Where is this pistol?

Bill Calfee

Gun Fool
Where is this pistol?


CYA pistol fool friends:


It's funny, sometimes, how things work out.....or why they work out as they do.


Take this picture, the one on the cover of my book.


DSC00975.jpg


This picture was taken on October 21st, 2004.

The woods look like October.....beautiful colors...

Also, this picture was taken before the new firing line roof was installed....you can see the old X brace behind me.....

_______________________


Here's another picture taken the same day....this is more like me....no blazer....a tee shirt and jeans..

DSC00971.jpg


Now.................



My book wasn't published until September of 2011....seven years later.



Now here's the funny part.....or fascinating part...



I normally don't shoot at the range wearing a Navy blue blazer.....


So why did I take that Navy blue blazer to the range with me that day?



My book wouldn't be published until seven years into the future.



CYA accuracy fool friends:


Sometimes one just has to wonder about things......


OK, enough of that.....



Where is the pistol in these pictures, today?



I've searched my books.....


Here's what I think this pistol is......remember this was 16 years ago...


I believe the serial number may be 1654.


If so, Big Dog owns it, or did own it at one time.


Your pistol fool friend, Bill Calfee


__________________________


PS:


Someway, somehow, we must make theses things available for the masses.....

There's nothing else in all of RFBR like them.....nor anything more fun to shoot...


DSC00107 (2).jpg

______________________


2nd PS:


I enlarged the picture to see if I could see the number on the bolt handle, but can't....the light reflection is in the way....

By the way, that's a H&S Precision stock.....

You know, that's a good looking pistol.....

Whoever owns it owns a piece of history, cause it's on the cover of every one of my books...bc

DSC00975 - Copy.jpg
 
Which XP pistol?

Bill, I did sell XP personal #8 (serial # 1654) to Jim Ayers a few years ago. I'm not sure that is the pistol in the picture because #8 didn't have that black stock on it. My Calfee personal #7 XP has that black stock on it. Could personal #7 actually be the XP in the picture?

Mike "Big Dog" Sherrill
 
Friend Tad E

View attachment 2908

Is this the pistol you are looking for?
Serial #1654

Tad


_______________________


Friend Tad E:


Thank you for posting the picture....


No, 1654 isn't the pistol on my book cover......I can see that now...


A couple of things....


1654 was one of my personal pistols....


All of my personal pistols have my name on the bolt handle, along with the engraved number of the pistol.


XP 1654 - Copy.jpg

________________________


Tad.....

I timed the leg adjustment nuts so the little handles would point inward......out of the way, when tight.


Like this...


DSC01161.jpg


If you will play with the orientation of the nuts that the handles are attached to, you should be able to get both of the little handles to point inward......when tight...


Turn them over and maybe try them on the opposite leg....things like that......you should be able to get them both to turn inward....



One other thing....


After reading Big Dog's comments about the stock on #8, when he sold it, I'm not sure that's the same stock..


Caution.......if that isn't the original stock for #8, since it's a factory modified stock, which I like, it needs to be properly timed to the action.....


There's a correct combination of the nylon washers that go between the front and rear bedding screws and the action proper.......and sometimes no washer at all.....


If this combination isn't timed correctly, the pistol may not shoot to its full capability....


This is important......and your combination may be just fine......but if not the pistol won't shoot correctly.



Thanks again...


Your friend, BC
 
Friend Big Dog

Bill, I did sell XP personal #8 (serial # 1654) to Jim Ayers a few years ago. I'm not sure that is the pistol in the picture because #8 didn't have that black stock on it. My Calfee personal #7 XP has that black stock on it. Could personal #7 actually be the XP in the picture?

Mike "Big Dog" Sherrill

_____________________


Friend Big Dog:


I was about to call you......


Thank you for posting....


Are the last three serial numbers of #7, 403?


And..............



Is the stock on #7 a H&S, which is the brand of stock on the pistol on my book cover?

________________________


About the stock on #8, which Tad E posted a picture of:


Didn't it originally have a H&S, maybe in gray color?.....maybe even with the wide fore end?


Or am I thinking about something else?

_____________________________


Now...........


I can't see a number on the bolt handle of the pistol on the cover of my book...


DSC00975 - Copy.jpg


It could be that the pistol wasn't finished at the time of the picture.....and didn't have a number yet?


Thanks again...


Your friend, BC
 
A thank you to Mr. Jim Ayers

Regardless if this pistol was on the cover or not of your book Mr. Calfee, we are very grateful that Mr. Jim Ayers allowed us to shoot this pistol. It is very fun to shoot and impressive what it will do in such a small package. You just have to learn how to shoot them. Mr. Jim sent me this picture last night and I want to add it to the post.

CALFEE_PERSONAL_XP_#8.jpg
 
XP personal #7

Bill, the last 4#'s on personal #7 are 4055. Attached is a picture of #7. I believe #7 matches the picture on the cover of your book. The picture of #8 that Tad posted is accurate, I took that picture as well. You are correct about the type & color of the #8 stock as well.

Mike "Big Dog" Sherrill

XP #7.jpg
 
Friend Big Dog

Bill, the last 4#'s on personal #7 are 4055. Attached is a picture of #7. I believe #7 matches the picture on the cover of your book. The picture of #8 that Tad posted is accurate, I took that picture as well. You are correct about the type & color of the #8 stock as well.

Mike "Big Dog" Sherrill

View attachment 2913


_______________________


Friend Big Dog:


The mystery pistol....


Michael, I could just call you tell you what I'm going to say.....


But...........


Since so many folks have followed this adventure, let's go ahead and finish finding out about this mystery pistol here on CYA.....



First:


Do you know when you purchased #7?


The reason I ask is this....the picture on the cover of my book was taken 10-21-04...


For #7 to be the mystery pistol, you would have had to purchase it after 10-21-04...


Second:


The mystery pistol on my book cover is not blued.......#7 is....


Third:


This may simply be an optical illusion, but, it looks like the trigger shoe of the mystery pistol sits further forward than the trigger shoe of #7........again, it may just be an optical illusion...


DSC00975 - Copy.jpg


Michael, it may well turn out that #7 is the mystery pistol.....


But we need to clear up what seems to be some discrepancies......


Thank you....


Your friend, BC

_____________________________



PS:


Actually this is fun, trying to discover who owns the mystery pistol on my book cover....


Kind of like following a detective novel......

 
XP on book cover

Bill, I purchased XP personal #7 from Bob P in June of 2003. He had both XP #7 & #8 in his possession at that time. I then purchased #8 in December 2004 from him. So neither pistol may be the one. How many did you build with that brand of black stock?

Mike "Big Dog" Sherrill
 
Friend Big Dog

Bill, I purchased XP personal #7 from Bob P in June of 2003. He had both XP #7 & #8 in his possession at that time. I then purchased #8 in December 2004 from him. So neither pistol may be the one. How many did you build with that brand of black stock?

Mike "Big Dog" Sherrill


______________________


Friend Big Dog:


Thank you.......



This is getting more intriguing all the time.....



I have no idea how many pistols used the H&S stock.......the varmint model.....with the narrow fore end..


The target model is like the gray one on #8, with the wide fore-end....


I had no idea 16 years ago that this subject would come up, or I would have documented the mystery pistols serial number...




There's got to be a way to find out which pistol the mystery pistol is....


Michael, it's still possible that the mystery pistol is #7.....


James Sparks, a neighbor who did excellent bluing, did a lot of bluing for me in those days...


The mystery pistol could have been blued after the picture was taken....


And the number engraved on the bolt handle, cause it looks like there isn't one, in the picture.


DSC00975 - Copy.jpg


Here's another thing....


The black finish is primer.....I usually painted them with the black Harley Davidson texture paint...


#7 has not been painted with the black texture paint, it is still the black primer....



_____________________________


I just now discovered something interesting.....been looking through my books as I'm typing...



On June 20, 2000, I shipped XP #B7514055 to Jim Peightal for inspection......Why?

And in my books the caliber is listed as 22LR.......which means it was already converted...

And Jim returned it....


Maybe Jim remembers something about it......


This has gotten very interesting, and citing.....trying to discover the identity of the mystery pistol...


It's still possible that #7 is the mystery pistol....


We've got to find out the mystery pistol's true identity......


Your pistol fool friend, BC



the art of rimfire accuracy.jpg
 
The mystery pistol...

The mystery pistol...


Friend Big Dog:


#7 has all the indications of being the mystery pistol.....if it's not, it's an exact copy...


Michael, here's a way to prove whether #7 is the mystery pistol or not:


First of all, we have to assume the date I took this picture is incorrect......although I've checked two sources, properties, and one says 10-21-04 and the other says 10-22-04....


DSC00975.jpg


The pistol in this picture is not blued...



If the pistol in the picture on my book cover was blued after the picture was taken, the cut out I machined for the locking lugs will be blue.


Cutting locking lug seats pistol  14 2 - Copy.jpg


Big Dog, if this cut for the locking lugs is blue on #7, then #7 is probably the mystery pistol...


