Dale Goens passed away on July 18th, losing his fight with Cancer. He was a great stockmaker and will be missed. He would have been 89 in September.

He certainly was one of the greats. As a kid, seeing pictures of his work really whetted my appetite for finely crafted rifles. His rifles will never go out of style.

Here are a couple:



Classic 270 at Drake



458 at Hallowell

We are truly diminished by his passing.

I'm a fan of his rifles, too. I'm sorry he's gone.

Steve

I'm sorry to hear that. When i lived in Alberquerque i got to meet him & see his work. Outstanding work & an outstanding man.

We are the poorer for his passing.

RIP.
Dale Goens.


Gordon.

I Like Dale Goens Stock designs when looking at several different custom rifles.

I hope ACGG does something to honor Mr. Goens' life's work.

I'd toast that sentiment.

He's my all time favorite stockmaker. I still have a letter from 1967 when I was a freshman in collage. I had wrote him asking about the cost of a stock, after drooling for a year over Gun Digest pictures. His reply, on his stationary with an incredible stock as a letterhead, was that he charged $250 for a complete stock fitted, finished and checkered! Ebony extra. He had a number of good English blanks at $75 to $200. The worst mistake I ever made was not finding the money to do it.

Later, it was almost embaressing to see some of the older Digest's from the '50's. His early work reminds you of Roy Weatherby on acid. I believe he may have been one of the few stockers who started in the ultra modern trend and moved to a real classical vision.

Where did Dale Goens Live ?

He lived in Cedar Crest NM.

When the Elk Foundation would have their convention in Albuquerque, Dale would stop by the booth and we would talk about the business for a while. He was a great craftsman, but maybe a better person.

For those wanting some insight into Dale's work and personality, I recommend Monty Kennedy's "Checkering and Carving of Gunstocks". There are 28 pages of photos, illustrations and text (written by Dale) on his approach to checkering and some of his favorite patterns. He was very generous in his contributions to this book, and I suspect that tells a lot about the man.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to see and handle several examples of his work. He was a truly outstanding craftsman.

I have long admired Goens' work. Ironically I finally purchased a rifle of his not two days ago from First Stop Gun in S.D. It's a pre-64 M-70 (naturally) in .300 WM The pics are still online at Guns America under custom rifles. I'm looking forward to recieving it. I'll cherish that rifle all the more now.

quote:

Originally posted by nyrifleman:
I have long admired Goens' work. Ironically I finally purchased a rifle of his not two days ago from First Stop Gun in S.D. It's a pre-64 M-70 (naturally) in .300 WM The pics are still online at Guns America under custom rifles. I'm looking forward to recieving it. I'll cherish that rifle all the more now.

http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976617910.htm