Cruising around at the gun show today in Kalispell, I came upon this rifle built by Jerry Fisher in the late 1960’s a 25 Durham, a custom chambering on a 243 based cartridge platform, opened to 25 caliber with sharpened shoulders.

This is an extraordinary handcrafted custom rifle with plenty of features only the best rifle machinist could make. The Sako action has the safety moved from the side of the action to the rear tang. The barrel is presumably a Douglas Supreme barrel turned to a very fine taper.

Lee Helgeland, another accomplished rifle maker, was helping Celeste Fisher, Jerry’s widow, sell some of his personal guns. This one is so slim and trim, I doubt it weighs 6 pounds all in. It has a skeletonized butt plate and the butt has been drilled out to lighten the rifle. The whole gun is trimmed up at all places it can to lighten the rifle. The original owner wanted the gun to be light so he could take it on a sheep hunt he was planning.

Celeste was a real nice lady to deal with, although she didn’t come down on the price at all. I did get an exceptional rifle with a tremendous pedigree that I will be able to enjoy for years to come…

Mighty fine, & Good on ya!

Please post pix when you get to go afield with that gem.

Best,

GWB

That's kinda purty ya know.

Nice score.

That's a pretty rifle!! What's your plan for the custom .25 caliber dies?

Very nice.

That's dang sexy
Love a quarter bore

Almost could be it's cousin....



Chambered for the 257 AI

ya!

GWB

Already got them. Lee did all the work and sent fired brass to Hornady and they built the dies for those cases…

OH MY GOSH!!!!!

That is one gorgeous rifle!

Nice rifle! Looks like the bolt was worked over. Barrel length maybe 22” ?

Congrats

Great find,best of luck with it,can t believe the price on the H & K P7,
$2,999.00 ? WOW.

That's a beauty, shrap.

Can't wait to see it~~

What a beautiful rifle. Love the weight too. Congratulations.

Kudos to that lady for knowing what she had and not coming down on the price.

And I’m glad that rifle was sold to the right guy.

That's a cool rifle.

I have questions; they are purely from ignorance. Please don't think I'm dissing on this rifle.

1) Why a 25 on a 243 case?

2) What does this buy you going after sheep or anything else?

Nice rifle. You will likely match up real well. Congrats!

Now that is a beautiful rifle! Congrats!

Well I'll join " its a beauty" crowd...

Thanks for sharing Shrap. Always enjoy you sharing when you find a new toy.

I'm sure its worth every penny regardless of what she cost ya. When it goes to a new owner, you'll never lose a penny on it, I'd bet. Meanwhile enjoy it!

😎

She was tough. She used every angle I would have if I was selling it. I showed my weakness when I told her I really wanted it, and she went for the throat.

I got her down $250.00 and then she had this second thought period that I could tell could cost me the gun. She said another guy came by first and wanted it, but needed to get some money. I used my “call a friend” option and called SDH here on the campfire for some cool headed advice. He told me it was a great gun with top notch pedigree and suggested I buy it.

She referred to the previous guy that wanted to buy it and told me she would let me know. about it later or tomorrow. After the flashing lights dimmed a little, I realized I had better buy this gun and not let it slip away. I told her if the other guy had any money, he would have bought it and at that point I pulled out the pile of Benjamins.

A very pleasant woman, and a smile that was all the way to the soul, I handed over the cash. I then asked if she would write me a receipt, as I would keep it with the gun and it was important to have that provenance. She told me when she got home, she would write up a better receipt and see if she could do it on Jerry’s letterhead. Of course I was thrilled that she would do that.

Not finished with me, she pulls out a list of several other guns of Jerry’s that he had built and told me I could buy more. She also told me if I knew anyone else that would be interested, she wanted to sell them. Celeste then told me of his personal hunting rifle that he used and all the game he killed with it and I asked her how much. She said “priceless” so I guess that was her way of telling me I was too small of a fish to swim in that water…

I've often wondered why the 25-08 (souper?) and 270-08 weren't a thing. 06 case has been necked to every conceivable caliber. Doesn't make much sense now but pre-"BC is alter at which we must worship".....

Edit: Fan-damn-tastic rifle Shrap

Walnut always warms my heart! Also I'm a big quarter bore fan. Nice find.

