Hello All,

As you may have gathered from my previous posts, I collect Brevex Magnum Mauser rifles. To date I've been fortunate to have acquired 8 of them.

Not only do they represent a time when they were the only Magnum Mauser Actions available to the trade, they represent a time when some of the Best Custom Rifles were being built, by some of the Best Custom Rifle builders.



This rifle was brought to my attention by a fellow Forum member who found it listed for Auction. I thank him for the lead. As in many cases, the seller was unaware that it was a Brevex Action, and made no reference to that fact.

This rifle has a fast shooting 20-1/4" barrel and is topped with a 4X Leopold scope with a reassuring 4-1/2" eye relief. Neatly tucked under the back of the scope is a Lyman Aperarue Rear Sight with yellow paint marking the setting. Even with the short barrel, the rifle weighs-in at just a hair over 11-1/2 pounds with the scope and sling and loaded with 4 rounds - 1 up and 3 down. LOP is at 14"

This is my first "Belgium" Brevex rifle and was likely originally built by Francotte in the mid 1950's. Although I say built by, it would be more accurate to say "assembled by" Francotte since they acquired their Brevex actions from the action builder BREVEXSURESNES, (1955-1962) in Suresnes, France, owned/operated by a gunsmith named M. Polonsky, an engineer from the Radom plant in Poland. Polonsky used captured German machinery taken from Oberndorf by the French Troops (1945 - Gal. Leclerc 2nd DB) and delivered by the M.A.S. (Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne) before being sold to Polonsky circa 1951.

The Belgium Proof Marks stamped on the left side of the action are very distinctive.



European makers were the first to acquire the Brevex actions, and later they were imported into the U.S. by Tradewinds, in Tacoma, Washington. Tradewinds sold the Brevex Actions for $118.50 along side their M98 Husquvarna actions which sold for $59.50.

The Brevex Action came in 3 models, the M300 with a 300 and 375 bolt face, the M400 with a 404, 416, 505, bolt face, and the very rare M500, bolt face 505 and others unknown. Other than the bolt face, the actions were all identical.



This rifle likely started life in a different caliber as a complete rifle being built in Belgium. The barrel would have had similar proof marks on the side ahead of the receiver. I'm not aware of any Belgium makers re-selling these French made actions only. In addition, these Belgium Brevex Actions have bottom metal marked "made in Belgium" and it is slightly different than the French made bottom metal which is marked "France". The French made triggerguards have a 45 degree bevel at the front, the Belgium made triggergards have a rounded front.



This rifle sports an M300 action built into a 378 Weatherby Magnum caliber by Marquart Precision Co., Prescott, Arizona. (formerly A&M) Paul Marquart was a Master Gunsmith and a Charter member of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild. You can see the quality of his work in this rifle.









The stock on this rifle can be described as nothing short of "wonderful". It is AAA Select French Walnut with much Fiddle-back grain. The checkering is flawless and is in Leonard Mews' style Fluers pattern. Since Leonard would leave his Wisconsin Winters and go West each Fall to spend time doing work for various Gunsmiths in Arizona, Montana, and California, I was sure I would find Leonard's stamp in the barrel channel. However, sometime after its building, this rifle was full glass bedded the entire length, and the Mew's stamp, if there is one, remains forever sealed under the bedding compound.









Both the forend tip and the grip cap are made of dense Buffalo Horn and add a nice touch.





The recoil pad is a period made Pachmayr. If you can call this thin rubber a recoil pad. Perhaps it served only to keep the rifle from slipping when it stood in some distant hunting hut corner. The owner that commissioned this rifle must have been one tough fellow.



The floor plate has the shooter's range table attached and show data for both Scope and Iron Sights for the 378 Weatherby caliber. The headings read; "YARDS" - "300 BT @ 2800 FPS" - "IRON 54 MIN". He must have been a hand-loader because I don't think its possible to get 2800 fps from a 20-1/4" barrel with factory ammo.

This, and the many dings and scrapes to the stock, attest to the fact that this was a real working gun. The seller told me the owner (now deceased) had taken this rifle to Africa on many occasions and killed a lot of game with it.



The distinctive Belgium Bottom metal shows Belgium made and a matching serial number.







The Brevex Action model and serial number, along with the "BV" logo, are stamped on the bottom.





This rifle has an adjustable Canjar M-3 trigger assembly. This was added later as the stock shows signs of once having a trigger assembly with a "side-safety". The side-safety triggers were typical on European Brevex Mausers. The Canjar trigger assembly has no safety so this rifle now sports a 2-position Winchester style safety mounted to the bolt shroud.



