All right all, been back a total of about 51 minutes from Reno. Although I will get some pictures up and write up more later I thought I would give a brief preliminary for those of you that couldn't make it.

first, should you go next year? YES!

What struck me the most, after the shock of seeing all those guns (one rifle with engraving equal to half my yearly gross pay would have been enough on its own), was how friendly and willing to talk all the smiths and engravers were. If you ever wanted to know anything about guns this is the place to find out. Jim Wisner, Mark Stratton, Chic Worthing, Al Lind, Michael Ullman (I'll check spelling on that later), and many many others took time to talk to me and explain all kinds of aspects of their work to me.

Eye candy, you cannot even begin to imagine. Martini-Hagn was there with the beautiful single shots, Jerry Fisher had a 505 Gibbs on the table with 26" barrel that he ENCOURAGED people to pick up. The raffle gun from the two guilds was there and people were able to handle it.

Quick note, few things look better than a case colored bolt action. WOW! and 90% of the case hardening work I saw there was done by Doug Turnbull, and for good reason, he is the best. And also a very nice and friendly guy, I met him and he chatted with me for a few minutes.

Met some guys that we all have had the pleasure of interacting with here, Chic was there with Howard, a couple of nicer guys you can't find, I hung out with them quite a bit. StuC came all the way from Switzerland, Jim Kobe was there, Mark Stratton of course. Hope I am not forgetting anybody in this rushed little synopsis.

In short it was a fantastic weekend, well worth it. and I recommend that any enthusiast, potential buyer of custom gun, amatuer gunsmith etc. go next year.

Red

Got home at 4:30 this am after an all night drive. Chic and I hit some snow and snowpacked roads in OR but still made the trip back in good time. Now if I can just get through the work day.

I echo what Dago Red said. Great show, and great trip.

Thanks for the report, glad to hear that you had a good time and made it home safe.......Now where are the pictures????

I was unable to go this year, opted for the earlier Vegas gun shows instead. I attended last year and was duly impressed, made a number of contacts for current and future projects. Anyone contemplating a major/expensive custom gun project should attend. The state of the art of fine gunmaking is presently the highest ever.

Howard, I had a great trip back, didn't get any snow, and the boulder that tumbled down onto the 80 happened before I got there so the highway patrol was pulling it off the road already. I made it home fast, because the other people on the road kept reading signs that said 55 as 75, and I of course had to keep up with the flow of traffic. :-)

SmallCal, I will try to get some pictures up tonight, and hopefully to the right forums. I did get permission from different guys to post some of the pics. I want to show you all Mark's transition from octagon to round, really worth looking at if you are considering this type of barrel. Also Lee Helgeland gave me permission to post pics of a barrel mounted sling stud that I like the look of and think the big bore freaks might want to get on a couple rifles. Can't remember what else. But heck, I have 301 pictures to go through!!!

Red

Thank you for report and look forward to seeing some pictures, especially the 505 Gibbs and the Hagn single shot!

It was a lot of fun to meet some of you fellow AR members at the show. For those of you that I met without knowing it, I was the guy in the big hat behind Duane Wiebe's work. My daughter was the little girl that charmed so many people out of their hard earned money at the ACGG/FEGA auction on Saturday.

Dave

Just got back in this morning. A quick shower then it was off to work.

The guns at the show were just fantastic. But it was also great to meet up with some of the AR guys.

Looking forward to seeing some of your pics posted. I've probably got a few myself that I'll post once the film is developed.

Cheers,
-Stu

It was another great show. It was super to meet AR members such as Loud-n-Boomer and ForrestB. Forrest lives 40 minutes from me (in Houston), and we had to go to Reno to meet face to face!
Chic was gracious enough to overlook my recent crack about his "dome" and invited me to sit at his booth for a while. (I did look under the table first for that "rusty bear trap"!)
Forrest gave me a ticket and an invitation to sit at his table for the ACGG/FEGA banquet and auction. Also at the table were Duane Wiebe, Dave (Loud-n-Boomer), and Dave's lovely daughter. Good food, great company and lots of laughs. However, between the "wood merchants" and the auctions, my wallet was a good deal lighter on the trip home!

Red,

I go to the Show every year, and the people and work exhibited there is outstanding. Talking to some of the "names" is like talking to a gun magazine and having it answer.

This year I also had breakfast with Chic Worthing and Mark Stratton, and we had a good conversation about the MR M99 action. I also got to meet with Dave Phillips the winner of the Duane Wiebe rifle drawing.

The trade reference material for sale is also a Good Thing.

Definitely worth attending.

jim dodd

Man... I wish I could have made it to Reno this year. Looks like I missed out on quite a show. Oh well, next year it is on for sure. Keep the pictures coming guys.

I wanted to post some eye candy for those who did not make it to the show. This first batch is shotguns that I just shrunk and put on a site. I enjoyed meeting Dago Red, Glen (again), Dave, Stu,Craigster, Jim(again), Forrest B., Lucky Dave Phillips, damn know I am missing someone. Anyway enjoy.



Wnchester 21 stocked by Al Lind and engraved by Terry Wallace



fox 28 (repro?) engraved by Gil Rudolph



Fox shotgun engraved by Gil Rudolph



Wnchester 21 stocked by larry Brace

I really enjoyed the show and all the good folks there. I went down there as a nobody, but everyone treated my wife and I like family. Duane was an incredible host, as was Forrest, loud-n-boomer, Glen, Chic, Jim, and everyone else we met. Ralf Martini was patient with us and very gracious.



Duane invited my wife and I to sit with them at the awards banquet and we had the best time, even if Mr. Snapp kept trying to steal my wife so she could tell them more about growing up in Cordova, AK.



I can't remember when I was more of an outsider but made feel so welcome. 'Cept for Chic would wants me to change my name to "Lucky Bastard".



Boomer and his daughter were a hoot, and I've got to ask if he's still wearing his necklace?



To all of you, I want to say thanks for making us feel so welcome. I kinda felt like a child in a room of giants, but everyone was very kind and showed us great hospitality.

Seeing the ACGG show for the first time was an unbelievable experience. I had a great time meeting Chic and some of the other gunmaking greats. Howard, Chic and Loudandboomer are some of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. I wish I had taken the time to chat with StuC but by the time I met him I was "gun-drunk". The show was out of this world and the rifle builders were very easy to talk to.

Chic, I am sorry I left without thanking you for being so generous with your time but I could see you were pretty busy as the show wound down. I look forward to BSing with you again next year.

Jason