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JOHN BUHMILLER'S 416 RIGBY - BREVEX MAUSER - MY LATEST FIND

Hello All,

Lately I've developed an interest in Big Bore Dangerous Game Rifles, especially those built on Brevex Mauser actions.

Here is my latest addition - A 416 Rigby by J.R. Buhmiller. John Buhmiller may be a new name to some of you younger folks, but for those of you (and me) who are over the age of 60, well, we knew him as a man of no equal.

He was a Barrel Maker extraordinaire'.

Here is a link that gives a little more background about John Buhmiller.

John Bumiller Info

Getting back to my "new find", I first saw this rifle advertised on Guns America. Unfortunately I missed it, and it got sold to someone else. It was kind of a sleeper because although Buhmiller was listed as the barrel maker, it was not described as a "Brevex" Mauser. (I search regularly for Brevex) and by the time I saw the listing - it was gone - SOLD.

But, within a month it was listed again, this time as a "Brevex", unfortunately, with a higher price tag. Buhmiller was again listed as the barrel maker, and with the Brevex I.D. added - well, I was hooked and the rifle soon had a new home here in Wisconsin. I didn't mind giving a profit to the re-seller, I just wish I had been the first in line. Having said that, I'm still thrilled to own it because I believe this was one of John Buhmiller's personal rifles.

Here's how it looked when I got it. I soon added the scope.

Here are a couple I articles I found about John Buhmiller and the 416 Rigby. The first is a small quote from an article John wrote about his Muzzle Brakes.

This is a quote from an article written by Elmer Keith.

This one is from an article in Guns Magazine - telling how John swore-off using the Brevex action.

The rifle is a joy to shoot! And shoot it does. Here is a 200yd target that I shot last week. Pretty impressive for a Big Bore. And the Muzzle Brake works beyond belief. The rifle kicks about as much as a standard 308 hunting rifle. I have many guns with a muzzle brakes, but not a one has worked as well as this one.

I really think this was John Buhmiller's personal rifle for a few reasons. No real proof as of yet, but lots of hints to that fact. First of all, this rifle's barrel is numbered to the action using the same stamps as John's Name and Caliber marking. Also, I have yet to find a complete Big Bore rifle that was built by John with one of his unique Muzzle Brakes installed. In fact, writings I've found indicate that although he made a lot of barrels, (over 40,000) he built very few complete rifles for other people.

I have also found references that state John's personal rifles were pretty crude; many even without finish, left in the white with rust. He considered them a "tool" rather than a piece of beauty. Examining several photos that I have found, I find rifles showing similar stocks to this one, being "ugly" and unfinished looking. This one even has the action box and floorplate sticking out the bottom.

Another interesting feature of this rifle is the Follower. It is etched with the caliber "416 Rigby". This would seem to indicate that the owner had more than one Brevex Mauser and was concerned enough to mark the follower so as to not mix it up with other followers. Or perhaps the owner was experimenting with different barrles/calibers - again, not wanting to mix followers which would result in feeding problems in the field. Something you surely don't want with a Dangerous Game Rifle.

And last, here is what I found etched on the bottom of the Follower under the spring:

JR BUHMILLER
1400 S WOODLAND DR
KALISPELL, MT
USA

I doubt that anyone other than John, would put this name and address on this rifle's follower.

I've been searching long and hard to find pictures of John with various rifles. Many of the photos I have found are from newspaper stories and are not very clear. I would ask that if any of you find photos that show John with a rifle, please drop me a note.

Any additional information you could share about John Buhmiller would also be appreciated. I intend to compile a web page with all the information I can find - so as to preserve this mans fading legacy.

Here are a couple of my web pages about men that have similarly faded into Gun making history. The first one is about William (Bill) Staege, a once famous gunsmith from the 30's into the 60's. The second is about Ed Yost, who was inspired by Bill, and was a brilliant self taught gun designer/builder.

http://yostaction.com/staege.html

http://yostaction.com/yosthistory.html

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"You never pay too much for something, you only buy it too early."