By golly, the new .395 Caliber has spurred a sell-off to new owners, who will continue to make .395 barrels for the growing demand.

Actually, Harry McGowen is 78 years old. Time to retire. He will be staying on with his son in Saint Anne, Illinois to continue their custom gunsmithing shop.

The McGowen name, machinery, tools, and barrel materials have left in a caravan of 4 tractors with 48-foot trailers, and assorted flatbed trucks.

I hope Max got his barrel before it moved to Montana with the .395 tooling.

BTW, Charles Helm's proposed .395 RUMsveld has been approved by the special council of The .395 Family. It was unanimouse. We welcome him if he wishes to accept Black Sheep status with a rebated rim cartridge.

Oh yes, the .395 Tatanka on a Dakota 76 African will be under construction within two weeks.

The gunsmith is not named Marc.

Next or simultaneously will come the .395 Ruger Max. The gunsmith on that one will not be named Marc either, even though the action will be a Ruger "Mark II."

who bought them, and what part of Montana?

Rich
DRSS

Ron,
As noted in my new post, got my barrel yesterday. Am almost ready to begin. Just waiting for Ruger MK II LH to arrive from Whittaker's. Does Manson have the reamer available yet with the removeable pilots? If so, will order that asap.
Heck, can't let you have all the fun.
Max

Sir Max,
The .375 Ruger Reamer with removable pilot is on order, should take "a few weeks."
If you want to proceed more rapidly and possibly be the first in the world to build a .395 Ruger Max, go ahead and order from Dave Manson, rather than wait for my hand-me-downs.

Glad to hear the barrel made it, Sir Max.

I will wait, kind sir, but send me a private email on what my cost or cost share is. Can't have you pay for it all.

prof242,
Be a fully made man and lay claim to the .395 Ruger Max. Order your own reamer with your name on it as designer. You know how, you know the specs. I will not take any money from you. I will not discuss money with you. Let me know if you need any further advice. It is not nice to The Godfather of The .395 Family.

Oh Kind Sir,
I was not trying to make an offer you cannot refuse. Just did not want to buy a reamer which will only be used once. Ahh well, back to the Ruger Max drawing board.

By the way, do you think we can make the Anani Mouse an SCI trophy listing?

Max,
Do you mean the Anonymouse?
That would best be left to Outer Circle Awards status. Same for the Unanimoose. Don't you think?

BTW, it is very pessimisstic of you to think that a .395 Ruger Max reamer would only be used once. And you will hunt the Anonymouse with it?

Think positively: make Unanimoose your game.

The .395 Ruger Max will out-Tembo the .400 Tembo.

Was watching part of your movie (Godfather) on TV tonight...
Anyway, between the anani mouse, anonymouse, and the unanimoose, the .395 should develop a great reputation among the outer circle awards group.
Also, am going through my Brownell's catalog and several others trying to decide on sights and other accessories. I get wooed by NECG, then ficklely turn to something else. Same with the stock.
Still waiting on the lefthand Ruger.
Max

Max,
I think someone at a Colorado gun shop signed for your future .395 Ruger Max on 6/1/07, after it was shipped UPS on 5/29/07. Better go pick it up and get that 7mmRM barrel unscrewed from it so your smith can start fitting the .395 barrel for it. I'll send the reamers soon as mine has been chambered, if you want to wait, and let me take credit for the design, and possession, of the first ever .395 Ruger Max. Apparently you don't care about beating me to it. That's cool.

Well, dinglefarb! Noone called me. First thing Monday morning, I'm making a call to my gunsmith (his FFL) to find out if it arrived. If so, Ima gonna getta reddy!
Nope, don't have a care in the world as to who gets to name something. Got my name on too many things already. You could call it the .395 Ruger Ripper!

Max,
The only other possible name for the ".395 Ruger Max" would have to be ".395 Tembo."
That is just a little too close to ".400 Tembo" for comfort, so ".395 Ruger Max" wins by default.

Max Factor:

Maximum "killing power" for least recoil, maximum utility for chambering in any standard action, maximum kiss-up to prof242, etc.

9am, called gunsmith. No LH Ruger.
1pm, called gunsmith. No LH Ruger.
3pm, called by gunsmith. LH Ruger is in!

OK, will have jeweler engrave .395 Ruger Max on cases.
Max Factor, Smaxy the Sugar Smacks Seal, Maxwell, Maximum...all name used against me when young.
And thank you for the kiss-up. Other than the cat and my granddaughters, haven't been kissed in a long while!

.395 Tatanka is expected to be shootable in 2 weeks.

Even if nobody else cares, I am very proud of this great gift to mankind.

quote:

Max Factor, Smaxy the Sugar Smacks Seal, Maxwell, Maximum...all name used against me when young.

Reminds me of one of my favorite Simpson's episodes....Homer wants to change his name in order to get more respect and be more successful. He picks "Max Power". He got the idea off of a blow-drier.

