Rare TLA

[sixshot]

I posted a photo of this gun a few years ago but someone ask about it yesterday so I called my friend who owns it & she sent me these 3 photo's. The back story is, her dad was Glenn Foley, a very talented machinist who lived in Texas & did a lot of work for Bill Grover. In trade for some of the barrel work Bill gave him this South Texas Army "One Of One Thousand" serial #1 45 Colt. Later Glenn Foley moved here to Soda Springs, Idaho, following his daughter who married a friend of mine.
Glenn did a lot of custom machining for the local mining companies in the area for many years before his passing. His wife, daughter & son still live here. When I was first shown this gun it wouldn't cock for some reason, my gunsmith son corrected that problem. I'm sure some of you that know more about TLA's can probably shed a bit more light on this model.




Dick

[contender]

NICE! I'll contact a guy who's been working on a book on the TLA's. He'll want to see this.

[cubrock]

Given the fluting pattern and the color case hardening, that is an earlier production gun. I'd be curious to see the base pin out of the gun, as Grover's very early guns had a base pin that had a smaller diameter at the breech end than the rest of the pin. He later made the diameter the same from the front to back.

Glenn Foley's initals are part of the serial number, so that is not serial number 1. Serial number one would be "A 1" and almost certainly was a gun Grover kept. He did not like getting rid of serial number 1 guns. Usually, he reserved serial numbers 1 through 5 for himself or to give to special people. He very often incorporated initials followed by a "1" into a serial number like on this gun. I own a couple like that that came from the original owners.

The stocks look like pecan, which he occasionally used. Pecan is quite common in the Houston, TX area and he burned it as firewood. I had one gun with spectacularly grained pecan stocks that came from a piece of wood out of his firewood pile.

Really neat gun. That is one I'd love to see firsthand. Those early guns are very uncommon, as he was doing almost all the work on them single-handedly, with limited help from others. Around 1992, he hired people that did most of the work and most of his guns come from the 1992-1997 time period.

[marcruger]

I really enjoyed that post Cubrock.

[potatojudge]

Very neat gun. Thanks for sharing.

That case coloring has its own character, not cyanide nor Turnbull style. Just shows how variable coloring can be based on whatever alchemy is used.

No idea if Grover ever used Mesquite, but one could make near identical stocks out of spalted mesquite.

[45MAN]

GROVER DID USE MESQUITE, AT LEAST ONCE THAT I KNOW OF, ON A CUSTOM 5 SHOT SS 45 COLT No. 5 HE MADE FOR ME LONG AGO.

[cubrock]

He did use mesquite. I've seen a couple TLAs with mesquite stocks.

[drycreek]

I almost had Grover build a sixgun for me around ‘90 or ‘91. The cost was gonna be $1,200, I remember that well. The fact that I was only making about twice that per month at the time was definitely a factor when I decided not to. My Super Blackhawk that I had at the time paled in comparison to the price of a custom. Things you regret…….

[taffin]

.44 SPECIAL SOUTH TEXAS ARMY THAT CAME FROM BILL ABOUT 40 YEARS AGO


postimg.cc/SXdXfyZq

[kings6]

I used to own Bills personal Bordet Special in 44 mag and it wore some pecan sticks he made out of a chunk of firewood he had!

[sixshot]

Ran into Dee at the PO today & she sent me a photo of the right side of the TLA that belonged to her dad, Glenn Foley. If you look close you can see the number 1 in a couple of different places on the trigger guard & butt. Not sure what they mean. I can get the gun if you need to look at the base pin.

Dick

[cubrock]

Sept 21, 2022 16:40:05 GMT -5 sixshot said:

Ran into Dee at the PO today & she sent me a photo of the right side of the TLA that belonged to her dad, Glenn Foley. If you look close you can see the number 1 in a couple of different places on the trigger guard & butt. Not sure what they mean. I can get the gun if you need to look at the base pin.

Dick

Grover often numbered other parts of the gun to the gun, so the 1s you see in the pics are probably that. Very common to see the triggerguard and backstrap so numbered. He later used assembly numbers on some parts to keep parts together during production and assembly of a gun.

I'd love to see a pic of the base pin out of the gun if it is no trouble to you or her. If it is, no sweat. Either way, that is an early gun and I appreciate your/her sharing it.

[taffin]

Sept 21, 2022 12:22:24 GMT -5 kings6 said:

I used to own Bills personal Bordet Special in 44 mag and it wore some pecan sticks he made out of a chunk of firewood he had!

I HAD THAT GUN FOR TESTING WAY BACK WHEN

[x101airborne]

That's pretty cool!

[reflex264]

For Mr. Taffin