FN 400 Benchrest Action Value

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  • Last Post 18 October 2025
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Bud Hyett posted this 16 October 2025

In the 1960's, FN produced an action for benchrest competition. The action was .30-'06 length, .30-'06 bolt face, and no magazine cutout. The action was quickly surpassed by Remington 700 and 700 copies. 

 

I've got one I bought from Cabela's with a Unertl 24X Programmer for $1,000.00 chambered in .220 Swift. I bought it strictly for the scope. I never looked at the rifle until I got home and discovered what it is. I shoot it for prairie dogs. 

 

If anyone has an idea of the value of the action, please respond. 

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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RicinYakima posted this 17 October 2025

Bud, While I found some information, there has not been one sold on an auction site in the last year. I was ten pages down on google search before I found much of anything on the rifle. 

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Bud Hyett posted this 17 October 2025

Bud, While I found some information, there has not been one sold on an auction site in the last year. I was ten pages down on google search before I found much of anything on the rifle.

I was afraid of this happening. I searched and could not even find one listing. I know of one other, Roger Ulrich owns it, and I have a friend in Illinois who has searched for one for decades. He owns several FN 400 repeater actions. I guess I'll use the valuation of the FN 400 repeater action for an estimate.

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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Waleone posted this 17 October 2025

Bud, 

I'm not exactly sure what a FN 400 is, but I have this rifle built on a Belgian FN 98 Mauser single shot action. It's in 243 Win. with a Douglas carbon steel barrel, set trigger and a walnut BR style stock. I paid $500 15 years ago and put an old Weaver steel tube T-20 scope on it. I think it's kind of old school cool!

Like you, I have been keeping an eye out to try and put a value on it, to no avail. I found quite a few rifles advertised as being built on FN SS actions are actually repeaters built with a SS floorplate instead of a magazine. 

  

Wayne

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Premod70 posted this 17 October 2025

Not to low-ball anybody's BR action but that is not a competitive action in today's market so for my money a used action would go $200.

Dale Flinchum

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Bud Hyett posted this 17 October 2025

Thanks for the replies. I was curious if anyone else had even seen this action let alone own one. Valuation is for the estate, not that I'm worried about breaking any limits for estate tax.

This "Benchrest" action was non-competitive from the start in comparison to the Remington 700. The assembled rifle is worth more than strictly the action by far; twenty-six inch no-taper bull barrel, home-made thumb-hole stock. 

When I bought it to get the scope, I thought of selling it immediately. However, I shot it to see what it would do and it shot ten shots under an inch at 100 yards. This is the same load for my Ruger #1V. It then became another rifle in the prairie dog battery.

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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Lucky1 posted this 17 October 2025

Bud, I did some checking too and like Ric, that market info is pretty sparse to say the least. Curiosity got to me because I have several military and commercial FNs but not that one.
That being said, you felt comfortable paying what you did and have the paperwork to back it up. Is it worth more? Maybe. But you'd have to find an auction to get a closer idea and that can be a crap shoot. And if you got 1200 and paid 20% commission you're back where you started and the rifle is gone too. It wpuld appear that the action is actually the least costly component in the total. So wack some pasture poodles and have a ball.

Scott Ingle

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 18 October 2025

about 1964 I put together a repeater rifle based on the FN commercial 400 action ... they then called it an FN Supreme ...   action.   This came with a great Sako trigger, with side safety ...so you might check with what trigger your version is equipped ...... guys like me would up the ante a bit for that ...

Mine was a workhorse, did what Mauser 98 types do ... totally reliable and I always liked the looks of these ...

although mausers might not shoot 0.15 groups, a well built one will go 1/2 inch just fine ...and never have extraction problems, and look pretty doing it ...  

If I were still buying guns I would gladly send along $450 for the rifle, even figuring to rechamber/rebarrel it to something I preferred ...  here in Iowa a 358 Win. would be great ... for a nice walnut stock and a good trigger a little more ...

...and I  bet somewhere out there is someone that has always wanted a " benchrest " Mauser rifle.

just some thoughts ... ken

 

 

 

 

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Urny posted this 18 October 2025

Flaig's Price List No. 45, Issued Spring 1967, shows F.N. Single Shot Douglas Barreled Action with F.N. Trigger- in Standard Calibers (Caps and punctuation as in the original) with Medium Heavy Weight 26" Barrel at $124.00 and Full Heavy Weight 28" Barrel $129.00.  Premium barrel was available for $4.50 additional.

 

The included Dealer Discount Sheet list the bare action without trigger for $65.80.

Maybe some will find this as interesting as I do.

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Bud Hyett posted this 18 October 2025

Given the inflation value is approximately ten times since 1967, custom rifles are minimally worth the value of the action, and I'm searching for a price for the coming estate.

I'll place the value of this rifle at $1,250.00 for the estate however it's not for sale. That's $250.00 more than I paid and I have the Unertl 24X Programmer 2-inch scope as a bonus.

The value as a shooter is incalculable since it weighs 21+ pounds with scope and feels like a .22 Hornet in recoil. I'm glad a friend talked me into shooting it since I was going to sell it. 

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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