July 30th 2016 Premier Firearms Sale (20)
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/30/2016
.300 magnum with a barrel length of 26". John Dubiel is considered by many to be the finest gunsmith of his era. He began working with the Hoffman Arms company in Cleveland in 1923 developing his skill with both stocks and barrels. In 1932, John opened his own shop at the site of the old Hoffman Arms company in Ardmore, Oklahoma. He performed work there in 1932 until his death in 1937. Two very famous rifle cartridges were named after him, the 276 and the 280 Dubiel. John's customers read like a who's who of pre-war shooting personalities, to include Elmer Keith, Charles Atkins Sr., and General James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF. This rifle was obtained from its original owner and comes with a photo album of hunting trips of W.M. Stevenson of Houston, Texas with a map of their camps in 1937 and 1938 and dozens of small B&W photos of Texas hill country, game and firearms. John built this custom sporting rifle based on the famed Mauser action. He turned a custom barrel that features a fully stippled matted rib from breech to muzzle. It is stamped "Dubiel Arms Company" as well as "CAL .300 mag" (.300 Holland & Holland) and "No. 504". It has a three leaf folding express sight as part of the rib, designated 100, 200 & 300 yards with platinum lines. It has a hooded ramp front sight. Bolt is etched with the "Worm" oil retaining process. The blued fore plate and trigger guard are finely engraved and believed to be the work of Rudolph Kornbrath, who was known to have done work for John. The Dubiel crafted stock is done in the classic English style, featuring dark, straight grain American walnut, with the horn forend tip, finely checkered forend that encompasses the entire circumference with a light finely checkered pistol grip. The stock is slightly offset for a left handed shooter, but is barely noticeable and completely comfortable as a right handed gun. The grip cap and bolt knob are also engraved in the same hand as trigger guard and floor plate. Stock is in near mint condition with a solid red rubber recoil pad that was a more recent addition, probably due to the deterioration of the original. This rifle is mounted with a pre-war Hensoldt scope by means of a Griffin & Howe quick detachable mount. Rifle retains virtually all of its high polish blue finish and comes with quick detachable sling swivels and leather sling. Arguably the finest prewar custom bolt action rifle we have ever seen or offered. It is stamped as 300 mag, but this is actually the old .300 H&H cartridge, not the current .300 magnum.