I remember meeting Jay and at least one of his clients at that dinner! Jim Morey was the head of Swarovski Optik USA at the time, and the host for our group. We hunted the Tillard Ranch north of Glenrock, where both Eileen and I have hunted several times over the years.

I remember John Lazzeroni built Marty Tillard a rifle, which he'd sent Marty earlier. It didn't shoot very well, and Lazzeroni was sure Marty's shooting was the cause. (I was not, but didn't say anything.) One calm day during the hunt John L. shot the rifle from Marty's benchrest at the ranch, and had to admit it didn't shoot very well.

If I recall correctly, that was the first year I brought my then-new Weatherby Vanguard Sporter .257 Roberts to the Tillard ranch, and after Lazzeroni test-fired Marty's rifle and left to go hunting, I shot it at 300 yards, using my handloads which featured the then-new 100-grain Barnes TSX and Ramshot Magnum powder--and three shots went into 1.49 inches, which was about like Marty's Lazzeroni shot at 100.

Dunno how many pronghorns and mule deer I killed on the Tillard ranch over the years, but the longest shot was 404 yards on a 16" antelope buck, when hunting some rough breaks with Marty's son Casey--who'd seen the buck several times before but hadn't been able to get in range. Don't think any of the others were over 300.

“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck