Harris McMillan model 86
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That was from the days when Wes Harris was making the barrels at McMillan. There was some kind of partnership involved, but it didn't last too long. The barrel, if it is original and hasn't been changed, is probably a button rifled polygonal with a 1-in-10 twist. One of the most accurate rifles I ever had was barreled with one of those. The McMillan's had some kind of a falling out with Mr. Harris and he went on to start Harris Gun works. I think he later went back to making barrels in Prescott, Arizona.
I believe all the left over inventory of barrels was sold to Brownell's and they depleted in the mid 90's. The M86 was basically an accurized 700 and if I remember right they even offered them with side swing safeties and a full length claw extractor with controlled round feed. They never made many, what you have is a rare bird indeed...even rarer if it is CRF. One thing is for certain...it should be very accurate if it is not all shot out. There was a lot of info on that rifle, well probably as much as anywhere else or more, in Major John Plasters book titled "The Ultimate Sniper." That book may be outdated as far as the equipment discussed in it, but it is a great read and worth every penny.
I believe all the left over inventory of barrels was sold to Brownell's and they depleted in the mid 90's. The M86 was basically an accurized 700 and if I remember right they even offered them with side swing safeties and a full length claw extractor with controlled round feed. They never made many, what you have is a rare bird indeed...even rarer if it is CRF. One thing is for certain...it should be very accurate if it is not all shot out. There was a lot of info on that rifle, well probably as much as anywhere else or more, in Major John Plasters book titled "The Ultimate Sniper." That book may be outdated as far as the equipment discussed in it, but it is a great read and worth every penny.
Wes Harris never made barrels for the McMillan's. The McMillan barrel business was created and owned by the McMillan's. Not a single McMillan family member was associated with Harris/McMillan Gunworks. Wes Harris was an accountant who brokered the sale between the G. McMillan company and a group of German investors in Germany in the mid 1980's. The German's hired Harris to stay on and run the business, and the sales contract required Gale McMillan to stay on as an employee for 3 years. A few years after the sale, Harris acquired 100% of the company from the Germans. As Rock McMillan has stated, the actions that Harris sold through Brownells were nothing more than a modified Remington 700 action. Though Harris used photos in his literature as a sales pitch for rifles, the photos he used were actually the famous USMC M-40 A-1 that was developed by McMillan and the USMC in the 1970's. Pat McMillan sold the "McMillan Barrels" barrel making business to Bill Wiseman somewhere around 1980, along with the name "McMillan Barrels".
There is much more to the Wes Harris story!
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"Not a single family member was ever associated....."???? So, the McMillan in Harris McMillan was a different family of McMillans???? Okay. We don't reckon "associated" the same.
Wes Harris MADE AT LEAST ONE BARREL at Harris MCMILLAN because I owned it. Wish I still did. I never saw any actions sold thru Brownell's, but they definitely got the leftover barrel inventory. In fact, I called and spoke to someone at Brownell's in the late 90's to see if they had any left laying around and was told they did, but that they were just donated to one of the Gunsmith schools. Not sure about the rest of the story on the guy...but I understand he was somewhat less than stellar.
Wes Harris MADE AT LEAST ONE BARREL at Harris MCMILLAN because I owned it. Wish I still did. I never saw any actions sold thru Brownell's, but they definitely got the leftover barrel inventory. In fact, I called and spoke to someone at Brownell's in the late 90's to see if they had any left laying around and was told they did, but that they were just donated to one of the Gunsmith schools. Not sure about the rest of the story on the guy...but I understand he was somewhat less than stellar.
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Wes Harris engraved the Harris/McMillan name on the barrel blanks prior to the Court's ruling that Harris cease using the McMillan name. The use of the McMillan name on rifle barrels was purchased by Bill Wiseman a couple of years after Bill purchased the McMillan Barrel Company, and Bill registered the trademark name "McMillan Barrels". The McMillan name stood for quality, and Harris realized that.
BTW: Harris pulled the same tactic with the McMillan fiberglass stocks, which led to a second lawsuit for Trademark Infringement, then shortly thereafter, bankruptcy. Harris was also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon against one of his employees.
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They were, like absolutely everything else ever "associated" with the McMillan name, totally ridiculous in price back when they were made. I couldn't imagine a value now. One the one hand it's really just a fancy 700 {$1500???} on the other, again...it was a pricey gun in it's day with some history...$2500-$3000???
At the end of the day though it's really only worth what someone is willing to pay. Now that this is posted, don't worry, one of these geniuses will be along to tell us all about the price too.
