BARRANTI & THE MARY GUN

[sixshot]

I've had some handgun guests in my home for the last several days & we've had a wonderful time. We've swapped stories (some of the are true) loaded ammo, shot lots of ammo, did quite a bit of long range shooting, mostly at 412 yds, ate a lot of great food & did a whole bunch of traveling, all this is 5 days.... and its still going on!!
Mike Barranti traveled all the way from Pittsburgh to Salt Lake City where I picked him up, we made a quick trip to Freedom Arms (one hour away) then over to Jackson Hole, over the Tetons & back into Idaho & then home. Second day we went to Boise to see Elmer Keith at Cabelas', then had lunch with John Taffin & then back to Soda Springs.
Then we started getting serious about shooting at various distances, everything from 25 yds out to several hundred. Mike was shooting a very special 44 magnum, its a wonderful 4" model 29-2, given to him by some secret admirers, this beautiful gun is decked out with real ivory stocks & has been nicknamed the "Mary" gun in honor of his wonderful mom.
My son did a nifty action job on the old smith & wesson & we went hunting, our main quarry was of course badgers but they have been very hard to find this summer, everyone else in town has spotted them but me & old Callshot keep coming up empty, I think Steve has me jinxed!
On the last day we could hunt we were doing some photo taking at an old homestead, long ago abandoned, there are several graves next to the house, all young children, lost to a flu epedemic. There are also rifle barrel slots in the log walls. As we were leaving Jeff Hoover, who had flown in the night before with his daughter Samantha spotted something running down the side of the old dirt road, it was a "BADGER" & he was a whopper! He ran into a large culvert & Jeff blocked one end with his rear end, Barranti took up watch on the other end, the badger poked his nose out & Mike went on full alert, the badger took off back down the culvert but Jeff's rear was too big an obstruction & he headed back towards Mike, this time the badger was getting ready to make a run for it so Jeff touched off a round with his 44 Bisley, the badger eased out of the hole & Mike smoked him in the mouth with the "Mary" gun, the badger whirled & Mike lit him up 2 more times double action & the fight was over, the "Mary" gun was christened & it just happened to be Fermins' 50th birthday, what a fitting finish, old (2 dogs) was the #1 mover & shaker that got the "Mary" gun for Mike, 2 close friends who have a special bond.
Mike's dream has been to whack a badger in Idaho, with Callshot out of the way it was easy....actually I really want to see Steve whack one!!

Here's Mike Barranti (Hide Stretcher) doing some long range work at 412 yds, he shot very well as did Callshot (Cant Shoot) Steve also went to work with his Ruger 357 using 38 specials & did very well with it even at the extended distance!

Here's Mike with his very special "Mary" gun with real ivory stocks.

Three amigos, Mike Barranti, Dick Thompson & Jeff Hoover, great friends!

Mike with his prized badger & the "Mary" gun, mom would be proud!

This is a very nice badger, well furred & frisky!

Here's Jeff, right after he discovered there wasn't any toilet paper in the 2 holer!!

Dick

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

Dick,
Glad to hear that you guys are having a great time.
Thanks for the pictures, that old cast iron stove that Jeff
is standing by sure looks neat.
Terry

PS; Great Badger!!

 

[callshot]

So I got you jinxed, do I? Well, Ya ain't seen nothing yet. The only time all summer that you see a badger and you leave me home. I think that you were really afraid that I would shoot it instead of you guys. :roll: I am glad that Mike got it and had a good time. I don't need a badger anyway. They aren't good eating, and the little lady of the house won't let me put up any animal hides or heads on the wall. I'm sure that Mike will have fond memories of his trip. Steve

 

[2 dogs]

Dick, Im not sure the above is quite the way I heard the Badger story....

Guys, the truth is the local Chineese Buffet has closed down and boarded up till Hoover leaves Soda Springs for fear of being closed down for good by his tremendous appetite. Look at poor Mike, you can tell he's barely getting a morsel here and there to sustain him!!! Sixshot, ever the idea man solved the problem by running Hoover down to a nearby farmers hog troth where Hoover was able to eat his fill much to the dismay of about 100 hungry piggies who will just have to do without for now....

Anyways, the only thing more terrible than Hoovers appetite is the aftermath which can be catastrophic to plumbing so Dick rushed him out of town to locate an outhouse with a door big enough for Jeff to fit thru. Poor Jeff wasnt going to make it so he plopped his big rear end on a road culvert so as not to confuse the local meteoroligists into thinking there was an lunar eclipse only BRIGHT white....

Inside the culvert this Badger was minding his own business just doing Badger stuff. Next thing he knows the lights in his culvert go out! That shot you heard was really a wave of gas breaking the sound barrier. The poor Badger now choking and gagging staggered out of the culvert and ran right into the Hidestretcher who has also become a victim of the stank that has rushed out of the culvert and enveloped him as well.

