Trego's Mountain Ear

Folks look at my old Ruger pistol, and see it as a Mark I. It isn’t. Made back in 1958, the markings show that it left the factory as a Ruger Standard Pistol, then fell into the hands of Jim Clark at Shreveport, Louisiana.

I never met the man – but Jim Clark was a national champion in Bullseye, and built fantastic guns. This photo of Clark’s Ruger comes from the NRA program ‘I have this old gun’:

Mine looks about the same – and has always been a lot more accurate than I am – or ever was. At 76, I’m not so steady as I once was – but I have just found (and ordered) New Old Stock Pachmayr grips for the old pistol – I’ll stash the old Herrett target grips, set the pistol in a holster (the match grips make it uncomfortable for belt carry), and I will see how it works for carrying around the place. Age makes hitting well a bit harder, but we shall see. The sights are still visible, the trigger is good, and while the muzzle brake on a 22 seems a bit of an overreach, I’ve had it for years.

Some might warn me that a 22 isn’t enough gun for bear. Frankly, having encountered a couple of Grizzlies up close and personal, I don’t believe anything you can hang on your hip is enough gun. Second, my walks are usually on the place – my pistol is more for protection of my little dogs – and they have threats that are less formidable than Grizzlies. Third, as a teenager and a young man, I took 10 black bears with my 22 single shot, and three with my High Standard revolver. So I don’t believe I’m particularly undergunned with my 67 year old Ruger.

Some folks tell me that Rugers dominated Bullseye back when my pistol was converted from a Ruger Standard pistol to a Clark converted match gun. In Clark’s hand, that was so. My memory tells me that High Standards, Colts and Brownings led the scoring more often. Anyway, as I age, and presbyopia makes it harder to keep a sight picture, and weakness makes me less steady, it’s good to give a different job to a tool that I have trusted for years.