I received a letter from Shelhamer (1970) in response to my inquiry about stock No.1142 (R-2 Lovell which I still have). Following is a quote from his letter about buttplates: I use Niedner buttplates on nearly all my stocks, and while they look alike, they are not strictly interchangeable. As I used often to have several stocks in process, I usually scratched the owner's name on the back of the plate with a diamond-pointed scribe, to avoid confusion. The Corporation still makes the plates, but blue them without case-hardening, and the workmanship grows rougher year by year. I usually buy a half-dozen at a time, smooth them up a bit, and have them case-hardened, which improves them greatly, and about doubles their stiffness. I also usually cut one or two down, and run a new border on by hand. I use these on small, light stocks. Shelhamer states that by 1970 he had made 300 odd stocks since leaving Niedners with his name and stock number under the buttplate.
