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Joined: Jan 2012
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Campfire Regular
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OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 653 |
I found a real SLEEPER - unidentified 416 Rigby - real cheap Hello All, As you have seen, lately my interests have shifted to Big Bore rifles. I found this one on an on-line auction while I was searching. Its really neat when you discover one where the seller has no clue what he has. Here is how it was described in the original auction listing. The description also included a lot of the other usual info about: good bore, good wood, etc., etc. Well, I never heard of a "Full" Magnum Length Interarms, and when I searched the Net trying to find examples of one, I was stumped. Here are the pictures that were listed in the auction. After much searching and comparing the shape of this action, to pictures of various Interarms Actions that I located on line, I was sure this was NOT an Interarms Action. The only thing I could see that remotely resembled Interarms, was the sliding safety. Well, I had a 'hunch' what this was. Could it be? I watched this rifle for the full 14 days of the Auction. That was a very, very long 2 weeks. And, in the last minutes of the Auction, I placed my bids. After a couple of back-and-forth bids, I was the winner! - $720 - My total cost ... $755 delivered to Wisconsin. It was 2 days before Christmas, so this was a Christmas present from myself - to myself. Perhaps the close-Christmas timing kept the other would-be-bidders too busy to find this treasure. Here is what I found when it arrived home ... A very nice Magnum Length BREVEX Mauser action - you can barely see the "M400" model marking and the "/92" serial number stamp. It looks like these were partially removed during the final "squaring of the action bottom and the finishing process during the rifle's build. [img] http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct9.jpg[/img] and .... with a SAKO trigger..... This explains the sliding side safety that looks similar to the Interarms safety. [img] http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct7.jpg[/img] [img] http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct8.jpg[/img] and ..... a LES BAUSKA barrel..... This was also a surprise. Les Bauska was a famed barrel maker and worked with Buhmiller during the 50's and 60's ... likely when this rifle was built. He was known for his superb Octagon Barrels. [img] http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct90.jpg[/img] [img] http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/oct91.jpg[/img] - LES BAUSKA OBITUARY I topped the rifle with a compact 2x-7x Burris Scope, which brought the shooting weight to just a tad over 11 pounds. The perfect weight for a 416 Rigby. Lots of people ask me how I find so many rare collectibles. And some people call me Lucky - they are wrong. I credit my findings to a bladder problem. As I age, I find myself getting up several times a night - to pee. Before I go back to bed, I do a little WEB Surfing. The search engines run pretty fast at 2 o'clock in the morning. All the reading makes me sleepy, and I go back to bed until the next urge wakes me. And that's how I found this one. Thank Goodness for a small bladder.
You never pay too much for something, you only buy it too early.
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 4,959
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Apr 2013
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Great find and a great story!
Charter Member Ancient order of the 1895 Winchester
"It's an insecure and petite man who demands all others like what he likes and dislike what he dislikes." szihn
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,077
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,077 |
What a dog!!! Dont' know how you found the courage it took to publicly display this thing here.
Uhhh, To save you any future shame, I'd be willing to hide it my safe for you...since I'm such a nice guy I might even be persuaded to give you $100 above what you paid....
GREAT snag!!! on a great rifle.
-Mike-
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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Joined: Nov 2010
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
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Love the gun and the story... Need follow up on that one, for sure. DF
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 5,732
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2008
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Timing is everything and that's a super find! Is the stock a laminate or had a bit added for reinforcement?
"Camping places fix themselves in your mind as if you had spent long periods of your life in them. You will remember a curve of your wagon track in the grass of the plain like the features of a friend." Isak Dinesen
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,114
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,114 |
I studied the stock and like laminated for such a gun, not the style so much. If it was mine, I'd whack that hugh grip cap and remove enough wood to create more of a classic Mauser type grip, maybe open the grip curve a bit. I'd lose the forend tip, trimming the forearm to look more like an Express rifle. I think some judicious trimming could add to the Safari rifle look this Brevex deserves without having to build another stock. That one looks pretty solid. If you aren't careful, this project could go over a grand... Just a thought... DF
Last edited by Dirtfarmer; 02/13/15.
