Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Anyone know O.H. Elliott & Co gunsmith? New 7x57! (pics added)

I JUST picked up an incredibly gorgeous 7x57 on a military '98 action with lovely wood, great checkering, and flawless blue from a client of mine. The gunsmith's name is stamped on the barrel O.H. Elliott & Co and I'm wondering if anyone knows about this 'smith?

Full length:



Recontoured tang



'smith stamp



top view (note crest removed from front ring)



Butt... I'm a sucker for great walnut



Wrap around checkering (seems to me to justify barrel-band front sling swivel)



Lyman peep sight... anyone know anything about this? Model name, etc?

[img]http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr166/efrrwake99/O%20H%20Elliott%207x57/P1380783.jpg[/img]

Sorry for all the junk in the background... windy day yesterday...

Well, a quick search turned this up.

The .277 Elliott Express and .357 Elliott Express are two of a series of wildcats developed by O.H. Elliott & Company of South Haven, Michigan, based on the .405 Winchester cartridge. This custom gunsmith manufactured his own rifle barrels.

Source is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.405_Winchester

Not much help but something. Bear BTW NICE Rifle!

Pretty darned nice custom. Is the action a Mexican Mauser or a large ring? (I am too uninformed to tell from the photos.)

I am pretty sure it is a standard large ring. It is stamped "Mod 98" in front of the thumb cut. I don't remember my SR'98 having that. Doesn't have the Springfield-style cocking peice, either.

Sweet rifle!

Based on 4xbear's note, it appears to have stayed close to home. Guess I need to start cruising the west MI shows.

405wcf

Thanks for the compliments all!

Anyone know how to tell the difference between rust & caustic blue?

Eric,

I can tell you a bit about O.H. Elliot... As I also have one of his rifles... I just tried to call you, Give me a call back and I'll let you in on some unbelievable facts...

GH

P.S. I'd post them, but I'm getting tired of being told I don't know what I'm talking about...

Grasshopper, whoever said you didn't know what you were talking about, tell them I said to pee up a rope.
The Elliot rifle is a class act. Tell us what you know about them..

Why am I not surprised that GH has one?

Go ahead and post, give me a reason to dig around at the shows.

405wcf

Looks like the classic rifles made in the '30's. Nice rifle.

Ok, Ya'll talked me into it:

A few years ago, I posed much the same question here and nobody seemed to know anything about O.H. Elliot... As I travelled around, I asked in every gunshop I visited... Eventually I asked a gunsmith in the East Detroit area, not really expecting anything and was surprised when he answered: "What do you want to know?" I said anything I could find out. He told me that he had taken his apprenticeship under Mr Elliot, starting when he was in High School. He also told me that OHE wouldn't let him work on guns unless he kept his grades up. He said that during WW-II, OHE was hired by Saginaw Steering Gear to head the engineering dept for the building of M-1 Carbines. OHE, had the very 1st one built there. (Serial #EXP OHE001) He stated that the rifle in question is now owned by OHE's daughter, whom he knows personally. (He grew up with her)

My rifle is built on a pre WWI Oberndorf Mauser action. It is chambered in .35 Apex. Which as near as I can figure, is a .35 Whelen A.I. with the shoulder moved fwd about .010". I have been totally unable to find any written data on it.

The gunsmith who was telling me about him, said: "Wait a minute, I've something to show you..." He went back in his office and returned with a notebook. It was handwritten in OHE's own handwriting... It contained all his personal hand-loading notes... The 'smith told me that OHE's daughter had given it to him after OHE's death...

When OHE was in business, he made his own barrels... His boring and rifling machines are now owned by a gunsmith in northern MI. And are still in regular use... AAMOF, the 'smith who now owns them, had done a number of rebores for me and another member of this forum. I also know of at least two other members of this forum who use him, as well... (They all know whom I'm speaking of...)

The rifle that efw owns, and my own rifle are the only ones I have ever seen... Mine has a 22" bbl with a full length Mannlicher style stock... And is complete with a Williams rec'vr sight. It has never been D&Ted for a scope. Last summer I met a couple of forum members who are interested in custom rifles, and they took pics of mine. Perhaps they will see this and might post them... (I am technically challenged...)

If I were to guess, I'd say that efw's and my own; OHE rifle were built in the period after WWII, perhaps up into the mid 60's... By the early to mid 60's a lot of folks were going to the use of optical sights... I started hunting in 1968 and even as late as then, a lot of hunters I saw, still used sights. I never had a scope on my rifle until 1973...

Hope ya'll enjoyed it...

GH

efw

Beautiful rifle in a classic chambering.

GH

Very informative, thank you.

JD338

intresting

Oh Ed, you're so full of poop .

Seriously thanks for the insight. I took one look at this thing and knew it had to be mine...

Beautiful rifle efw. Does this mean you're ready to part with that 9.3x57?

G.H., thank you for that interesting glimpse into Michigan gun smithing history. Being a resident of Northern Michigan I can't help but wonder where O.H.E.'s equipment went to.

Scott

It is a large ring.

Unfortunately when my father died I had to sell that rifle to come up with funeral money. Ed hooked me up with a friend of his who has it now...

Ed has he fired that rifle yet?

Not yet!

Grasshopper,

Thanks for posting all the great info. Sounds like O.H. Elliott rifles might be almost as scarce as Adolph Minar rifles.

I'm kind of into older custom rifles myself, and now will have something else to look out for.

MD,

After working on a custom 7x57 of my VERY own for a couple of years now I have to admit I was on one hand pleased as punch finding this rifle, but on the other hand a bit irritated... I think I paid something like 1/9th for this rifle what I'll have in my Mexican small ring when it is complete.

Of course they do compliment one another VERY nicely...

Knock on wood, but I think my appetite for building my own full customs has been filled. I'm going to haunt area gun shows looking for stuff like this.

Oh yeah... HW Creighton is another name I'll be watching for. I picked up one of his 03-A3s here last year and while not quite as nice to look at as this specimen it shoots the lights out. I since found out he built benchrest rifles down in the Nashville area and is known for tack drivers. There is a 257 Bob for sale in the classifieds right now built by him... a bit outside my price range though .