Sometimes the Legends never die: In 1950, Giants walked the Earth.

[Spitpatch]

Sometimes the gun finds you. I was looking for an automatic .410: The Viper Bronze (a Turkish clone of an 1100 or Browning) came to notice, and I found that various Cabela's stores had a few lingering. Then I caught simply by chance a gun in the "Library". that was represented as a "vintage target rifle" in .250-3000 chambering.

I am an easy sell for .250-3000 guns. It is the cartridge that taught me that High-Power (and its effectiveness) does NOT need to hurt. Consequentially, the cartridge is responsible for teaching me how to shoot big game rifles. It also taught me that with my participation (and substantial history behind it) it will kill anything on this Continent.

The gun in the Cabela's catalog of "Gun Library", was represented (accurately)as a custom gun of 1950. The best information was that it was still in inventory at a Cabela's in easy driving distance.

I was in 'flirting mode". Merely exploring options. Still looking for a .410 Auto.

But it WAS .250-3000. It gnawed at me.

(more to follow, stay tuned)

Read More

 

[Stomper]

Sometimes the gun finds you. I was looking for an automatic .410: The Viper Bronze (a Turkish clone of an 1100 or Browning) came to notice, and I found that various Cabela's stores had a few lingering. Then I caught simply by chance a gun in the "Library". that was represented as a "vintage target rifle" in .250-3000 chambering.

I am an easy sell for .250-3000 guns. It is the cartridge that taught me that High-Power (and its effectiveness) does NOT need to hurt. Consequentially, the cartridge is responsible for teaching me how to shoot big game rifles. It also taught me that with my participation (and substantial history behind it) it will kill anything on this Continent.

The gun in the Cabela's catalog of "Gun Library", was represented (accurately)as a custom gun of 1950. The best information was that it was still in inventory at a Cabela's in easy driving distance.

I was in 'flirting mode". Merely exploring options. Still looking for a .410 Auto.

But it WAS .250-3000. It gnawed at me.

(more to follow, stay tuned)

Admit it, this was all just a metaphoric story about your HS prom date!

 

[Spitpatch]

The rifle was represented as having been built by the Pfeifer Rifle Company of Roscoe, California. An internet search was fruitful and included a couple boomerangs back to this very rifle having been advertised for sale on major auction sites on two occasions in the past 15 years or so: one noting that it had been locked away in a safe for over 40 years. Here's one of those ads:

FN 250-3000 Custom by Pfeifer Rifle Co.

FN 250-3000 Custom by Pfeifer Rifle Co. for sale online.

www.gunsinternational.com

More importantly in this fishing expedition to find out more about this rifle prior to considering buying it, I happily discovered the VERY interesting story of Joe Pfeifer: arguably the best barrel-maker in the world in his time. A true legend in the history of modern riflery.

Trained as a meticulous machinist and employed as barrel-maker at Rock Island Armory in Illinois, he moved to California in 1935 and switched professions to another held passion requiring perfection and flawless attention to detail: He became a test pilot.

Here the story gets pretty exciting, (sometimes murky) and regardless of which version(s) or combination of versions are true, we in the world of fine rifles became the beneficiaries.

There is a first-hand account of a neighbor or friend witnessing Joe's experimental aircraft coming apart in mid-air, and Joe parachuting from it. Additionally, during this same time period, Joe lost his pilot's license due to "violating a no-fly order". Also during this time period, Joe was seriously injured in an airplane incident. The relationship (if any) of these three events is unclear, but they center around 1938.

His wings officially clipped, healing from a crash, he went back to guns. Built them in his backyard shop. Built them so well that word got out. Built them so well that Tod Oviatt (Stanford athlete and one of the founders of Lockheed Corporation) partnered with him in the gunsmithing business as the orders for guns became a flood. The new shop they built digested 100,000 pounds of high grade steel each year. Pfeifer supplied barrels to other rifle makers as well, with rumors (and geography/proximity to support those rumors) that Roy Weatherby's outfit was one of the customers supplied.

Moreover, In relentless pursuit of precision and perfection, the firm was able to put on the payroll the very best stockmaker in the world: Monte Kennedy.

This rifle is the product (and very exhibit) of that rare and fortuitous melding of genius.

