HiBC,
I suppose it's got to be at least 6-7 years ago now (maybe more; years seem as months these days sometimes), that Cache La Poudre had that really neat shop in downtown Ft. Collins. And a few years ago (maybe a couple more) my wife and I were walking main street Ft. Collins (visiting the area from Northern Wyoming), and while she was in that great kitchen shop there, I went down the street a little ways to hang out in Cache La Poudre. Right where I remembered I thought it was, it wasn't. I walked into a sandwich shop there and asked the young gal as to what happened to the gunshop. She said it used to be right here...death in the family, I was told. It's hard to see those places gone now; like Old West Arms in Denver. I've got a Lee mould I bought from OWA back in the mid-80's, a .530 single cavity. Much the worse for wear, it still drops a good r.b. Literally thousands have gone through that thing. the price sticker, though quite faded, still says, Old West Arms on the box I still keep it in.
I remember the Cherry Corners stuff, too. Didn't Ithaca end up with that company when they had their Hawken offering? The Buckskin Report was the meeting place for all things Hawken back in the 70's and 80's, and that's pretty good history, too, if you have the literature.
I built a southern mt. rifle for my wife back in '77, and its got a Hall Sharon barrel on it in .45 cal., a great shooter still (my wife AND her rifle). I believe Mr. Sharon was up in Kalispell, MT. I've also got a southern mt. rifle I built in the mid-80's with a 1" Getz barrel on it with the round bottomed rifling. Another shooter, certain sure. My old .45 flint long rifle I mentioned in an earlier post has a Green River Rifle Works barrel on it, and it's still a top notch shooter after 40+ years, and lots and lots (and lots) of loadings. All the guns I've built have Silers on them, flint and percussion, both; the standard back then, and the standard still (IMO). I still have a parts price list that has a little note from Bud Siler on it, and it's one of my prized nostalgia bits from the past...priceless.
The air was magic back in those days; the shoots, the rendezvous and the comradery. A fine thing that I was so fortunate to be a part of back then.
BTW, my .53 cal. Hawken was one of those Jed Smith commemorative, Santa Fe Hawkens. It was completely redone by a fine rifle builder friend of mine, whom I got into a trade with. Needless to say, it was a good trade, and I've got the Hawken. I've shown that rifle to quite a few people through the past years, and not one could guess it was a Santa Fe; another really fine gun, that will always be a keeper. The inscription and number that the rifle had on it, regarding the Jed Smith model, was filed off for authenticity's sake. My friend who re-worked the gun said it looked too funky to leave on it. This past year, my good friend who built my Hawken, passed away. My wife and I miss him very much; a true artisan, mechanic, and historian who built rifles (and anything else he'd put his mind to) literally up until he made the Journey home.
Thanks for the memories revisited, HiBC. And to ratshooter, too, thanks again for this great thread...more than likely not done yet...
reinert
I suppose it's got to be at least 6-7 years ago now (maybe more; years seem as months these days sometimes), that Cache La Poudre had that really neat shop in downtown Ft. Collins. And a few years ago (maybe a couple more) my wife and I were walking main street Ft. Collins (visiting the area from Northern Wyoming), and while she was in that great kitchen shop there, I went down the street a little ways to hang out in Cache La Poudre. Right where I remembered I thought it was, it wasn't. I walked into a sandwich shop there and asked the young gal as to what happened to the gunshop. She said it used to be right here...death in the family, I was told. It's hard to see those places gone now; like Old West Arms in Denver. I've got a Lee mould I bought from OWA back in the mid-80's, a .530 single cavity. Much the worse for wear, it still drops a good r.b. Literally thousands have gone through that thing. the price sticker, though quite faded, still says, Old West Arms on the box I still keep it in.
I remember the Cherry Corners stuff, too. Didn't Ithaca end up with that company when they had their Hawken offering? The Buckskin Report was the meeting place for all things Hawken back in the 70's and 80's, and that's pretty good history, too, if you have the literature.
I built a southern mt. rifle for my wife back in '77, and its got a Hall Sharon barrel on it in .45 cal., a great shooter still (my wife AND her rifle). I believe Mr. Sharon was up in Kalispell, MT. I've also got a southern mt. rifle I built in the mid-80's with a 1" Getz barrel on it with the round bottomed rifling. Another shooter, certain sure. My old .45 flint long rifle I mentioned in an earlier post has a Green River Rifle Works barrel on it, and it's still a top notch shooter after 40+ years, and lots and lots (and lots) of loadings. All the guns I've built have Silers on them, flint and percussion, both; the standard back then, and the standard still (IMO). I still have a parts price list that has a little note from Bud Siler on it, and it's one of my prized nostalgia bits from the past...priceless.
The air was magic back in those days; the shoots, the rendezvous and the comradery. A fine thing that I was so fortunate to be a part of back then.
BTW, my .53 cal. Hawken was one of those Jed Smith commemorative, Santa Fe Hawkens. It was completely redone by a fine rifle builder friend of mine, whom I got into a trade with. Needless to say, it was a good trade, and I've got the Hawken. I've shown that rifle to quite a few people through the past years, and not one could guess it was a Santa Fe; another really fine gun, that will always be a keeper. The inscription and number that the rifle had on it, regarding the Jed Smith model, was filed off for authenticity's sake. My friend who re-worked the gun said it looked too funky to leave on it. This past year, my good friend who built my Hawken, passed away. My wife and I miss him very much; a true artisan, mechanic, and historian who built rifles (and anything else he'd put his mind to) literally up until he made the Journey home.
Thanks for the memories revisited, HiBC. And to ratshooter, too, thanks again for this great thread...more than likely not done yet...
reinert
