While I was in Cody (see last post), I stopped off at the John Linebaugh Memorial Shoot. John was a family friend, who not only made time for us whenever we were out west, but also taught my daughters to rope. He spent many hours educating me on revolvers and cartridges, and one of my favorite guns is a 45 Colt that he built some years ago. It is as tight and accurate today as it was then.
When John passed away we were unable to make it to the funeral, a regret I will always have. To make it worse, after he was gone, I decided I needed a little front sight work done on it. I asked a local smith with a stellar reputation to do the work. He did, and the work is fine, but he ran into a problem re-bluing the barrel. I did not expect him to take the barrel off, but he did. Anyway, he ended up Cerakoting the barrel and put it back together. He did not bother to call me about it, and when I went to pick it up, he said that he just needed it to be black and back in one piece. To say I was aghast is an understatement. He is no longer in business.
The shoot was just starting when we arrived, so we visited with some of the guys there for a bit and then departed. Hopefully next year, we will bring the Linebaugh 45 back home and fling some lead at the 1000 yard buffalo target they have. The picture at the top is a memorial that the Irma set up for John. He was a regular at the restaurant. They also have a plaque on a bench outside the front door. If you get over to Cody, make sure to stop by and enjoy some Rocky Mountain Oysters, and pay your respects to one of the pioneers of our craft.
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