Nice😎

Fantastic story and a beautiful gun. I hope there is something left to pick through when I go to the gun show tomorrow. Looks like you already got the best find on the show floor. Congrats on a great purchase.

Very nice rifle!

I could spend the rest of my life trying to fit a butt plate like that.

And screw up a bunch of nice wood and die before getting it right.

Sweet!

That is my initial thought as well. Why not a 257 Roberts and be able to at least buy dies and ammunition. Evidently, the customer had his eyes on something simple, yet elegant, and to be a single copy, so I guess this is what happens. I’m fine with it, I will have no problem with 243 brass and with the dies already made, I should be shooting it in no time…

Unique checkering- great rifle.

Do you think it will equal the .257 Roberts or at least be close to it?

I'm proud you got that. It's a fine rifle from one of America's great makers. He had a long run and I'd love to own one of his rifles.

That’s a beautiful rifle

shrapnel;
Good morning my cyber friend, I hope the day down in your part of Montana is treating you and yours well.

Thanks for sharing the photos of that work of art with us.

My goodness that checkering...

As a sometime hobbyist who dabbles in checkering, I can only imagine the complexity of pulling that pattern off.

In my younger day, with more ambition and younger eyes I did some smaller panels and found them extremely tough to do.

Whomever did that is a master, nothing less or at least that's my take on it.

Thanks again and all the best.

Dwayne

Gorgeous rifle Shrap

A beautiful rifle purchased by the right person. Well done, Sir. Well done.

It doesn’t get much better, beautiful rifle !

Wowza, nice find. Maybe if I'm reincarnated into a higher paying job I can find a gun like that sometime. Geedubya, would like to see your collection sometime, guns or knives. GWPGUY. 🐾👣🇨🇦

The whole rifle is gorgeous, but that wood......awesome!

I’d be afraid to hunt with it. Gorgeous. Gun!!!

SDH is another of America’s greats. We are blessed.

I bought it so he could write an article about it…

Steven Dodd Hughes ?

That’s a real beauty. It almost looks like the tree grew around the barreled action.

Yup…

What did you end up giving for it?

In terms of cows, pigs or sheep?

I have all three.

Shrapnel is the gun show whisperer

Excellent find

BMT

Just wondering what an old custom rifle would be worth.


Would it have been worth less if previously owned by someone else?

It is similar to what a steer is worth at the sale ring or if you hit it with a truck on the highway…

25 Souper AI?

Found another one built by Bob Johnson for Jack O’Connor…

That's a stunner!
Congratulations!
Life is too damn short to hunt with an ugly gun!
Enjoy...........

What’s the chambering on the Johnson gun?
Congrats; that’s some neat pedigree.

😂

In all seriousness Shrap seems to go to better guns shows than I went to and has deeper pockets. He makes some great buys.

Damn!

That’s a “jigger” question to ask.

270…

Yeah.

I couldn’t have walked past either!

Nice.

Well...if you are gonna show pics of your trophies then be prepared for questions.

What's to be embarrassed about?

It's humble bragging.

The price tags were shown for the guns he didn't buy in the pic. He alludes to it being spendy, but coy when asked. Like a chick wiggling her ass at the bar then pretending offense when you look at it lol.

You don’t know what you’re talking about. That is my table I put the gun on for that picture. Go back to dissing strop and his buddies…

I'm liking that transition Featherweight just above the Johnson rifle. Probably more affordable too!

lol

?

Beautiful rifle shrapnel. I hope you get it out in the field. That rifle was made to be taken hunting.

Damn Social security check money being put to good use.

I’m sure he paid far less than it is worth.

How did they drill the butt for weight savings with a skeletonized buttplate?

That’s a treasure

Control mounts?

Why do you think that he installed the front base on the barrel instead of on the receiver?

TY for sharing Shrapnel

What he paid for it is nobody's business. Additionally, its poor manners to ask.

They don’t appear to be Conetrol rings, they are 1 piece. The Sako 579 action has integral bases machined on the top, Jerry has milled the top of the rear of the action and put a base to accept those rings. The front looks to be done, using the dovetail, but extending the ring forward to accommodate the tube of the scope…

I agree. Unless the buyer brings it up, then it's a different ballgame.

