The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1939-09-14

When he found he could reassemble without parts
yet the bench he became in essence gunsmith
-. 1T was in 13 when first did gunsmthng," he
said. OF course, he explained that like any
fellow just starting out Just monkeying."
But that same monkeying developed Walt
became interested. Il suppose you might call
the beginning hobby" he said. Now it's a
hobby ridden right into business from small stand
Main Street. He's always liked guns, the assoca-
tons of the field. You'd have to like it," he says
For the business doesn't exactly deal in groceries
necessities It's luxury line ridden by more and
lobbyists each year. But gunsmithing is skill
in which man learns the working order of variety
of guns Therein lies the greatest grief of the
work. Wages in proportion to the skilled time that
must be put in cannot be commanded.
Now as the darkness before the dawn of the fall
hunting season comes Walt is busy. His business is
paced, not only from fixing guns in need of a bit
of touching up, but from his second patented inven-
tion This year he's out with an idea for i'm
provement in gun safety Just how he hit the idea
is not quite clear But the background lies in the
fact that he's close enough to the scene to know
that added safety is not without it's place. More
than that he interested in safety feature that
could be employed in the feld-without spelling
chances for shot. The futter of wings and fussing
with safety catch just don't work hand in hand.
For several years he has toyed with the idea scrap
ping this feature and adding that until-well, now
he's manufacturing his auxiliary safety device.
Essentially it's simple gadget Over the trig-
ger guard opposite the side from which the hunter
inserts his finger, goes hinged door-like piece of
metal. From it juts metal knob that lies in back
OF the trigger. The knob holds the gun from firing
from jar. In crowds it's advisable he points out
to augment its function with the regular safety
feature of the gun. But in the field-thats where
Waits idea blooms brightest. " In the field,
he says, most hunters don't use the safety" .
But with his gadget you have it on always When
you go shoot, you disregard it's presence Slip
your finger into the guard, squeeze (don't pulp the
trigger and presto, the action has swung the door
outward, disengaged the pin behind the trigger. A
sprnged hinge you the door will flop back
into safety position when the finger is removed from
the trigger.
Another of his ideas, that he has in the concrete
form of metal, is an automatic choke for guns to
regulate the pattern of shot It's rather ingenious
believe. Just to aid in the DISCOURSE suppose this
situation confronts you. You're gun is set with the
choke for a wide scattering of shot. A bird gets
up quite near you pull up to shoot And at the in
slant another farther stirs his wings and rises
over the brush. . You pull the nearest bird
and your shot is scattered he won't be blown to
bits. In that action the recoil has kicked the
choke to a new position that concentrates the pat
tern for the more distant shot That's how 1t
works. More deeply its function is simply to
delay the wad that follows the shot group Ordin-
ary the wad and gases setup in the discharge push
heavily the shot. The barrel, narrower at the
end, jams the shot in small group, the wad pushes.
AS it reaches the barrels end the wad breaks into
the shot scatters it widely. The choke is so
arranged to delay that wad fraction of an in
slant. The shot is released in a pattern far more
concentrated.
There's an atmosphere about his shop. An array
of toos-fles in every conceivable shape drills from
needle point keenness-bank his workbench. over
head the mounted head and forepaws of a moose add
flavor. rifle scroed engraving in brass and silver
hangs silently from the mounting. The old
muzzle loading type is believed to be about hun
dred wears old. There's date on it, but 1T
uses a percussion cap" Walt said. 1T can't be
over a hundred because in the 1S3Os the percussion
cap came out" So Walt and his tools charge
again into hunting season.
Guf-Loud wailing and gnashing of teeth as
sugar and flour prices advanced. Sugar In ten
pound lots up nearly two bits in two weeks Ana
butter taking it's first advance last week In many
months Hoped a one-cent retail Jump from us
pegged top of twenty-seven. Talk is that Com
panv M-Carl Fischer's company-along with the
National Guard unit everywhere will be increased
in personnel from it's peacetime strength. May
even get trench mortars to work WITH local
made four hundred bucks stocks the other sunny
day For some Christmas toys, that are even
now being unpacked in local houses, you may see the
last Off war continues. German stun is all OH
the market as of now. Geek Cor rather the late
Czeckoslovala) toys completely cut OH. ana
the had special knack for making the STONES
for dime a-throw joory But it is understood tnat
Czecks have been imported to move the industry
to this hemisphere.
OF people-Merrill Forsberg, localad now IN
Branerd, will have ten years with the teico apous
the last of this month decade ago ne started
in the local office cleaning floors and hauling asnes
The regime was that of Bob Schwalen. ana Mei'
rills only % young man; an Ola tiiiei.
Don Hanson NAV have something in this itein
Now a clarinet member of the Legion paIo' I'm -
PLAYING with a vim and vigor. UP to the time ne
Joined the band a year ago, Don hadn't toucheo tine
instrument since IT. Think of it!