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[Linked Image]

It was my good fortune to spot a rifle on gunbroker over Thanksgiving week that was being mis-marketed--the seller (a gunshop in Florida) was selling a gun on consignment and really did not know what they had.

The rifle was made by Lenard Brownell,on a LH Remington 700 action in .270 Win. Lenard was one of the influential rifle smiths in the 1960-70s; he died in 1982 from cancer in his late 50's. He spent much of his life in Wyoming, in and around Sheridan. He was employed by Bill Ruger for a time and was a designer of the M77 and Number 1. It was his experience with investment casting at Ruger that became the basis for Brownell's own line of rifle parts (grip caps, scope rings, etc.) Kimber of Oregon also used Lenard as a designer. The Talley vertically split rings began as a Brownell product.

[Linked Image]

The Brownell serial number of 80 dates it to 1975, and Remington had only released the left handed 700 about 1974. I would not be surprised if this was the first lefty 700 Lenard made. And given that his serial number sequence stopped at 127, I doubt there are more than about a half dozen left handed Brownell rifles.

So the stock is made of Tessier French walnut. It is not hugely figured, but has a touch of fiddleback and is quite small grained. Most likely cut by hand from a blank; the chisel marks are still evident in action inletting. The checkering is extremely well executed. All of the fleurs look exactly alike.

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There is nothing radical about the stock in terms of length of pull, cast, or toe out.

To be continued...

BP-B2

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utah708 Offline OP
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In terms of metal work, there are probably two things of interest. First, the action tang was extended and a tang safety installed. The original Remington trigger was retained, and a mechanical linkage runs from the safety tab to the side safety on the trigger. The tang extension also allows the pitch of the tang to be flatter and makes for a more open grip shape. The grip is also noticeably narrower than a Remington factory stock, by the way.

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A second thing is that it uses Blackburn bottom metal, which I understand to be an extremely rare item because most of Ted's bottom metal was for Mausers or Winchesters.

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There are also small touches as well. The bolt handle was reshaped/thinned and the embossed "checkering" on the knob was recut. (OEM on the left and Lenard's on the right.

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The gun has some handling marks so it will not bother me to hunt it. It does seem a bit odd to me that the scope mounts were merely Weaver tip offs. The scope is a Leupold 4x with a dot reticle.

I am sure I will notice more things about it as time goes forward.

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Love the tang and checkering work.
SENT you a PM.
CB


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That's a pretty dang nice looking rifle, I sure do like that stock. The checkering appears to have been done by someone that knew a thing or 2 about checkering wink

Last edited by Oregonmuley; 12/14/18.

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Very cool find! Thanks for sharing

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utah708 Offline OP
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I figured out how to optimize the settings on my camera to match the file limitation requirements on the site, so here are some better pics.

[Linked Image]
I guess it was more common in that era to retain the factory barrel than we tend to see today.

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Boy that is special. Very nice find for you.


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A very nicely detailed rifle all the way around, the extended tang and tang safety are especially nice custom touches as are the slimming of the bolt handle and chasing the checkering. Lenard was a very talented craftsman who set the standard for other custom 'smiths of that era.

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I saw that rifle also and had a really hard time not bidding on it.


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Utah78, that is a very nice rifle! It is the small things that really make it special.

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utah708 Offline OP
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Originally Posted by 358Norma_fan
I saw that rifle also and had a really hard time not bidding on it.


I am glad you chose not to bid--that would have cost me some money because I was pretty much committed to coming away with it. I had never had a chance to get a lefty from one of that era's big name gunsmiths (Fisher, Kennedy, Milliron, etc.) because I don't think they made all that many.

There was another lefty Brownell in 6mm Rem that the same shop sold about a week later. It had a nicer piece of wood, but the action was an unidentified custom action. Given that I had just bought this one, and had not yet had a chance to look it over, I did not get involved in the bidding. It went for about $300 more than this one--still probably a real bargain.

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Beautiful rifle.


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I don’t even WANT to know what you paid for that beautiful piece...


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The only way I could afford it is that I really think the seller substantially "undermarketed" it. It was consigned to a dealer/gun store that had no idea who Lenard Brownell was or why that should affect the value of the gun.

I had the gun shipped through D'Arcy Echols' shop. I always just use a pawn shop here in town as my FFL transfer agent, but I just did not trust them with this one. I also suspected D'Arcy might like to see it so in fact had only told him it was a Remington 700 in .270--nothing special. When I arrived at his shop-- about 2 hours after it arrived--he actually had it taken apart. The bolt release was hanging up and not engaging correctly. Just one tap with a punch got a pin back in place and the release moving correctly. D'Arcy said he opened the case,took one look at the fleurs, and said "holy [bleep], its a Brownell." He had actually stopped by and met Lenard back in the 1970's and told me a couple of stories. D'Arcy did ask me what I paid for it, and when told, responded "Power buy!" so I don't think I got gouged.

But the purpose of buying it is not to flip it and make a few bucks. All y'all know that I am trying to do some stock whittling, because I really like the classic wooden stocked guns. I make my own stocks because "sweat equity" is the only way a lefty on my income strata is going to get anything out of the ordinary. I grew up reading too much Jack O'Connor, and lusting after his Beisens. My first big game rifle was a Remington 700 in .270 Win that my father purchased for me when I was about 15, so it is nice coming back around full circle. I have McMillan/stainless/turreted scope setups as well, but they don't float my boat the same. I suppose if I threw my rifles in the creek when I was steelhead fishing I might think a little differently about it. I think I know what I will carry the next time I draw an antelope buck tag in Wyoming. Now that seems fitting.

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Beautiful rifle.

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That ain't nothing but sweet! Great grab for sure.

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Sharp eye, and good snag utah!!! Some great stock work, and very, very nice checkering work there. A treasure of a rifle to be the caretaker of.

Jeff

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Very nice rifle sir, Most people would have not looked twice at that rifle on the internet, and assumed it was a custom made by an unknown gunsmith.

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Good find. I watch GB for left handed guns pretty frequently and missed that one. I would have bid on that one for sure. Congrats.


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That really is a very nice rifle. Anyone who has an interest in building rifles could benefit by close examination of Brownell's work. One thing I find, when shaping a bolt handle, it is real easy to make the handle too slim. One ends up with a handle which is sleek and well porportioned when looking at the bolt by itself, a little on the dainty side when the bolt is in the receiver, and positively skinny when viewed with the whole rifle. I say this because I managed to go too far on numerous handles,early on, and have still not made one with which I am totally happy. I think Brownell went just a little far with this one but this is only my opinion.
Of course, today, we no longer worry about aesthetics and simply screw on a great, big, knurled hammerhead for a bolt knob and call it "tactical".
I recall one issue of "Rifle" magazine which featured a Brownell rifle on the cover. The description said some thing along the lines of "It is easier to list the things in this picture which were not made by Leonard Brownell". There was a sculpture which was not done by him while everything else, rifle, mounts, fireplace mantel, wall panelling, was. He was a true craftsman and your rifle is a great example. GD

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