Cylinder and Slide closing?

[Dewidmt]

Just found this on my Facebook page...

Cylinder and Slide would like to announce that after 44+ years of business, we are ceasing operations. We would like to thank our countless customers and fellow industry partners for all their support and assistance throughout all these years.
We do have quite a bit of inventory, fixtures, equipment, factory parts, etc that we would like to move. If you have any potential interest, we are accepting email inquiries only; info@cylinder-slide.com. There is too much list at the moment, but we are generating lists of what we have.
Please congratulate Bill on being able to finally retire!

A true loss to the handgun community. Bill Laughridge was a certified genius when it came to customizing Hi Powers!

 

[Basher]

Sad news indeed. All the old Hi-Power smiths are dying or retiring, and I don’t see a lot of people stepping up to fill in.

 

[ChrisK]

I attended his pistolsmithing class 20 years ago.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

In undergrad I sent my a 1911 Colt stainless in for him to work on. Like a fool I traded it away.

It was so long ago that I found his ad in the back of American Handgunner and not the Internet, lol.

 

[gglass]

Big loss to the business. I've used many C&S components for 1911 upgrades

 

[Leadeye]

Sad, there is a lot of talent there.

 

[Dean C.]

That sucks , they were my first choice for 1911 sears and hammers

 

[88E30M50]

That’s a sad loss to the industry. I’ve used their parts on 1911s and an HP with success. Hopefully, EGW or another parts mfg can step in to fill their space. With new HPs coming out, maybe his part designs can be bought by another company to keep them available.

On a bright note, it’s always good to see someone retire after a long and successful run on their own terms. May we all be as lucky as he is.

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

That sucks , they were my first choice for 1911 sears and hammers

Same here, thanks to Churchmouse

 

[jbombelli]

I'm sad to hear this. My HiPower has some C&S parts. Hammer & sear.

 

[WebSnyper]

That’s a sad loss to the industry. I’ve used their parts on 1911s and an HP with success. Hopefully, EGW or another parts mfg can step in to fill their space. With new HPs coming out, maybe his part designs can be bought by another company to keep them available.

On a bright note, it’s always good to see someone retire after a long and successful run on their own terms. May we all be as lucky as he is.

Kind of surprised he didn't license his stuff out, but maybe if there is nothing patent protected then there wasn't a play for that, and he didn't want to sell the name to see quality take a hit.

 

[BlueDrew2]

Too bad, heard great things about much of the C and S stuff. Best of luck to him in retirement.

 

[bgcatty]

What a terrible loss for the 2A community. I do wish Bill and his people a happy retirement or relocation!

 

[MrSmitty]

It's sad, to hear, on the other hand, I recently traded for a 1911 (Tisas) the first thing I thought of was going to the C&S website to look for upgrades, or parts....guess I'm too late

 

[ChrisK]

Built at Cylinder and Slide in 2002…

 

[kjdoski]

I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Laughridge at SHOT back in 2010 or so, a true gentleman and fantastic smith. Sad to hear he's taking down his shingle. Only wish I'd saved enough money to have had him work over some of my older pieces.