 grain bullet at 2300 fps. This was later standardized with a 400 grain bullet at 2400 fps. Even at the higher velocity, the big cartridge is really loafing with about 47,000 psi chamber pressure. Compared to some of the newer .416 loadings, they reach the same general ballistics as the Rigby, but at much higher pressures, well over 60,000 psi.

The .415 Rigby was the choice of professional hunters who were looking for a magazine-fed rifle.
The .415 Rigby was the choice of professional hunters who were looking for a magazine-fed rifle.

The downside to the large case is that, in general, a large magnum action is needed to house it. It was designed around the Mauser No. 5 Magnum action. Most Rigby-made rifles used this action. However, a few were made on standard length 98 Mauser action by milling away a lot of metal. The one used by Harry Selby was one of these rifles.

In its heyday, the only viable source of ammunition for the big .416, along with most of the other large bore cartridges of British origin, was from Kynoch. After the end of WWII, for numerous geo-politial reasons, the demand for large bore rifles and ammunition decreased substantially.

Ultimately, Kynoch ceased production of all ammunition, including the big Rigby .416. As a result, most of the English express rifles withered on the vine. It remained that way, with African hunters switching to cartridges that were still being manufactured.

Winchester came out with it's Model 70 chambered for the .458 Winchester cartridge. Many professionals, including Selby, made the switch. Initially, the .458 had some growing pains, but they were finally sorted out.

This was the sad situation until a young American by the name of Jim Bell came along and started a company called B.E.L.L., standing for Brass Extrusion Laboratories Ltd. His small company literally resurrected the large bore rifles from premature deaths, by providing the means to produce ammunition for them. The .416 Rigby is among those resurrected.

Greatest Cartridges: .338 Winchester Magnum, the Original Alaskan

The .338 Winchester Magnum (top) compared to the .375 H&H (bottom).
The .338 Winchester Magnum (top) compared to the .375 H&H (bottom).

This cartridge is a very good medium-bore cartridge that was introduced by Winchester, along with the .264 Magnum and the .458 Magnum, in about 1958.

They named the Model 70 rifle chambered for the .338 “The Alaskan, a pretty good indication of the type of game the Winchester developers figured it would be most useful on. It was pretty much and immediate success among Alaskan guides and residents alike.

The cartridge most likely had its origins in the efforts of three men in the late 1940s, experimenting with a couple similar cartridges. The men were Charles O'Neil, Elmer Keith, and Don Hopkins, and the cartridges were the .333 OKH and the .334 OKH.

The .333 OKH was based upon a .30-06 case necked up to a .33 caliber bullet, and the .334 OKH used a shortened .375 H&H case necked down for the same bullet. The .338 Winchester Magnum also used a shortened and blown-out .375 H&H case, necked down to accept a .338 caliber bullet.

Elmer used his .333 OKH as his second rifle on his first African Safari, and as I now recall it was a custom Mauser built by Montana rifle smith Iver Hendriksen. I vividly recall reading his descriptions of some of the difficulties he encountered using the cartridge.

He was using English made bullets and their performance on game was pretty dismal. The failures were in no way the fault of the cartridge, but rather the construction of the bullets. We are very fortunate these days to have plenty of really excellent bullets. Members of the Keith era were not so fortuitous.

I also recall reading in Keith's writings that the .333 OKH became the .338 Win magnum, and the .334 OKH, became the .340 Weatherby. I suspect that there is a lot of truth in those comments.

The .338 is an excellent cartridge for larger big game. It is a great elk rifle when hunting wapiti in heavy timber. It is as good as any cartridge on big moose (and eland in Africa), and it really shines on the big bears.

When a motivated bruin is bound and determined for a up-close meet and greet, it's nice to have the insurance the .338 Winchester Magnum allots.
When a motivated bruin is bound and determined for a up-close meet and greet, it's nice to have the insurance the .338 Winchester Magnum allots.

One well-respected outfitter in Alaska used to require his bear guides to carry a .338 chambered rifle when chasing the bruins. Whether that is till the case or not, I can say.

Ammunition is available loaded with an assortment of good bullets, weighing from 200 grains to 300 grains. For normal use in the field doing anything other than backing clients on big bears, bullets in the 225-250 grain range are perhaps the most useful.

There isn't much that a 225 grain quality bullet cruising along at about 2,800 fps won't handily take care of. It is a relatively high pressure cartridge with the SAAMI recommended average pressure at 64,000 psi, and the CIP a bit less at 62,000 psi.

In my hunting career, I have had but one occurrence where an animal decided to test my mettle by taking me on. It was an Alaskan brown bear, and I was armed with a custom pre-64 Model 70 chambered for the .338 Win. Mag. loaded with handloaded ammo using 210 grain Nosler partition bullets.

I won't get into the details, but since I'm writing these lines, needless to say, it worked.

Greatest Cartridges: Sizzling Varmint Medicine, the .22-250

Whether as a wildcat or factory cartridge, there has always been something mystifying about the high-velocity .22-250.
Whether as a wildcat or factory cartridge, there has always been something mystifying about the high-velocity .22-250.

There is some considerable confusion as to when this popular varmint cartridge was developed, and who developed it.

Its name comes from the fact that it uses a .22 caliber bullet, and the parent case is the .250 Savage. The parent case came out in about 1915, so it was sometime after that.

The names associated with the cartridges development most often include Harvey Donaldson, Grosvenor Wotkyns, J.E. Gebby and J. B. Smith. Considerable development work went on in the mid-1930s.

At least one version was called the .22 Varminter, and others, the .22-250. Wotkyns is generally credited with developing the forerunner to the .220 Swift, although Winchester chose to use the 6mm Lee Navy case, rather than the .250 Savage. Author, gunsmith and consummate handloader, Phil Sharpe, was an early fan of the .22-250.

For many years the cartridge languished as a popular wildcat, until Browning announced in 1963 that they were adding the chambering to their rifle line.

My old pal, mentor, and good friend, John T. Amber, wrote in the 1964 issue of Gun Digest, the following: “Browning did an unprecedented thing this year—they added a caliber to their High Power rifle line, the Wildcat 22-250, for which no commercial ammunition is available! As far as I know, this is the first time a first line arms maker has offered a rifle chambered for a cartridge which he—or some other production ammunition maker—cannot supply.”

Ever since the .22-250 has gone from wildcat to factory cartridge, varmints have been shaking in their boots.
Ever since the .22-250 has gone from wildcat to factory cartridge, varmints have been shaking in their boots.

The cartridge also has, in a way, a powder named for it. H-380 was an unnamed spherical rife propellent when the late Bruce Hodgdon first used it. When a 38.0 grain charge behind a 52 grain bullet gave one hole groups from his 22 caliber wildcat (now called the .22-250), he appropriately named the powder H380.

I've also heard that the velocity delivered with that load, around 3800 fps, played a role in the decision though that may also be just so much fluff.

I have owned at least a couple rifles so chambered for many years now. When I tire of one and get rid of it for something, at the time anyway, that's more spectacular, I end up down the road always picking up another.

I currently have two, a heavy varminter from Savage that has had a few custom touches added to it (another stock for one thing) and a Mark VII medium weight varminter from E.R. Shaw. Both are superbly accurate.

I don't do a lot of varmint shooting here in southeastern Arizona, but when I do go out, one or the other of these two rifles goes with me.

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