(More to come.)

 

[Spitpatch]

All that was history.

What was more valuable in the internet search was news "of the present": specifically from 1950 (the year this rifle was built and Pfeifer Rifle Company operating in full force).

Located was reference to an article in the November issue of Popular Mechanics 1950, wherein a reporter from Popular Mechanics actually toured the Pfeifer factory, and wrote a lengthy contribution with extensive narrative and pictures. It was as if a time capsule was opened and the birthplace and birthtime of this rifle could be witnessed and told about in present tense:



I had nothing but favorable and VERY intriguing information about the gun. I wanted to see it first hand. Maybe I couldn't afford it, but I said I would content myself with just handling something of value and substance from a time when value and substance were regarded (and produced) better.

next: The Gun

 

[Spitpatch]

As stated earlier, the gun was at a semi-local Cabelas, and so I traveled there to view it. Certain it would be in the "Gun Library", it was disappointing to find that this favorite touchstone at the store was "temporarily closed" (it has since reopened, I am told).

I found the gun on the rack behind the counter, and beckoned an "Associate" to look at it. Overlooking the fact that he had no idea what a ".250-3000" was, he was friendly enough, immediately advised there was some "leeway on the price" and added that the gun actually (or had at one point) belonged to an employee there. I asked of that person's schedule and went back on a day he'd be working. (I was confident in the knowledge that the cartridge-challenged employee was not alone in his ignorance and the gun was not going anywhere.)

The "owner" put up a front of working gun knowledge, but his statements to that effect seemed self-interested and he spent more time talking about how soon he was quitting this job. I asked about the Conetrol mounts that showed on the old auction site ad (the gun now was bare), and he said he "might have them". This begged the question of why they were removed to start with, but I didn't go there. In the end, he never produced them, and in talking with him, it seemed he'd had little or no experience (of value to me) with the gun.

The rifle was beautiful. Heavier than expected. Put together with care and precise detail. I had always toyed with the idea of a fat-barreled .250: now here was one ready to go, and assembled by Masters of the Craft. I envisioned my price limit, made the offer (no claims of fair or reasonable stated here), was countered at 50 bucks higher, stuck to my guns and got the gun. NOBODY else would want a fat-barreled .250, and they knew it.

General specifications are in the auction ad supplied earlier. I will touch here on some of the features that are of interest (at least to me):

26" barrel of "Medium Varminter" contour allows easy achievement of the 3000fps that literally is this cartridge's last name. With an 85 grain Ballistic Tip, I imagined approaching 3200.

Fabrique Nationale 1949 Commercial Mauser Action: Not a military "re-work", but spanking new from the factory of the best Belgium steel.

Stock is utility in nature, suited for the bench, with a straight comb and flat-based forearm
for the bags. Not overly large, I later carried it slinged to multiple Coyote sets with no problem.

The Brownell's Latigo sling lends itself well to this gun's purposes: Instantly adjustable, adaptable to a true shooting sling in a moment's notice; all while the gun is cushioned from any contact with metal fittings.

At home with it, and disassembling for cleaning, the interior of this gun was literally a marvel to look at. No "short cut" glass bedding here. The stock's interior is lovingly carved by the human hand to meld to each feature of the barreled action, allowing it to rest in a cradle built for it and it alone. The careful trails of a chisel propelled by none other than the hand of Monte Kennedy 71 years ago are readily evident.

Inletting by hand is a dying art. The delicate travels of Monte Kennedy's chisel are evident in his work here.

The trigger keeps pace with the rest of the show: Marked "Cramer" (a name I am not familiar with), it is basically of a design similar to a Timney, but on steroids: the trigger housing itself is a massive piece of machined steel, and engine turned ("jeweled") on its entire exterior. A local Smith marveled at it while he figured it out for me, and we easily got it to trip like a cold ginger snap at 1.5lbs (with room to spare for those more bold).

The Cramer trigger features a highly "rebated" finger lever and an engine-turned housing surface

Scope mounts were an issue. Since the former "owner" could not produce the bases he allegedly removed, I went to exploring and found that the spacing of the holes on the rear of the receiver were not conventional: in other words, all offerings and catalogs showed mounts for a Commercial Mauser with hole spacing different from that on this rifle. I wanted to AVOID AT ALL COSTS drilling any new holes in this beautiful gun.