Cheers,
Canuck

.395 Ruger Max:
Maybe two weeks after the .395 Tatanka.

Brass has been ordered. Now have to order the dies.

RIP- Who bought their equipment?
And what town?Ed

Kalispell is just a hop, skip and a jump from here. Might have to become a McGowen customer...could just pop by and pick stuff up when its ready.

Cheers,
Canuck

Ed,
Harry said he was going to get a letter out to his customers telling more, but he hasn't procrastinated long enough on that task yet.

Apparently some folks new (or old) to Kalispell, Montana, are setting up a pretty big operation, backed by some money from Louisiana, IIRC, if that is any clue.

When Harry finally tells the faithful, I'll be sure to post more info. That is all I have for now.

quote:

Originally posted by prof242:
Brass has been ordered. Now have to order the dies.

Max,
On your tip, I have ordered some of these 400-grain cast bullets from Buffalo Arms Co., and Midway, made by Montana Precision Swaging Cast Bullets:



These 400-grain .395-cal lead slugs are about the same length as the GSC FN .395-cal/340-grain:



It will be fun fire-forming .395 Tatanka and .395 Ruger Max deer loads with them.

What do you think? 1500 fps O.K.?

Rip..I am not sure but that swaged bullet by Montana Precision looks like a bullet for paper patching and most likely made of pure lead...Shooting it nay-kid unpatched or unlubed is going cause leading....Tumbled lubed in LEE liq. alox and shot at low vel. might work...Paper patching 2 wraps will add about 7-8 thou to your bullet dia.....

Low Wall,
You are correct about it being a paper patched bullet. However, I was told that by tumbling with Lee Liquid Lube, they would be OK for practice.

RIP,
Talked to the tech rep at Lee Precision today. He's sending me two sizing dies. One is their .410 to .401 die, but with what he calls a "J" taper. He also is sending me a custom-made die to go from .401 to .396 in diameter. This two-die sizer set will allow any cast .410 bullet to be sized for our use, especially if it is already lubed.
Now for the interesting part. The Lee tech rep said that Jacketed Bullets could also be sized down, but required a good sizing lube. This does not mean bullets like Barnes or those with an H jacket like Noslers. Just normal cup and core bullets.
Ron, as soon as they're here, I'll go to work and send you some to practice with. We'll definitely be able to go 1500fps with hard cast bullets and as fast as we think suitable with jacketed bullets. I have some of the LBT bullets coming for my initial foray.

prof242...I have been sizing down a RCBS .377 cast bullet pre-lubed to .368 for my 9.3X62...works great!....

I will certainly need help with lead bullet technology. Somewhere I thought I saw that these were "40-1" soft lead.

It will be interesting to see if prof242 can come up with some "drawn down" cup and core bullets.

RIP,
My concerns exactly. Bumping up is usually the best way to go and I may have to do that. But, for practice, sizing down (if the jackets don't have too much spring-back) may work. As it is, I've got from 250 grain up to 400 grain cast bullets coming. I'm hoping the ones I had to order in 500 batches shoot well. If not, the grandkids will be able to use them up at 50yds.
Oh, the jacketed ones are from 200gr to 250gr.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
B
BTW, Charles Helm's proposed .395 RUMsveld has been approved by the special council of The .395 Family. It was unanimouse. We welcome him if he wishes to accept Black Sheep status with a rebated rim cartridge.

Sorry -- I have been away for a bit. Let me check my discretionary funds and see what I can come up with. Father's Day is approaching, right?

And congratulations on the steady forward progress!

McGowen Rifle Barrels has relocated to Kalispell Montana and should be up and running by the end of next week (6/22). We are planning on carrying on the great quality and tradition that Harry McGowen brought to this industry and improving upon them. Be assured that the individuals that are participating in this company are highly skilled with more than 50 years combined experience in the industry. Quality and customer service is our highest priority. We will be offering both Chrome Moly & Stainless Steel rifle barrels in just about any contour your imagination can come up with including Octagons (some up to 36" finished length), Fluting and barrel installations on just about any rifle action available including levers & bolt actions. At this point we do not have a website up and operational but as soon as we do I will let everyone know. If anyone has any questions they can call us at 406-755-4907 or fax us at 406-755-2969. I do not currently have a company email address so I will hold off on submitting that until I do.

Regards,

Dan J. Wynne

Thank you McGowenRifle/Dan J. Wynne.

Thanks for using the McGowen name in your handle. That really got my attention! I think you got a bargain on good will. It will be very interesting to hear more about the new company, when you get a chance.

Charles Helm,
Give them some time to get settled in before you start a rush on .395 barrels.
McGowen Rifle Barrels has the tooling for the .395 and might be persuaded to make for you the sixth .395 barrel ever produced. 12" twist is what they have all been so far.

.395 RUMsveld.

