Stevens Favorite…..

Well it’s been a long time since I posted anything so I thought I would do one and see if anyone is still interested. A while back I got interested in an old couple of guns! I mean really old! I found a Remington #4 rolling block 22 and a Stevens Favorite 25 rimfire! Now 25 rimfire ammo is all but non-existant! So I set off to remedy that situation! There is another thing that is common with these old guns, many of them were actually shot with black powder and also the first primers were very corrosive so the barrels on these old guns are usually in very poor shape. So I figured that I could kill 2 birds with one stone per say! I ordered a couple of barrel liners, a chamber reamer, and a headspace guage… that is all that is required so I read… well you do need that extra long drill bit that they sell for around a C note, a bit pricy for me, so I made one! To the lathe with the barrels! Well I got both these guns relined, now did I mention that the Stevens Favorite was actually a 25 cal? Oh yeah I did. Well I lined it with a 22 cal liner, now I had to make a different ejector for it since the original didn’t reach the rim of a 22 lr bullet! Also had to move the fireing pin so it would strike the rim of the 22 lr! Got this all done and mounted a Marbles tang sight on the old girl and off to the range we went! “How’d you do?” you ask? Well like they say a picture is worth a thousand words… of course I had to tweak a few things and sight her in but here are the last three targets I shot… I did three because anybody can have a lucky shot now and then! These are all 3 shot groups, what do you think?

IMG_0730IMG_0732IMG_0731

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hard to find Items… Life is good!

Well hello my friends! I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything but I have been busy and also playing around enjoying my retirement! That is not to say that the J.E. Arguello Rod Co. has not been in full swing! So first off let me tell you about my acquisition of a new Henry Rifle! I have always wanted a Henry .22 cal rifle, well a while back I was in a gun shop and lo and behold there was a used Frontier model .22! This gun was like a brand new one, not the Golden Boy but a Frontier which is an all blue model with the octagon barrel … right down my alley! So I bought it! … Well now what do you do with it? !!! Started looking around for a gun range to shoot at and found that the ones accepting memberships wanted me to hawk my house for the membership fees! Well in the process of looking around a friend of mine invited me to go shoot at a range he has been a lifetime member of. Sure! Lets go, by now I had also acquired a new Ruger Mark III also! The day came and I asked my wife if she would like to join us? “I haven’t shot a gun since I was a kid, with my Dad” she said, but yeah maybe I’ll just go along and watch. Well when we got there we got all set up and I sat Verna down on a bench and put that Henry in her hands… problem! She wouldn’t give it back! Needless to say she had a bunch of fun! The next day we were kinda mulling around the house having coffee and I could tell she had something on her mind! Well she said “We’re going shopping!” OH OH I thought… I bought a couple of guns now I have to buy her a new couch or somethin’ !!! What are we shopping for, I sheepishly asked? … “We’re gonna find me a gun!” she said! Cool! Have I ever told you guys how much I love that women? Well after a bit of searching for a week or so we found her a nice Ruger 10/22 take down! Really nice gun! She loves it. Well as I ramble on I don’t know if I need to tell you, but ammo is almost impossible to find these days! There is a nationwide shortage! But persistence pays off and we have enough for Verna to shoot to her heart’s content. On an unrelated note you may know that Hostess Twinkies are back! Yes they are also hard to find, seems that like .22 lr ammo people are waiting for the delivery trucks to be unloaded and grab them up! Today Verna found some Twinkies… Yum … life is good.

 

So what’s up with the J.E. Arguello Rod Co.? well I will post an update in the next day or so…

Thanks for reading my post…

Joe

 

 

 

 

 

Life is good!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted in Uncategorized, Updates | Leave a comment

Getting older…just not growing up!

Well it’s been a while since I posted anything, part of the reason is that I have been busy and another thing is that I have been working on migrating my web site to a new hosting company. Anyway, yesterday was my birthday, turned 62! Now that being said my wife Verna bought me a new guitar! Have I ever mentioned how much I Love that lady? Got a nice Gold Tone resonator guitar since I am trying to learn some slide guitar! What a blast! You know that those old blues guys used to drink up their wine and break off the neck of the bottle and play away! Well off on another tangent we go… so I decided I needed to make some bottleneck slides! My wife said ” just go buy one! ” well anybody can do that I said! If’n you’re gonna play the blues you gotta make one… well one woulda’ been enough but those of you who know me know that if one is good more is better … anyway my new resonator should be here this week… can’t wait, I’m already driving my instructor crazy! If one guitar is good … well I just have 4! Could be worse…

So what’s new in the J. E. Arguello Fly Rod world you ask? Well as you all know I gotten into quads, the one I posted just before the Denver Flyfishing show was snatched up by the second guy that cast it! Also my Agate stripping guide business is very busy, I take it most makers are liking what I have to offer and I am continually adding stuff to that! Also Verna has started helping me with this so it is now a partnership! Seems that this is the only way we are gonna be able to keep up!

I have always loved to fish small streams with the proper gear for them. It has come to be my belief that many get frustrated fishing them and give up because they are tired of getting all hung up in the overhanging brush and trees with those 9 ft rods they are trying to fish them with. Well as many of you know I have designed a taper that I love in a 6 ft version. These rods open up a new world of fishing these small streams and many times you can spend the whole day on your favorite stretch of water and not see anyone else! Now that being said I have also come to realize how specialized these rods are and many people are quite reluctant to buy a rod they can’t use on bigger waters! So I came up with the idea of collaborating with a couple of well known fiberglass blank makers to design a small (6- 6 1/2 ft.) fiberglass version of the rods I love! I should be able to offer these at a moderate price. More to come on this as we are getting close!

