This strikes me as a pretty good deal on a beautiful rifle, thought somebody might interested in it.

http://www.gunsinternational.com/gu...om-fn-mauser-338-06.cfm?gun_id=100708138

About their price on the stock alone.

I know the Biesen's are highly regarded, and obviously do top-drawer work in all regards, but I've honestly never liked the geometry/lines of their stocks.

When Jim Cloward came out with his Pacific Research stock, he just put a Biesen on a pantomime and created the molds exactly from a Biesen original. I had two, and could never warm to them.

I am with you Brad. Same for the checkering.

Here it is.



Weight: 8lbs, 5oz including mounts. With Redding 3-die reloading set. 99%+blue.

Price: $3875.

It's too heavy and too much money for an odd ball chamber. The stock color is not what I want.

There are two types of Biesen rifles: those built by Al & those built by his son Roger. The second type have both names on the barrel.
I prefer the older guns done entirely by Al.

I have found it interesting that given the fame of the name used rifles tend to sell relatively cheap?

All I can say is that for custom rifles, (like custom homes and custom cars), "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I started watching the Hallowell web site a few months ago. There are a number of custom rifles on the Hallowell site that I would be hard pressed to warm up to, even at an off the shelf price. Wonky geometries. Garish finish or appointments. "Interesting" wood patterns/colors.

Once you get to a $4K to $8K price point, if the rifle is not "exactly" what the buyer is looking for, I expect they either sit tight, or, spend the additional dollars to commission exactly what they are looking for.

Custom rifles are created to satisfy the tastes of the original owner, the rifle may or may not appeal to others and selling price will reflect this fact. Sellers are free to ask whatever they like, the price realized at the time of sale is usually somewhat less.

I just sold a Biesen. All I could get was 3000. It was a 7mm Weatherby. It was a 99% rifle. Took me a while to get that. There has been a few on Gunbroker. They are not selling.

Hanco,

Yours would have sold higher if it had a 24" barrel.

That was a lovely rifle.

Hanco's 7mm Weatherby was sort of a rare bird in the evolution of 7 mag hunting rifles,and likely pre dated the 7 Rem Mag.

Back then one of the most famous hunting rifles around was Warren Page's Old Betsy chambered for the 7mm Mashburn Super, which had a 22"(not a 24") barrel. Of course the Weatherby 7mm was also around, but had the drawback of a 12 twist, too slow to stabilize the long 160-175 gr hunting bullets.

The blue print for Old Betsy was as a "mountain rifle",short, with a 22" barrel and weighing 8 pounds or under scoped. The 7mm Mashburn was designed to give a 175 gr bullet over 3000 fps from a 22" ( not 24") barrel. Then, as now, custom rifle people obsessed over blueprints. Likely also why you see so many JOC custom M70 270's kicking around.

But not everybody wanted a wildcat, so sharp rifle builders like Biesen would build a 7mm Weatherby but with a faster 10 twist.....and a 22" barrel to mimic (copy) Old Betsy. I think Hanco's 7mm Weatherby was one of those old customs. I have seen others.

We think of 24" barrels as standard but among some hunters and custom builders this was not always true.

Yes, I think you are right, there was an exact copy of mine on Gunbroker for months. It never sold at 2850.00. Mine found a loving home.

Hanco I knew what it "was" right away....


Great old custom.

I like the idea of a fast handling 22" barreled custom mountain rifle like Hanco had. 7mm wby would also be cool. Hey Bob, what is the length of your Len Brownell 7mm rem mag barrel? Just out of curiousity...I will buy a Biesen rifle one of these days.. It's on my bucket list..

bsa: The Brownell rifle has a 24" barrel. Ditto my 7mm Mashburn Super.

Page killed something like 475 BG animals with Old Betsy on several continents. Obviously the formula worked in more places than just the mountains.

If you have a light 7mm rifle delivering a 175 gr bullet over 3000 fps, you likely don't need anything else.

Gotcha. Thanks Bob...

Speaking of "old Betsy", the new/third owner spruced her up and brought some life back to the old girl. Pretty cool old rifle...:

Never said a 22" barrel wasn't lighter and handier.

My point is simply that most hunters who hunt a 7 Mag prefer a 24" bbl. To rebarrel would have required unscrewing the tube which proves it to be a Biesen. The lack of a 24" likely affected the selling price.

If that rifle had been an '06/270/280 with a 22" bbl it would have brought 4k easy.

I believe it was O'Connor himself who said a 7 Mag with a short barrel with little more than a 270 with more fuss.

Again, lovely rifle.

I handled hanco's rifle. It was really nice. The stock and checkering was perfect. Didn't not notice the short barrel.
On another note I passed on a 264 browning because of the 22 inch barrel. Hasbeen

NY no one was challenging what you thought of the rifle, or a 24" barrel.

That was the "blueprint" of the day....just like 2 pound scopes on 6 pound rifles find favor today.


As to JOC and what he thought of the 7 mm magnums, I never believed everything he wrote and hardly took it as gospel...especially after I bought a chronograph and found out he was all wet when it came to the 300 H&H magnum.

He was all wet too about 7mm mags as there is nothing that you can feed a 270 that will churn up almost 3100 fps with a 175 gr bullet....from 22" or 24" barrel.

Sorta leaves the old 270 panting at the gate. I would say Warren Page left JOC behind in a lot of things..

To me it seems the market for customs and pre-64 70s is a bit soft now. I always wanted one of Al's rifles but will probably never shell out for one. As one poster said though, it's worth it if you want it enough. They certainly are beautiful.

I agree. They are obviously beautiful rifles, but not my cup of tea.

Never have liked fluer de lis patterns either.