Gunsmiths Who Served Their Country

[Lee Whitsel]

In Huntingdon, Pa. we had a gunsmith very well known by the name of Harriston Snyder. He was a gunsmith before WW2 started. So he went right in as a gun smith. In his senior years he l0st his wife and he was left in a wheel chair. I use to go visit him and spend evening just setting and chatting about his war time. He saw a lot of stuff. He was told to report to I think it was Aberdeen Grounds for a meeting with 11 other gunsmith's. At the meeting they where told the U.S. fighter planes are losing way to many planes and pilots. The German planes had greater fire power in their planes. 0ur 50 cal. machine guns on our planes where to slow and out gun by the German planes. They went to work as fast as possible to make new and better parts and doubled the fire power of our 50 cal. and gained an advantage at that point with the P51 Mustangs took an advantage and a turning point in the war in the sky for America. Harrison is one of my many hero vets. He's passed now and I miss visiting with him he was my hero. You got any?

 

[precision1]

Oh yeah my grandfather gun boat captain on three gunboats sunken by japs.
Retired navy and then retired steel mill worker.boy scout troop leader for years

Reason my father is like Jeremiah johnson.lol seriously. survivalist

And yes my father survived cancer treatments really for last 15 yrs .... prescribed medication that destroyed his adrenaline gland and another altercation from meds.anyways he almost died two times in last 2 years.

He gets up and works out ,cuts grass ,goes to grocery store on and on.no stopping this man.still goes to work as a general contractor.we can't stop him

He does more than most people by 9:00am that are young and healthy.HARD shoes for me to fill for dang sure....wish I was half the person

Also
Local gunsmith passed years ago ..hard nose old school man from back in hard knock days.he would make or build you anything you wanted...dirt cheap
He would cuss his grandson for questioning what his customers asked for ...it's there money they get what they want .lol

He was awarded contract for several years to service CMP garand rifles and 1911's..
Really all around gunsmith the ones we don't have anymore.back in the it's fun to build Mauser rifle days.cheap and great work

 

[Kittitas George]

Many of the younger 'gunsmiths' of today are just parts changers. They don't know to the do the quick, short time required repairs in a timely manner, like revolver site exchanges or trigger replacement. "I have 3 rifle builds in front of ya, it will be 3 months". That will put them outa business. I had that happen to me. So I drove 70 miles, trigger replaced while I waited and since he has done hundreds of dollars of business with me. The other guy, long gone. Time management is crucial. Washington state has a 10 day waiting period, my new 686 has the XS and HIVIZ sights with it ready to be installed, if not on the gun at 'pick up', I won't be going back there, the only money received from me will be the 'transfer' fee.

 

[338 Mollett]

The older I get at the young age of 63 , the bigger my parents grow as Hero"s . They were just common unassuming folk but their honesty ,integrity and character made them stand out !! They never complained about the sacrifices they made for the family !!

 

[Kittitas George]

"honesty, integrity and character" was important back when, not anymore.

 

[jamesdmock]

Colonel Billy Stevens led a squadron of Apache helicopters and helped run the Iraqis from Kuwait. He was a true warrior and now he builds winning rifles at his shop in Kentucky.

 

[Allen Humphrey]

Hook Boutin
Al Ewing
Tony Ben
Ted Brown

There are many

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

In Huntingdon, Pa. we had a gunsmith very well known by the name of Harriston Snyder. He was a gunsmith before WW2 started. So he went right in as a gun smith. In his senior years he l0st his wife and he was left in a wheel chair. I use to go visit him and spend evening just setting and chatting about his war time. He saw a lot of stuff. He was told to report to I think it was Aberdeen Grounds for a meeting with 11 other gunsmith's. At the meeting they where told the U.S. fighter planes are losing way to many planes and pilots. The German planes had greater fire power in their planes. 0ur 50 cal. machine guns on our planes where to slow and out gun by the German planes. They went to work as fast as possible to make new and better parts and doubled the fire power of our 50 cal. and gained an advantage at that point with the P51 Mustangs took an advantage and a turning point in the war in the sky for America. Harrison is one of my many hero vets. He's passed now and I miss visiting with him he was my hero. You got any?

interesting story.