Hello Gentlemen!

This is my first post here on the forum. I recently purchased a custom Mauser-action rifle in Caliber 338 Winchster Magnum. It has been made by the late Mr. Jim Coffin of Oregon. I found an old thread about him on this forum so I thought I would ask the forum memmbers for further information. The barrel of my rifle is marked "Jim Coffin, Stockmaker, ACGG, No 61B". I wonder if this has been a part of a pair of rifles (hence the letter B). I am also curious to know who has done the metal work and the engravings on the bolt.

I look forward to hearing from you!

I have no info on the maker, but sure would like to see more pics of that rifle, looks pretty special and I am always on the lookout for more ideas (read that ways to spend my fun money!).

Here are couple more pictures. It is a very fine work. The trigger is absolutly crisp (no movement at all) and the metal work is also first rate. This is the first Mauser-action hunting rifle I own. My previous rifles have all been European (Heym, Sauer, Mauser M03, etc) but not the traditional M98 action.

That is a very nice rifle sir.

Damn right it is Jericho, congrats Omid.

Gunner

very nice rifle.

Thank you very much for your kind comments. Any information about Jim and his work?

Beautiful rifle! Looks like a Douglas barrel contour. Is there any markings under the stock?

I would imagine since he was Guild Member you contact them.
http://www.acgg.org/

Adam

Omid you have a PM.

I might be able to tell you about the metalwork but need several pics of a side shot of the bolt handle, a side shot of the bolt stop/release, several views of the trigger guard/floorpate assembly.

New one on me....but the man really knew his trade.

another picture of the whole rifle:



There are no markings other than the name of the maker on the top of the barrel and the caliber mark on the right side of the barrel when it joins the receiver.

Jim lived in Corvallis OR. When I lived there throughout the 1990's, I would see him at the local gun shows. His work was first rate, and he was a pleasant, gentle person.

Omid that knob appears to me to be identical to my Glimm's knob.

Abso-freakin-lutely amazing rifle!!!!

Welcome to the 'fire, and allow me to be the first to say YOU SUCK!

You are right about the bolt knob. The flower pattern looks like the Number 4 knob on Glimm's site but then again, this can be just a cassic pattern. I am not sure..

Beautiful rifle. Now to the hunt....

Thanks John (and other members) for your complements. While we are waiting for someone to give more information on the maker of the gun, could you guys please advise on loads for 338? This is my first rifle in the caliber. My previous rifles have mostly been 7mm Magnums. I am thinking I should develop two loads for this gun: a light 150-180 grain load for deer and open fields at about 3200 fps and a "moose load" of sorts using a long heavy round nose bullet (woodliegh, 300gr?) for short range deadly effects. Any opinions?

Can ayone tell from the pics the origin of the action -- sporterized, C-ring, I am not versed enough in mausers to tell

I'd run 210 ttsx for everything, bit much for deer, but who cares...

Mine enjoys them over 71gr H4350 and 215M primers...

Thanks for the idea! Do you use that load on Canadian deer? I used to live in Toronto myself and have hunted two whitetale near Peterborough in Ontario. I shot both with 160 gr partion bullets in 7mm Remington Magnum. You can see pictures here

Dr. Omid: Wonderful rifle...I have not seen Jim Coffin's rifles in the flesh but admired pictures of them.

I agree with the poster who said simply load a 210 Partition and shoot everything.

Wow

I'm north of Kingston. Haven't used this load on deer, but will be using it for moose next month. I have used 225interlocks and 225tsx previously, and both worked fine..

Some updates:

As per suggestion of one of forum members, I contacted Mr. Steve Nelson who is also a guild member and a friend of the late Mr Coffin. He pointed out that the number marked on the barrel is ACGG's certificate number. So It should be possible to trace the gun through ACGG archives. I am waiting for more information from him on this.

This is great news! Get in touch with the guild and they will have it's history on file. Metal smith, stock maker, engraver and year of production.

BTW, beautiful rifle!

