Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Slow rolling a custom

So I made a half liquored up bet in a thread that nyrifleman started about a gun that Hallowell has for sale. My boast was that not only did I have a gun based on the same rare action, that mine was even superior to that gorgeous custom. No small claim indeed.

Time for me to prove up.

Now I don't have the equipment to do perfectly lit "gun porn in a studio" photos like Hallowell; mine are more like "cell phone photo of a cute gun on a hike." The best I can do is provide some teaser photos to generate some antici


pation.

Utah. Someone stole your rifle!

At least they left me the bolt

I was on Paul (RIP) and Sharon Dressel's website this morning and they have one of Grisel's actions stocked mannlicher style in 358 Winchester.

So I think you have teased long enough, its been an hour. Show the goods!

It's not hard on the eyes, that's for sure

Meh.

That walnut is barely distinguishable from the fence behind it.

Who did the stock?

What's the caliber?

Oh and I'm officially declaring dibs!

A number of groups auction or raffle rifles off at their annual meetings. The super ornate guns that SCI and DSC auction go for tens of thousands, some have gone for over $100k. The American Custom Gunmakers Guild started its series of fundraising rifles the year after the group formed in 1983, and it continues to this day. Many well known members of the organization have donated labor, components, and accessories to those projects over the years. I rather assume that the builders put on their A game given the visibility of the project among their peers.

This happens to be the first rifle in that series--the 1984 rifle, chambered in .270 Win. Duane Wiebe built the gun, Pete Grisel built the action, and the late Terry Wallace did the engraving. Don Allen donated the stock blank and Marvin Huey built one of his super ornate cases, with all of the accessories. Duane Wiebe mentions this gun on his website as a highlight of his career.

I bought the gun off gunbroker from a dealer who did not understand what the gun really was, either in terms of its innate quality or historical provenance. I feel I am merely a caretaker, until it goes to the next one. As many of you know, I have feebly tried to commission metal work and stock them myself. This is a standard of gunbuilding that my projects will never ever reach.



My photo makes it hard to read, but the inscription on the quarter rib is "Wiebe Grisel Wallace." Elsewhere on the gun is engraved "ACGG #1."







My guess is that the checkering is 26 lpi, but it might be finer.

just wow.....you shoot it?

Thats unbelievable

I have not. It is right handed, and I am not, so I do not have nearly the same urge to shoot it that others might have. In addition, it appears to have been shot very very little (if at all) and I do not mind it staying that way.

That's a beautiful rifle..........

Lovely rifle Utah!

I wish you could all handle this rifle--it really comes into its own then.

Oh my goodness.
Exceptional piece you have there - congrats!

Great rifle. Love it. Too bad you're left handed.
As far as I know, the first Grisel built was a LEFT handed 280 Rem.
food for thought....
time to start hunting for a southpaw Grisel.

That is a helluva rifle.

Beautiful, just gorgeous. What craftsmanship!

Not to pick sides, but I have to agree with you. Yours is more beautiful.

Congratulations on your caretaker status for this work of art.

Ed

I’d hunt it.

[bleep] me roan...I REALLY appreciate the extra touch of a classic case by Huey!

Good grief... that thing's beautiful. Enjoy it!

The first thing I do when I get a new rifle is function fire at least 3 rounds to confirm no issues with Feed, Fire, Eject. In "motor head" terms, this rifle is like a 1969 Dodge Daytona Charger with a 426 Hemi, showroom condition, and 1 mile on the odometer. Given the quality and the provenance, I also would be reluctant to shoot this one...

Wow... Just Wow...

Beautiful Rifle

Beautiful rifle 708!
I looked up Huey Gun Cases since I am just up the road from Reed's Spring. Their website now shows them in Kansas City. I wonder when they moved? I had never heard of them.

Damn fine rifle... albeit a 270

Beautiful rifle! Glad it has a good keeper!

