The author with a 65DL (7x61 S&H) in the mountains of the Yukon, hunting Dall sheep and grizzly bears. The other most popular chambering is the .358 Norma.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Amund Enger met with Neils Larsen, head of Schultz & Larsen, and persuaded him to develop a hunting rifle based on the company's Model 54 centerfire target rifle. Larsen built two by hand, both chambered for the 7x61 S&H. One was sent to America while the other was used by Larsen himself on an elk hunt with Eric Saetter-Lassen. The latter wrote a glowing report to Sharpe about the new rifle and cartridge, reporting that his own rifle had been "completely outclassed."

The first Schultz & Larsen sporting rifle debuted in 1953. The S&L Model 54J (J for Jaeger, or hunter) was built on a massive bolt action. The bolt had four locking lugs, located at the rear, which was both extremely strong and allowed a low bolt lift.

The receiver was a solid steel tube in which the bolt slid with a smoothness that must be felt to be believed. The receiver was very rigid, with few openings to weaken it, and the bolt face completely enclosed the cartridge head.

By any modern standard of aesthetics, however, the rifle was distinctly odd. Its in-line magazine was quite deep, giving the rifle a heavy-bellied look that was exaggerated by a schnabel fore-end. The trigger guard was a shotgun-style loop, the buttstock a Monte Carlo.

The rifle was undoubtedly strong, however--so strong that when Roy Weatherby introduced his gargantuan .378 Weatherby in 1953, he built the first commercial rifles on Schultz & Larsen actions.

There are two parallels with Weatherby. Later, when Roy Weatherby designed his famous Mark V action, it incorporated many of the principles used in the Schultz & Larsen, such as its smooth bolt, multiple lugs, low lift and gas-escape holes.

As well, when he sought a manufacturer to produce Weatherby factory ammunition and brass, he turned to Norma. To a great extent, Sharpe broke the ground for Weatherby, so it was ironic that throughout the 1950s and '60s, Schultz & Larsen's major competitor for the glamour-rifle dollar was Weatherby.

Early on, Sharpe realized there were problems selling the Schultz & Larsen to Americans. The major one was aesthetics. It was big and ungainly. With Sharpe's advice, Schultz & Larsen undertook a redesign that led to the first real Americanized rifle, the Model 60.

As you might guess, it appeared around 1960 and got rid of many of the more unpleasing aspects. Gone was the shotgun-style trigger guard and schnabel fore-end. The magazine was converted to a staggered design that made the action shallower and the stock more streamlined.

The stock itself followed the lead of Weatherby's "California" look, with a cheek piece and Monte Carlo, and white-line spacers on the ventilated recoil pad and grip cap. The fore-end in profile was triangular rather than round. The grip cap was rosewood, like the Weatherby.

According to prices listed in Gun Digest from those years, the Weatherby Mark V and the various Schultz & Larsens were always priced around $265, at a time when a Winchester Model 70 Deluxe could be had for about $100. In terms of quality, the Schultz & Larsen products were every bit the equal of the superb Mark Vs made for Weatherby by J.P. Sauer & Sohn in Germany.

Unlike Weatherby, however, which settled on one design, Schultz & Larsen refined and changed its rifles continually. The Model 60 was followed by the Model 65 and then the 65DL.