Ken,
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<br>Floyd told me that he used only Buhmiller blanks unless the customer specified another. I met Floyd after buying the High Wall that he made and searching him out after I compared it to other work.
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<br>A Butler rifle usually has his trademark art work on the stock. The grip cap area by Floyd had a particular shape that had a subtle style. If the cheekpiece called for enough wood (which my highwall does) he would carve a spiral under the forward part of the cheekpiece.
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<br>But the real value of a Butler rifle was knowing the character of Floyd. He lived a simple life with his wife in Raceville, NY and was most proud of playing his violin in church on Sunday. When he finished the stock on the .375 Improved that I had supplied the expensive blank on he said the work was free! He told me he made a mistake? and that the forend was a littlle too thin. I could not see what he ment and the rifle was beautiful. He would not take any money for the work and that included bluing the barreled action. Finally he said that $60 would cover it. I think Floyd repaired guns for free for some and charged others what they could pay and that might be a lot more.
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<br>I would rate Floyd out of the thousands and thousands of people I have met in my long life as one of the finest people ever to walk the face of this earth.
