A visit with Linebaugh

[kevshell]

My wife and I were out in Montana on our annual elk hunting trip and decided to swing by and see John down in Cody. The elk hunting photos will come in another post. Part of it was a thank you for pulling together my last project. However I always enjoy visiting with him. He's a walking encyclopedia set. I learn tons every time I'm there and always have a few books to order once I leave. John had my wife take a picture with him holding his double barrel as a prop only because he's not built her one yet. However he has a donor in the safe waiting for her place in line. We think it's going to be a No. 5 variation.

It's also great to meet friends and acquaintances of people within this small community. I was having a conversation with someone else recently about how the custom single action community is actually pretty small. I ended up meeting one gentleman who spent his life in law enforcement. He was definitely very interesting to talk to. And then that led to another visit with another gentleman who is an avid collector of John and Dustin customs as well as Freedom Arms. It's amazing how much you learn once you just open your eyes and open your ears. A lot of these guys have forgot more than some of us will ever know.

[iwsbull]

Sounds like a great time I am envious.

[x101airborne]

Heck yeah! Sounds like a great time!

[dobegrant]

awesome

[pacecars]

I have only spoken to him on the phone after I bought one of his revolvers from a member on here. He was friendly and of course knowledgeable about revolvers and his in particular. He immediately took down my address and sent me a bunch of reloading info and some other stuff and said to call him anytime if I have any problems. It was nice to actually talk to a gunsmith on the phone on the first ring

[kevshell]

That's the man I have come to know. He's a good guy. Pretty talented too.

[aciera]

I’ve many times seen him answer the phone in the middle of some operation and be on the phone for an hour answering questions and giving advice. Always gracious.

One time a caller wanted a 500. John told him a 45 would work very well for all he wanted.

The caller stated he needed the 500 because:
“But the Whitetails are really big around here!!!!!”

John was gracious.

[kevshell]

Nov 15, 2022 12:45:14 GMT -5 pacecars said:

I have only spoken to him on the phone after I bought one of his revolvers from a member on here. He was friendly and of course knowledgeable about revolvers and his in particular. He immediately took down my address and sent me a bunch of reloading info and some other stuff and said to call him anytime if I have any problems. It was nice to actually talk to a gunsmith on the phone on the first ring

My first interaction with John was somewhat like what was referenced with Pacecars and aciera. I purchased a 500 off of GunBroker a while back and when I got it I sent a picture to another member here. He asked me what the build number was. I didn't know enough to know where to look so he told me where to look. There was no build number. And I immediately thought I may have bought a knock off or minimally something that was misrepresented. And as you could imagine it was not a small sum of money. At that point I didn't give a flying fig whether I knew John or not, I was going to figure this out very quickly whether I got conned or not. I made one phone call and John picked up. We spent about an hour on the phone. He educated me on the fact that the build numbers had moved from the bottom of the cylinder frame to hiding them under the base pin where it mates up to the cylinder frame. He put my fears to rest very quickly but then he and I got to talking and it further sold me on him. He's just a good guy and has no problem going out of his way for people. And he stands behind his work!