benos Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Friday morning, April 12th, a dear friend for many years, Guy Hammond, passed away from cancer. The cancer started in his esophagus, then spread to his stomach, then to most of the rest of his body. Me, TGO, and Greg Benham ("Powder Finger") visisted with him for a couple hours, a week or so before he passed. We all had a great time just telling old stories. For me and TGO, equipment-wise, Guy played a pivotal role in the early days of both of our shooting careers. It was during the early '80s, right when "Pin Guns" were hitting the scene. We didn't have sponsors to provide us with the new, hot items. But we were friends with Guy! He worked for the local power company, and at night, after his shift had gone home, the power company allowed him to stay late and turn out what started out as barrel weights and later became compensators - on the company's lathe. Now we had the trick stuff too! After the Pin Guns and compensators took off, Guy bought a lathe and started a nice gunsmithing business that he ran out of his garage. Then at some point, Greg went to work for Guy, and between the two of them, they built some top-notch IPSC pistols for many years. Guy was a rock solid human being. I always had a lot of respect for him just for the man he was. I'm sure he will be deeply missed by anyone that knew him. Hopefully Greg an TGO can fill in some more details, as I can barely remember what I did yesterday. benos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraightUp_OG Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 I remember Guy from when I was a kid just starting out. Very sad news. My condolences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoomy Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Prayers and condolences to Guy's family and friends. He will live on thru those who's lives that have been touched by his frienship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Never met him, but saw many of his guns in my early days of IPSC. May he rest in peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Never had the pleasure of meeting your friend. You do him proud wih your heartfelt words. Here are some more words. "Sometimes in life, you find a special friend. Someone who changes your life just by being part of it. Someone who makes you laugh until you can't stop. Someone who makes you believe that there really is good in the world. Someone who convinces you that there really is an unlocked door just waiting for you to open it. This is forever friendship. When you're down and the world seems dark and empty, your forever friend lifts you up in spirit and makes that dark and empty world suddenly seem bright and full. Your forever friend gets you through the hard times, the sad times an dthe confused times. If you turn and walk away, your forever friend follows. If you lose your way, your forever friend guides you and cheers you on. Your forever friend hold your hand and tells you that everything is going to be okay. And if you find such a friend, you feel happy and complete because you need not worry. You have a forever friend, and forever has no end." You were Guy's forever friend. Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGO Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 This news saddens me greatly. Even though we had the chance to visit one last time before he passed, it's hard to see these people in your life leave. Guy was a great guy and helped me more than many know. I am preparing for a trip out of town but will be back to tell stories of Guy. I spent a great amount of time with him and at his shop in the early days as he was the first to build Custom guns for not just Me and Big Daddy, but many in the Phoenix area. I also in the very early days before meeting Brian, drove with Guy to the local matches. I look forward to spreading some of the old stories with interested readers. I owe guy a great debt as he took care of me when I could barely make ends meet. He along with my Mom and Dad, Brian and Mike Dillon's help in the early days, made my career possible. More to come.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Very sad to hear this. Guy built my first race gun back in the day. Loved that garage of his. Guy and I had the opportunity to reminisce a few years back at his office. He loved those days and so did I. Really cool guy. My condolences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIIID Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Very sad news, he will be missed. Some of the stories he would tell of the early days were priceless. He built me my first true racegun and he started me on my pistol smithing career along with many others. One of his favorite pass times was deep sea fishing for marlin and sailfish down in the Gulf of Mexico. He caught a black marlin on one trip(with his dad) that he had mounted that covered the wall from his dinning room into his living room, if I remember right it was 10 feet plus-36" from tip to tip on the tail and was 585# plus. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powder Finger Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Guy got to do some cool stuff. He was assisted on an elk hunt in November while quite ill. I know one of the guy's that took him and said all of them had a great time. So just the luck of getting a tag in Arizona for what would be his last chance to hunt is very fortunate. It was a very good visit and he will be missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Guy built a comp gun for myself and a couple others way back. He was great to deal with and I learned a couple things from him. I remember he worked for the power company and I think a fellow named Jake did guns with him if I recall correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted May 6, 2013 Author Share Posted May 6, 2013 Yes, that would have been Jake (The Snake) Kempton. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoinHot Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Very sad news indeed. Guy and Jake Kempton built my first comp gun in 1984 and I still love that gun. Took it to a match last year and let a few guys shoot it and they all thought it had one of the best trigger jobs they had ever felt. Guy, Jake, BE and Rob were all very good to me when I started shooting. They made it fun to learn the sport I still enjoy close to 30 years later, I know it sounds strange to me too saying 30 years. It seems like a very short time ago that we were all cracking up, laughing about movies with Bill Murray in them and calling each other "Dude". Everyday is a gift and in the end it's the people that make life special - we'll miss you Guy. BE, thanks for posting I'll spread the word here in Prescott. Tom Callahan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuildSF4 Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Sad to here that, I worked with Guy in his shop for several years. Built a few guns with him and heard some of his stories. I will miss him. I believe the shooting world will miss him. (That was a big Marlin in his living room). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jangles Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 I just joined and saw this as well as others. Guy built my first pin gun back mid 80's. A really nice guy and a helluva builder. RIP... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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