Gardiner 30th Sept. Friday

 

This morning we again had the usual waffle breakfast but with a plate of Quaker Oats flavored with maple syrup and brown sugar which was pretty good with Half & Half although it would have been better with cream if available.

We forgot to spray the waffle machine so they were quite difficult to get out of the waffle maker, but I guess by tomorrow we will have figured the method out OK.

 

After that we went to with some enthusiasm to the Shiloh Rifle factory, and were met by the mother of the family, and she said that the Dad Robert was going to give us the tour ( we guessed that Kirk the sone we met the night before at the Grand bar was still feeling the effects of the night before although did arrive near the end of the tour but was fairly quiet.they seem to work Monday to Thursday 6am to 5pm and then Friday off with Big Timber being a small town giving the guys and families time to travel and spend time together, which seems like a good deal.

The factory was therefore nice and quiet, and Robert was able to explain every part of the production and show us examples of what each function was.

They do not buy anything in other than the raw steel which is aircraft grade steel of the best steel available.

He showed us the screws that they make which are so small that if you dropped it you would struggle to find it and on top of that when fitted in certain parts the screw would need to tighten with just one and a half turns and then not stick out proud at the other end of the part it was holding in as this would snag the smooth movements and functioning of the rifle so it is absolute precision.

He showed us the Rifle drilling machine which came from WW 2 and is the only one in existence that is drilling 5 barrels at a time with absolute precision, and that was the only part of the factory we could take photos of as the rest and including the rifle drill are quite unique and have been heavily modified to manufacture to such precision that any part they make will fit any rifle made in their factory going back 100 years and will not need any hand fitting as with most or all other makes of weapons.

The hardening of the steel, and the rifling of the barrels is so technical that it is hard to explain in writing, but save to say that in these functions they cut rifling grooves which causes the metal to expand and the contract back to just the exact size they need - all calculated with mathematical precision to be exact.

All their own parts are cast even the checkering on parts is in the mounding process, and they have a lady hand engraving the outside surfaces and she is regarded as one of the best engravers in the USA.

As we have said before they make a lot of weapons that the movie people use, because they are so accurate and if damaged during the making a part can be sent out to repair with needing modification or adjustment.

So unfortunately the Quigley actual rifle was out on a movie set, although many in the showroom are exactly the same. The finish and precision is phenomenal although the delivery time is down to about 2 years from the 5 or so that Sheila and I saw some years ago - this being mainly due to the strength of the dollar against other currencies. So the export orders have largely dried up except for a few wealthy or fanatical owners or collectors.

 

Then later in morning we drove south to Gardiner a small town through along the way with the mountains and golden autumn trees flanking the river and road , as the road pretty well followed the course of the Yellowstone river.

Gardiner has changed somewhat and alas "Helen's" the famous hamburger place that Sheila and I experienced years ago has changed hands and is much like any other burger joint you can find. There are new roads and the old wooden sidewalks are mainly gone as they keep up with the modern world. Sad in some way.

The town is busy with visitors as we had to hunt a bit to find a place to eat without a queue, Sheila would have just bought a take away and gone to the room to eat as she would never stand in a queue for much.

Driving around today the elk are still in town and at the school ground and we were able to see a fair number still wandering around parts of the town.

The saddle shop is still there although has moved and the old saddle maker retired.

Our Absroko Lodge hotel is right on the banks of the Yellowstone river with a really nice view and the sound of running water audible.

After last night we were both tired and came back to have a rest before finding somewhere to eat, and just lay down - waking with a start at 7.30 which was why the eating places were all full.

I am too tired tonight to fiddle with computers and especially to figure out how to put the photos on, so will try that at West Yellowstone in the next day or so as we have. Rest day there.

So we will try and hit the hay as they say now around 9.40 pm That all for now folks. It seems that only Sonia and Sheila are reading the blog as they have replied, but we have not heard from anyone else, so hopefully they are getting the blogs ??

Neill is fast asleep already after just having his head hit the pillow

we will have to do some washing when in West Yellowstone tomorrow, and that hopefully will be the same procedure as last time as i still have some quaters from our last visit which is what the washers in the hotels took.

chat again soon