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I have to tell you guys about when I met Art. It was at the Second Chance shoot and it must have been 1980, that was my second year, the same year I met Mr. Behlert. Boy was that a big deal for me, to meet this guy (Austin) who was such a legend. Second Chance went on for just over a week so you could get to know people, and I met Art and his wife, Austin's daughter. In those days there was a four man team event, one pump shotgun, one auto shotgun, one handgun and one machinegun. The machinegun position might have been sort of a "wildcard" position to be filled by whatever the team chose, not sure now, but I seem to remember it was for something full auto. I had made a verrrry heavy-barreled AR15 top end, especially for Second Chance, and somehow I got on a four man tam with Art and I think two of his chums, I don't really remember now who the guys were. I used a select-fire lower of Richard Davis' and a goofy 60-round mag he'd had made by welding two 30-rounders together.
I'm sorry to say I don't really remember how we did, other than I felt that I let the other three guys down since my Franken-M-sixteen did not work very well on some of the tables, and when it did, well, 5.56 just ain't a pin load. What I do have is a picture, framed and hanging in the shop, of us shooting. Oh, those Second Chance days, they were good days.
People camped out on the grounds of the shoot. Individuals or groups of people would have a campfire ( of shot-up bowling pins, boy do they burn nice). In later years I would learn to socialize a bit and sometimes go from campfire to campfire, drinking and BSing, but in these early years I was pretty timid. So when Art invited me to come hang out with him and his gang at their campfire, well, it was just a big honor for me way beyond what it might seem like. I probably didn't talk much, and when I did, it was mostly questions, about how it was working at such a place. I looked up to him first because he was working at what I considered the most prestigious shop extant, but I soon came to respect and admire him for his own experiences and knowledge, too. And, well, at that time I hadn't been around too many people with such a pronouced New Jersey accent, and that lent a whole 'nother aspect of coolness to this guy! Accents on American English fascinated me even back then, and I managed to come out of my shell a little and razz Art and Cathy a bit about it, and we all "taught" each other some words in our respective languages (soda [NJ] = pop [MI], "roof" in NJ is "rufe", here in MI the oo part is pronounced as it is in "foot").
They came to Second Chance for the next 3-4 years and although I don't claim to have become close friends with Art, we always found time to catch up a bit. I am very sorry to hear that we've lost him, and I will not only not forget him, I will always remember him very fondly. Art, thanks for letting me into your circle and for giving me my first look into doing guns for a living.
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