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A Custom built 350 Rem Mag - Leonard Mews Mannlicher Stock

I recently purchased this nice Custom rifle from a seller on a classified forum. It appears the Douglas barrel and metal-work was done by PD Cain in Dec. 1966 as marked "Douglas Barrel by PD Cain 122966", but the stock / checkering was gone by Leonard Mews. I found Leonard's a very light stamp in the barrel channel - now enhanced with some dark stain. The seller's description tells all. A field test will follow next week.

as always, your comments are most welcome

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/350-rem-mag-000.jpg

Great gun, love the Springfield action

A while back, I had an original Rem 660 in 350 Mag

Will you be shooting cast bullets or jacketed, after the
original supplies are used?

Mike

I still have a 600 in 350 rem mag, and one in 6.5 rem mag, and one in 35 rem, and one in 308, and one in 222. I love those compact cannons. I will be shooting mostly jacketed bullets. I have plenty.

Something don't add up here. Either the quality of Mews work varied a LOT, or one of these rifles is NOT wearing a Mews stock. His style changed over the years, but I can't imagine him turning out the quality of work work displayed in the rifle in the original post.

I own 20 Leonard Mews Custom rifles ... Leonard was a personal friend and fellow Gun Club member. His work fit the budget of the customer. Some times he made the stock, and sometimes he only did the checkering. Not everything was fancy, some work was plain. Your rifle has a variation of the Leonard's "Buck Rogers Rocket Pattern" checkering, like number 7 below. (but a bit less detail) This 350 has a plain "Skip-Line" pattern, like number 16 below. Many classic stock makers copied Leonard's style - most notable was Nubs Fashingbauer. If the stock does not have Leonard's stamp in the barrel channel, its not his work. Is your rifle's stock marked with Leonard's stamp in the barrel channel?

http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/mews-stamp.jpg



http://www.buckstix.com/buckpics/mews-stocks.jpg

I agree with gasgunner, the quality of the work, particularly the checkering border lines, are not the quality I have seen in any other pictures of his work. Whether the patterns were fancy or plain, his border lines were perfectly straight or smoothly curved and the straight border lines of point patterns were part of the other checkering lines and didn't intersect them at a shallow angle like some spots in the patterns on this stock.
The poor wood to metal fit of the bottom metal, nose cap and recoil pad could be from a poor refinish job somewhere in the rifles history, maybe done at the same time as the rebarrel job, and not Mews work.
I wonder if this stock could have been made near the end of his career? As the arthritis in my hands got worse with age, my quality of work slowly diminished. On the last checkering job I did before I quit, probably half the total time spent was used for straightening lines when spacing the patterns.

hey gasgunner ... Is your rifle's stock marked with Leonard's stamp in the barrel channel?

Thanks gasgunner and Greg G for stepping up with your learned comments. I also was quite suspicious of the rifle at the center of this posting. The checkering layout itself is very poorly done and then poorly executed, not what I would have expected. I do not claim to be an expert but for me this rifle will go in the category of "?????"

I do not recall seeing the marking, but I will look again. I will admit I have not seen Mews work beyond this rifle and in photos. I agree that even among the best makers the work can vary to a degree. I wonder if maybe the only thing original to Mews on the first rifle is his mark. It could have had different metal inlet into it at some time, and refinished and the checkering recut. Could it be that someone was trying to mimic a Mews stock, but ran out of talent?

The work on the rifle I posted is not just good, it is exceptional. The style may not be for everyone, but the execution is nearly flawless. Maybe it is not a Mews rifle, but whoever did it knew what he was doing. Anyone with that level of talent would not need to copy anyone else's style. Lots of stuff we will likely never know when collecting these old rifle.

John

I agree, you have a marvelous rifle. Look closely all along the barrel channel. The stamp may be very light. Leonard's stamp is always read from the left. Leonard always stamped his work with his LGMews stamp, except while he worked at Weatherby. Those rifles were only stamped his initials LGM cross-wise ahead of the mag well. Also, If Leonard only did the checkering on a stock made by someone else, he stamped his LGMews stamp under the butt plate. Some period stock makers copied Leonard's Style. I have 2 rifles by Nubs Fashingbauer that look exactly like Mews - except they are stamped NBF in the barrel channel.