Barranti was able to draw his fine ivory stocked sixgun and get it cocked but fainted from oxygen starvation and fell to the ground whereupon the sixgun went off and the luckless Badger ran right into the bullet!

A high wind came up and blew away the Hoover H bomb Hydrogen Cloud and everyone came to their senses except the Badger who couldnt buy luck if they sold it at walmart.....

 

[contender]

2 dogs,, that has to be the truth. No way it didn't happen that way!
We all know sixshot has a way of spinning a yarn to where it appears truthful,, and then he backs it up with pics to make it credible.
I'm sure callshot was called to attend this hunt,, but of course,, they dialed the wrong number,, & figured he wasn't home.
The mexican restaurant got word of Jeff's arrival,, and they all decided it was cheaper to close & go on vacation,, for at least 2 weeks.

In any event,, I loved the stories!!!!!!!
Congrats to Mike & "Mary" on the badger!

 

[Jeff Hoover]

Sit back folks, it's time to hear the "TRUE" version of what happened. After much sight seeing of old, abandoned homesteads, I was getting a tad hungry. We all piled into Dicks Dodge Pick up, with 4 door King cab. Mike was riding shotgun, while Dick drove. Samantha and I were sitting cozy in the back. While starting my second triple cheeseburger from the Artic Circle, I dropped a french fry. While bending over to pick it up to eat, my eyes were level with the low ground surrounding us. I caught movement, and saw a critter run into the culvert we were crossing over. I told Dick to stop. Those cheeseburgers were starting to work on me.

I ran to the far end of the culvert. It was about level with the Texas bullseye, and my mind started to work. Dropping trowel, I sat my boil laden behind into the mouth of the culvert. The noxious by product of hydrchloric acid and greasy cheseburger seeped into the culvert. This obviously had a peculiar side effect on that badger. He started coughing, and swearing in badgerese. Stumbling out of the culvert, Mike lit him up with the Mary gun. The muzzle blast lit me up, as it ignited the gasious byproduct. I had an airtight seal on that culvert, and was launched a good 30 feet. The pale white full moon now has a dark carbon ring around it, much like Saturn.

Dick was so anxious for Mike to get a badger, he may have fudge things a bit. Earlier in the week, Dick got an old, yellow tabby barn cat, some dark brown, and white paint, and viola, instant "badger". Good enough for some city slickers, anyway. Just don't look at that badger, too close.

The picture of the 3 amigos is a fine display of Mikes leather work. Mike is sporting the "Hank Sloan" ' Dick the NW Hunter shoulder rig, and me, the X2D2 crossdraw rig. I'm holding an old mason jar of liquid nitrogen product I filled for callshot, for a present.

Stay tuned for more "True Tales" of the Idaho kind.

 

[Fowler]

Ok I thought the "MB" on the ivory grips stood for something other than "Mad Badger", who knew?

Well it appears a good time was had by all and when men bond something must die! So this Badger was sacraficed to the gods as it was certainly ment to be. That Mary gun has some magic juju in it for sure, now it just needs a deer, elk or even a bear.

And if I am not mistaken that first gun that Mike is pictured with is not the "Mary gun" as I think it is a single action but I could be wrong...

 

[Sheriff]

Great story and photos. As to the true version, my Grandpap always said that the first liar ain't got a chance. :wink:

Fowler, I do believe you're right bout that pistola.

 

[deac45]

..."True Tales" of the Idaho kind.

Sounds like a book title if I ever heard one!

deac45

 

[flatgate]

It was GREAT to see you guys over there at the "Sweat Shop"!



flatgate

 

[contender]

Has anybody noticed that Samantha is nowhere to be seen in the pics? I would say she was having to retreat from all the BS flying around as she most likely was afraid of drowning in it.
Either that,, or she died from laughter at all the antics displayed by the great white hunters!

 

[mb111263]

Fowler is correct. We didn't have the Mary Gun back from Dick's son Shane that day. That was Dick's holly stocked 44 flattop I was carrying that day. It is a sweet shooting little sixgun. It's favorite load is 5.5 grs of 231 under the Keith bullet. We shot that day out to around 300 yards, and I had to hold the whole front sight blade up to get on target.

The visit to Freedom Arms was pretty darn cool! Getting to meet Carl was a highlight of the tour! Great meeting you, Carl!

The visit with Mr & Mrs Taffin was awesome! After lunch with JT, we went back to his house and talked sixguns, hunting, and all things Elmer Keith! He showed us his gunleather, game trophies, his extensive library and several special handguns. I was in such a state of awe handling these sixguns that I forgot to take pictures! I did get this nice picture of JT and Diamond Dot though!

