Looking for info and approx value .340wby

juliansk

juliansk

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I have a custom .340 weatherby I'm looking for some info on, and a price range before it goes on EE.

The barrel is stamped "Art's Ammo Red Deer". Google doesn't have any info, so probably retired?
Round count is under 200.

Rifle itself is built on a Winchester mauser style action. bolt is polished and jeweled and has internal mag and drop plate. Trigger feels custom as it has no takeup, about 2.5lb crisp release, and no follow thru.
I don't know Winchester's rifles so not sure what model it would be.

Barrel is 22" and has compensator ports cut in it. Profile looks like it's heavier than hunter, but has definite taper. Crown and rifling are in great shape.

Wood stock has some wear marks in the finish, but no major dings or dents. Its a harder wood, has checkering on grip and fore end. Butt pad is better than my limbsaver.

Topped with Leupold VXIII 3.5-10 in weaver rings and bases.

Will post pics shortly

Hoping someone out there has some info on the gunsmith, and might know a reasonable value for the rifle.
Thanks!
 
 
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If it's a pre '64 Winchester Model 70, the action alone is worth 500 bucks.

A short barrel with a brake/compensator is a complete turnoff for me, so no extra brownie points on that. Little wonder it only had 200 rds through it.

The stock I would have to see; modified original or custom? If custom, quality of the wood and workmanship mean a lot. If modified, how much and how badly?

The VX III is an older model, so another 350-400, and that's pushing it.

*** Well, I obviously didn't click on the links before posting. As Tiriaq says, not to everyone's tastes, but well executed. Probably 850 for the rifle and 350 for the scope.***
 
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Looks to be a custom rifle built up on a pre-64 Winchester action.
Stock looks nicely done, but is a rather extreme style popular some years ago.
Barrel vents look to be Magna Ported, an EDM procedure.
Rather unique rifle that is not going to be of much interest to most hunters, based on caliber and styling. Find the right buyer, and it would be an easy sale - but it could take some searching to find the right buyer.
I suspect the rifle would sell for a lot less than its replacement value.
 
That rifle was built by the late Art Bourne and was his personal hunting rifle. The barrel was originally 24 inches long but an experimental integral muzzle brake didn't work out so Art cut it off and ported the barrel himself using a Woodruff cutter. The rifle shot very well with the 250 grain Bitterroot bullets he loaded in it. As I recall, he loaded these to right at 3000 fps from that 22" barrel. The rifle is chamberd without the typical weatherby freebore.
The action is a pre-64 Model 70 magnum. This rifle was built in the late 60's or early seventies, I think. The barrel is a Shilen and the contour is whatever Art made it as he bought his barrels as blanks and contoured them himself. The stock was carved from a blank, not a semi-inlet. Later on, Art started making stocks in the modern classic style but was not a prolific builder and there are few of his rifles around.
Art was an exceptionally knowledgeable, meticulous, and skilled gunsmith and I learned a lot from him when I started out.
I believe he sold the rifle sometime between 1980 and 1982 but I don't recall who bought it. I think the original scope was a 3-9 Leupold and was in Conetrol mounts which Art favoured.
I cannot place a value on the rifle because there is little on which to base the valuation. To me, it is an interesting rifle because it belonged to an old friend, to someone else, it's just an unusual rifle.
 
Great post Leeper!

I dig that rifle. Classic top shelf action, cool stock. Unusual and short barrel in 340 WBY might make a tough sell. Especially because the market for classic hunting rifles is getting softer IMO. I'm a young guy and I'm a minority in my demographic in loving classicly styled hunting rifles. It's very well executed though and I think someone would be happy to have it. Value is hard to say, could sell at $1300, could sit at $800, really needs the right buyer.
 
I bet some family member of Art Bourne's would love to get ahold of that rifle. How many of us can say that we had a relative that made a rifle?
 
I don't know that Art has any surviving relatives. He did have a brother who would be in his nineties now. I have seen a couple of rifles Art made which were at gun shows, over the years, but not many. He did a very good job of checkering; especially when you consider that he didn't do it all that often and this rifle features a fairly complex pattern very well executed. When he sold off all his tooling, I believe Mick McPhee bought many of the reamers Art had made himself (including the one used to chamber this rifle). Mick was another very skilled, self-taught, gunsmith who is, sadly, no longer with us.
 
I dislike exaggerated Monte Carlo stocks, but that said the checkering and the forend tip are exquisite. The Magnaport style brake will mitigate recoil, and these tend to be less noisy, though probably less effective, than the current multiple port, thread on brakes, common today. In view of the prices charged for new rifles in today's market place, I think you could ask $2500 and still be able to sleep at night.
 
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Boomer said:
I think you could ask $2500 and still be able to sleep at night.
Click to expand...

Only if you find a child of Art's that wants it for memories sake...

That is exceptional information from Bill Leeper... you rarely get that kind of historical info in a rifle of that age.
 
Wow, thanks so much for this detailed info. Greatly appreciate knowing the history. And it is very unique with the short ported barrel on a magnum.
Thanks again!
 
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