I happen to have a custom Pre 64 M70 in 25-06 rifle with script incribed on the barrel "Atkinson Gun Co". It has very nice wood and shoots clover leafs at 100.

I have corresponded with Ray about it and he thinks it may be from Bill Atkinson, who was Mr. Ruger's close associate. Apparently Atkinson had a shop in Prescott Arizona and did custom barrels and custom rifles. But, I can't find any details on him.

This is a wonderful rifle and I would like to find out more about its maker.

I think he was the Atkinson associated with Atkinson & Marquart. At least one of them is dead now but I don't remember which one. Probably both.

MIke Petrov may have some info, send him a PM.

I have an Atkinson & Marquart rifle; my understanding is one of their guns blew up, costing Marquart a finger or more. Their was a suit as to whether the barrel or the gunsmithing was at fault and they split up. What I don't know is if your gun predates or post-dates Atkinson & Marquart.

I can give you a bit more info on W.(bill)Atkinson,he worked for ruger for a good many years,then he and Marquart went in together,then parted ways,sold his barrel business to H-S precision,worked for them around 5 years,guess till they moved the business .His are cut rife barrels,and pretty darn good,hold on to that 25/06.I have a 700 .270 24"stainless he built after he sold the business,his name on the barrel,but barrel also marked H-S precision.Probably the most accurate .270 i've ever owned,and i've had a bunch.

I have several of his barrels and they are top Quality.

Bill Atkinson was, indeed, associated with Paul Marquart in A&M. However, they actually began much earlier than previous posts indicate, and separated around 1970. The separation was as a result of a lawsuit between the two over division of corporate income, not as a result of any liability issue. In fact, Paul lost most of the fingers of his right hand as a result of the bursting of an Enfield barrel which had been re-chambered to .300 Win Mag, and failed in proof. Paul Marquart was one of the finest workmen in the craft, and Bill Atkinson his equal. Mr. Atkinson was associated with Ruger for many years, but retired a few years ago, and was still alive as of a year or so ago. Any barrel or rifle marked with either of these names, or both, is as good as any ever made.
I knew Paul Marquart (all too briefly) as a result of my work with his immediate successor (with whom I discussed all these things today to refresh my memory), and have spoken with Bill Atkinson several times over the years, as well as having inspected many of his guns and had one of his re-bores myself.
I honor both of these men as past masters in the craft I follow, far behind them.

mhb - Mike

Thanks for the clarification. I had heard the story a couple of ways, neither right it seems.

First 375H&H and 300H&H I ever built was in 1954 and they were with A&M barrels. Built a matched pair on Enfield actions. Atkinson and Marquardt graduated the year before I started at TSJC. They were definitely superior barrel makers and I bought barrels from them till they ceased amking them.

Zimbabwee

When you say "superior" what do you mean. What did they do differently than anyone else to make their barrels "superior"?

For 22WRF:
At the risk of seeming presumptuous in answering a question directed to someone else, I'll respond in this instance, speaking as a barrelmaker in direct descent from these men (even using some of their equipment).
What made their barrels superior was their dedicated craftsmanship. They knew what made a good rifle barrel and would let no other kind go out with their mark on it. Their barrels were and are straight, of uniform dimension inside and out, cut-rifled and hand lapped with the attention to detail and determination to produce the best they knew how to make. Barrels fitted and chambered by them were right in every respect, and their performance was and is superior to factory products and 'custom' work done by lesser craftsmen.
Any work of theirs you may be lucky enough to acquire will prove itself by performance, and there is no other yardstick needed to identify excellence.
mhb - Mike

22WRF,
Actually there were not that MANY barrel makers then to choose from as there are now and there was not as much written as there is now. I felt then as I do now that the quality of their work and the finish of their product was superior. I am basically comparing their barrels to Ackley and the barrels that were obtainable from the bookstore at TSJC where I was a student and to the only other custom barrel I personally had purchased which was a Pfieffer. The only barrel I ever personally made was on Bill Prators equipment as a student and their barrels were definitely superior to it and it consistantly shot a half inch which was fair accuracy. It's a judgemental term and I have no real scale to measure it on. Just my opinion.

Zimbabwe

Did the type of equipment have anything to do with it? In my readings I have seen that at that time most of the barrel makers used the Pratt and Whitney type machines. If they were all the same, then did it come down to how they ground their drill bits and cutters, or what?
What I am getting at is are there any objective reasons why their barrels were superior, or are the reasons all subjective.

For 22WRF:
Most of the early makers of custom barrels did, in fact, use the same basic equipment types: the Pratt&Whitney sine-bar rifling machine or one of the copies of it, and the P&W or a similar deep-hole drill, usually set up to drill on one spindle and ream on the other. This type of machinery lends itself better to custom barrel making than any other machinery or method, since the calibers, specific land/groove numbers and geometry and rifling pitches available are dependent only on the ability of the maker to produce tooling and the whim of the customer. Most custom barrel makers also make their own tooling (reamers, rifling heads and cutters, rifling machine index plates, etc., as have I), since no one who is not a proficient machinist and, preferably, toolmaker will likely qualify as a barrel maker. The quality of the product depended then as now on the skill, intent and attention to detail of the maker.
The equipment I use is of the same vintage (our P&W #1 rifling machine went into service at the Springfield Armory in 1917), but, since we make custom barrels, hardly any two alike, we take considerably more time to produce a barrel than SA did, and with more attention to every detail than series production would ever permit.
And that, at bottom, is what makes a quality custom barrel, as opposed to an industry-standard barrel, no matter whose - we put more time and effort into making an excellent product, rather than many of a good average quality.
As for the company itself: I participate in forums such as this as an individual, and do not speak for or represent the company here - but I can tell you that there aren't that many makers of cut-rifled and hand-lapped custom barrels, and that you can find the company if you do a bit of research, particularly at sites like Benchrest.com. I can also tell you in all honesty that the boss isn't taking on much work at present, having all the work he cares to accept - and that delivery times can be very long, which is somewhat true for many other custom makers.
But a barrel from an established custom maker is a good investment, no matter which company made it - their reputations are in their every barrel.
mhb - Mike

mhb, your old rifling machine just might have turned out some very fine barrels at the Armory for National Match, NRA Sporter, and especially International Match rifles.

Vigillinus:
It's certainly possible. But I've seen photos of the rifling shops at Springfield where they had perhaps a hundred or more machines in pairs, back-to-back, so one operator could manage 2 machines. I think the match barrels were probably made in a separate area, and I know they were scrape-cut rifled (with a different type of rifling cutter), as opposed to the single point hook cutter used for production barrels. But I don't know what work SA put our machine to, only that, in the WW1 and later era, it must have made many an '03 barrel.
mhb - Mike

Unfortunately, I have posted this rifle to the classifieds for sale. Also will be selling a NIB Encore, Pro Hunter, also in 25-06, dies brass, etc. Other rifles will follow. FWIW.