Rick W. --- your story is an interesting parallel to mine...
You are right Rick. John Dusing, was an incredible man as well as a gunsmith.
I remember afrer a couple of years of helping him, as sort of a final test for my gunsmithing credentials (read that as HIS approval to work on his customer's guns) he handed me a roughly cut chunk of raw bar steel that was about an inch and a quarter square and a little longer in the third dimension and told me I could use only the vise, a smooth cut file, and a caliper and he wanted me to make a cube that was one inch in all dimensions! And it had to be accurate to within 0.010" !!!
I wish I still had that cube, but he kept it on his bench. I was stationed overseas when he passed away in his '80s... but I will never forget him.
I am sure your experience is comparable. He instilled in me a respect and admiration for firearms and their engineering. His particular obsession was with Colt single actions of the last century. I couldn't even have counted them all...
-John
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