Where are all the old Benchrest rifles?

[R&B]

"Only Accurate Rifles Are Interesting" Col Townsend Whelen

Old cool bench rest rifles are still around. Most cool stuff regardless of when it was made usually finds a home where it lives on and is cared for and appreciated.

My crazy Shcultz & Larsen M54 BR rifle in 6MC²

 

[urbanrifleman]

Thinking back over the twenty odd years I have been shooting and all the shooters who have come and gone and all the rifles that have been built over that time, Where are all the old Benchrest rifles? There are always a few listed but there must be hundreds languishing somewhere. What prompted this is an ad I saw, someone looking for a Wichita Mini. Never see them for sale and never see them at matches.

Pete

This is an excellent question. Same thing with all the Remington 700s. There are literally 10s of million of them out there and now they are being sold like they are collectors items.

Same thing happened to the m1 garands. I knew one guy that had 350 M1s that he bought from the CMP.

Somewhere out there is a LOT of people with hundreds of rifles in storage.

We see the same thing in classic cars. People with hundreds of cars just stuffed away in barns.

 

[Steve Kostanich]

Al,
Who was the NW shooter you got the rifle from? I've shot in the NW region for 55 years, and may have shot against that rig. Curious to know!!!

Steve Kostanich

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

You'll see several older BR rifles, mostly 700's, in the UBR Modified class. No custom actions allowed in that class. Several good shooting guns and shooters in it.

 

[1911nut]

Here’s an oldie; Early 1960’s Taylor and Robbins 219 Donaldson Wasp, "grandfather of benchrest cartridges" .

It’ll still shoot bugholes.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Grab some young people and take them shooting. If they like it, give them the rifle. Heck man, give them two rifles. Better than sitting in a safe waiting to be sold at auction when you die. Maybe you will get lucky and one of these proteges will carry it on.

At the rate we are going, there will be a fraction of shooters left in 10 years. A tiny fraction.

 

[tikkaman308]

I have 3 that belonged to Ed Hall from Georgia

 

[M-61]

First BR rifle. 1975. 222 rem. Sleeved action. SHBF. Douglas barrel. 3 piece laminated stock. Still shoots great but my 30br’s spoiled me. So the rifle spends a lot of time in the safe. Built by Ed Ferguson.
I had two fantastic men that taught me how to shoot bench rest. They’ve all passed on so I’ll never part with the rifle even if there was a market for it. Lots of fond memories with that rifle. And they sure had patience!

 

[Evan]

This is an excellent question. Same thing with all the Remington 700s. There are literally 10s of million of them out there and now they are being sold like they are collectors items.

Same thing happened to the m1 garands. I knew one guy that had 350 M1s that he bought from the CMP.

Somewhere out there is a LOT of people with hundreds of rifles in storage.

We see the same thing in classic cars. People with hundreds of cars just stuffed away in barns.

They will likely not be of much interest to the next generation, who have not had much exposure to them and thus no fond memories. It’s just going to be a pile of junk granddad left behind.

 

[urbanrifleman]

They will likely not be of much interest to the next generation, who have not had much exposure to them and thus no fond memories. It’s just going to be a pile of junk granddad left behind.

If that is the case, then I guess somewhere along the line the generations have failed.

I say, start now.

 

[LVLAaron]

 

[charlie b]

I am one of those with no descendants or even friends who would be interested in my guns. I slowly reduced my stash to those that I use or shoot a lot (30 down to 5, two pistols, three rifles). Once I am gone the few remaining will probably go to a local gun shop at a really low price, or even just given to them (they have done ok for me).

 

[NH30]

Mid 50's Wasp, $8 Mauser '98.

 

[ogre1911]

Mid 50's Wasp, $8 Mauser '98.

And a yard of Unertl or Unertl adjacent.

First thing I ever shot seriously

 

[Lkwebb]

Not sure if yall consider a farley action old but here is one i picked up as a backup rifle.

 

[SmokinJoe]

I have one in my safe. As a team we won it all back around 2004. Guess my kids will have to do something with it one of these days.

 

[Kiwishooter]

My first BR rifle that I bought was a used rifle from Bob White in the late 90's.
It consisted of a Wichita 1375 left bolt right port, high 100 serial #, Canjar trigger in a bolt in hanger, glued into a Six fibreglass stock. The action fell out of the stock when it arrived but after fixing the soft spots in the stock repainting it and glueing it back in it shot pretty well and started my steep learning curve.
It was rebuilt a few years after that and was fitted into one of the first McMillan Edge stocks, a jewel trigger and a Krieger barrel.
Once I switched to a Bat actioned rifle it got dismantled and it's now a bare action with the Canjar trigger sitting in the safe waiting.
Also have a pre 2000 Panda and Teddy in the safe, both are left bolt right port but were converted to left eject, The Panda is in a Kelbly Klub and the Teddy is in a Terry Leonard stock.....do they count as "Old"

I saw a couple of really Old BR rifles recently, these are in the Basspro display in Springfield Mo.


This belonged to Edgar Walker


tp be continued

 

[Kiwishooter]

From Jim Carmichel



In the same display but no name associated with it

 

[Bill Norris]

View attachment 1724342

Is that a Hart action?

 

[LVLAaron]

Is that a Hart action?

Sleeved XP100