2009 ACGG Education Foundation Matching Rifles
Bruce Farman and I were talking at Reno in January of 2008 about ideas for raising money for the scholarship fund of the Education Foundation, when I noticed on the banquet auction list there were a pair of Remington actions available from Midway USA, and they had consecutive serial numbers. Immediately the little wheels inside my head began to turn. . .
. . .I’ve done a lot of Remington rifles over the years
. . .Larry Potterfield has always been willing to help with the scholarship fund
. . .there have been lots of Douglas barrels on my rifles in years past
. . .Fred Wenig has some really good Bastogne Walnut blanks
. . .Leupold has supported the scholarship idea for gunmakers
. . .Brian Powley of FEGA has done some great engraving for me in the past
. . .I’m beginning to retire and I’d have time to make the stocks
So. . .I sez to Bruce, how about if we build a pair of rifles for the scholarship fund all out of donated components, and do them up in a modest hunting motif in a couple of classic calibers, and silent bid auction them with the money going to fund scholarships for gunmakers? He said “Let’s go for it!” and the Board of Directors agreed.
First, we talked to Larry Potterfield of Midway USA, and he was all in favor of the idea. Wow! We were off and running with a pair of Remington Model 700 short actions with serial numbers ending in 15 and 16.
Douglas Barrels of Charleston ,WV, were willing to make up a pair of their number 1 contour barrels in chrome moly 24” long. We wanted sort of classic calibers, and we decided upon .222 Remington and .257 Roberts.
Next, we talked to Leupold and Stevens, and my request was for a pair of 4-12x scopes with the LR reticle, and with a little additional arm twisting, they came with STD mounts and screw-in lens caps. The scopes were laser engraved on the bell denoting the occasion to be 2009 A.C.G.G Education Foundation Rifles. In addition, the scopes were also consecutively serial numbered.
Fred Wenig of Wenig Custom Gunstocks in Lincoln, MO, has been a wood supplier to me for more than 30 years, and I knew he had some exceptionally nice Bastogne Blanks from the tree he and Don Allen had purchased back in 1998. Sure enough, he would help with the project, and supplied two highly figured blanks from that big tree. He even pantographed them, using my “Min-Max” pattern.
Brian Powley of the Firearm Engravers Guild did up the trigger guards with the appropriate notation for the occasion.
Well. . .that’s the story of the 2009 A.C.G.G. Education Foundation Rifles. They will be awarded to the highest bidder come the end of this year (2009). Happy bidding.
John Maxson, President of the Education Foundation.