Art Freund, one of my closest friends for the last 32 years, died Thurday morning at 1:30. He went into hospice care about two weeks ago when the cancer that had been driven off a decade ago came back. He was 86.
Art was one of the country's most skilled benchrest gunsmiths and competitors, with dozens of world records to his credit. For many years he held the 10-shot 300 yard Heavy Bench record at .691", set in the early '70s with a rifle he had built himself, and by that I mean the action started as a block of 4140. He had the target taped up on one of the tool chests in his shop, and as I recall, six or seven of the ten shots were in one hole. "I squirted a few," he used to joke whenever he saw someone looking at it.
Over the years and starting when I was too young to drive, I spent hundreds of hours down in Art's basement, "helping" with various gunsmithing projects. He probably could have finished most of them more quickly alone, but he was always willing to let me be part of the process.
He built over two dozen match, varmint, and dangerous game rifles for me over the last 30 years, built (and barreled) an action in .50 BMG Improved back in 1977 when there were no commercial .50 actions available, and finished dozens of other projects. He made the brass cases for the 4-bore I took to Africa, converted my M95 .30-40 to .458, did lots of custom work on machine guns for me (Art liked ALL guns), made a .223 linker/delinker, produced countless benchrest dies for the rifles he built, and even machined parts for the Corvette-engined motorcycle I built. His last job for me was early this year, cutting down a S&W 500 to 6" with no comp and a half lug, so I could try to convince S&W at the SHOT show to build them that way.
Some of my happiest memories are of going prairie dog hunting in Wyoming with Art and his son Bob. We drove up, shared gas expenses and a room in a cheap hotel, and I figured out the trip cost me under $80 total, plus about $135 in component costs for the 1200 rounds of .223 I fired. It was the best cost/fun ratio of any vacation I ever went on.
Being a gunsmith was Art's second job. His main employment, until he retired, was as a photoengraver for the Post-Dispatch. He (and his wife Helen) managed to raise nine children, work a full time job, build record-setting rifles for customers, set records himself, and still find time for the offbeat projects dreamed up by people like me.
One of my favorite memories of Art was the delight he took in my own love of big-bore rifles. He examined my Gil Van Horn-built .510 Wells (arguably my most effective dangerous game rifle) and decided to build a duplicate for himself. He was over 75 at the time. I guess there was a bit of John Buhmiller in him...
There's an old saying that it's far better to wear out than to rust out. Art used to lament the way doctors had prolonged his brother's life at the cost of tremendous pain and misery. Given that a month or so ago, Art was driving, doing gun work, and shooting a couple times a week, I'd say his own last days were much closer to the way most of us would like to go: Quickly, but with enough time for our family and friends to say their goodbyes.
We are diminished...
JR
And yes, Art was the inspiration for "Curt Behnke" in Unintended Consequences.
Art was one of the country's most skilled benchrest gunsmiths and competitors, with dozens of world records to his credit. For many years he held the 10-shot 300 yard Heavy Bench record at .691", set in the early '70s with a rifle he had built himself, and by that I mean the action started as a block of 4140. He had the target taped up on one of the tool chests in his shop, and as I recall, six or seven of the ten shots were in one hole. "I squirted a few," he used to joke whenever he saw someone looking at it.
Over the years and starting when I was too young to drive, I spent hundreds of hours down in Art's basement, "helping" with various gunsmithing projects. He probably could have finished most of them more quickly alone, but he was always willing to let me be part of the process.
He built over two dozen match, varmint, and dangerous game rifles for me over the last 30 years, built (and barreled) an action in .50 BMG Improved back in 1977 when there were no commercial .50 actions available, and finished dozens of other projects. He made the brass cases for the 4-bore I took to Africa, converted my M95 .30-40 to .458, did lots of custom work on machine guns for me (Art liked ALL guns), made a .223 linker/delinker, produced countless benchrest dies for the rifles he built, and even machined parts for the Corvette-engined motorcycle I built. His last job for me was early this year, cutting down a S&W 500 to 6" with no comp and a half lug, so I could try to convince S&W at the SHOT show to build them that way.
Some of my happiest memories are of going prairie dog hunting in Wyoming with Art and his son Bob. We drove up, shared gas expenses and a room in a cheap hotel, and I figured out the trip cost me under $80 total, plus about $135 in component costs for the 1200 rounds of .223 I fired. It was the best cost/fun ratio of any vacation I ever went on.
Being a gunsmith was Art's second job. His main employment, until he retired, was as a photoengraver for the Post-Dispatch. He (and his wife Helen) managed to raise nine children, work a full time job, build record-setting rifles for customers, set records himself, and still find time for the offbeat projects dreamed up by people like me.
One of my favorite memories of Art was the delight he took in my own love of big-bore rifles. He examined my Gil Van Horn-built .510 Wells (arguably my most effective dangerous game rifle) and decided to build a duplicate for himself. He was over 75 at the time. I guess there was a bit of John Buhmiller in him...
There's an old saying that it's far better to wear out than to rust out. Art used to lament the way doctors had prolonged his brother's life at the cost of tremendous pain and misery. Given that a month or so ago, Art was driving, doing gun work, and shooting a couple times a week, I'd say his own last days were much closer to the way most of us would like to go: Quickly, but with enough time for our family and friends to say their goodbyes.
We are diminished...
JR
And yes, Art was the inspiration for "Curt Behnke" in Unintended Consequences.
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