2/2/18 UPDATE - Custom "Frank Wells" M70 Win - 458 Lott cal.

Hello All,

I just took a flyer and bought a Custom rifle at an auction that was built by a maker that I know very little about. That being, Frank Wells, AZ. ? ? I had heard of Fred Wells, but not Frank Wells. I'm hoping someone here can fill me in about Frank.

The rifle is built on a 1955 Model 70 Winchester Long action with a 23-1/4" barrel with a barrel-band hooded front sight and a muzzle brake. Weight is 11 pounds, 13 ounces with a 13-7/8" LOP. It is set-up for a detachable scope mount in the standard position with EAW rings, or for a forward mounted Scout Rifle Scope with standard QD rings. It has a 3-Leaf fold-down Rear Sight mounted in the center of a Picatinny Rail which is anchored at the front to a large forward recoil lug that is integral to the barrel.

Any info about Frank Wells would be appreciated.

If only that rifle was a .458 Win.Mag. with 3.6" mag box, I'd be interested in haggling over it.

Another chance to learn something!

I forget how Frank Wells is related, or not related, to Fred Wells, both of AZ.

Sumbuddywhoknow will hopefully pitch in here soon.

Until then I am googlin' ...


Posted: December 23, 2016

Author Tony Martins knows Frank Wells very "wells"
as does Sam Fadala, mutual friends and neighbors.

http://blog.1800gunsandammo.co...-of-a-lottery-rifle/

"Images provided by Frank Wells" (Retired)



FRANK WELLS CUSTOM HUNTING RIFLE
Truth be told, it’s doubtful that I would buy a million dollar techno-marvel/work-of-art rifle, even if a $500-million Powerball jackpot came my way. Instead, I’d probably buy my own island in the South Pacific or the Caribbean… but of course I would also order a new high-grade hunting rifle, to be made to my exact specifications!

In discussing this assignment with gun writer, mentor and blackpowder authority Sam Fadala, we gleefully roughed out specs for such a rifle. And, it just happens that our friend and neighbor Frank Wells is also a world-class custom rifle builder who graciously provided expertise and advice. Following are details of our collaborative efforts in designing this rifle:

Caliber – .270 Weatherby – It’s been said that nothing shoots flatter, hits harder or is more accurate than Roy Weatherby’s original magnum big-game chambering. It’s our choice for North American big game as well as non-dangerous game worldwide.
Action – Mauser Custom Double Square Bridge – Milled from a single block of solid tempered steel, machined for Talley rings, completely honed and trued with bolt, follower and extractor engine-turned to insure smooth and flawless function from this magnum strength action.
Metal Finish – cold rust bluing.
Trigger – Canjar Double Lever, Set Type – The late Matt Canjar’s triggers are universally recognized among the best and most reliable made, and his set type was top-of-the-line… if you can find one.
Safety – Mauser 3-position Wing Type – provides better bolt clearance in combination with the gas deflecting design of the original Mauser bolt shroud
Barrel – Schilen Select Match Grade 26-inch, octagon to round transition – button rifled, stress relieved, hand lapped, air gauged and optically inspected
Magazine – drop-box with hinged straddle floorplate, release inside trigger guard.
Stock Material – Turkish Circassian Walnut, pillar bedded with ebony forend tip – This variety of walnut is recognized as the king of gunstock wood due to beautiful coloration and fine texture.
Stock Checkering – classic wrap-around, muted border point-pattern, 26 lines per inch, handcut by the master, Frank Wells.
Pistol Grip – steel skeleton checkered within.
RecoilPad – leather covered.
Sling Swivels – 2 screw bases on slightly raised pads.
Embellishments – simple and tasteful – rifle owner’s name in gold script, as well as case coloring of rings, drip cap and bolt safety shroud.
ScopeBase – machined onto bridge of action.
Scope – Swarovski Z8i SR 1.7–13.3x42mm – top quality glass and coatings, slim 30mm tube, optional ballistic turret & switchable reticle from dot to circle-dot (MSRP: $3139.00).
A custom rifle like this can take 2-3 years to complete, with 6 months lead time to acquire the necessary components, and a projected price tag of $30,000.00 to $34,000.00 (plus scope). There is no one more qualified to create our dream rifle than Arizona’s Frank Wells – if we could just come up with that huge pile of cash to lure him out of retirement!


Rip ...

Hello RIP,

Thanks for the reply.

I am hoping that perhaps someone will have some detailed history about this Custom Builder.

In the mean time, any idea of what kind of Rings are used for the "Quick-Detachable" bases on this rifle's receiver?

German Non-Under-Engineered:

EAW

https://www.newenglandcustomgu...-Loc%20Pivot%20Mount


https://www.newenglandcustomgu...structionspage10.pdf


https://youtu.be/nhh6FDvfXuA

Nice Peep that goes on the rear base:

P.L. HOLEHAN'S GONE HUNTIN' HOLEHAN, PATRICK, L (520) 745-0622 5758 E STREET 34TH TUCSON, AZ 85711

http://www.plholehancustomrifles.com/

Patrick Holehan worked with Frank Wells, apprenticed to the master?
Holehan has a web site and seems to be updating it, still in biz.

Finding info on Frank Wells is like finding info on Gil Van Horn.


Rip ...

Buckstix, if it's anything as good as my Frank Wells Gibbs .505 you ve got a great rifle!

You ve solved a question for me on what mine was built on since it looks identical, even the stock. I ve tried to find out more information on him but found little. I believe his shop was taken over but someone else. I made phone calls to AZ but little luck. Mine says Tucson not AZ.

I had to fix the firing pin - it misfired on a buffalo - but the second round worked as did third. Bowled the buffalo over with 600gr. I also had to have the ramp worked on to accept solid flat nose and NF cups. Mine easily groups 1" at 100 yd and 300 yd I can get 3" group off sticks which is amazing for such a big bore. For mine TSX is most accurate. Mine shoots right and high off a bag. I can happily shoot two dozen rounds with mine with a two hole muzzle brake and yours should be better.

Enjoy it and if you ever want to part with it please PM me.

Buckstix have a look at my earlier questions about mine . Sorry I don't know how to post link


To Forums Big Bores Bolt for model 70 Gibbs .505

I have a 585 Nyati built by Frank Wells. Everything works the way it should. It has a beautiful stock of English Walnut.

My understanding is that Fred Wells and Frank Wells were not related. Fred was the one that made the custom Mauser actions for very large amounts of $.

I remember reading about Frank in one of the articles about custom rifle builders but do not remember where it was.

Yep, everything I have ever heard or read about him is "he's a great one" and "no family relationship to Fred Wells."

My "conscious" told me to go pull this book off the shelf and there on the cover is a Frank Wells .416 Rigby.
It is the SCI Rifle No. 3 of the series of 5 rifles, "Simba-Mbogo," the "Lion and Buffalo Rifle." It was auctioned for $105,000:



Tom Turpin wrote a lot for GUNS magazine. The book is from 1997.

Hello RIP,

So ..... would you have a "book review" of his mention?

Well, OK, for book review purposes, I am going to show an excerpt ... wait for it ...



Alphabetically, he falls last in Chapter 11 (pp. 138-181), the bios of Custom Makers, Wells gets pp. 180-181,
and the final words of the book are on page 207,
the "Source Directory" ends with this:

"Frank Wells, 7521 E. Fairmont Pl., Tucson, AZ 85715"

That was as of 1997.

Pg. 8 is the left side of the Frank Wells SCI rifle, a .416 Rigby, rampant over statuette of Simba and Mbogo:



Book Review:

Great book. Buy it if you can find it.

Rip ...

Hello RIP,

Thanks so much.

Already looking into buying a copy on Amazon. Is there more written information beyond what you have shown here? any additional pictures of his work?

"The last time that I visited Frank Wells in his Tucson shop, he had a couple mesquite blanks on hand. I don't know where he got them because I didn't ask." (Turpin, 1997, pg. 27)

tiny 3.25" x 2.25" color picture of "Gunmaker Frank Wells at his mill" making a round barrel into an octagon, with integral features, on page 36 ... details of Frank Wells barrel work on pp. 49 and 51, bigger photos ... beautiful work by Frank Wells ...
Pg. 66 photo of engraved and gilded steel buttplate of the Frank Wells SCI rifle ...
He did everything on that rifle except the engraving ...

Small color photo, about 1.5" x 7":
"An exquisite large caliber hunting rifle from the Tucson shop of Frank Wells: This rifle is intended to be used in the game fields of the world. Photo by Ron Dehn." (Turpin, 1997, p. 196)


Rip ...

Very very nice, but damn a little more care when inserting the screws through the pad would have seen the necessary slots invisible. Possible done properly by Frank but pad been taken on and off later. Everything else looks perfection.

Mean looking muxxle break, I would be standing next to you when you touch one off.
Like the scope and sight mounting options though.

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
Very very nice, but damn a little more care when inserting the screws through the pad would have seen the necessary slots invisible. Possible done properly by Frank but pad been taken on and off later. Everything else looks perfection.

Mean looking muzzle break, I would be standing next to you when you touch one off.
Like the scope and sight mounting options though.

Hello eagle27,

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, someday I'll remove the pad to see if perhaps someone later added additional weight or a recoil reducer under the pad. I doubt the Frank Wells would have marred the pad holes as such.

Looks like a fantastic rifle, Buckstix. I have seen this maker's work before, but don't have any first hand knowledge.

Just opened an old RIFLE magazine march-april of 75 number 38.
Sam Fadala has an article on the 6MM/222.

It starts,
Frank Wells, master gunsmith of Jensen Custom Ammo in my hometown of Tucson.

quote:

Originally posted by buckstix:

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
Very very nice, but damn a little more care when inserting the screws through the pad would have seen the necessary slots invisible. Possible done properly by Frank but pad been taken on and off later. Everything else looks perfection.

Mean looking muzzle break, I would be standing next to you when you touch one off.
Like the scope and sight mounting options though.

Hello eagle27,

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, someday I'll remove the pad to see if perhaps someone later added additional weight or a recoil reducer under the pad. I doubt the Frank Wells would have marred the pad holes as such.

Heck I missed a word out in my post, should read "I would NOT be standing next to you when you touch one off". I'm deaf enough now.

Is the muzzle brake removable or just a section of the barrel ported? I guess you could slip a sleeve over it if ever wanting to cut out the brake feature, it looks to be parallel sided.

I can add a few details. At one time I lived in Tucson (from 1967 until about 1991). Frank worked for Jensen's Custom Ammo for years. That's where I first met him. In the '80s he did several rifle projects for me, although these were unembellished hunting rifles, based on Pre '64 M70 actions. All but one was fitted with a synthetic stock. Some of them retained the original barrel, a few were rebarreled. For the locals, he would do projects like that as time allowed. In the course of making these guns I spent some time chatting with Frank at his Tucson shop. He's a good guy and I'm glad to have known him. I left Tucson for professional reasons in 1991 and lost touch with him. I think he's on Facebook, and it appears he's retired and living in the White Mountain area of Arizona.


Frank Wells and Fred Wells were not related to one another. Frank once responded to a question about that saying that Fred was the one with the "Injun Fighter hair cut" and he was the "good looking" one.

Jensen's Custom Ammo was "the" gun shop in Tucson for years. It gradually declined in the way businesses do over time after the death of the original owner. One of the Jensen son's is an importer for a German optics firm at this point. There were at least a couple of Jensen boys and a daughter, I think, and they were all avid Coues Whitetail hunters and had taken some very good ones. In those days we were all enamored with the Zeiss 15x60 binoculars for that use. For those that couldn't pony up for the Zeiss, there was a Bushnell 15 power that got the nod. Frank did some Coues hunting too, I think, and was acquainted with everyone in that crowd. He made long-range guns for some of them, which that hunting seems to require.

I remember at one point Frank was working on a 6x47 (I think) on the little Sako action. I was very taken with it but couldn't afford it. A friend of mine in Tucson had two rifles of the utilitarian sort that Frank made for him. One was a 416 Taylor on a commercial Mauser action and the other was a 338-06. He took both to Africa and did well with them.

Hello JefferyPhD

Thanks for the reply.

This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to find.

I hope others might have similar stories to share.

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
Is the muzzle brake removable or just a section of the barrel ported? I guess you could slip a sleeve over it if ever wanting to cut out the brake feature, it looks to be parallel sided.

Hello eagle27,

Thanks for the reply.

I had a chance to examine the muzzle brake today, and YES its removable. (see pictures) and done in a very unique way. Its "recessed" into the barrel-band front site.









