Since you seemed to enjoy the pics of Jim's restored Alpine 45 (from Jan. 2000) ... I took a few more of different details and angles. Hope you enjoy. Gary

Plaque at the end, was from the Md. Big Bore Championship - 2000. I shot this rifle in the "Open Sights" competition. It was a ball waaaayyy back then, when there were some competitions to enter. I really enjoyed preparing for those. They faded off, as they couldn't get anybody to come participate. But - here's Jim's gun ... cleaning house, before I knew Jim. ;?)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2011 04:05PM by barnespneumatic.

I was actually going to suggest a blue background for pix . . . looks great. Can't wait to get my hands on that puppy.

-- Jim

Dude! You're here again! Beat me to it again, probably while I was posting the Plaque pic! hahahah.

Gary

I can only imagine what it was like when you showed up with "Thee Alpine" at said event and proceeded to clean house. I'd guess most were like, "who is this guy?!??"

-- Jim

Well, you know me. I tell you the truth here on the site. The actual state of demise for the shoots was (as reported to me from the interior of club officer's meetings) ... "We don't want to spend another dime buying Barnes PLAQUES!" The proposed model was ... let other people win. They didn't want me to compete anymore. From the people who has bought us the "Trophy Kid Generation". Shouldn't somebody else win now? Give everybody a plaque for competing.

I don't belong to that organization/range any longer. Rather that it being a feather in their cap that I was a member of their airgun programs ... instead ... I attracted attention. I won. I made noise. In short ... I was sort of an ... embarrassment. You understand.

Have you ever joined an organization/club/group ... and arrived to get to know people. You learn some names. You participate. Gee ... you aren't afraid to speak in front of the group. Gosh ... when it's asked if anybody has good ideas, you have some. If they need help, you show up and are shortly organizing and actually getting the thing done. If you shoot, or "DO" anything ... you do it pretty well. If it involves equipment ... "you MADE that?" You start with a stampeed to see what you brought. You start hearing things like ... "I've had this old broken XX for years, could you fix that?" You get questions like ... "How much IS something like that?" Then, one day it "CLICKS". You can hear it in the air. You have become a threat to the old gaurd. "Just WHO does this guy THINK he IS???" And then, it's over. What is wanted is a team which can all exchange uniforms and numbers and nobody would notice. Equal outcome of events is the goal. And so, you just stop going, and everybody breathes a sigh of relief. That was close!

So, Jerry and Jim and I shoot in a hay field. And Jim and Jerry give me trophies so I don't get my feelings hurt and grow up warped.

Gary

Ha! You don't win every time with us!

You THINK I don't win ... every time .... You didn't wonder about those "fliers" that hit your truck?

Beautiful powerful and one of a kind. If this was at a gun show,it would stop everyone to take a look.db

Well - the Alpine is home. We had a our annual Summer patio party last night. Jim and Cindy were the life of the party! ;?) Glad to share some time, and get the Alpine where it belongs. Yeah.



Gary

You still end up making trophys for your big bore shooting. They're just made of duct-seal these days.

Human nature, you beat them and not many people like that....

Yeah Don,

There's some sort of threshold that you cross, and then it doesn't matter. Take spoiled rich jocks, and people will pay a fortune to wear their jersey with their names on it, and pay anything to watch them perform. Every activity has it's personalities. Many become really popular and folks fight each other to promote their guy. Believe me, it's not that way when you work for 40 years of skills. Mostly, you just annoy the heck out of people like you are showing off.

There is one word for that. It is called SKILL. Just an opinion and everyone has one............

wow , that deep relief carving and texture really take a character as they age.
there again ,,, dont we all.

Yup, I had some surface etching and now it's deep relief carving...