ltwguns.com

My summer vacation this year was a little different than years past. I decided to take a trip to Phoenix in the middle of summer to hang out with Bailey, Bonitz, Yost and company (sounds like a bunch of lawyers huh )

Steve was busy futzing around with some stainless commander he picked up at some gun store:







Ted was busy working on a new 10mm

Here is a Series 80 Delta slide...



Ted did a really cool conversion to Series 70


Ray was just busy... I lost track of all the guns he was working on:




Micah was working on rifles and one of the famous Yost-Bonitz design muzzle brakes:

The boys were conferring on just what needed to happen next:



I got to get my hands on this amazing Lightweight Commander:





And to top it all off, I got to finish a pistol I started building with Ted's help back in April. I'm pretty happy with the end result!



The Yost-Bonitz hammer looks really sharp when blued! Just don't say it looks like a Kimber hammer :doh:

It was a great weekend. My thanks to Ted, Lew, Steve, Ray, and Micah! They were great hosts, and I had a fantastic time!

Thanks guys!!!!!!

--Mark

Hey!!!

No pics of the old guy in his glasses You know the rules!

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Heirloom Precision, LLC.
480-804-1911

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

TR

Now that's my kind of vacation!! I wish I could have gone; Steve told me you were coming out and he figured it be great to have me show up as well. I had actually planned on coming, but due to circumstances at home and at work I was unable to come out. I am looking forward to the Shot Show though (at the rate my luck has been going, I will probably be recovering from back surgery that was originally scheduled for 12/03, then rescheduled to 4/04, and now appears to be imminent - I wont hold my breath though). I am glad you had a great time and an opportunity to make one fine blaster under the tutledge of the Masters.

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John Del Pinto

Nice post Mark, and thanks for the photos. It sounds like a nice way to spend your vacation. It looks like they are going to have to add-on to the shop soon. Perhaps they need to build a visiting smith bench! Nice work on the pistols BTW, either you are a good student or Ted is a good teacher; or both!

I have said it before and ill say it again; it is such a pleasure to find such craftsman as those at YBC who take the time to spend with customers and treat them as friends. I have experienced this during a brief (day long) visit to the shop. When I receive the finished products from Ted, et al they will be firearms customized for me by a group of friends. “Priceless”

Jim

Thanks for the post Mark. It is nice to be able to put faces with the reputations. What a great way to spend a vacation. Maybe Ted could start a "fanasty pistolsmith" camp

Tom

NO, NO, NO, you're doing it wrong!
Vacations are spent driving 700 miles to visit in-laws, with a crippled-up back, and two small kids with us. And it's best to go there (Georgia) when it's summer, and 9,000 degrees.
There is no fun allowed.
None.
None at all.

Vacation?????

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Don Williams
http://www.theactionworks.com
http://www.ltwguns.com

Vaction???, heck that would be my dream job to apprentice in their shop. The best of the best. I'm just a hobby 1911 smith and would love to be scolded by the masters.

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"Walk softly and carry a big stick."
Theodore Roosevelt

Mark,
Really enjoyed your "travelogue". Now I can put some faces on these names BEFORE I get to Arizona (which I WILL do soon)!
Great pictures of the men and their work.
Thanks for taking the time.

Best,
Jeffro

Mark, Great photos! I have one question though.... What the hell happened to Stevie's hair?

Lou

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Alessi Holsters, Inc.
You'll never know it's there, until you need it...

Working with Lew has caused it to start falling out

It really was a great trip. Pretty soon, they are gonna have to start charging admission. The Yost-Bonitz fantasy gunbuilding summer camp....

Probably that gas thing

_________________
Don Williams
http://www.theactionworks.com
http://www.ltwguns.com

I had a full head of hair when I started in the shop. I think it is from doing U-turns under the sheets.

_________________
Heirloom Precision, LLC.
480-804-1911

"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking."
- General George Patton Jr