Not a lot posted here lately so I figured why not. The first one is a former 44 flat op that Hamilton Bowen converted to 45 Colt. Turnbull did the coloring and I slid in the Clements bisley spurred hammer and Persinger ivories.
The second gun is one that I got in a trade with John Gallagher just before he passed away last April. In his last few months John wanted to do two old model conversions in the same pattern Skeeter Skelton did. He told me he was checking with Bart Skelton for specifics on what his dad had done and then John built two of these guns. Both had special touches such as perfectly fit grip frames, regulated action screws and refinished factory XR3 grips. I sent a gun to John that he had built years before and which he actually used to take his last whitetail and he sent me what he said was the more accurate of the two 44 Specials.
After John passed away I decided I wanted to make the 44 Special what I all an heirloom gun which is one I will pass down to one of my children some day. With that in mind I talked to John's son Isaac, who is continuing the work of at Gallagher firearms in the same vein his father did, and got his okay to make some upgrades to the gun. What we decided to do was send the gun to Hamilton Bowen and Rob Rowen for these upgrades. Hamilton was a good friend of Johns and when I approached him with the idea he agreed to build and install one of his 5 1/2" ovate profile barrels. The barrel change required a small amount of micro welding on the front of the receiver to match the barrel profile so he had that performed as well. Once Hamilton was done the gun was sent to Rob Rowen for a set of walnut grips he had set aside for the project. Rob was a good friend of the late Roy Fishpaw and learned much of his craft from Roy and as such he is every bit the artist in grip make as Roy was.
Once Rob had the grips done the gun was sent back to Hamilton for a final check then he sent the gun down to Isaac where Isaac blued the gun since the micro welding had required the finish to be removed and he also reapplied his Gallagher Firearms logo to the top strap. The gun arrived back here just last week and it turned out to be everything I had hoped it would be and it will serve as a visceral and emotional reminder of my friend John. I posted the pictrues in order of the progression of the gun.
The second gun is one that I got in a trade with John Gallagher just before he passed away last April. In his last few months John wanted to do two old model conversions in the same pattern Skeeter Skelton did. He told me he was checking with Bart Skelton for specifics on what his dad had done and then John built two of these guns. Both had special touches such as perfectly fit grip frames, regulated action screws and refinished factory XR3 grips. I sent a gun to John that he had built years before and which he actually used to take his last whitetail and he sent me what he said was the more accurate of the two 44 Specials.
After John passed away I decided I wanted to make the 44 Special what I all an heirloom gun which is one I will pass down to one of my children some day. With that in mind I talked to John's son Isaac, who is continuing the work of at Gallagher firearms in the same vein his father did, and got his okay to make some upgrades to the gun. What we decided to do was send the gun to Hamilton Bowen and Rob Rowen for these upgrades. Hamilton was a good friend of Johns and when I approached him with the idea he agreed to build and install one of his 5 1/2" ovate profile barrels. The barrel change required a small amount of micro welding on the front of the receiver to match the barrel profile so he had that performed as well. Once Hamilton was done the gun was sent to Rob Rowen for a set of walnut grips he had set aside for the project. Rob was a good friend of the late Roy Fishpaw and learned much of his craft from Roy and as such he is every bit the artist in grip make as Roy was.
Once Rob had the grips done the gun was sent back to Hamilton for a final check then he sent the gun down to Isaac where Isaac blued the gun since the micro welding had required the finish to be removed and he also reapplied his Gallagher Firearms logo to the top strap. The gun arrived back here just last week and it turned out to be everything I had hoped it would be and it will serve as a visceral and emotional reminder of my friend John. I posted the pictrues in order of the progression of the gun.