Leupold would not consider anything not offered in their product line. Their "Gunsmith bases" would require machining to fit the action as well as drilling (the action was entirely conventional: it was the hole spacing that was not).

Since it had sported Conetrols at one point in its life, I contacted Mr. Miller there (brother of the original Conetrol Mr. Miller that I had known). I forwarded him pictures of the gun, asked him to verify if the mounts were Conetrol, which he did, but when I asked if he could supply a set, he simply said "we don't offer it". To this day, I believe the founder of Conetrol (a true gentleman and dedicated to his product) would have built me a set (as he obviously had in the past for this gun).

"When in doubt about scope mounts, call Talley", is something I have heard more than once, and so I did, and what a pleasant surprise: Truly interested in the rifle, they agreed to supply me with a rear mount "blank in the white", in order that my Smith could drill it to match the gun.

Scope choice was pleasantly problematic. Another old auction ad for this gun showed it wearing a full Unertl Target Scope rig (probably how it left the Pfeifer factory: see the Popular Mechanics pictures). Those rigs sell in the price range of thousands now, so out of the question, but I did not want to put a scope on it that looked "too far ahead of the gun" in time.

I decided on a fixed 12x AO Leupold: a versatile and rugged target/varmint scope with a rock-solid reputation for accuracy and reliability. In the Talley rings and bases, it looks like it belongs there.

An employee at Talley took special interest in the gun when advised of its makers, and supplied a rear mount base for the FN action "in the white and undrilled" to solve an issue of unusual hole spacing. Leupold and Conetrol avoided the challenge.

With the gun bought and assembled (a process that went on for over a month), it was time to let the horse run. No stranger to loading for the .250-3000, this rifle was still to teach me a thing or two.

Next: How does it shoot?

 

[pharmseller]

 

[red442joe]

Tagged
What a great thread!

Joe

 

[orygun]

Very nice rifle, Spit. Thanks for showing it's history. No, let's see the target of it's present.

 

[GOG]

Great stuff.

 

[joken]

Good read and congratulations!

 

[Koda]

getting to the origins of the American quarter bore. As a quarter bore shooter myself the .250-3000 caught my eye, probably the first time Ive read a current reference to that cartridge I had to keep reading this. What a cool find and well written story. I look forward to the rest of the story.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't the mighty .22/250 come from this cartridge? Just a necked down "Wildcat" in the earliest days before it gained popularity and went commercial?

 

[Provincial]

Yes.

 

[Spitpatch]

If you are not entirely familiar with the .250-3000 (more recently called just the .250 Savage) cartridge, you are in great company. I not only consider it probably one of the most versatile and valuable cartridges ever designed, but am painfully aware of its slow, steady and tragic fall from popularity.

A friend's son brought over his "package deal" rifle last week to sight it in, chambered in the ubiquitous 6.5 Creedmoor. A .250-3000 cartridge next to his conveyed the very clear message that "what seems new is really pretty old". A recent webernet contributor, enamored with the Creedmoor round defended thusly: "Just by looking at it you can see the thought involved in its design!"

I would like to believe the .250-3000 was not just a passing whim (and required a measure of thought) from Mr. Newton (along with beating them to the idea by more than a few years).

I like both parts of the cartridge's name, and have always tried to remain faithful to the velocity part. Newton favored the 100grain bullet for his cartridge, but Savage trimmed the bullet weight down for a velocity increase and hit the marketing jackpot 3000fps at the 87gr bullet weight. Yep, you .25-06 and Weatherby guys who have always wondered why there were lots of "87grain bullets? 87? Why 87?", can blame the .250: then the fastest gun on the planet.

All my Savage 99's (save one more modern) and my Savage 1920 have the old 1 in 14 twist, slow enough to stabilize the 87gr (then flatbase) bullets. The newer 99A Carbine and the Remington 700 Classic have 1 in 10" twists: fine still for the light bullets, better for the 100's.

The Pfeifer (a child of 1950) predictably carries the slower twist. No problem: my .257 bullet selection on hand was healthy for the lighter stuff. My current favorite is the 85grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Another reliable big game killer is the 90gr Sierra Hollowpoint Boattail.