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 15,666
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 15,666 |
That is awesome. Neat story to go along with it!
NRA Life,Endowment,Patron or Benefactor since '72.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 27,692
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 27,692 |
Member: Clan of the Turdlike People.
Courage is Fear that has said its Prayers
�If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.� Ronald Reagan.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179 |
WOW !! I 'need' a 416 R like I need another hole in the head BUT I'd been all over that like ice cream over apple pie. C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !!!! = envy.
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179 |
I studied the stock and like laminated for such a gun, not the style so much. If it was mine, I'd whack that hugh grip cap and remove enough wood to create more of a classic Mauser type grip, maybe open the grip curve a bit.
That one looks pretty solid. DF Me, Myself, & I, We like that stock as is. Some people even like chevy, while ugh some like dodge. <G>
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,114
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,114 |
It's well done, just doesn't say "Brevex Magnum" to me... DF
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,117
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,117 |
Great find!
So there is something to be said for having to get up more often in the night....
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 653
Campfire Regular
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OP
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 653 |
Hello All, Thanks for the replys. Yes, the stock is a laminate. Its mostly dark-on-dark walnut made up of 1/4" thick slabs. With the thicker slabs it kinda hides the fact that its a laminated stock. Looks almost like coarse grain lines. I'm glad its not the light/dark thin layers, that look is too gaudy for my tastes. The laminated stock is quite heavy, and I'm sure very strong, designed to take the heavy recoil of the 416 factory ammo. Although recoil was stout sitting at the bench, the Federal factory ammo was actually pleasurable to shoot. I dont mind the swoopy roosewood grip cap and the rosewood forend tip. It gives the rifle that kind of a 60's look.
You never pay too much for something, you only buy it too early.
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,600
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,600 |
Great bedtime story. I love it when a orphaned gun finds a deserving home.
Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.
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Joined: Feb 2012
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2012
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What a cool story. I am so illiterate when it come to old rifles and especially of the history of Mauser actions. But I guess if I get up to pee enough, I can study up and find some potential bargains!
Thanks for sharing.
Bob Enjoy life now -- it has an expiration date. ~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,114
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,114 |
If there ever was a "Pee Dividend" this has to be it...
DF
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,114
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,114 |
I studied the stock and like laminated for such a gun, not the style so much. If it was mine, I'd whack that hugh grip cap and remove enough wood to create more of a classic Mauser type grip, maybe open the grip curve a bit.
That one looks pretty solid. DF Me, Myself, & I, We like that stock as is. Some people even like chevy, while ugh some like dodge. <G> A buddy of mine if fond of saying, never mess with a Dodge owner. He's already mad... That stock sure does have the 60's look and is really well done. I'm the type that always wants to mess with something, so my reaction was to cut a safari type stock out of that one. But, I see the OP's point of letting it be what it is and enjoying it like he found it. Amazing find. Wonder what that Brevex action alone is worth, not counting the great barrel...? Don't you know, some advanced gun nut put that together. It would be another great story to know the history of that gun. Too many guys pass on to their rewards, leaving behind guns like that with no one around to know what they have. I heard it said a gun nut's greatest concern: When he died, his wife would sell his guns for what he told her he paid... DF
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 96,150
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 96,150 |
That's a sweet .416 Rigby Buckstix.
Have you shot it yet?
Life Member SCI Life Member DSC Member New Mexico Shooting Sports Association
Take your responsibilities seriously, never yourself-Ken Howell Proper bullet placement + sufficient penetration = quick, clean kill. Finn Aagard
Ken
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
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Congratulations! All those years of gunnutism sometimes pay great rewards. Well, that and the fact that it's great fun.
�Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." -- Milton Friedman
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Joined: Sep 2010
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
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D F -
I don't think I'd ever build one like that stock BUT you and the OP beat me to the follow up. It's that 'classic' 60s early 70s style and I just couldn't change it.
Hope and am sure it'll shoot as GOOD as designed. SWEET !!!!!
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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