Dick made sure we crammed as much as we could into my short trip. The time flew by much too quickly, and there were many things left undone. It was, however, one of the coolest experiences of my life! Great Guns, Great Shooting, Great Sights, Great Food and Great Friends! Doesn't get a whole lot better than that. Even if I hadn't gotten that badger, it would have been a great trip...the trophy is just 'icing on the cake' as Dick called it! If it weren't for Jeff, it wouldn't have happened!

As far as the differing versions of the experience, I won't say any of these stories are true, and I won't say any of them are lies! I think the truth might be somewhere in the middle, but then again, maybe it isn't! The 412 yard shooting was for real though, and it was a hoot! And one other thing; Callshot CAN shoot! If you haven't tried long range shooting, all I can say is what are you waiting for?!


Our good friends, Steve Callshot Call and the President of the Callshot Fan Club, Jeff 'Tank' Hoover on my last morning in Soda Springs.

My gracious host, Dick Sixshot Thompson. He looks like he is a little anxious for breakfast!

I think Dick NEEDS one of these!

While I will always carry the memories of this trip with me, this old badger will become a full mount and, along with The Mary Gun, be a constant reminder of my many good friends; those who were there with me, and those that couldn't be. They all as much a part of this as I am, and I am thankful for their friendship.

 

[sixshot]

Fowler is correct, thats my single action, couldn't tell when I was down loading the photo's, hard to get anything past you guys!
Carl, its always a pleasure seeing you, wish we would have had a little time to visit.
Tyrone, here's a photo of a very cute little 12 year old thats having a great time. Took them picking huckleberries tonight, also saw several deer including 3 nice bucks & one moose, fun day with good friends.

Jeff Hoover & Samantha shooting Jeff's 327 maggie at the range, she's a good little shot.

Jeff with Samantha riding piggy back at one of the old homesteads in the area, that old wood burning cook stove is in great shape..... & its probably older than the "man with no neck".

Here's Mike posing with the "Mary" gun, he's wearing one of 6 new holsters he brought to me & Jeff.

Dick

 

[callshot]

Wait a minute Mike, Those brown trousers aren't part of the official uniform is it? I can see a couple of 5 gallon cowboys wearing a 10 gallon hat. I am glad you got your walking stick on the airplane. Hoover has a new way to pick huckleberries now. He uses a straw and just sucks them off the bushes. He don't get many into the bucket and his mouth is purple like he just put some lipstick on. Thanks for the memories buddy. Steve

 

[Jeff Hoover]

Steve, (callshot) is a very witty, knowledgeable man. We converse every other day on such things as huckleberries and honey and other exciting things, until usually one of us doses off, or the phone operator accidentally cuts our connection due to boredom. Did you know scientists to this day cannot figure out how bees can make honey. There is no man-made honey. Until now. I have cracked the DNA code of the humble honey bee's secret nectar. When I was inhaling those huckleberries, I was in fact making huckleberry honey. I would chew them up well, carefully mxing them up with my saliva, to perfect proportional ratios, and make honey. I would then secrete this product into a bucket, and there is your man made huckleberry honey.

Steve also told me there are 5 different varieties of huckleberries . I can only think of two. Those that make it in the bucket, and those that make it in my mouth.

So Steve, quit picking on me before I sting you, and turn you into my "Queen" bee. Thanks for sharing the experience of what 2 typical Idaho dudes do in the summertime in the "Worlds largest playground". I am having a blast and have a whole head full of memories to bring back to Maryland.

As you can see by the time I am posting this, I am still too wound up to sleep, tho' very tired physically. Perhaps it's the 3 Mountain Dews I had with lunch at El Toro ? Perhaps not !

 

[contender]

That skinny little girl can't be related to that mountain of an eating machine! NO WAY!
Again,, it looks as if a wonderful time was had by all!!!!!! (No matter which "story" is true about the badger hunt!)

 

[Stoots]

Great story and pics Dick!

Thanks for posting!

 

[2 dogs]

Hey Longshot, Henry says a real man ROPES his Badger!

He says he did once and that Badger was sure pissed!!! Henry says his horse Grit didn't appreciate that episode much either.

 

[2 dogs]

Upon elaboration he was telling me that after examining that critter and seeing how his teeth meshed together like gears he decided it would be a lousy house pet so he turned him loose!

 

[sixshot]

One time I shot a badger with my bow & I tied it on my saddle & started back to my folks cabin, my horse wasn't real happy about the stinky passenger & we had several rodeo's on the way back, I didn't get bucked off but I won't do that again, I was sore all over! The horse would buck & the badger would start flopping, the more the horse bucked the more it flopped, Yippee!!

Dick

 

[2 dogs]

Yeah, its kinda like having a Gila Monster as a teddy bear hey?