Cylinder & Slide

Cylinder & Slide Inc. started as a hobby to fuel a shooting habit. In the mid-1970s, Bill Laughridge was hanging around a local Fremont gun shop on Saturdays, volunteering just to get hands-on with different firearms. When the owner's son nearly destroyed a Colt Woodsman trying to disassemble it, Laughridge stepped in, took it apart, fixed it, and reassembled it perfectly. The owner noticed. That led to part-time gunsmithing work, then a full-time position building up a sporting goods store's gun department.

In 1978, Laughridge bought the gunsmithing business and narrowed his focus to handguns—particularly 1911s, which were hot in the local IPSC competition circuit. He set up shop at major shooting competitions in a military tent (his Army Reserve connections made that possible), taking on race gun repairs and custom work. That's where Evan Marshall found him, got his revolver customized, and wrote about him in American Handgunner. The article launched the real business.

For about 18 years, Laughridge hauled a custom shop trailer coast-to-coast to major IPSC matches, keeping competitors' race guns running. He's worked on guns for just about every big-name shooter in the sport—and says every one of them was a decent human being willing to help up-and-coming competitors.

Precision handgun parts and customization work for: - Colt - Sig Sauer - Browning - Glock - CZ - Smith & Wesson

"I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've fixed a race gun during a match for just about every big name shooter. Says something about our sport." — Bill Laughridge

Fremont, Nebraska

• •Website: https://cylinder-slide.com/