Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Floyd R Butler Riflesmith

I was at the Saratoga NY gun show the other day with my son and a friend. We spotted a custom Winchester High Wall in .22-3000 that was built by my Grandfather Floyd R Butler of Raceville NY. When we got back home we spent some time researching my grand dad and came across a post on this site back in 2002 concerning him.

Floyd was a riflesmith that practiced his trade during the heyday of custom rifles built on vintage single shot actions and military bolt actions. He was good friends with many notable gun experts of the time such as Ned Roberts, Hunters like Jack McFee of Alaska days, and gun dealers such as Shiff the Gunman from New Hampshire.

I spent many Saturday afternoons at my grandfathers shop as a boy listening to my Grandfathers stories as well as those of customers dropping by to get a gun repaired or refinished.

Anybody out there with any memories of Floyd that they would like to share?

Welcome to the forum rickb.

I was a customer of Floyd Butler. You should search more as there must be more threads on him besides one from 2002.

Floyd was a wonderful man of both skill and character. I can't say enough good things about him. He made three rifles for me which, of course I still have.

Here is a picture of Floyd's famous cheekpiece with that curl.

Floyd Butler links

Another Butler link

Butler link

Butler link

Butler link

I thought that Floyd Butler worked out of Poultney, Vermont.

My Fairbanks buddy Jack McPhee spoke well of him, and often.

One Butler high-wall rifle that Jack especially prized would drive tacks all day, then inexplicably start slinging bullets all over the target.

Butler begged for Jack to send it back and scrutinized its innards until he found that the firing pin was slightly, unnoticeably crooked � bent slightly enough to be no problem for a long time, then just enough to suddenly turn enough to bind in its recess.

A new straight firing pin put that Old Gal back into flawless action.

Butler was apparently a perfectionist with patience.

Floyd's home and shop was in Raceville, New York. His mailing address was RD#1 Poultney Vt. so he stamped F.R.Butler Poultney Vt on the barrels to make it easier for potential new customers to contact him.

Jack McFee and his wife Hattie used to visit my Grandparents occasionally. I was an young fellow at the time but I remember them well. They brought things with them like petrified wood and rock samples that I believe were from the southwest. My granddad wrote many letters to Jack and I have a notebook full of Jack's letters to Floyd. If you don't mind me asking how did you come to know the McFee's?


Rick

Jack knew, of course, since he spent some time in both Butler's home and his shop, as well as out shooting with him. I knew only what I saw on his rifles and his envelopes. I think that I remember hearing Jack refer to him as "Floyd Butler of Poultney, Vermont," but I'm not sure about that after all these years. Not that any of that really matters now.

Jack also spent a good deal of time with Guy Loverin and worked with him on several cast-bullet designs and experiments. Loverin � another grand ol' fellow too soon gone and forgotten!

Welcome to the campfire!

I have spent a bit of time in that area but never heard of your grandfather. My mother is from Poultney. Her family ran the variety store on Main St. for many years. Dad was from a farm in W. Pawlet. He recently passed away and Mom sold off the farm. My parents met at the old Hampton Manor if you are old enough to remember where that was. It probably was not far from your Grandfather's place.

Do you have any of your grandfather's rifles?

Hello,


I have a couple guns he built. One is a 22-3000 built on a Sharps Borschart action. That particular gun was built for a man from the Adirondacks. Gramp built that gun in the 1940s. Don Hamilton of Indian Lake acquired it and later sold it to me.

I also have a custom .250-3000 that Floyd built on a model 93 Mauser action.

I was born in 1949 so I remember the Hampton Manor well. I grew up in Raceville which is just down the road a piece from Poultney. I now live in Hebron NY now which is just across the border from West Pawlet.
Rick

I did some gunsmithing for a while after graduating from high school. My shop was in the basement of my home that caught fire in the night and was pretty much completely destroyed.

I gave up my FFL after that and haven't smithed for anyone since.

I saw a custom Mauser on either GB or AA in the last few days with that exaxt cheek rest. Ken

The Floyd enthusiasts might want to post some pictures and discussion at this website http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums...PSESSID=0c437e9b56d8825a33dc46b95d8fc53e

It is a site devoted to these sorts of custom rifles and I can almost guarantee that someone there will know quite a lot about him. And they will equally enjoy hearing from folks that are related to the man or own his rifles. I love someone with a sense creativity like that buttstock.

I wish the links that S99 posted would come up for me but they say something about forbidden access or some such.

Brent

Prized treasures, no doubt. There would be a lot of interest here in seeing a few pictures.




We may have bumped elbows at some point over the years. As a teen (the '70's), I spent summers with my grandfather. We made frequent trips to Granville. Throughout the years I visited whenever I could. After he died in 2000, I used his place as a camp. After a few years the trips back and forth to the Southern Tier got to be too much. We had to let the old place go. It was on the Mettawee, just up from the village of W. Pawlet.

Bill

Boy, do I ever have trouble logging in, but about Floyd R. Butler. have a really beautiful winchester high wall in 219 donaldson with a long unertl scope on it and it is more accurate that I am. had given it to a friend of mine to "clean up "the stock and forearm and refinish (oil only, no shiny stuff) had an interesting circular relief carving on the business end of the cheek piece and my buddy (a real artist) simply clarified the stock, recheckered (cleaned up) the forearm too. was looking at the barrel of this 12 pounder and saw the "F.W. Butler, and I think Pulteny, Vt. Not being an expert, nor even somewhat knowledgeable about such things, I went on line and found the Butler history. I would say that this "furniture" for this fat barreled hiwall, is as deluxe and as varied (grains) as I have seen. Enjoy the rifle, and enjoyed reading about your grand father.and now I know a whole lot more about this rifle. am including this info for my son and or daughter who will fight over it when I'm gone.
charlie martin
palm desert, cal.
will send pic if you want

We would like to see a picture or two of your Butler rifle. Try to post them or ask for help and we will.