I also found a surprise when I opened the grip cap compartment. A selection of different color fiber optic inserts for the front site.



And in preparation for shooting the rifle tomorrow, I installed a 1x20mm Nikon Scope in the Scout Rifle configuration.



And as an additional update: Thanks to a Forum member who knew Frank, I was able to obtain his contact information, and I emailed and talked with Frank today. It was a real pleasure.

Frank Wells is now retired. He used to live in Tucson, Arizona, but a few years ago moved from there and now lives in the Pinetop/Lakeside area.

Although he didn't specifically remember my rifle, he did identify it as his work. He estimated the rifle was built between 1988 and 1995 and would have had a 2 year build time.

.

Great to hear!
Frank Wells' SCI rifle was number three of the first series of five rifles.
It would have auctioned for much more than $105,000 in the latter years of those auctions, of later series.

Now, buckstix, Mission Impossible, if you are willing to accept it, is to acquire a Gil Van Horn Rifle,
and make contact with Gil.
This reply has now self-destructed (jackaloped).

Rip ...

quote:

Originally posted by buckstix:

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
Very very nice, but damn a little more care when inserting the screws through the pad would have seen the necessary slots invisible. Possible done properly by Frank but pad been taken on and off later. Everything else looks perfection.

Hello eagle27,

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, someday I'll remove the pad to see if perhaps someone later added additional weight or a recoil reducer under the pad. I doubt the Frank Wells would have marred the pad holes as such.

Hello eagle27,

Thanks for the reply.

I tried to remove the recoil pad today, and even after removing the screws, it stayed in place. When I asked Frank about this, he told me that he used "Tite-Bond" glue on his pads to act as a sealer of the stock. When asked about added weight, he indicated that he added weight to the butt by using lead wool or a recoil reducer, but didn't know specifically about this rifle. I'm probably not the first one to try to look under the pad, and that's how the holes got enlarged, even a bit more my me. However, they are now repaired with a couple of dabs of black silicone.

Frank went on to say that the target weight for a 458 Lott would have been around 9-1/2 pounds with a scope. Since my rifle weighs 11-3/4 pounds with a scope, it likely has added weight. But even at 11-3/4 pounds, it balances nicely and doesn't feel unusually heavy. Frank said he built the rifles to what ever weight the customer wanted. When I fired this rifle yesterday, the weight, and muzzle brake, reduced the felt recoil to that of an ordinary 30-06 hunting rifle. This one is fun.



.
.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Now, buckstix, Mission Impossible, if you are willing to accept it, is to acquire a Gil Van Horn Rifle,
and make contact with Gil.

Rip ...

Hello RIP

Thanks for the reply.

I haven't found any Gil Van Horn rifles that were bargains. Most I've seen were kind of pricey. But, maybe someday.

Masterful detailing showing the appreciation and respect deserved by a Frank Wells rifle.

Good luck with the Gil van Horn mission.

Rip!

Hello RIP

Thanks for the reply.

Well, it took only a week of searching Ebay to find a Nikon ProStaff 2x-7x32mm scope, and a set of EAW rings.

With both scopes being Quick Detachable, it is easy to switch scopes as the situation dictates.

1x20mm in the Scout Rifle position


2x-7x32 in the standard position

Stix, here's a matching companion rifle by Frank Wells in 460 Wby:

http://www.hallowellco.com/fra...0460%20weatherby.htm

The only .460 Weatherby caliber rifle I have ever drooled over!

Regarding RIP's suggestion above, here's your Van Horn:

http://www.gunsinternational.c...cfm?gun_id=100917155

Biebs,



Thanks for that! Sweetest 1917 I ever saw!
You can certainly see how Ryan Breeding was influenced by his apprenticeship with Gil Van Horn.
I would rather have buckstix's Frank Wells .458 Lott
than the Frank Wells 460 WbyMagnum.
But I would trade them both for that Gil Van Horn.
I have a picture of Gil Van Horn somewhere that photopucker ate.
Will have to get it on imgur,
along with my only known picture of Frank Wells himself:





Rip ...

Hello RIP

Thanks for the reply.

I'll be keeping an eye out for a bargain priced Gil Van Horn.

In the mean time I'm enjoying my Frank Wells.