Who built my 308 Norma Mag? J. Bolin, California maybe?

Floundertrap

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Joined
Jan 28, 2019
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194
Location
Eastern NC
Total shot in the dark here, but I won an auction a while back on a custom built 308 Norma Mag. It's a pre-64 model 70 that has a nicely shaped (short) Claro walnut stock and a 20" light profile Apex barrel. These mods make it a good bit lighter and more handy than my "stock" pre-64s. Stamped on the underside of the barrel/chamber is "J. Bolin 61". The serial on the rifle has it mfg in 1957 and it would make sense that it was chambered in .308 Norma in 1961 since the .300 win mag came out in '63 making the Norma obsolete. It has a nice leather strap and shearling- lined case from the same vintage. I purchased from an estate and the seller said the wife didn't know much about the rifle other than the fact it hasn't been out of the safe in 20 years or more. Looks like it was built for hunting big game in the hills.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows of this builder, or apex barrels, and if I have something special here or if this might be a good candidate to rechamber. I have put 10 rounds through it, stepping up loads in new Norma brass with 165 GameChangers and h4831sc. Doesn't really group well and kicks like a B&%$@. I'll probably never hunt with it, but thought I'd reach out to the group to see if anybody can tell me anything about it. I'll try to add some pics tomorrow. Any info is appreciated.
 
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