A Couple Old BR Guns

M

mike thomas

Guest
I thought some on here might enjoy a look at these rifles. They came out of Texas and are pre 40X. The actions and barrels appear to be factory, as the barrels have Remington proofs. The blued one is 222, and the stainless barreled one a 222 mag.

http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa64/hd51fl/Benchrest%20Rifles/

Someone brought the into the shop wanting to sell them on consignment. Other than that, I have no more info about them. It certainly looks like the work of one man.
 
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Mike,
Thank you for the post; very interesting looking rifle. I've seen older 40X's with the barrel screws on the end of the forearm before. I know they were there to help 'tune' the barrel but at what point did shooters do away with this method; allowing the barrel to float the whole distance?
 
I bought my first 40-X in 1963! it had the barrel bedding screws. I don't know of anyone that ever used them except for a man named John Moskau, but he was a small bore shooter. I still have the stock from the 40-X that he won at Camp Perry, and it has the bedding screws. Do those rifles have the stamp steel trigger gaurd, and floor plate as used on the 721, 722? The one look's like it has.
 
I dont like the stocks at all but i wouldn't mind owning the rifle. I think it would be a lot of fun playing with something like that just to see how much accuracy you could squeeze out if them. What would you think, maybe .400???? Would they shoot that well given the barrels are ok? Lee
 
40X's in the 70's came with test targets from Remington... the smaller calibers shot in the 2's and low 3's if memory serve me right.

The long stocks with long barrels had the forend adjustments and were a position rifle, the XBR's had a benchrest wood stock and a short heavy barrel.
 
These are very similar to 72X rifles as far as bolt shrouds and floor plates go. I wouldn't hazard a guess as to whether they were ever shot in competition. They seem to be more commemorative or prize rifles. I'm not sure if it could be made out, but the one with the woman on it was dated 1960 and mentioned Texas BR in one star and National BR in the other. The carvings are quite well done. The heavily checkered forearms would not slide well on a rest, and the carvings on the cheek side probably would not be very comfortable.
 
Nice older rigs. The barrel bedders were used for a long time. You have to remember that Epoxy bedding materials werent around yet. Stocks were bedded in the wood. as the rifle stocks schinks you adjusted the bedding a tad with the barrel screws, It helped a lot, considering the times. Im Pretty sure they would shoot smaller then a .400 If the shooter knew how to use the bedding screws the correct way. Forend pressure still works, if it's adjusted right.
 
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The rifle with the stock bedders' is not a 40-X! It has no sling stop as any position rifle would have. I would call these rifles varmint rifles! Not benchrest.
 
Call them what you will. As I said, pre 40X and commemorative or prize rifles rather than competion rifles seems likely. Probably not even varmint as the carvings would still make them rather uncomfortable. Sorry to have gotten your panties in a wad.
 
Mike,
Are the receivers cutout for a magazine box or are they solid? Interesting, but curious, guns!
Good shooting.
 
In the late 1970's I put together two heavy barrel rifles based on 1917 Enfield actions. I bought three 40-x stocks from Numrich Arms for $12.00 each. All had the front barrel adjusting screws and slot under the forearm for palmrest. They were blind magazine and I had considerable file & chisel work to fit the Enfield bottom metal. Also bedding a long action flat bottom receiver in a short action round bottom stock was challenging to say the least but was not impossible. The exterior profile of the stocks have not been altered. I do use the front barrel tension screws. After finding the best adjustment I havent touched them in 30 years. Both rifles have original Harry McGowan (St. Anne Ill.) barrels. One with scope is a 300 Win. Mag. the other one is a 6mm Rem AI. Both are as accurate as I can shoot, the 6mm shoots in the .300's and the 300 Mag. can achieve .500 depending on the load.
 

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The bottoms of the actions are cut out for mag boxes. The detail on the carvings is quite good. I'll bet that somewhere there is an old guy sitting around that remembers the occasion these were carved for.

The guy who brought them in shot benchrest in the 70's, maybe a couple of years on either side of that decade too. He has brought in a bunch of stuff I find interesting. Right now I have a Panda and a Martini 22 on display, in the past few months there was a Hall and a Weber. He has also brought in a few Unertl and Balvar Scopes.
 
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