As I rang the doorbell a slim, trim and spry Dick Casull and wife Geri warmly invited me into their home. After putting some pastries on the kitchen table I looked at Dick who understood my thoughts as he lead me into the living room. There spread out on a large coffee table was the most unique collection of prototype 454 variations I could possible dream of. No pictures were allowed as all the guns were prototypes so I will do my best to describe. To me the most interesting was a 16" barreled 454 with a folding aluminum shoulder stock that included a laminated wood cheek piece. The rear sight was a folding ladder type seen on some long range black powder rifles. He shot against a man with a 30-30 at 200 yards and beat him shot for shot. Another was a 7 1/2" barreled 454 with express (one standing and three folding leaf) sights and a full length rib along the top of the barrel. There were two of his 38 Casull 1911 type auto`s along with a small frame single action chambered for 32 Mag. This handgun is smaller then the Freedom Arms model 97 and a complete joy to hold because of its size. Also included was a handmade black powder handgun he called his "cap pistol" that he made in his fathers garage from car parts when he was 11. "Let me show you how it works" said Dick as he poured a charge of black powder and cut a paper cap from a roll we used as kids in our cap guns hence the name "cap pistol". No bullet or shot covered the charge except a cloth wad as he opened the front door and let her rip. The blast was as loud as any 357 and he got a kick when all I could say was "son of a bitch"..... Dick turned on his home alarm before we all left for dinner in Alpine, WY and just before putting on his jacket he slid a S&W model 19 with a 2 1/2" barrel into a strapless belt holster saying "I love this gun"...when we returned he took me on a tour of a separate building that contained his machine shop. Its equipment was recently appraised at over $1,000,000 dollars so you can imagine what it looked like. I wish my memory could describe all the handguns and rifles
I saw but it was like a blur as I tried to take in every detail of these most unique firearms made by Dick Casull. I only hope my memory is half as good as Dick`s if I reach 80....