Terry

Some updates: Just ordered two boxes of Federal ammunition to test the rifle with: 180 Gr Nosler Accubound and 250 Gr Nosler Partition. I should be able to test fire the rifle next weekend.

Also got information from Mr Nelson that the metal work on the rifle is most likely done by (the late) Mr. Larry Brace, also a master gun maker from Eugene, Oregon.

Omid,

Several years back I bought a custom Mauser in .404 Jeffery. I have been trying to identify the maker ever since. Unfortunately, my rifle has evidently been rebarrelled, and all traces of the maker's name went with the original barrel.

From what I can tell by examining the photos of your rifle, there are several areas of similarity. I would appreciate your examining the photos I posted in this thread to see if you spot other similarities: http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=mauserarchive&Number=148745

You certainly have a fine looking rifle.

Bill Warren

Re 404. The action is an original Mauser Magnum action. The safety and bolt handle are not original. However, the bolt handle appears to have been altered before the rifle was stocked. The bolt alteration looks like Burgess. The safety also looks a lot like Tom Burgess' as does the bolt knob checkering. Also, the stamping "404" look like the size and style which Tom used. The guard bow and lever are original and were not modified by Tom if he did this. The contour of the barrel shank is like Tom's also. It doesn't look like a new barrel but if it was it was well inleted into the stock by a pretty good stock maker. There should be markings under the stock line on the barrel shank. Post pics of the markings. I don't recognize the style of the stock. It would help if there were pics of the cheek piece and the forearm!

RinB,

Thanks for your comments. Howeveer, there are no markings anywhere else on the barrel and the barrel channel clearly shows where the wood was scraped to accomodate a slightly different barrel profile than the original. All of the barrel channel, except where the scraping took place, had been sealed, so the contrast is obvious. Also, the inletting was still not perfect, since there was quite a bit of up pressure on the barrel immediately in front of the receiver ring.

When I received it, neither a "go" headspace gauge nor Hornady factory ammunition would chamber in it, but Kynoch ammunition would.

There is no cheekpiece on the stock, and the quality of the wood is in strange contrast to the quality of the workmanship.

I have sent these photos to a whole long list of rifle makers and although praise of the workmanship is universal, no one has been able to identify the workman(men). Seeing Mr. Coffin's work added another name to the list of possible makers.

It looks like it began as a military rifle, a commercial sporter, or an early FN commercial action. Hard to tell w/o markings. Clearly a large ring, and it's unlikely that the side markings from a commercial Oberndorf would have been polished off. I would suspect it's something on the order of a VZ-24 that got new life (nothing wrong w/ that...actions of this kind are superb for rifles like this). To your question of C ring...it would definitely be a C ring, as only the later FNs were the H ring IIRC.

Very nice rifle.

Slick looking looking gun,great caliber!

Omid,

I suspect the number on the rifle, ACGG, No 61B is a American Custom Gunmakers Guild Hallmark number. Contact the guild historian and he should be able to give you complete details on the rifle. Jim Coffin was a very fine stockmaker, by the way.

TT

Beautiful rifle. As for loads, I've been happy with unload I got from Mule Deer; 65gr R15 under a 200/210 gr bullet.

This is a beautiful 404!! Some parts look like my rifle but I am not knowlegable enough to say who the maker is. I see that other members already made some comments about your rifle. I hope you have found those helpful.

To TSQUARE:

Thanks for your comment. Mr. Nelson of Oregon told me he had already contacted the ACGG regarding my rifle and this is not a certificate number. Nonetheless, I am going to contcat them myself too. It wouldn't hurt to ask them since Jim Coffin has been a guild member and ACGG is stamped on the barrel. So, they should somewho have a record.

Finally, I got the chance to test fire the rifle at the range. Here are some pictures. I tested the rifle with 180 grain Accubound bullets and 250 grain Partition bullets.





Looking through the Zeiss 4X scope:


Zoomed image showing central zone of the above image. The metallic targets seen here are at 200, 300 and 400 yards.