Beautiful rifles. I knew Cloward quite well and I shot with him a lot. He was president (iirc) of the private range I belonged to as well. I’ve sold a countless number of rifles he built. He built nice stuff but he could be a crusty PIA know-it-all. I’m a bit rough around the edges too so his smart ass comment was met with my reply…. I got the impression that he was used to getting away with being a dick but he hit a wall with me. We butted heads but he eventually realized that he might get further with me if he wasn’t an ass. It took a year or two before we started to get along but we eventually did.
Cloward is no different than many gun guys from his generation…crusty, grumpy and their opinions are the only ones that mattered. If it wasn’t a pre64 model 70 then “it’s total crap and not worth my time” kind of attitude.
Cloward had a decent reputation (locally) for building decent stuff but the biggest problem most guys had wasn’t with his work but rather his attitude. I knew dozens and dozens of guys that felt exactly like I felt about him. 😬
That was cool to hear about him like that. He must've been a crusty fella.
Nice rifles though.