Let me tell you some backstory on its "showroom condition." I spoke with the seller of the rifle before I bought it, and we agreed that I would pay $100 shipping, and that the gun would not be sent in the Huey case, but in a separate hard case. In the end, that is not how the shop did it--they sent it in the Huey. Well, among the accessories are cleaning rod segments that are held in the barrel channel by a little tab. They came out during shipping and slid back to lay between the stock and the case.

Can you see where this is going?


While it could have been far, far worse, the cleaning rod segments gouged up the stock. Not horribly, but certainly killed the showroom condition.







Broken hearted, I emailed the seller and told him I was going to send the gun back. He accepted responsibility, and asked if we could come to an accommodation. After exploring my options, I contacted Duane Wiebe and he was willing to restore the stock, even using the same finish he used when he built the gun over 30 years ago. The seller agreed to cover the cost, I shipped the stock in a locked aluminum case that must weigh 15 pounds empty, Duane had it some months, the seller honored his word and covered the $700 repair, and the gun is as you see it now.

I think that since Duane did the work, referring to it as a "Wiebe" rifle is still accurate. I am very fortunate that he is still active in the trade.

And the cleaning rod segments no longer live in the case.

They are a father and son operation who are the premier case builders in the country (they better be for the price of their cases; with all the accessories, this case would be about $3500 today). They have donated a case for I think every ACGG fundraising rifle, so their commitment to the trade is unwavering.

When I got this rifle the handle was breaking down and splitting, so I contacted them and got a new one built. Absolutely first tier people and products.

Beautiful Rifle and interesting Backstory.

You just do everything properly.

That is kind of you.

No sport, you sharing the pictures is a kindness, and appreciated.

I like fine rifles and thought I had some nice ones. That is superb just superb. I commend you for keeping it in it's pristine condition BUT in all honesty I would carefully hunt with it.

For me, there is just too much money tied up in it to take the risk. I hope to own and appreciate it for a few years and then send it on down the road without taking too big a hit to my gun fund.

But I do have this lefty .280 I built which will be my "gentleman's hunt" rifle. Since I did this stock, if I ding it I can fix it if I like, or merely appreciate the "memory marks."



The one I built has the best piece of wood I ever worked with...



But is simply not in the same league, particularly when you turn this one around in the sunlight. The light just seems to cause the wood to glow down deep...

And don't talk down your guns--that Parker 20 you showed is both beautiful and a fine sentimental keepsake. That I would hunt.

That is top drawer.

That Parker is my go to grouse gun. In January I took it to Georgia for a quail hunt and it got badly dinged in the buggy's gun cradle by a latch. When I got home it immediately went to the smith and he fixed it up good as new. I do hunt with all my guns and try to be as careful as I can. As you mentioned some become memory marks.

Is it weird that I come back to look at these pictures everyday?

Gun porn but you could have lied and said it was a 300 H&H or something


Very, very nice rifle.

That is a spectacular rifle.

I would short shrift yours - it is better than most customs I've seen.

Very, very nice rifle and work you've done.

Holy Moly that is a gorgeous ensemble!
There is something about pretty wood that is intoxifying.
To turn a rifle like that around in the sunlight to catch the figure and glow of sunlight on wood might make a distracted hunter out of me.

Thank you for sharing photos and background material. I really enjoyed it. Enjoy both rifles. They are both outstanding...

utah708,
I just want to say thank you for sharing your beautiful rifles with us! You sir have fine taste, and equally fine skills.

Thanks for the kind comments. It is not entirely an act of charity when I post the photos. I really don't have that many card carrying loony friends here who will go ooh ahh over a rifle like this. So I am grateful for your reactions to it.

Utah I'm in the same boat as most of my friends just don't appreciate a fine gun be it a rifle or shotgun. If it's gun loonies you want we are at the right place I'm working on my next loony project already.

I've not see that "G" word on this JOC thread...hmm

Nice rifle OP

VERY nicely done.

Much respect. Cherish that!

Just saw this thread. Beautiful ACGG rifle, and the one you built is no slouch in any department.

Stunning work of art!

Thank you for sharing.