Powders: IMR4320 has become my all-time favorite, but a number of my guns are particular. An old choice that worked was IMR3031. One of the 99's seems to like IMR4064, and the Remington bolt wants the Space Age ball powder: H380.

Purpose for the gun: I envisioned a "step-up gun" in a Prairie Dog town where the wind makes hits with the .224 bullets a gamble at range. Another use might be for coyote calling sets. Big game was not to be ruled out, but not what the gun was built for.

Field Howitzer with Carriage

With new brass and benchrest primers, the gun shot just about everything into a couple touching, then one flyer. Never the same order for the flyer. I rechecked the stock bolts and ring screws. All my bullet "favorites" seemed rejected by this gun. It DID shoot far better than any .250 I already owned. but this gun had to have more in it. I had been hovering in the 85-90gr weight range of bullet, put my toe in the water toward 100's with no reward. 100 rounds of brass were finally expended (happily chamber-formed now) and still no absolute consistency on the paper. I was now against the wall to get this gun wrapped up in time to take it on the yearly Montana Safari.

75 grain Sierra Hollowpoints and Hornady Vmax's saw the bench. Things got better, but not much.
Then I saw the big bulk box I'd bought for the .256 Winchesters: Sierra 70grain Blitz Kings: a flat-based, plastic tip missile that looks fast standing still.

The Pfeifer ate 'em up. Ate 'em up at 3365fps (it went faster but likes this speed better).

Square measures 1/2" on interior.

I had found the bullet. further fine-tuning would have to wait. This discovery was made just 13 days before launch time for a 31-day hunt.

On the trip, I did call predators with the gun, but the "ranch dogs" are pretty well educated and was not granted a chance to kill a Coyote with the Pfeifer. The rifle really shined in the Prairie Dog towns, and long range hits were entirely predictable, with the fixed power scope adding to reliability and consistency on target.

Though normally not a slave to a range-finder, I measured this unhappy customer at 263 yards.

A partner was shooting a .17 Hornet, took most of the closer range shots, but was regularly complaining about the effect of the mild 10mph wind on his bullets. The Pfeifer just allowed me to learn it, and then delivered every time. I have never spent time in a DogTown with a rifle more reliable and consistent.

Next: Summary and final thoughts toward history.

 

[red442joe]

Wow! Great reading.

Joe

 

[Spitpatch]

I chronicled all of this about this particular gun to start with as a sort of "How-To" when bringing a new gun (to me...or you) up to speed for its potential.

The history of this gun took over almost right from the start. The stark contrast in quality and performance between products of our time and products of that time became important.

Old Gun Digests (and Shooter's Bible for that matter) are treasure troves of "lost technology": gun information that has gone the way of seatbelts on the Starship Enterprise. Gun Digest always had a "centerfold" of multiple pages, titled "Custom Guns", where the reader could drool on multiple examples of gunmaking art. Pfeifer and Kennedy are mentioned over and over in those displays.

I not only learned about this gun's very birthplace and time (the Popular Mechanics article), but learned about the very man who built it: a genius who served an industry of war, faced danger doing what he loved, butted heads with the government, overcame injury and politics to do another thing he loved and do it better than anyone else.

I got this gun for a song, gentlemen. A piece of history whose bolt shines as it it were the chromed bumper of a '58 Buick Road Master. It's not chromed. Just polished steel 71 years old.

The young man that was proud of his package gun should be. And I told him this: "Three hundred dollar guns today shoot like what you had to pay $3000 for 20 years ago." And it's true. And his did (despite a 7.5lb trigger).

Put your money in something other than black and plastic with no stories or soul.

You might get more than a gun.

 

[pharmseller]

Outstanding. Just outstanding.

 

[Pops1911]

As one who was born in 1950 I found this thread to be completely heartwarming. Like watching an old re-run of Lassie. Thanks so much.

 

[Bobbygun]

Well done sir.

I'm thinking if you haven't already made a living as a writer, you could.

 

[bionic knees]

Well done sir.

I'm thinking if you haven't already made a living as a writer, you could.

I have thought the same.