Heidi McGuigan

2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:46:24 -0500

2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:44:55 -0500

Lewis Drake at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:50 -0500

Lewis Drake
Lewis Drake is a retired doctor who can pull an 85-pound stickbow and hold it. His business now is dealing in all sorts of wonderful sporting-related stuff, such as this .22 Long Rifle Gatling Gun. A perfect replica of the gun that Custer refused to take to the Little Big Horn, this little marvel holds 100 rounds in each of its four magazines, and fires 4 shots with each turn of the crank. Only 50 of these guns were made, and because they are operated by hand they are not classified as automatic weapons. The price is a piddling $17,000. drake.net.

Mark Bansner Rifles at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:50 -0500

Mark Bansner Rifles
Although he works with other actions, Mr. Bansner has begun making his own. It's very slick, very small (there is not a faction of an ounce of unneeded steel anywhere) and very strong. It forms the heart of his Ultimate Rifle, which comes with a Jewell trigger and a fiberglass stock of Bansner's design and making. These are as fine as any working rifles you can get, and the price is just under $5,000. bansnerrifles.com.

A. Freeman Studio at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:50 -0500

A. Freeman Studio
The art at the convention - and there was a lot of it - ranged from wonderful to execrable, and most of it was like everything else. This painting was not. It's called "No Pride, No Quarter." Lions hate hyenas, and kill them for sport, but when an old lion is driven out of his pride by the young studs, the hyenas get their payback, which is what is about to happen here. This painting is sad, spooky, menacing, and original. I understand that prints are available and cost $650 to $1,500, depending on size. Adamfreeman.com.

K.L. Shelton at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:50 -0500

K.L. Shelton
You remember real muzzleloaders? Flints? Percussion caps? Lots of smoke and grime? No stainless steel or plastic? No scopes? Well, there are people still making them, and among the very best is K.L. Shelton, who builds impossibly gorgeous Kentucky rifles. In either flint or percussion lock. He is of the Lancaster school. His prices run from $6,000 to $10,000, and if you want something really eye-catching he can make it for $15,000. His waiting period for most guns is a year and a half. klsrifles@wbhsi.net

Fabbri at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:50 -0500

Fabbri
Legendary gun maker Frank Pachmayr called Fabbri "the best God damn gun in the world," and I am not about to argue. These exquisite Italian over/unders go mostly to big-money pigeon shooters, who love them for their uncanny strength and durability. This is a new model - stainless steel barrels and a titanium receiver - that is not only very light, but even stronger (and rustproof) than "ordinary" Fabbris. The price is $159,000 and up, depending on engraving, and the waiting period is 3 years. If you'd like to feel really bad, I can inform you that Fabbri took orders for 129 of these guns by the time the show was half over. www.fabbri.it.

Animal Artistry at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:50 -0500

Animal Artistry
Mike Boyce's work has a balletic quality to it - as witness this leopard putting the hooks into an impala. Oddly, I have seen a film of exactly this scene run in slow motion, and Boyce has captured the grace of this ballet of death in a manner that is quite uncanny. No one that I know of is doing work like this, and speaking of which, Mr. Boyce wishes you all to know that the designs of his mounts are copyrighted. Animalartistry.com.

KNIVES OF ALASKA at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:50 -0500

Knives Of Alaska
Charles Allen, when heÂ¿Â¿Â¿Â¿Â¿Â¿s not making knives, runs a lodge in Alaska, and uses what he makes. This is his new folder, the Master Guide, and it pains me to report that it costs only $99.99, which means that even you can afford it. The blade is 154Cm steel, and the handle is a super-strong micarta called G-10. It's a heavy-duty knife that you can still carry easily in a side pocket. Knivesofalaska.com.

JARRETT RIFLES at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:50 -0500

Jarrett Rifles
Kenny Jarrett needs no introduction to anyone who does not dwell in Outer Darkness, so suffice it to say that this is his Windwalker rifle in .300 Jarrett, which his chosen all-around cartridge. Kenny makes the whole rifle, lock, stock, and barrel, and whatever you've heard about his rifles' accuracy is true. That is not Kenny hold the rifle; it's Rissa Jarrett, his daughter, who may or may not be Reese Witherspoon doing a little moonlighting. Jarrettrifles.com.