Feather could knock me over.

Ladobe · March 16, 2008, 05:00:04 PM

Thought you might like to read the update on this little jewel.

I bought it over 4 years ago from a consignment agent of the original owner and have tried many times without success to find the story on it ever since. Never could get the original owner to answer his phone, nothing in any of the gun books, nothing on the Internet and other than remembering seeing a picture of one similar on the cover of a gun magazine many years ago have never seen anything on it anywhere.

A friend who handled it a while back told me the stock looked like the work of Steve Herrett. So I finally got around to it and emailed Herrett Inc last weekend. Got a fast reply from his son Rod along with a phone number and to please call him because he had the whole story on the pistol. Naturally I called and found Rod to be a really fine person.

Turns out it was designed by Steve Herrett and Toney Barns, and Toney hand built it in the early 90's from a Sako A1 action in the white. The trigger group was made from scratch, the tapered octagon barrel hand filed and the stock hand shaped and inletted by Toney. He put well over 250 hours into building it and the quality is as top drawer as it gets.

Rod has the records and said that all together Toney built 32 of them before he died, and Rod did the remaining 5 actions. Turned out mines serial number was missing from the records. Numbers come up a ways on both sides of mine, so not sure if the entry in the records has a number error or mine is one he didn't know about. So only 37/38 have ever been built of this design. Toney sold his as he built them for $4000, and Rod his 5 for $5-$7K way back when. Rod said that if anyone could talk him into building another one again, he'd have to be drunk as a skunk and at today's labor/materials the price would start at $10K.

The one on that magazine cover was Bill Ruger's, a 223. Mines a 6TCU and in NRA Excellent condition (looks like new to me).

Kind of fun to find out it's something that turned out to be very, very rare, and worth a small fortune. :shck:

Not great pictures, but all I have at the moment...

L.

nailbender · March 16, 2008, 05:30:26 PM

Sweet. Love that stock.

HaMeR · March 16, 2008, 05:49:51 PM

Wicked!!

Hawks Feather · March 16, 2008, 07:48:45 PM

That is NICE!

Jerry

Frogman · March 16, 2008, 08:08:05 PM

That's awsome. Am I being too snoopy to ask what you paid for it?

Jim

FinsnFur · March 16, 2008, 08:31:41 PM

Thats pretty sweet looking. Bolt action, wow.

CCP · March 17, 2008, 04:23:42 PM

Ladobe, That is one nice looking piece of iron you got there.

Dont think I have ever had a gun that nice. You done good and seem to have a good eye when it comes to guns.

Ladobe · March 20, 2008, 06:31:57 PM

Glad you liked seeing it and hearing about it now I have the story on it. Was lucky to find it. I had been looking for one ever since I saw that magazine cover many years ago (didn't know there were so few of them). Easily became my favorite bolt pistol as soon as I got it, and I have had a bunch of bolt pistols over the years.

Was lucky that money was never a problem for buying guns, and had a wife for 35 years that never said a word no matter how many of them I bought. So I have had way more than my fair share of guns and do have a lot of real special ones.

My favorite current bolter before this Sako was my 223 XP-100 custom, another awesome gun that'll take predators and varmints out to 350 yards easy enough. But it's just another custom XP-100. Picture was taken at one of the first Digger Wars back when it wore a Burris 10X Target scope. It now wears a Burris 3-12.

vvarmitr · March 20, 2008, 09:28:53 PM

You have got some of the coolest guns.

Am I jealous? Heck no! I just want you to adopt me as your only son!

Thank ypu for sharing Ladobe!

Ladobe · March 21, 2008, 02:10:20 AM

I'll try to remember to call Sat/Sun and we'll see about drawing up the papers.

If I did adopt you J. at least I would have a "son" who cares about my guns (or all my collections). The one I raised sure don't give a rats arse about them and has no interest in them after I'm gone.

He's not even interested anymore in the Elvis Corvette.

I tried, bought him a lot of guns and took him shooting a lot. He always had other things he wanted to do instead though. While he still loves to fish, he refused to hunt. Same with Little League - I think he only played because I was the coach. Did manage to get him involved in scouting enough to make Eagle Scout at 13, and graduate from both Silver and Golden Moccasin leadership summer camps the next two summers before then serving as staff at them for two more summers up in the high Rocky Mtn wilderness. Also probably only because I was a scout master though.

He's his mothers son, not mine. Maybe I should check into a paternity test.

Hawks Feather · March 21, 2008, 07:34:31 AM

Larry,

If you are handing out ~~gun~~ son applications, I am interested. The Sako would be a nice compliment to my Sako .222 rifle.

(I hope you know that I am just kidding.) You have some excellent guns in your collection and I am sorry that you son doesn't appreciate that. I have already started splitting my collection between the girls - at least on paper. My youngest wants the bench rest gun, which I found interesting since she has only shot it a few times. When I asked her why, she said she liked the trigger pull - since it has a two ounce trigger there is none.

Later,

Jerry

Ladobe · March 23, 2008, 09:20:39 PM

Well, I had a very enjoyable phone conversation with vvarmitr yesterday. He's really a nice gent, but he forgot all about applying for the A.S. thing.

Good to see any of you who are doing it getting your "heirlooms" lined up with where they will go after you do. If you are not, get at it!!! I always tried to get family to give them out while they were still alive, both for the joy of doing it and to make sure they did find the right homes. What I have been doing the last 3-4 years... giving things to people I want to have them - selling things none of them want. Saw what can happen if you don't, first in my ex's family and even from my own mother. Grandpa gave me his prewar Winchester 94 before he died (I was 13 when he died in my arms). I had shot my first mule deer with it before I was in grade school with his help. Never got it back again from my mother after I went to Nam until she died just before Christmas in 2006. As the oldest child of grandpa, she decided it was hers and not mine while she was still alive. Besides the loss of using it all my adult life, can you imagine what it looks like after sitting in a closet zipped up in a patent leather case for about 45 years. The list goes on with both my and my ex's family, but I'll leave it there. All my "stuff" will be sold, given away or buried out in the desert before I'm gone.

L.

KySongDog · March 23, 2008, 09:52:54 PM

Very good advice. I have done the same with what little I have. My kids know who gets what. Everyone needs a will. Everyone needs a living will as well.

Semp

vvarmitr · March 25, 2008, 05:35:42 PM

Quote from: Ladobe on March 23, 2008, 09:20:39 PM
Well, I had a very enjoyable phone conversation with vvarmitr yesterday. He's really a nice gent, but he forgot all about applying for the A.S. thing.

Dern you Ladobe ... "Kiss & tell!"

"Gent?" Now I'm pretty sure that's a first for me.

Actually Ladobe you don't know how many things I came away w/ that I treasure!