Picked up a barrel blank at a gun show by this maker. Cal. .375, twist 1:14. I want to make this into a 38-55 using a remington rolling block action. The rifle for black powder loads with cast bullets. The twist seems a bit fast, at least when compared to the 1:20 for a 45-70.
I have tried to look up Buhmiller through Google but keep getting the "page cannot be displayed" message. I seem to remember him from the 1950's, lived in Montana, I think.
Any comments or information would be greatly appreciated.

Bulmiller was a famous custom barrelmaker. Go to google and type in Buhmiller barrel or some such. It would be a bad idea to use it for a 38/55. Better sell it to someone who would appreciate it and buy a barrel with the proper twist.
Good Luck!

I agree with Hawkens. John's barrels were made for jacketed bullets. He did lots of wildcatting, and was an African elephant culler. Les Bauska worked with John, and Bauska Rifle Barrels are still being made. I do know, they have some of John's old chamber reamers in the shop, so if you want to build something interesting, you may be able to get one of the wildcats chambered to the barrel.

Yes, Jack Buhmiller was a classic American Man of the West. He was located just west of the Kalispell, Montana city limits, right next to the railroad tracks.

If I recall correctly, his equipment & shop was taken over by J. Hall Sharon, who also produced very nice barrels. Last time I was there (December, 1976), Sharon was showing me a new action they were about to bring on line...a Sharps. They did, and the outfit is still in business, but under yet another operator and name.

Anyway, Old J.R. was a real shooter and African Hunter by avocation. and he liked BIG powerful cartridges. Things like his version of the .475 A&M. A friend of mine right now has a Riedl single-shot chambered for a cartridge that Jack also liked...the .458 Norma Magnum. It was nothing more or less than the straight full-length belted magnum brass, loaded with 500 grain .458 diameter bullets. Sounds awfully like today's .450 Lott, doesn't it?

And John didn't hunt just elephant. He also worked at (Cape) Buffalo control, things of other similar ilk. Sure wish he was back. A forthright, honest man, who was a great barrel-maker, excellent hunter, and danged decent magazine article writer as well.

(BTW, Kalispell was a great place to visit, even then. Had lunch with Monte Kennedy and supper with Jerry Fisher on the same visit.)

Boy, you guys are REALLY old if you remember John Buhmiller. Maybe even older than me. Alberta Canuck mentioned a couple of his wildcats but did you know that he also was the first to neck the 378 Weatherby case up to 45 caliber? A few years later another fellow by the name of Roy weatherby did the same thing and called it the 460 Weatherby. I remember reading an article where someone asked Buhmiller if he liked double rifles. he said. "Hell no. If I had my way I'd have an elephant gun with a ten round magazine!" I guess enough close calls convinced him that 2 rounds were not enough.

Ray

Yeh - he did sorta invent the .460 Weatherby. As I recall, he said he did it because he didn't find the .450 Ackley quite adequate. He also said the necked up .450/.378 didn't kick and that if you couldn't handle the little recoil of it, you probably should stick to deer hunting. More man than I. One of the reasons I always preferred double rifles is that most of mine weighed from 11-13 pounds. From a magazine rifle I didn't care for things much larger than the .450 Ackley, though I did have a .475 A&M for a while. Last Buhmiller barrel I had was a .358 Norma Mag which he referred to as a "squirrel gun". (It was J.R's old .30-06 across-the-course Springfield, re-bored by Al Petersen of Riverhurst, Saskatchewan to the Norma round.)

jclayton - Geez, how impolite of me. I should have asked, would you like to sell it, and for how much?

Boy, if we got into the history of the gun barrel, and gun makers of this area(Kalispell/Flathead Valley/ NW Montana), it would be a darn thick book! I know of a minimum of 20 more or less active builders in the valley, most that people have never heard of. But still, turning out exceptional rifles, particularly in the schutzen, and muzzleloader areas. Oh, and can't forget Serengeti, since I work there.

Hi J,

We have a 458 on a mauser action I bought just because it had one of his bbls. It's a fantastic shooting rifle. I'd be interested in the bbl. also.
regards,
Dale

One more small bit of info on Buhmiller barrels...

The January, 1949 issue of American Rifleman, notes that "well-known barrel maker J.R. Buhmiller has moved his shop and business from Eureka to Kalispell, Montana...." That not only fairly well dates when he set up business in Kalispell, but also tells us that he was already a well-known barrel maker before January, 1949.