Ron "The Don",

We have many exciting things planned for McGowen Rifle Barrels including adding 2-3 sister companies to produce actions, barreled actions & stocks.
Our barrels will only be match grade quality and a very affordable price (example $175.00 for a CM Contoured blank or $193.00 for a Stainless contoured blank).
The owner of the company, Ron Duplessis of Baton Rouge Louisiana is currently brokering a deal to bring us 3 different actions. Two of the actions will be bolt actions, one a CRF and the other a Push Feed. The lengths will be noted here later after everything is set. They will be available in both Chrome Moly and Stainless Steel. These actions will be machined from a forging to ensure quality and consistency. The bolt will incorporate a dual dovetail locking lug system, the raceways will be broached to ensure smoothness & tighter tolerance. We are not recreating the wheel here, these actions have been around for quite some time, we are just improving upon them including a 3 position safety, multiple bolt handles available, different magazine box choices including a single stack clip magazine, trigger choices to include Timney or Bold (upgradeable to a Jewel), round bottom and many traditional mauser features without the weight. Once we have images and standard dimensions available they will be posted here. The other action will be a 1885 Hi-Wall action. We will not be taking any deposits on these actions until they are ready to go.
As you can see our sights are set high but with the experience and commitment we have both in the owner and the people we have working here there is no place for us to go but up. There is absolutely no "can't" in our vocabulary.

Regards,

Dan

McGowenRifle: Here's to your success!

LoWall: I've sized bullets down some in the past. There were a few that shot great and a few that had jacket spring-back allowing a loose lead core. I'm hoping all will work out when my sizers get here. If they do, you might want to call Lee and have them make you a sizer also. They're push through!

Dan,
I would hope that actions are available in lengths appropriate for:
.416 Rigby
.375 H&H
.30-06 ... with appropriate bolt faces and boxes as needed.

I hope you will be allowing synthetic stocks as a primary option rather than just as an add-on after expensive walnut upgrades. Your barrel pricing suggests that you are not of the Dakota Arms philosophy of charging twice the "fair price." Very encouraging, and sure to appeal to a larger market.

Harry charged $280 for a stainless barrel and you are down to $193.00.

I'll be needing some more stainless .395 barrels, assuming the quality is as good as Harry's.

Would you be able to facilitate export of barrels to RSA after things are up and running smoothly?

We watch with bated breath for news of the "Kalispell Rifle Werkes."

Dan,
Will need a .395 barrel in a month or so to go to Oklahoma City.
Max

Might be real off topic, but 14, 17 and 20cals barrels also please.

quote:

Originally posted by prof242:
Dan,
Will need a .395 barrel in a month or so to go to Oklahoma City.
Max

Max, is there another Made-Man candidate out there? You been recruiting for The Family?

Blueprinted,
McGowen Rifle Barrels was just starting up the 20 caliber barrel production early in 2007. That tooling went to Montana too.

Yeah, RIP, I've been semi-recruiting. My best friend and hunting buddy was here over the Memorial Day weekend. Saw the barrel, bullets, and everything else I had. We've seemed to duplicate each other's arsenal so, of course, he's gotta have a .395 also. Just can't make up his mind whether to have a .395 Ruger Max or a .395 WSM...duh Oh, he'll be with me at the Dallas show in January.
Right now am waiting for the custom Lee sizers to size down bullets.

McGowen- Dan--Will you be able to make
large caliber barrels. I just lost a
supplier for a 700 and 2 12ga rifled barrels
I needed real bad. They are sending money
back.Closing shop. Waiting since last summer.
Their equipment is for sale real close
to you...Ed

Ron "The Don"

Sorry for the late reply.

We are still working on the action now but our intentions are to make a action for the cartridges you mentioned. It is slow going but I think in the end everyone will be happy with what we have planned. At this point in time I can't promise when they will be available. As everyone has seen in the past promising delivery dates can come back and bite you in the butt.
As far as stocks go, we plan on doing both wood and synthetic.
Harry made his reputation on providing a quality product, we plan on expanding on that by making what we hope to be the best in the industry.
We have Harry's 395 tooling so if you need anything give us a call at 406-755-4907 and we'll fix you up. We still have all of the inventory that Harry had built up prior to the sale of the company on hand.
We are working on doing exporting and will let everyone know when that is up and running for the company.
Kalispell Rifle Werkes, that's a good one. Actually our main company (we'll have 3 or 4) will be American Gun Holdings.

Dan


Max,

Give us a call at the number above and we'll fix you up. We should be turning all of the machines on next week.

Dan


Blueprinted,

Not sure about the 14 caliber, but we do plan on making the 17 & 20 calibers.

Dan


Ed Hubel,

We are working on Harry's tooling now. He had quite a varied selection. Give us a call about mid next week after we've gone through all of the tooling and we'll see where we are and what we can do for you on the 700 and 12 gauge barrels.

Dan