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[flattop44]

Don, Jim and John, I am so blessed to know you guys and call you my friends!! We sure have some great times messing with these old Rugers!!
Bill

[Ruger8r]

Gentlemen, thank you for reminiscing here on the forum. Sharing your stories is a way for us newbies to connect to and appreciate Ruger collecting history. Good times for sure.
Owen

[Fargolimo]

Just WOW! To be accumulating Ruger's for less than 4 years and know a few of the "masters" is an absolute honor! What a special feeling it is to actually meet and get to know them on even a basic level is beyond cool! Thanks to all of you! Bill
Hello Guys,

Hoober's recollection brings back a lot of fond memories from the Amarillo days. I was born and raised and lived in Amarillo until 1980. Donnie lived in Lubbock, 100 miles south and Jim lived in Canadian, 100 miles east, so the Pioneer Gun Collector's show was a perfect meeting place for us, twice a year.

The display that Jim talks about was about 20-30 single-actions spread out on a table, each with a dowel through the trigger guard to stand it up, this was before computers, so description cards were hand written.

Jim and Donnie was right, "We both had a good laugh on that. Rugers...who would collect them". I was a carpenter and didn't have a lot of money to spend on Colts SAA, I wanted to to collect and shoot single-action revolvers.

The late Ben Lane Jr., a celebrated firearms engraver who Jim and Donnie also knew was also a close friend of mine, we shot in an indoor pistol league and on the out door range when the weather was nice. At one time he toured with the great Ben Hogan, so he tried to teach me golf, I never scored under 100, Ben regularly shot par or under, he commented one day, "why don't you collect Ruger single-actions", so did. And, who would have thought that we would be where we are today.

Aside from the Amarillo gun show, we would travel throughout the year to visit each other, I remember Thanksgiving and Christmas at the Hoobler's. Marge always prepared a feast fit for a king and they had property that we could hunt and fish on.

We would spend the night at Donnie' and Gail's house and go to he Lubbock show, He always took us out to eat good Mexican food or BBQ. On occasion the four of us would meet half way between Amarillo and Lubbock and enjoy a nice lunch.

Donnie and Jim of course spent the night at my house when they came to the Amarillo gun show.

For more than 50 years the three of us have been blessed with with an unwavering bond. I can't imagine my life without them being part of it.

regards, John