So for now that’s about it, lots going on… time to get back to the bench, got some bamboo rods to deliver!

Guitar lesson tonight!

Regards,

Joe

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Sometimes it’s good to be square!!!

Well as promised I have completed a quad for the first rod of the year! I was really wanting to get this done for the Denver Flyfishing show. Well here it is, this one is done in my more traditional colors, take a look and see what you think! It’s a 7 ft. for a 4 wt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So come on down to the Denver Flyfishing show starting tomorrow, Jan. 4th 2013 and cast this thing, then you can really tell if you like it or not!

Thanks for looking

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Hot off the bench of the J. E. Arguello Rod Co.!!!

Well here’s one that I just finished and shipped just in time for Christmas! This is a rod that is not in my traditional colors but if I do red this is what I prefer. This color is a nice classic looking red tipped in black, the cane is a nice honey color and the burl rosewood spacer compliments the rod nicely. As is becoming more and more common the customer wanted me to make as many of the components as I could and I did everything but the tip tops! Well as they say a picture is worth a thousand words so here it is!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

New from the J.E. Arguello Rod Co!

Well, I won’t bore you all with the details but the company that I worked for bought me out 3 months early! I am now officially a full time rod builder! This is exiting and has only been 2 weeks but I have had the time to take care of a bunch of those projects that have been on the back burner!

So what’s new… well I am trying to get ready for the flyfishing show in Denver on January 4th! Hope to have a couple of rods maybe even a quad! And a handfull of my new Agate Stripping Guides, I have now added size 9 to my offering! I have these in Red, Amber solid colors as well as some really nice, transparent banded/mottled ones, these are really nice!

And new from the R&D department of the J.E. Arguello Rod Co…. I had a customer ask me if I had ever taken a carbide insert from an existing guide and mount it in a low profile frame! Well I have to say that I had never done this! But like I have always said I am always up for a challenge! So… well a picture is worth a thousand words!

 

 

 

 

 

Well whadda you think? Not bad if I do say so myself!

I am really excited to have the time to do what I truely love. There is more to come as I have a few more Irons in the fire! Keep in touch to see what’s new.

Regards,

Joe E. Arguello

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Not that my customers are particular, but…

We all have had to deal with those customers that are extremely particular, well I have been blessed with some very good customers! Here’s one that comes to mind!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I started back in 1991 the bar has been raised to such a high level that it is sometimes quite nerve racking to deliver a rod! We as builders scrutinize every inch of our rods and I know like myself you all make sure to do the very best that you can before sending that rod out! Customers no longer view our masterpieces as simple fishing tools! I always cringe when I see someone put on their readers to inspect my work. Then there are guys like the one in this picture!  I’m happy to report that he said …after a lot of hums and wells… “this is really nice!”

Makes you feel good after an inspection like that!

On to the next one!

Joe

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Quote

Always up to a challange!

Well I just got an email from a customer who is looking for an Agate Stripping Guide in a size 12 with a black Agate! Well I don’t have any black agates and in the course of our email communications he mentioned that he was working on a Sage graphite rod!… Well… I remembered that I have a whole bunch of the original Sage type stripping guides, the ones that they used back until a few years ago! These were chromed and had a ceramic insert, I beleive they were from Hopkins and Holloway. So anyway I thought I would let my customer know I had them and then the thought came to me that he was wishing for a nickle silver frame… no … you really can’t … well there’s the challange! Let’s see if we can cut the ceramic ring out and rebuild it… we can make it better… stronger… lower profile… we have the technology! Oh sorry I’m getting carried away here! Well long story short here is what I came up with, like they say a picture is worth a thousand words!

From the R&D department of the J. E. Arguello Rod Company!

Well what do you think?

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Updated price list for 2013!

Well as I have been saying for quite some time I have found the need to raise my prices! I have posted the new prices on my price page. I will be offering my rods with Snake Brand guides or with all in house made components as an option. There will be a slight increase in price to offset the added labor involved in making the snakes. You will notice that the on line order form has been removed from my site as there seems to be some technical difficulties on the server end that I can not control. As always I can be reached by email at arguello.joe@gmail.com I always answer my emails promptly. You can also call me at: 303-859-8405 All rod orders taken before the 1st of the year will be charged at the 2012 prices.

I have been able to keep up with my Agate Stripping guide orders and look forward to continue providing these to all who want them.

Last but not least I will be adding Quads soon!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Now offering banded Agate Stripping Guides!

Well as some of you know I initially stated that all I had was red/amber/brown rings to make my stripping guides with, many of you have been very happy with what I have been able to provide. I am happy to announce that I have been working with my supplier and also working on getting another supplier to be able to provide a range of colors and styles of Agate Stripping guides. As you may know there are many suppliers of gem stones in various shapes, but agate rings have not ever been used in jewelry so they have to special order them, this requires an up front deposit as they do not want to be stuck with agate rings that are so specialized. I will continue to work on getting the finest agates I can find.

William Harms requested that I make a low profile guide and use the lighter wire for the frame on my #10s, we worked together and came up with a very low profile guide that looks very lightweight, very nice! Anyway, here is a picture of some of the rings that I now have to offer (8s and 10s), this was an order to see what we could come up with and I liked them so much that I have ordered another batch, these are some beautiful agate rings and make for some striking Agate Stripping Guides! These are offered along with what I have been providing to date. The second picture is a comparison of the regular guide and a low profile guide, the low profile guide can be made with the regular wire or the lighter wire as desired!

As always please let me know if I can assist you.

When you click on this image you can click stop slideshow at the bottom left corner to see more of the detail on some of the rings.

Banded Agate Rings

Regular and Low Profile ultra lite

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments