Hiya Steve,
Thanks for chiming in with the opinions. When I still lived back in the Boulder/Longmont, CO area, I too had purchased several rifles from Dave Carter over the years that I still am rather fond of, and all of which I still have, except that Ruger No.1. He was always very fair in his dealings with me as far as I was concerned, and I really appreciated that.
I never knew Gene Hopper, but I did know Dick Hodgson. He was a friend of my dad's and also a customer of mine in the camera store that I managed in Boulder. Dick and Lynton McKenzie would come in occasionally with a question about how to do this or that photographically.
My dad and I stopped by Dick's house one time when I had a question about how to make my own checkering tool cutters. Dick was all too happy to explain the process he used to me. (I regret now that I never tried his method/process and always just bought my cutters.) Before we took off, he asked if we'd like to see something kinda special. How could we refuse an offer like that! Then he opened a fully fitted luggage case that he had made that held the Hodgson-McKenzie No. 1 rifle that is discussed and appears on pages 93-95 in Clayton's book, 'RUGER NO. 1'. He asked me if I wanted to hold it, and I said I was too afraid to hold it. He said holding it wouldn't hurt it. So I did! What an unforgettable treat that was! Ah, the memories!