The Harris McMillan barrel I bought from Brownell's had no name stamped on it. Maybe Brownell's was pulling the fast one, but I doubt it. In an effort to get another barrel just like it later I contacted Bill Wiseman and spoke directly with him. He said, "I do not manufacture any polygonal rifled barrels, never have , never will,...you got me confused with someone else." IIRC he also said his barrels were cut rifled???
Maybe you are the guy that can point me in the right direction...if Wes Harris didn't make barrels, and Bill Wiseman didn't make polygonal ones...then who was it that made the polygonal UNMARKED barrels that Brownell's sold in their 1990 and 91 catalogs???? I don't remember who it was but someone told me that Schnieder acquired Harris' buttons after the fact, but that lead was false too.
If Harris only stamped names on barrels...who made them at Harris Barrel Works in Prescott????
He originally purchased his barrels from Pat McMillan. Gary Schneider worked for McMillan on the barrel making side of the company, then formed his own barrel making company, from an Engineers standpoint. I don't know when Gary started his barrel making business, but it had to be sometime in the 1980's. David Tubb started using Gary's barrels exclusively, in the early 1990's.
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Wow...so they do all tie in, so to speak...I remember talking to one of the McMillan's some years back. I believe he said he was the youngest, but I don't remember his name. He did in fact say, "uncle Pat was the barrel maker in the family, when he died we were done with barrels." He further suggested I look to Pac-Nor and said they had gotten some good ones from them. When I told the guy at Pac-Nor he was recommended by McMillan he was surprised.
So, it sounds like the barrel I had, the ones sold by Brownell's, was possibly a leftover from "Uncle" Pat???? Maybe the buttons Schnieder "acquired" were the ones Pat had to begin with too, so maybe that info wasn't too far off base.
So, it sounds like the barrel I had, the ones sold by Brownell's, was possibly a leftover from "Uncle" Pat???? Maybe the buttons Schnieder "acquired" were the ones Pat had to begin with too, so maybe that info wasn't too far off base.
That's certainly possible! After Pat McMillan sold the barrel making side of the business, McMillan was using PacNor and Lilja barrels on their custom rifles. Pat McMillan was referred to as the "dean of American barrel making". Thomas "Speedy" Gonzales also worked at McMillan
I doubt Gary acquired the buttons, due to Bill Wiseman purchasing the barrel making company in the early 1980's. It's quite possible the barrels sold by Brownell's were produced by Bill Wiseman. The timeframe sounds about right. It would be interesting to know how many recognizable names worked for/learned from McMillan! Bill Wiseman acquired top notch equipment from McMillan. Too bad he didn't have his heart in it, or simply didn't care whether he produced a quality barrel. It's also possible he didn't know how to properly use that equipment. While Pat McMillan owned the equipment, many records were set in a number of different shooting disciplines using McMillan made barrels, to include the small group record that stood for 4 decades.
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butchlambert
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Bill Wiseman button rifled his barrels and is an A$$ in my opinion.
Thanks for joining this conversation, Butch
, and you are absolutely right! Wiseman is nothing more than a salesman, as is Wes Harris!
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Yes it is...stir people up a little bit and you can learn quite a lot right here!!!! When I talked to Mr. Wiseman, albeit briefly, he seemed like a reasonable cat. Maybe he did say he buttoned his barrels, but he definitely said he did not make polygonal ones.
I don't think the barrels Brownell's sold were Wiseman pipes...at least if they were Mr. Wiseman wouldn't own up and the barrel was fantastic, so it wouldn't make sense for him not to. I did ask him if they were his barrels and he said flat out, "no, they are not mine, you have me confused with someone else, I never made polygonal barrels." In fact, if I remember right, he was the one who suggested that the barrel was a "Harris McMillan."
I kind of picked up tidbits regarding Harris along the way...none of them good. He is probably on a par with the infamous Jim Leatherwood. Although, in all fairness and honesty to the younger McMillan, he did not say anything negative regarding the esteemed Mr. Harris...only that they were no longer associated.
None of the McMillan family are into negativity. They are, and have always been, professionals, and have never been associated with Harris other than the sale of G. McMillan Co. and the sales of barrels, actions and stocks to Harris, which he illegally placed his name on. No matter how trivial it might seem, the importance of actual history is never ending.
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Okay did a little research and found out it was a 700 style action with a Ruger / Brownells style bolt handle. The blue is in pretty fair condition with some wear from satin blue towards gray. Has a different bolt release than a 700 with this one being close o the design Pierce or Stiller uses. Mc Millan stock with their forest camo with some small black branches air brushed in from factory. Really is a nice rifle! Will try to post a pic or two. Would love to know what these are worth! I don't know if I a Keeping or selling what would you guys do?
Send some close-up photos to McMillan. They'll tell you what you actually have. The stock itself might, and might not be made by McMillan.
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