Pfeiffer gun barrels

moosedog · May 6, 2009

In researching Harry Reeves, world's best pistol shot in the 1940s-1950s, it is mentioned in an article from the March 1959 Rifleman magazine, that Harry Reeves used a Smith & Wesson K-38 with a .354 bored Pfeiffer barrel.
I did a Google search and came up with nothing. I have never heard of a Pfeiffer Barrel before.
Anyone out there can shead some light on this?

tt66 · May 6, 2009

A friend of mine aquired a rifle from a family member that had a Pfeiffer barrel. The rifle was a bolt action, I think it was a modified Mauser action, with a full bull 1" barrel. It was chambered in 22-250. The rifle was set up with a Unyertl (sp) scope. It was a superb piece to say the least. We did a little research, but that info is at the office.

moosedog · May 7, 2009

Thanks TT66. If you find out more, please let me know.
I asked an old time bullseye shooter in SE Michigan who shot along side of Reeves at various matches and he thought that Pfeiffer may have been located in Michigan, but was pretty foggy on it. We shall see.

I just read a post I had on the SWCA site and one of the experts said that Joe Pfeiffer was a gun smith in California in the 40s and 50s.

2152hq · May 7, 2009

Roscoe,California, (Penrose Ave??),Barrel maker and custom gunsmith. Ran a shop with a number of employees. D.J.'Monty' Kennedy was his main stock guy for most of the time. ('Checkering & Carving of Gunstocks' by Monty Kennedy)

Started before WW2 but gained most of his status in the gun business after the War. Originally a tool maker by trade as most all these types were.
Sporter, benchrest, pistol, muzzle loader barrels, most anything made to order.

Made custom rifles or at least barrels for guns that were built for most all of the top names in the shooting circles in the day. Ranked right in there with the rest of the top US custom barrel makers of the era,,Ackley, Buhmiller, Bliss Titus, ect.
Seems as though the business was sold out to one of the larger barrel makers in the 60's but I'm not really sure about that.

Barry Young · Nov 18, 2020

I own a Joe Pfeifer barrel

Hey Folks:

Perhaps part of the problem finding information about Joe Pfeifer is because of the spelling of the last name. Only 2 F's. I looked on my .219 Donaldson Wasp barrel made by him and it is clearly Pfeifer. This barrel is 1.125 inches in diameter. It is attached to an FN Commercial Mauser action and sports a Canjar trigger, and a Monte Kennedy stock. Anyway, an internet search revealed this

https://books.google.com/books?id=r...i=2#v=onepage&q=pfeifer rifle company&f=false."

It is a Popular Mechanics article from November 1950. I have that issue, just could not remember which one it was. Very informative. You can copy and paste the link into the address bar of your browser and it will take you right to it.

I have another .219 Donaldson Wasp which is a 1885 Winchester High Wall varminter made by Harry Luft in 1950.

Hope that helps. Please email me at [email protected] if you have any questions I might help with.

Thank you

Barry Young
Young Camera Company

Mike LaNier · May 15, 2025

This is an older thread, but Joe Pfeifer was a former tool and die maker who worked for Rock Island Arsenal for some time, moved to California before WW2, and in the late 1940's and 1950's built custom barrels (and some full rifles and pistols) over the years. He had been a test pilot, and after healing up after a bad crash, opened his barrel business. I've tried to find more about him, but information is a bit scarce. Nonetheless, I own a Model 1916 Newton rifle that was re-barreled with a Pfeifer barrel in .257 Roberts, sometime in the 1950's as the original .256 Newton ammo was not available. The gun is a tack-driver; from the bench on a calm day, it shot a 7/16th-inch 3-round group at 100 yards. Pretty awesome!

sceva · May 16, 2025

Pfeifer .22 cal bullets for reloading were pretty good too.

Pfeiffer gun barrels

moosedog

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tt66

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moosedog

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2152hq

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Barry Young

Mike LaNier

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sceva

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