If you show me a new truck, I'm going to say that's awesome, nice rig. Then if you start talking about how you talked them down off the price, and what discounts were available it opens the door. At that point it's not poor manners anymore, because if you didn't want to talk about it you wouldn't have brought it up.

IMHO

You can a faint outline of the plug that was installed and then checkering cut over it.

Fair enough. I see your point. Maybe it's just the way I was raised. Not a slam on anyone but I was taught that if a fellow wants you to know how much something costs, you don't ask. He'll tell you.

One of you is right and it isn’t gruff…

Oh it isn't either rude to ask. Sheesh.

Dress like a slut and someone is gonna hit on you.

Forgive me for sidetracking things, but dang, GWB, that’s a knife! Who’s the maker? That thing’s a work of art.

The maker is Rick Menefee, Menefee made knives. Rickis basically a stock removal guy. He told me that was the first knife he forged with a hamon'. Scales are mammoth Ivory. I do believe it is a one-off effort.

ya!

GWB

Thank you. Knives, for me are all about lines and proportions. Lots of good craftsmen out there, but some produce works of art. It’s hard to describe, but when one is “right”, it’s right. And that one’s right.

Rick does some good stuff.

You might check the Menefee knives thread in that forum.

ya!

GWB

Thanks. Had to go back & look again.

See it now.

Interesting!

Went through this same thing on another thread, Jim.

Guy had sent a gun off to be completely redone by Turnbull. He was ashamed of what he paid, so didn't want to expose that.

It is!

But it's never been on a sheep hunt I've been on.

Nice guns

I usually agree with you but…..

I have no idea if a gun like that is worth $2000 or $10,000. I would like to own a gun like that but if I stumble into one I have no idea what would be a fair price.

Everyone knows if you walk away from a good priced rifle to do research on it it will be gone by the time you get back to it.

I would ask what someone gave for something I am curious what price range they fall into just in case I ever find one for sale.

I don’t care what it cost but I got a chuckle out of, the widow wants to sell it but when I asked how much she replied “priceless”. I got news for you sweetheart, if it’s priceless then you ain’t gonna sell it. If you think I’m purchasing your memories of your husband you’re WRONG, I’m buying a rifle not your memories!

There is no standard for custom rifles by master gun makers. This is the only one like it, there is nothing to use for a comparison. You have to have an intimate knowledge and understanding of rifles and makers to even begin talking price. It then becomes what it is worth to both parties to determine a value, so ball parking a price is of little to no value unless you have some idea of what you are doing…

If I had seen that rifle for sale and I had the money, I would have bought it no matter what the caliber was. That stock is gorgeous!

Monty Kennedy said in his book "it is the height of something or other to be able to do this stuff". In my opinion it is. We are blessed here in America with many fine gunmakers. Jerry Fisher is one of them. These guys make a living doing fine work. It's not your Custom Shop type of work. It is full on custom to your requirements. That rifle is a one off from a custom maker at the top of his profession. Good wood has never been cheap but it was far cheaper a few decades ago than it is now. Turnbull does work not many others can do and does it well. He has to make a living. This isn't 1911 and prices reflect that cost of living difference.

Can anyone identify the type of Walnut that was used for the wood? I have a custom Savage 99 (284) with the same wood on it. Rifle came out of Calif. Rifle listed for approx
$170 new. Betting the wood job cost many times rifle cost , when it was put on. GW

This is an enjoyable original post, and a great find. Both buyer and seller were knowledgeable and fully informed about the item involved in the transaction. It was an arms-length, good-faith exchange that both sides considered a bargain. What did he pay? By definition, fair market value.

A deal like that requires someone with means, knowledge, judgement, taste and appreciation for a work of fine art. It's sad to think that in a few years at some future gun show, there might be a few buyers with the means, but none that can appreciate what they are looking at. We are not only losing the Jerry Fishers of the gun world, but also the clients that drive them. I may have the appreciation, but I usually lack the Benjamins to give the seller her due. I'm glad that Mrs. Fisher could not only make a fair deal but find a good home for husband's labor of love. A rifle like that was not made to be mauled by the hands of ruffians, and it's comforting to know that Shrapnel will put it to its best use.

I look forward to more photos from the range and from the field.

Beautiful!

Forgive me if you already quoted this already, but the 25 Durham is based on the 243 WIN case? Im finding different versions of 25 Durham online.