Evening star., 1957-12-20

20
smiths story Of how the K
the gunsmith's private sporting
rife and ordered him to make
100 exact copies at q cost Of
more than $500 each.
The gunsmith is Norman r.
Strebe. whose plant Is at 540l
Marlboro pike. Hillside. Md.
It happened during King
Saud's ofiicial visit to WASH
ington last winter. SO impa-
tient were the Saudi Arabians
70 MI the kings desires that
Strebe says they rejected ar
rangements for shipping the
rifles and had the first SO air
expressed at fantastic cost.
Also sent by plane were many
thousand rounds Of ammuni-
ton.
Tells About Visit
Strebe. whose skin stems
from three generations of gun
smiths. made his private rife
in his own plant. Claiming the
biggest shop of its kind as well
as the biggest stock Of parts in
the United States. Strebe often
supplies parts for foreign guns
to the very countries In which
they were made.
Thus his reputation has
spread and the Saudi Arabians
had seen samples Of his craft
manship.
His story goes like this:
~ received . cali from The
State Department. An official
party Of Saudi Arabians was
to visit my shop. They arrived
and I showed them around. in
cluding my personal gun col.
lection.
They admired the .3Os cali
Der rifle ! had made for my
self and asked to show It to
the king. They kept it and
some others for q time and
then one day called TO say.
King Saud wants 100 just
like this one"
Strebe was forced TO inter-
rupt an important contract to
fill the order. but though he
kept the initial amount to 50.
was allowed only 80 days. In
fact, the Saudi Arabians in
sisted that the order date from
the time Of the kings decision
and not from the date of the
contract. several days later.
Stock Of Fine Walnut
The gunsmith's rife had q
stock Of tiger-striped Circas-
sian walnut made from a piece
Of choice wood passed on to
him by his grandfather. Both
his father and grandfather had
been gunsmiths in Nuremberg.
Germany.
Strebe's first step was TO
write to suppliers all over the
country for their finest pieces
Of Cifcassian walnut. These
blanks cost him from $50 to
$40 each. From them his
workers turned out. checkered
and finished the stocks.
Next the barrels and mech
anism were manufactured and
blued. Strebe's rifle has a
chrome-vanadium steel barrel
which is impervious to damage.
1t can't rust and even resists
acid. All exterior metal parts.
with the exception Of the bolt
and clip. which are chromed,
are blued steel. hand engraved.
A tip Of polished Asiatic buff
fall horn sets of the foreend.
The rife has two triggers.
The first when pulled sets the
second for hair-trigger opera
tion.
Scopes Attached
Finally. Strebe attached Ak
Lyman scopes on Jaeger
mounts so designed that they
slip of when desired with a
flick Of a lever.
With the first so rifles out
Of the way, Strebe is working
on other rush orders and soon
hopes TO start producing the
remaining SO for the king.
Strebe's shop is deceptive.
From the street It looks like
a rather small brick store. In
side 1t contains an amazing
amount Of space, all filled TO
capacity with guns. parts and
machines for making and re-
pairing them.
For instance, Strebe can do
his own bluing, true barrels
that are out Of line and install
chokes on shotguns. a Job usu-
ally done at the factory.
Tools In Warehouses
Right now the place is clut-
tered with thousands Of re-
volvers, models Of early revolv-
ers, all from the Iver johnson
corporation. Strebe recently
bought all the parts and tools