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Next stop is the 6,000-square foot state-of-the<br />
art gunsmithing and gunmaking operation. Housed in<br />
a recently completed 15,000-square-foot barn-type<br />
structure, the builder performed extensive testing and<br />
computer modeling to maximize construction material<br />
efficiencies, including a solar-panel array. Two farm<br />
buildings were demolished to make way for it. An old,<br />
decaying silo was rescued and modernized. Mr. Polanish<br />
speculated that the unique space may be converted into<br />
an employee lounge area. From there you can see the new<br />
dog kennels for Hudson Farm members and guests.<br />
In designing the gunsmith’s benches, Mr. Polanish said<br />
he adopted a German methodology that formulates the<br />
amount of natural light to balance energy efficiency, eye<br />
comfort and ultimately product quality. He also designed<br />
the benches to be ergonomically efficient for right- and<br />
left-handed technicians.<br />
For Mr. Polanish the gunmaking shop drives Griffin &<br />
Howe’s new axiom “How a Legacy is Crafted.”<br />
Known for traditional shotguns and bolt-action rifles,<br />
Griffin & Howe took a radical departure in 2015 when<br />
the first proprietary long-range rifle emerged called the<br />
“Long Range Precision Rifle.” Resembling a militaryQW<br />
sniper rifle more than the dangerous game guns that made<br />
Griffin & Howe famous, that in-house piece of modern<br />
technology proved the viability for similar, military-grade,<br />
high-powered firearms bearing the Griffin & Howe name.<br />
The new hand-crafted, Highlander Rifle is built on that<br />
stainless-steel architecture with light-weight carbon-fiber<br />
barrel and stock in Gore Optifade patterns with a starting<br />
price of about $5,500.<br />
Need to sight-in the rifle? Up the hill is the 850-yard<br />
rifle range. But the rifle range also serves The Griffin &<br />
Howe Rifle Marksmanship School. The sprawling parcel is<br />
equipped with realistic animal size targets, both stationary<br />
and moving, in addition to metal reactive targets and<br />
electronic Oakwood Control targets.<br />
A shoot house is designed with sound acoustic walls,<br />
ceilings and flooring, a fully heated classroom and outside<br />
shoot house, shooting benches for both left and right<br />
handed shots, imitation rocks to simulate shooting from<br />
difficult positions, in addition to open stalls for shooting<br />
prone and with the use of shooting sticks.<br />
As the company’s 100th anniversary approaches, Mr.<br />
Polanish is planning for a family of commemorative rifles,<br />
including an African battery of three rifles with Mauser<br />
actions, North American battery of three rifles with premodel<br />
64 actions and three commemorative rifles with<br />
<strong>Spring</strong>field actions that pay homage to the Griffin & Howe<br />
rifles inspired by Ernest Hemingway, Colonel Towsend<br />
Whelen and Teddy Roosevelt. °<br />
S P O R T<br />
Gunsmith Andrew “Cowboy”<br />
Cote (left) with Griffin &<br />
Howe CEO, Steve Polanish, in<br />
the new gunsmithing<br />
operation—top<br />
At the Griffin & Howe<br />
Shooting School, people<br />
learn to shoot high driven<br />
pheasants—middle<br />
The author on the Hudson<br />
Farm Clubs sporting clays<br />
course—bottom<br />
SPRING <strong>2018</strong> І<br />
LAND<br />
89
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