Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Huntnshoot - 25-06 From Ken Howell

Huntnshoot,

I'm glad you asked about photos. I've been meaning to post some, just haven't gotten around to it. You've forced my hand.

I don't have any really good photos at the moment, so these will have to do for the time being.








This has to be the best piece of wood I own. A really nice stock on this rifle.



I feel very fortunate to have this rifle for a number of reasons. The first being that Ken told me he pretty much had the rifle sold at one time for what he considered a very fair price but apparently the prospective buyer didn't agree, so to my good fortune the deal fell through.

I was visiting Ken earlier this year when out of the blue and without saying a word he got up and went into another room, then came back with this rifle. It is without a doubt, the best gift I will probably ever receive from a friend, other than the friendship itself.

I'll be working loads up over the next few weeks and with any luck, be able to take some sort of game with one of those newfangled Ballistic Tips soon.

David

Beautiful rifle and likely Ken has a few loads for it already. A barrel on such a rifle should never waste a shot.
JW

He does, for 120's. The BT's I have are 100's. I don't expect to burn too many.

Terrific rifle, in perhaps my favorite hunting cartridge. Outstanding!

Guy

Well said. I wish that I could come up with something as good. Beautiful rifle. miles

Really a gorgeous rifle, there is nothing else to say about it!

David, that's a fine gift from a fine friend!

wonderful!

Awesome!! Beautiful rifle, and a gift to boot.. Enjoy!!!

Wow! That stock shames anything I've ever held in my hands! What a beautiful, trim, sleek firearm. I imagine it balances perfectly?

The things that are sold today that are called firearms are not what that is. I don't know what they are, but that, that is a firearm. And I agree with you Paladin: your good fortune at calling Ken Howell a friend far outshines your good fortune in owning such a piece of craftsmanship and beauty.

Thanks for posting. I feel special now!

Beautiful. Both the rifle and the friendship.

That explains a LOT.

That's a beauty!

Would love to see better pics, maybe Doc can tell us the details of the parts!

Mike

David,

That is an exquisite piece of art! If it shoots as good as it looks you will have a rifle of a lifetime.

Ed

So, Paladin, when are you gonna punch it out to AI?

Extremely nice rifle. Beautiful!

Absolutely beautiful. Try 52gr IMR4350 with your 100gr bullets. My old gun smith told me that if a .25-06 won't shoot that well, it needs some help. In my limited sample of four, he was right.

Miles, you already have, my friend.


Thanks to you HuntnShoot. Balance is indeed exquisite, a fine, sleek, and sexy firearm, to be sure. To take nothing from your statement, probably not as special as I feel.


Ed, if I never put a round downrange, it is already a rifle of my lifetime (I know what you meant ).


Way ahead of you pal.

Not long after taking those photos, I clamped the stock in my vise, then put the ViseGrips on the barrel to unscrew it so I could get it re-chambered. I think it was the cheek piece that let the stock slip in the vise, or I didn't tighten the vise enough, so I put a 3' cheater on the vise handle to help out.

I figured the 8" ViseGrip pliers would have been strong enough to unscrew the barrel, but I could never get the dang things tight enough to keep from slipping (you would think those curved jaws with the serrations would work better than they do).

I tried again to unscrew the barrel with a 24� pipe wrench until I heard the cracking, which I thought was the wrench slipping again. Except I had replaced the worn jaws the first time it slipped, then I saw the lengthwise split just back of the trigger guard through that really nice fine-line checkering in the grip.

Realizing the stock wasn't holding up, I found a piece of re-bar that almost fit between the scope and the action (took a little persuasion with a 6lb. hammer) that I was able to wedge against the vise table that kept the whole works from turning. I finally figured out those barrels have right hand threads and got the barrel unscrewed. Man was it tight.

A little repair work to do and maybe have to replace the stock, but I think I can make it work, except possibly for the scope (those things aren't as tough as they look). If I can find the time to get started and don't loose all the parts.

If I ever try to take a barrel off another rifle, I think I'll start by clamping the fore end in the vise instead of the butt of the stock, especially if it has a cheek piece (does that make it a butt cheek?).

Disclaimer: The above isn't real. The rifle remains untouched by vise or other implement of destruction.

Although I never met the man, I'm not sure P.O. himself would even try something with a rifle this..., never mind. Probably not much he wouldn't have or didn't modify.


shootinurse, thanks for the tip, I'll try it. I don't know if I've ever shot anything but H4831 (or SC) in a 25-06.

David

That rifle is a treasure in more ways than one.

You had me going with the story for a minute or so, then I realized that no one could be that dumb.

RL-22 is a great 25-06 powder with any bullet weight of 100 gr or more.

MM

I was speaking about the words. I am overjoyed with my rifle and the Friend that furnished it. miles

I knew you were joking as I read this, but I still cringed so hard I got a cramp! My experience with firearms has taught me that it is the significance of people that they remind me of that makes them special to me. I'm humbled by what I've read in this thread. Besides the above quote. Which is horrifying.

Next time, just get a good carbide extension drill bit of the appropriate diameter and run it into the chamber. The tip of the drill bit is probably close enough to the 40 degree shoulder angle. All you have to do is remove the bolt, and you won't have to tighten the vise near as much. You can thank me later.

Dave,

Good to see that it went from a good home... to another good home...Wish you a lot of hunting success with it...definitely a looker...

hope this finds you and your family well...

enjoyed your hospitality and kindness there in New Mexico earlier this year...

Tell Ken I dearly enjoyed just getting to hold that beautiful gun, David.

Steelhead,
anything I should be aware of?


shootinurse,
good, sound advice, what I really like about forums. You can bet that on my next attempt I will start with your method. I'll go ahead and tell you thanks now.


Seafire,
the pleasure was mine, sir.


Will do, eyeball.

Beautiful gun, especially the wood!

You should seriously consider writing fiction for Halloween for gun enthusiasts!

I will try to get some pictures of the one I brought home in the next day or two. I have some from my phone but they aren't good.

Beautiful rifle! It's a shame we see so few wood-stocked rifles these days, especially with that quality of wood.

Not in a place where I can take as good of a set of pictures as I like but here is what Ken gave me. The most beautiful and the most treasured rifle I have owned.













[img]http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww211/compassrosefarms/DSC_0079_zps08acd6e7.jpg[/img]

Ken told me Edgar Gomer (Salt Lake City) whittled one his Circassian blanks. The work he did is way past "whittled". The fit is probably the best I have ever seen and the hand checkering is the work or a master.

It is chambered in 358 Win. I wish I knew who did the work but I don't know.

Another beauty. Heck, wondering if we're looking at January and February of next year's Campfire calendar. I'd like to preorder the first copy!

Iver Henriksen barreled my action, which I altered a bit to suit myself. Don't remember who made the barrel � probably an early Shilen.

The action is a short Mauser � Mexican � original barrel was a 7x57mm.

I put the sights on the receiver and barrel � 26mm Kahles (4x, I think) in a German scope mount, Remington open sights.

Thanks Ken.

Ken, your taste in rifles is impeccable. The two on this thread are collector-grade firearms, and works of art as much as tools. Your name being attached to them also makes them desirable.