| No, I don’t build them in a mountain shack and there is no still in my shop - there’s some meaning behind the name. Hillbilly Custom Rifles is named after my family's deer hunting camp. Hillbilly Camp is where my fondest memories have accrued in my life. It is where my dream of starting my own business of building custom rifles began.
My father had the confidence in me at a very young age to allow me to hand load and work with my own rifles. Local gunsmith and family friend Louie LaBerge took me under his wing and taught me the correct way to build an accurate rifle. Louie and his brothers are known through out the community as great Hi-Power shooters.
My start really began when I cobbled together my first custom rifle, a 257 Weatherby. A gentleman came into Louie’s shop with a 257 Roy built by a famous Texas rifle builder, that has had many articles written about his custom rifles and I sincerely respect his work. After a thorough workout, my examination found that the culprit was the expensive European scope. Once the scope was replaced, I put both my rifle and the customer’s custom rifle to the test. Both rifles were extremely accurate and cycled ammo like greased sausages. At that point I knew that I could build a competitive rifle in both quality and price. |
