I picked up a custom rifle made by Pachmayr at auction, and I was hoping to learn a little more about the gun as it has some unusual features. I have yet to pull the action from the stock so I am working off what I can see on the exterior.
The gun is built on a Gustav Genschow commercial mauser action in .375 H&H. The only marks on the exterior of the gun are the "Gustav Genschow & Co A.G. Berlin, Germany", "BOHLER Stahl", "Cal .375-", and a serial number. The gun features an octagonal to round barrel transition and solid rib that extends to the muzzle. The action also has a Germanic floor plate release mechanism.
The gun weighs 9 lbs 12 oz. and has been nicely restocked in a fine piece of English walnut. If you look closely, you can see the small fleur de lis accent engraving in the wood checkering. The action has been nicely worked and except for a some nicks in the stock and a dirty bore (that quickly cleaned up) I am very pleased with the purchase.
One of the unusual features on the gun is the scope mount. I haven't seen one like it and was hoping maybe someone had and could comment on it. It looks to be a custom mount (??)
My attempts to find the provenance and date the gun sputtered out when the contact Lyman (current owner of the Pachmayr brand name) provided me stated that Pachmayr didn't serialize his guns and the custom gun records were retained by the Pachmayr familiar post-sale but lost to a fire. The gentlemen did mention that Bob Petersen has frequented the shop many times and had some guns built. This gun did come out of the Bob Petersen collection though I don't know if he had it built or bought it at some later date.
I'm assuming the action is pre-1940 given the "Germany" (vice "West Germany") inscription on the barrel. I have no idea when Pachmayr might have done his work on it. I am hoping to find some type of Pachmayr mark when I pull the stock.
I've attached some photos below. Any thoughts/comments are much appreciated.
Ken