If the cut out is not blued, then #7 can not be the mystery pistol...


Your friend, BC
 
Locking lug cut

Bill, the locking lug cut does not appear to be blued. The dates on your pictures could reflect the date you loaded them on your computer not the actual date taken, sometimes I see that on my pictures when I transfer them between computer & phone.

Mike "Big Dog" Sherrill
 
Friend Jim Peightal

bill the pistol was sent to me for john benyo . will give john a call . jim


________________



Friend Jim Peightal:


Yes...........


Jim, that was back in 2000......



We'll be interested in seeing what input John has to offer....


We've got to determine where this mystery pistol is, and what happened to it...


And............


Is it actually Big Dog's #7 pistol?


Jim, thank you for responding....


Your friend, BC


______________________


PS:



Where is this pistol, today?


DSC00975.jpg
 
Is this a possibility?

Is this a possibility?


CYA accuracy fool friends:


Is this a possibility:


I'm pretty sure I used the camera's flash when I took these pictures.....


You can see the bright strip of light right at the stock line and extending back through the action.


Red arrows...

DSC00975 - Copy - Copy.jpg


Is it possible that this action is actually blued, but the flash has washed the blue out?


We can still see that the recoil lug is blue......


And the small end of the bolt shroud looks blue.....but the large flair of the bolt shroud looks washed out....last red arrow on the left...



Searching for answers.....


Your pistol fool friend, BC
 
Friend Jim Peightal

bill you have a e mail

_______________________


Friend Jim Peightal:


Thank you...


And I want to thank John Benyo for his E-Mail...


The reason I sent the pistol to Jim, is because he's a FFL licensee....


The pistol was for John Benyo to see if it would be competitive shooting bottle caps, which is big in their area.


It was not truly competitive, and John said it did not have the black H&S stock on it, like the pistol on the cover of my book and Big Dog's #7 pistol...

This was in 2000.....


Thank you again Jim and John...


By the way...........


I converted a Hart #4, unlimited, center fire bench rest action to rimfire for John....rail gun action...


Hart actions used Remington 40-X bolts....


But we did something different........about the barrel...


Cap shooters were using riflse with massive barrels at that time, and no muzzle devices...


So I suggested to John we try a contemporary size RFBR barrel with a MD on the big Hart..


So we did, and John has won a ton of cap matches with that big #4 Hart, with a small RFBR barrel and muzzle device.


I've lost my photographs of that big Hart rifle....


Anyway.................



It looks like we're back to square one.....with the mystery pistol..


As it stands at this moment....



The most likely possibility is that Big Dog's #7 pistol is the pistol on my book cover..


The biggest fly in the ointment, is the date Big Dog acquired #7 and the date I took the picture that's on the cover of my book...


Big Dog acquired #7 about a year before the date I took the picture...


A big question is, is the date I took the picture correct.......I know Big Dog's purchase date is correct...FFL records show that...



Still searching.....



Your friend, BC


Who owns this pistol......Big Dog?.......maybe..
.

the art of rimfire accuracy.jpg

 
Friend Jim Peightal:

bill you have a e mail


_____________________________


Friend Jim Peightal:


I've been going over old photographs and things trying to figure out the story of the pistol on my book cover...


And I ran across this photograph.

I don't remember what year this was, but I've got on one of Mary Sherrill's long sleeve tee-shirts she made for folks...along with a big hug.....



P1000149.jpg


Anyway....



Jim, here's what I've decided to do:



I'm going to take the XP action I've been trying to convert for the past 13 years, install it in the black XP stock that was on my 40-X pistol, maybe screw a barrel into it.....


And probably mount a scope on it......maybe the same one that's on the mystery pistol...


Now, the action is not fully converted, so I'll put the front half of a 40-X bolt in the loading port, this way I'll have a blued XP that closely resembles the Mystery pistol, save for not having a bolt handle......



Then I'm going to the range and set the pistol up on the same bench as the mystery pistol was on, and I'll use the same camera, yes I still use it today....it's 18 years old....or so....


I'll put the camera on flash and set it on the same bench it was sitting on when I photographed the mystery pistol, and take some pictures.....


I want to see if using the flash washes out the blue of the receiver......


If it doesn't, then the mystery pistol was in the white, not blued, when I took the picture in 2004...


If the blue is washed out, then most likely Big Dog's #7 pistol is the mystery pistol...



DSC00975 - Copy - Copy.jpg


Your pistol fool friend, BC
 
Back
Top Bottom