My uncle has a "The Coltsman" chambered in 30.06 that he is trying to get some more info on. I believe it's a Belgian FN Mauser action. Here are some of the markings on the gun:

The Coltsman was manufactured for Colt by Kodiak Arms. They had either Sako or Mauser Actions. They were chambered in .243, .308, 30-06, and .300 win mag.
About 10,000 were made between 1958 - 1966. It came in two grades: Standard and " The Coltsman Custom" which had skip line checkering and a rosewood forend tip.
The Custom model is rare and worth almost 50% or more than the standard models.

Yours appears to be the Coltsman Custom model with 22" barrel. The .300 win mag had a 24" barrel.
Nice, Nice piece sir. Outstanding!

Just FYI…. I saw one sell at the Weinemacher show in Tulsa, similar in shape to yours, for $1400. no optics.

Gunny456 said:

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The Coltsman was manufactured for Colt by Kodiak Arms. They had either Sako or Mauser Actions. They were chambered in .243, .308, 30-06, and .300 win mag.
About 10,000 were made between 1958 - 1966. It came in two grades: Standard and " The Coltsman Custom" which had skip line checkering and a rosewood forend tip.
The Custom model is rare and worth almost 50% or more than the standard models.

Yours appears to be the Coltsman Custom model with 22" barrel. The .300 win mag had a 24" barrel.
Nice, Nice piece sir. Outstanding!

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Thanks, it was purchased by my grandfather back in the 50s. Any idea what year this rifle is? It originally had a 4x "The Coltsman" scope as well. We may be able to find that. What's this rifle worth? Not that we would ever sell it.

I did an edit to ad on my post on one I saw sold.
Stand by on manufacture year.

Gunny456 said:

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I did an edit to ad on my post on one I saw sold.
Stand by on manufacture year.

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Thank you sir!

BMach … I dug out one of my old Colt reference books. Here is some additional info. In 1957 Colt built the Colt Model 57. Similar to your rifle … only available in ..243 and 30-06. Only 5000 made… all with FN Mauser Actions.
Serial numbers started with "1".
Then in 1958 they brought out the Coltsman. They were kinda allowed to taper off in sales to c. 1960. In 1962 they started pushing them again.
This reference book says all models of the Coltsman had Sako of Finland actions.
They were discontinued in late 1965.
I have not found a serial number listing of dates of manufacture yet.
I will look in some of my other references.

Found another older Colts reference book that seems to have some interesting info on the Coltsman.
This shows that the first 1958-1959 produced Coltsman models were manufactured by Jefferson Manufacturing in Connecticut and the .243 and 30-06 were built with Mauser actions and .308 and .300 Win mag. had Sako Actions.
Those rifles were built in enough quantity for inventory that lasted until 1960 - 1961.
Jefferson Manufacturing sold out to Kodiak in around 1962 and they built the remainder of the Coltsman's until 1965 and supposedly used only Sako Finland actions.
They speak of some ranges of serial numbers but no definitive years of manufacture by serial number.
However it appears your rifle was indeed one of the first Coltsman's built by Jefferson Manufacturing in 1958-1959.
I will continue to research for some definitive serial number data.
A very cool rifle for sure with some unique Colt history.

Thanks, Gunny!

Interesting thread. I wonder how many manufacturers built a good reputation using other peoples parts and not their own?