Les Bauska

[larryo_1]

For those of you who might be interested, Les Bauska a well known barrel maker and gunsmith of Kalispell, Montana has passed away.  He had made several rifle barrels for me over the years and I treasure those greatly.

[Buck Stinson]

I was born and raised in Kalispell and practically grew up in Les's shop.  At the tender age of 11, my dad would drop me off at the shop at 7PM, two nights each week.  My job was to sort gun parts.  Marlin, Winchester, Remington, Colt, Mauser, you name the part and it could be found somewhere.  Every part had a place in a labled cigar box on a shelf or under a bench.  It was easy for Les and I to decide on my pay scale....I got to keep every "antique" Winchester part I could find.  Everything from 1873 receivers to front, rear and tang mounted sights.  I could also keep all of the old ammunition I found, whether it was a full or partial box or single individual rounds.  That was 51 years ago and to this day, I still have most of the sights and ammunition and quite a few good early parts.  The stories I could tell about being in that shop and the sounds and smells associated with gun making, are endless.  I have a matched pair of oak pedistal display cases that I bought from Les when I was in my early 20's.  Both have Winchester name plates on them.  I have many historic pieces that I have aquired from him over the years, including his shop sign with an 1873 Winchester carbine mounted on the board.  His brother Glen, who I also new very well, made this sign for Les back in the 50's.  Les gave this to me on the 26th of February, 2002, when I was back in Kalispell for a visit.   If it had not been for Les and the things he taught me, I would not be the person I am today.  He changed my life and he will always be one of my hero's.

[larryo_1]

Buck:

My mom and dad went to High School with Les and my Dad worked on the Geological Surveys with Arnold.  Dad and Les were pretty good friends over the years.  As I said,  I got several rifle barrels from him and even a few old shotguns.  One he helped me convert to a muzzle-loader.  That was and is a 10 gauge.  I really missed out in not getting some of his books that he had and got rid of but that is the breaks.   Back in the late 50's Dad gave Les a 10 pound coffee can of Cannon grade black powder that Dad had been using for a splitting gun that he used to split larch logs into fence posts.  Les used that stuff up in a cannon that he and Bill Wise had made.  That was a long time ago also as Bill passed away this past year.

[Buck Stinson]

Yes, it was great growing up in Kalispell with those old time gun guys.  And boy were there a lot of them.  Both collectors and shooters.  When I was young, it never occured to me that someday they would all be gone.   They were definately a different breed back then.   Do you remember the old Topperwein poster that Les had hanging in the shop?  There are pictures of both Ad Topperwein and his wife "Plinky".  Written in pencil under Plinky's photo it says, "August 27, 1941, Sincerely Yours, Mrs. Ad Topperwein" then Ad signed it under his photo.  The Topperweins were shooting exhibition for Winchester, at the fairgrounds in Kalispell, when Les got this poster.  He also gave me what's left of a White Flyer clay pigeon that he picked up off the ground where they had been shooting.  He told me that Plinky had been shooting these White Flyers out of Ad's fingers, with a .22 caliber revolver, while looking backwards over her shoulder in a mirror.  This particular one hit the ground when Ad dropped it and broke into pieces like a small pie with a bullet hole right in the middle.  Because of the soft dirt in the outside arena, Les was able to pick up all the pieces and them in a small box for over 40 years.  Knowing that I still had the poster, he gave me the White Flyer in the mid 1980's.

[larryo_1]

I remember that well.  also there was a muzzle-loader target that had some holes in the bull.  That was shot when we had the "Old" Flathead Muzzle-Loaders active back in the early 60's out at the old Paul Gibbs farm.  Another old timer that is no longer with us  was John Buhmiller.  He was pals with my grandad who had owned the Eagle Shoe Store back in the day.  You are surely right in that those folks are now all gone now.

[Buck Stinson]

Who was your grandpa?

[larryo_1]

Arthur Hollensteiner.  He had had a hardware store in Demersville before there was a Kalispell.

[Buck Stinson]

John and Les were great friends.  When I was a kid in the late 50's early 60's, John was still taking trips to Africa.  When he would return from these trips, the Buhmillers would come over to our house and John would show home movies of his hunts.  I would give anything to have some of those old movies.  His shop on south Woodland Drive was very small, but full of artifacts from these trips.  I remember elephant tusks leaning up in the corners of his small office and the racks full of exotic bolt guns he had developed for his hunts.  I still have a few momentoes he gave me, but my prized posession is his silver pocket watch and chain.  It is a key wind Walthum with hunter case, made in 1863.  To this day, it only looses about six minutes every twelve hours.  I got the watch after John passed away. 

[larryo_1]

Another one of the "Old Ones" was a gunsmith by name of Ralph Pike.  He invented the "Pike" mount for scopes that the King sight company latched onto.  My Dad knew ol' Ralph very well and He had him make  a set of those mounts that are still on his pre-war Model 70 270 Winchester.  In 1961 I had another gunsmith name of Vern Groom there on Evaro Hill make a set up for me after he questioned me as to how I knew Ralph Pike and only after that did he make them for me.  They are on my wife's '06.  Les knew all of these old timers here in the Valley and it is too bad that their legacy is not more than it is but I think that those of us who have their barrels and whatnot will be part of that to pass on to our next of kin.