In another post I stated that it would be nice if this wonderful wonderful place had a category for Custom Rifles, in the hope that those who proudly owned them might take photographs of them and share their beauty with us.

I was (albeit lightly) lambasted for such a notion, with those responding suggesting that this fine Gunsmithing forum was the place for that to happen, and that all I had to do was ask.

So, without some sort of controversy as to what is a custom gun (may I suggest that it be a gun where you or somebody you know had some say so in how it was manufactured), if you have photos of your very prized custom rifle, or photos of a special part of that rifle such as fine custom metalwork or special checkering, or even if you own a rifle from a maker who has since departed to that great rifleshop in the sky, show it to us so our eyes can delight in the art you possess.

Hey, Blue, I have an old, beat-up custom Model 70 .300 Winchester that has a brown color McMillan stock, a black recoil pad, an NP-3 finished action, a blackened Hart stainless barrel, and a black-matte Leupold 2.5-8X scope in Talley rings on custom bases. Sling swivel studs are finished in electroless nickle, and the blued grip cap has lost a lot of finish and is sort of a treated-rust/silver-blue color. This rather odd-looking, party-colored rifle has lost a lot of paint off the stock, has lots of scratches and dings on the metalwork, and, in general, is rather ugly and looks like $hit.

Nevertheless, it was custom-built from the ground up to my specs over ten years ago, and it's had quite a hunting career, from Alaska to Tanzania and many places in between.

Now for the sake of this exercise, does a rifle like the one I've described count, or are you just interested in cosmetics?

AD

This fine piece was built by Customstox for Howard. I received it in trade for a twelve pack of Rainier Light.

OUCH! I suspect you just got dropped from Chic's Christmas Card list.... If this were hockey, and I were an announcer, I'd say something like......."...he shoots, HE SCORES......

If I were you Chic, I would absolutely refuse to restock dempsey's 710 when he gets tired of the color grey......

MKane160 aka BigDogMK

dempsey

Did Howard let the scope come with it?



Allen, I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of that rifle. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but it sure sounds custom to me.

allen, I to would like to see a working/custom gun.

dempsey, you sir are just plain cruel a bit foolish, I think ya overpaid

Allen

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Your rifle is beautiful to you, and it is custom. If you post it you run the risk of what others might think of it, but there is not doubt that it is "custom" and you should show it to us.

KJK

I quit caring about what "others might think" a long time ago. One gentleman came as a guest to my home one time and made fun of my 'Ugly Rifle' because it's...... well, ugly! The fact that its been an incredibly good hunting rifle and has taken much game in a most effective manner didn't seem to matter to The Critic......

I've put this off for quite some time, but I'll do my best to post a few custom rifle photos this week, including the 'Ugly Rifle', a couple of Echols 'Legends', and one particular walnut-stocked beauty by a duo to master craftsmen. Surprising stories behind all of them. Please be patient!

AD

The High Wall pictured here was made by the late Floyd Butler of Poultney, VT. The curl at the cheek piece and the form of the bottom of the pistol grip were a signature of Floyd. I met Floyd after I bought this rifle already rechambered from R-2 Lovell to it's present .219 RCBS Improved. Due to the appeal this rifle has to me I sought him out and had him do some more work for me before he passed on in the 1970's.



Floyd used Buhmiller barrel blanks and that's what he said this rifle has. I slugged it at .228" groove dia but it shoots .224" bullets just fine. Due to the 1-16 twist I always used the Sierra 50 gr SPT and it gave that bullet 3600 fps.



This was always an easy rifle to shoot well. The fit of the stock, the trigger and it's weight and balance made it a rifle one could count on and it still is. Note the old marksmans sling. This is how I shoot this rifle. The forened is bedded tight to the 26" barrel and it tapers to .800" at the muzzle.

Savage

Very very nice. Thank you for showing it to us. Those High walls are great aren't they!!!

Blue

Lyman Supertargetspot on top of it, Savage? I love Highwalls, and that one is very nice!
Catnthehat

Here is one "at work." 7x57 BRNo 22 action, English walnut stock, Burgess rings, leupold 2.5 to 8, Neidner steel butt plate.







Same one taking a breather after doing what it is intended for.







Another, a Mauser 98, rust blued, engraved in .280 Remington, english walnut stock, with a leather covered pad (amazing how good these look and how well they hold up - at least I think so). This one is an old war horse that has survived many mountains trips but not without some battle scars.







Mauser 98, yugo modelo 24, intermediate action in 7X57. It is in the Sinclair International Calendar for 2004, Miss September.







Howard's .257 Roberts, Argentine 09, English walnut.







German style .338/06 built on a G33.40 action with a double set trigger and a take off old german barrel, half round half octagon with a full length rib.







Howard's 7 mm Mag that he took to Africa.









My favorite is one made by Maurice Ottmar. I do not have a good photo of it but I will get one and post it.

Not really beautiful but man does it shoot.

It's a 458 Win Mag built on a Charles Daly mauser action, Dakota standing leaf rear sight and banded front, Warne Maxima rings, 25" Douglas barrel, Boyds JRS laminated stock, second recoil lug, now wears a Leupold 2-7 shotgun scope.