The Marquart barrel has a second recoil lug on the bottom of the barrel. The lug is not added, it is an integral part of the barrel. This was a typical A&M feature found on their heavy recoiling rifles. The full barrel bedding assures there is no movement during recoil and prevents stock breakage.





A precision crowned muzzle and gold accented front sight provide acuracy and fast aiming.



The large bolt face for the 378 Weatherby caliber.



The search continues. If you have a Brevex Mauser rifle for sale, drop me a note. I'm always looking for more examples to add to my eight.

Very beautiful rifle

Great looking rifle. How's that shoulder feel after a few rounds with that "recoil pad?"

A nice rifle for sure a 378 WBY with a 20 inch barrel would be very interesting to be seen shot at dusk.

The muzzle flash has to be spectacular.

That's a gorgeous rifle!

Very nice . . . pity though that someone put a 20" barrel on it. I would rebarrel it.

buckstix,

Thanks for another great post. I always enjoy the details and photography. It smells of slick paper publication quality!

Here is what I got with Weatherby factory ammo in a 22" barreled "custom" rifle back in 1998, on a BRNO ZKK 602:

300-grain FMJ factory load by Weatherby (cratered primers) fps:
2851
2835
2849
2833
2851
I quit the factory stuff.
That 22" barrel averaged 2764 fps with 300-grain Sierra GK and Swift A-Frames and 111.0 grains of IMR 7828, best load in my rifle.

2800 fps with your 20.5" barrel has got to be hot, and LOUD!

It would be interesting to know if you can get that kind of velocity with the original .750"-long parallel-sided free-bore.
Or do you have a shorter PSFB?


Riflecrank Internationale Permanente
NRA Life Benefactor and Beneficiary
https://home.nra.org/

Find one needing newer barrel, make collection

complete with a 585HE...Ed

Hello RIP,

Thanks for your reply.

My first trip to the range yesterday with this rifle was somewhat disappointing. Using handloads with a 300g SBT that I prepared for my 378 Winslow, showed only 2555 fps from the Marquart 20-1/4" barrel. These same loads gave 2790 fps in the Winslow's 26" barrel. That amounts to about 40 fps loss per inch.

I'm not sure I want to taylor a load specific to this rifle's 20-1/4" barrel, for fear of mistakenly using it in the Winslow with its 26" barrel. I'll try some different powders to see if I can find some common ground.

Hello hubel458,

Thanks for the reply.

I'm sure sooner or later I'll have a rifle in your 585HE caliber.

It appears someone glassed it at some point in its life, and perhaps rebarreled it as some wood has been removed in the chamber area..not a horrible job but pretty rough for such a nice gun..I would consider having it redone, unless that's not on your to do list!

Hello Atkinson,

Thanks for the reply.

As I said above, this rifle likely started life in a different caliber as a complete rifle being built in Belgium. I'm sure it was subsequently re-barreled by Marquart.

And then again "later" glass bedded by the last owner who did an amateur job at best. But, I can live with it because it seems sound and I've waxed-up everything underneath and I'll not be taking the action out of the stock again.

You might want to contact "Edmond" in France who posts frequently on the Political Forum. Here is a thread he posted awhile back on a Brevex Toomany Tools was customizing:

Edmond:
Marcel Pigatti was a friend, we shot together for many years in Versailles. He was drafted for labour in Germany during WW2 and ended in the Mauser factory where he had to do the maintenance on machines. It was his first contact with armamement industry.
When liberated in 1945, he established a workshop in Levallois Perret near the river Seine, West of Paris.
He worked for automobile industry, funnily he never had a driving license but many friends to take him shooting.
He designed the Brevex (Name came from Brevet, Patent) for magnum rounds, starting with 10.75 x 68mm rounds first.
Roy Weatherby visited him and bought some of his receivers to make his first Weatherby Magnum rifles.
I passed one of these rifles a few years ago, I still regret it today, a real beauty in .460, with the most beautiful wood and engraving I have ever seen.
He died 15 years ago. He made rifles for famous hunters, like Dr Corson.
He was one of the best shooters I know.

Helmut,
There's another Brevex on Guns International right now. Pretty pricy, however. This one is described as made by Champlin and sold by them as well.

Hello All,

Thanks for all the nice replies.

Hello xausa,

I've seen that one before, but "way" too pricey for me. I have yet to spend even 1/4 of that for any of my 8 Brevex Mausers. In addition, most of Champlin's guns listed there, and on his web page, are long ago sold. He never updates the listings and I've wasted a lot of time inquiring about his guns, (the last 4 times) only to find them sold.

Even the 416 Belgium Blindee is a bit too high for me. But keep me posted on any new listings you may come across.