doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com 400 Whelen Mauser

I saw this on proxibid,

400 Whelen Mauser

Does anyone have any ideas on who made this rifle?

It's funny how often the auction houses call Lyman rear sights Redfield. Don't know who made it but it went for nearly 3 times the high estimate.

I have no idea what the attraction was. It's about as plain vanilla a rifle as you are likely to find at an auction and to make it, someone had to shoehorn a cartridge into it which a Springfield 1903 or 1917 Enfield would have easily accommodated. There is also no mention of which version of the .400 Whelen the rifle is chambered for, the original, or the one with the headspace problem.

I agree with xausa. It doesn't seem all that special to me and I can't understand what makes it worth half the price it sold for.

I'll be the odd man out. I really like it, both the shape of the stock and the minimal engraving. Rare cartridge, makes me wonder if someone connected to G&H may have made it. Hammered for far more than I would pay, but I do think it was made by a very good gunmaker.

Any thoughts as to why a 27 inch barrel? Seems odd.

The overall design of the stock could be G&H, but the checkering isn't in my opinion. G&H checkering is finer, covers more area of the stock and is of a different pattern. The treatment below the ejection port is different, also:




I don't believe many rifles made it out of the G&H shop without a scope. At least, I have never seen one in the flesh.

The knob on the bolt handle would seem to indicate that the action is commercial, but the lack of a serial number seems to indicate otherwise.

I was thinking possibly built by a worker at G&H but not by the company itself as every rifle I have seen by them carried a serial # on the barrel. I like long barrels on rifles but 27" is a bit odd, especially on a bolt gun. That Whelen has a tight pistol grip and a bunch of drop at the heel. 1/4 rib kind of reminds me of some I have seen on Hoffman rifles.

I have to agree with SKB. The engraving is quite impressive. I can't see anything plain about the rifle. The lines are perfect for the era. As for lacking a scope, lots of G&Hs weren't scoped. Still, the price went awfully high. I've noticed that quite often lately; gun show prices seem to sag, but auctions do really well- at least for the auction companies.

Interesting way the front ring was opened up for a longer cartridge. I do not believe I have seen it done that way before. It looks very nice.