Adolph Minar

[Michael Petrov]

Adolph Minar was from Fountain, Colorado and made about 36 stocks. He became well known after he made a stock for Jack O’Connor and O’Connor wrote about him. A few days ago I was asked for some better pictures of a Minar rifle and this morning another gentleman asked about how to ID a Minar. After the article and book no new Minar rifles have come to light. This rifle is a .257 Roberts and has a barrel by Sukalle. It came from a Oregon Vineyard, keep you eyes open they could be anywhere.

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[Jim Tarleton]

Very different grip curvature from other makers of the era. A distinct departure from Jim Howe/"Old Scratch" designed grips.

Jim

[218bee]

Why no reinforcement bolts?.....Michael, in many of the fine rifles you've posted, the stockmakers chose to leave out the stock reinforcement bolts....I think it looks great without them, but have you ever encountered any cracks or apparent adverse wear from their absence?.....I believe every 30 cal. USGI stock had them....(maybe for grenade launching?)

Just wondering...

218bee

[Jim Tarleton]

Combat weapons endure severe duty to put it mildly. Try to imagine sitting in a fighting hole in the rain, with only your 100 issued rounds, with thousands of Huns coming at you with every intent to kill you by whatever means possible - and not one of them to be a pleasant experience. Those 100 rounds will go very fast and you will never notice the recoil. At that point, you must kill or be killed with no opportunity to take a break or think things over, and you fight with what you have in your hands. It is usually a rifle, a bayonet, or most often, an entrenching tool. If you give out physically, you die. Combat rifles are treated without any regard to collector's value.

Side note:
General Smith, co-author of "The March Up", is nicknamed "E Tool" Smith. He earned that name by killing numerous NVA and VC with his entrenching tool. It is a very effective weapon, and will kill with a single blow. Just ask the men "E Tool" hit with one. By the way, it will be a very long distance call.

Crossbolts in sporting weapons are usually limited to very heavy recoiling rifles. Some, like the 460 Weatherby, have an aluminum rod epoxied into the stock through the grip area in addition to crossbolts and a barrel recoil lug. In comparison, the recoil of a 30-06 is pretty minimal.

Not one of my rifles, except for the Springfields, have crossbolts; and I have never had a stock crack.

Jim

[Michael Petrov]

Sometime I run across a custom rifle with cross bolts but not very often. The only splitting or cracking, and I see this all the time, is at the back tang were they inletted it too close. The custom rifles have a much better wood to metal fit than the Armory rifles so not much if any movement and no splitting. Many of the pre-WWI custom rifles are so closely inletted that it sometimes scares me trying to take them apart.

[Michael Petrov]

Here is a rifle with one, made by Gibbs in England, still a 30-06.

[Jim Tarleton]

By the way, Michael, beautiful rifles. Yours all, I presume?

Jim

[Bobinmich]

In what time frame did Adoph Minar do his work?

[Michael Petrov]

In what time frame did Adoph Minar do his work?

He started making gunstocks in 1931 and died in 1936 at the age of 56.

[BruceV]

Minar's stockwork is amazing. I wonder what would have been his influence on the post-war industry had he lived a longer life.