Dempsey, ouch man that hurt. How will I ever face my friends now that you have let the cat out of the bag?

Just kidding of course, in a fit of feeling blue and a little bored.

G33/40 in .270 Win. Just started its career.

Not a very good picture considering all the crap in the background. I will take some better ones and post at another time.

Bill and Chic those stock patterns look the same through the grip and comb. Is that a someones special stock duplication?

Chic, as normal, outstanding work. My choice is miss september and Big H's 7mm.

Chic, if my budget matched my taste, you sir would have an order for a duplicate of the first rifle, the 7x57 BRNO 22. Thanks for sharing.

Bill, yes that shop is a mess, I could help you clean it up by keeping that G33 on this side of the mountains

Jimmy,

From my cold dead hands buddy.......hehehe....

Bill and Chic,
What are the fore-end lengths of the Brno 22 and the G 33/40?
I'm working out the details of a stock for my next FN. I'm thinking somewhere between 8-9" from the front of the receiver. Also, how long are the barrels?

Barrel length on the G33/40 is 23". Forearm is half the barrel length minus an inch. Thats generally the length I use unless the client dictates otherwise. The forearm is just a hair under 10.5 inches in length.

On the single shot forum, 2nd page, is a post "some of My work. There are 3 guns on it. The middle one is the one I hunt with, but I can't figure out how to move it onto this forum. Can anyone help???

OK!

Here I go.....One more time. I haven't been able to do this yet, but I'll try again to get a picture on this forum

(did I ever mention that I HATE computers!!??!!??)

SZ
I just looked at the rifles. They are fantastic. What you have to do is go to hunt101, open the picture and then highlight the url of the photo. It is in the box of information below the photo, then click on your mouse and hit copy. then you come back here. Actually you can open two internet windows on your computer and just go from one to another. When you are typing in your post you will see image in the box below, click on it once and it will open up a small window where you paste the url you copied. Problem is the window will already have "http://" in it and it is highlited so you can delete that easily then paste the photo, click "okay" and you are off and running. Good luck to you, if I got you confused I can get more specific if you need it.

ONE MORE TIME AGAIN (again.... again....)
(is there a button I can press that will cause this computer to be in terrible pain>>???)

Howard, is that one of those new "telepathic" Mausers? You know, just think "BANG" and it goes off? Cause I can't find a trigger on it anywhere. I'll bet Chic thought that stockwork would keep everyone occupied and not look for a trigger, huh?! Beautiful gun, BTW. Bill, awesome! I would love to see some closeups of the checkering over the grip. I really like that wood, too. Chic, do you have a fondness for the darker colored woods? If that poor old Model 98 in .280 is wore out, you could send it East for an extended rest period....

I REALLY like that 7 mag......

MKane160 aka BigDogMK

Good job posting, drum roll, and great work on the rifle. Breathtaking.

buchsensmeid (or a close proximity to that word):

I'm going to beat on my own chest and say not many people will appreciate how good your workmanship is (all the gents of exquisite taste at this site excluded). New world wood, better than old world craft. Marvellous.

Customstox

All of the rifles you posted are just wonderful. If I had to pick a favorite it would have to be Howard's .257 Roberts on the 09 action. That thing just oozes (if that is a word) classic lines. Nothing that shouldn't be there, but everything that should be there is there. And the flow of the grain seems almost perfect. Wonderful wonderful rifle!!! Thank you for sharing it with us.

Blue

buchsenschmeid (dang that's a hard handle to wrap my keyboard around ),

can you elaborate on the finish you used on that rifle?

Your carving is exquisit in its tapers and details. I have done this enough to know that I cannot match this, not even close, but the finish, maybe. I like it a lot and have pulled off one rifle like this while another, using the same material and techniques, came out much darker.

Brent

PS. When you want to inflict much pain, just press the trigger on that rifle. Properly loaded and aimed, you will inflict much damage while achieving much personal satisfaction.

Hey guys thinks for the kind words about my rifles. Chic built so deserves the credit.

Chic can I have my trigger back?

These are two .338 Winnies built by Mike Scherz of Yuma, AZ (he posts on these forums as Michael S.) The top is my dad's and the bottom one is mine. His is built on a FN-Mauser action with a 25inch tube. The laminate stock is from Boyd with an ebony tip, cross-bolt and a Timinny trigger. Mine is a 1903 Springfield with a 23 inch tube. The stock is from Wenig. Both wear Burris Fullfield II 3x-9x scopes with BallisticPlex reticles on custom scope bases.



Below is another picture of my Springfield .338





And this is a picture of another gun he did for me, a Winchester Model 70 Safari Classic, rebarreled in .416 Rem with a Douglass barrel.

JL, that springfield, WOW!!!!!

Chic and Howard,

I'm with blue on this one. I REALLY like that .257R. Only thing I would change is to ditch the recoil pad and put a nice Neidner (sp?) butt plate on it. It just oozes "classical". Very nice work.

C'mon Howard, certainly you can handle the recoil of the mighty Roberts without the recoil pad.

Joe

Chic they have a point, can it still be done?

If you want it real short it can. In other words, no.

Thanks for the photos. Some very fine looking rifles to look at and use as well, I'll wager.

Buchs, love the muzzleloader work.