The Guns of Alan Harton

I saw this old post from 2012 and thought I would bring it back from the dead as a tribute to Alan one of the GREAT Gunsmiths and friend.


I first met Alan in 2002 and introduced him to the Ruger Forum Guys. Up until then he wasn't know to many outside of Houston as the Outstsnding Gunsmith that he is. He was doing a lot of work for us CAS shooters in the area. Also it was about this time that he was intoduced to Joe Bowman by one of the CAS shooters. He built up 19 OMs into 3 screw Vaqueros for Joe.
The first guns I had him do for me were Flattops that he converted to 45 Colt among other things. Then the list goes on and on. The last two were the ROAs that he finished last Sept.




Notice that these are 3 screw 357s made into Vaqueros

Nice batch of guns for sure.

Alan's work was very good. I saw a pair of his worked over guns that Joe Bowman showed me once.

Love the black powder cylinder chamfer wear on the 2 at the top. Classy!

Good looking bunch of iron there.

Several years ago I was at Alan's shop helping him work on the RF Member Sixshot's shooter.

Cholo said:

Love the black powder cylinder chamfer wear on the 2 at the top. Classy!

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Yep they have been in-out of this rig a few times.

My first of a number of Alan's pieces, both single and double action. This is a 44 Special circa 2003 IIRC.

I learned of Alan through both Wyandot Jim here and my good friend Fermin Garza, aka 2 Dogs. While I a single action guy for the most part, my first gun from Alan was a little Sp101 I had him do action work on, modify the hammer, install a set of S&W adjustable sights and a few other things. From there I decided to see if Alan liked challenges or not. I started with having him graft a Colt bisley hammer spur into a custom Colt NF and graft a SS Ruger bisley hammer spur onto a Freedom Arms gun. Both exceeded my expectations. Next up was probably the tough challenge I gave him, or so I thought! I wanted him to convert a 357 Maximum Blackhawk into a long cylinder 5 shot 414 Supermag bisley wit an octagon barrel and with the top strap totally rebuilt to replicate a Freedom Arms top strap so I could install a FA Lovell scope mount. I wanted this gun for a once in a life time antelope hunt and both Alan and the gun performed perfectly. Next up was a gun that I did not commission but that I was able to talk away from Fermin. He and Alan spent a ton of hours making a light weight old model bisley in 32-20/327. Fermin did much of the hand work to get all the surfaces perfect, Alan and he machined the tapered octagon barrel, did all the lightening cuts, converted it to a bisley configuration and fit the elephant ivory grips. Fermin did a multi page documentation of the step by step build of this gun and it like taking a course in fine handgun finishing and design. This is the closes thing I have to a laser beam gun! Finally I had Alan take a run of the mill USFA and transform it into a very cool 41 Special single action with Fishpaw musk ox grips, bisley hammer spur and a drift adjustable dovetail front sight.

I truly do not think there is anything the man behind Single Action Services can not do with a firearm. Here are a few pictures of some of the guns. The other pictures are in Photobucket purgatory.

very nice-looking guns indeed

The one that makes me go weak in the knees:

I miss Jeff, one of my favorite gun YouTubers.

Back to the top! Just got my 3rd Harton.

I get to go see Alan in a few weeks. He's working on another little USFA gun for me and I get to take some wood down and watch him make the grips for it! If he is working on any of you guys guns I'll try to help him by grabbing the grinder like Jim did on Sixshots gun

Robb
He has a blackhawk of mine also! No problem if you work it over as I know the craftsmanship you demand of yourself!
This is the before image of my recent vaquero. The grips came from Zane Thompson, a unique set that for some reason nobody wanted, so he made me a great deal. I got the gun from my friends local shop. It was used quite a bit. Alan really knows how to reset the hammer and trigger mechanics.

Those grips look very similar to the block I'm taking down with me.

I visited with him some months ago. He restocked my Standard Manufacturing SA 45 Colt and performed a hardness check on the guts. All good and he was well impressed with the piece.

I love that rear sight on the Vaquero. I have a Bisley Vaquero that I would love to have him do just like that. Come to think of it, I have a USFA that I would like to have him do that treatment to as well!

Alan is working oh Rugers again? My one , and only Harton. I needed some work done a couple years back. Called Allen, he stated he no longer worked on Rugers. Glad to hear he is again.

sixgunner454 said:

Alan is working oh Rugers again? My one , and only Harton. I needed some work done a couple years back. Called Allen, he stated he no longer worked on Rugers. Glad to hear he is again.

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Thats a great looking vaquero. Alan took in a couple guns for me but he is not officially working on Rugers publicly. I probably shouldnt post about them because he probably gets a bunch of calls about it. But his work is so nice. If you have a chance to buy a Harton gun on the open market, it will be one of the best you have owned.

Professor, thanks on comment. That is the last I heard. I'm jealous, u know Allen good enough, to get him to work on your guns. When I spoke to him, he recommended Powers. You have any experience with him?