Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles A classic

My father was in a bar in Rapid City in the mid-1950's. An old, hard drinking guy struck up a conversation and claimed to be one of the last of the buffalo hunters. And while he would certainly never sell it, he would show his buffalo gun to my father if he would like to see a piece of history. Well, the old guy was wrong on two counts. It turned out that the gun was built after buffalo hunting was pretty well over, and he did in fact sell it for $100. My father had a friend who was a budding gunsmith, and he pulled the trashed barrel, replaced it with one chambered for 45-70 and fixed up the finish. And while today's collectors might wish they had not rebuilt it, but in the 1950's, that is what one did.











The reason I post these photos is that the friend who did the work, Jack Sturgis of Kalispell, Montana, passed away this week. He was a classic machinist of the old school, a generous soul, and will be missed.

Very nice pictures, thanks for sharing.

Nice! Love those half-mag levers actions. I have been running a little Marlin 30TK for the past couple of deer seasons.

Neat story. Thanks for sharing

Receiver sights and steel butt plates....makes me happy.

I love the checkered hammer almost as much as the story! That is REALLY cool; my dad wasn't a shooter or hunter so I have nothing like this from him.

Great story and a very cool rifle. The only way it could have been better would be if it had been rebarreled to .33 WCF!

That is why I took the photos with the hammer back.

Sorry to hear about your loss...but I do appreciate your response. That's a great way to react to the loss of someone.

Dennis

If only that rifle could talk. I bet it has been on some awesome hunts.

It unfortunately has spent too much time standing in dark.

Thanks for sharing. Take the ol' girl out and spill some blood.

Does the guy that sold it now work the counter at Cabelas ?

His offspring may, but he would be about 120 years old by now.

Nice stuff there. Have you hunted with it much?

Sorry for your loss. I can't see the pics though.

I like to shoot the old levers.

Nice rifle.

Beautiful rifle!

Man what a great rifle! Love those old levers, and having one with a cool story is great. Thanks for the pictures, hope you get a chance to take that old girl out this fall.