According to Kelver in, 100 Years of Shooters and Gunmakers of the Single Shot Rifle, George C. Schoyen was born in Norway in 1845. Around age 23 Schoyen emigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago. In due course, he made his way out to Denver and began working with Carlos Gove. After Gove retired, Schoyen continued to work in Denver until his own death in 1916.

Schoyen was one of the premier riflesmiths of the schuetzen era; famous for his high quality barrels and overall excellent workmanship. The three molds shown on this page are attributed to George Schoyen. The top one is made from a Sharps pattern "MFA" marked mold which was originally for 40-265. It was re-worked with a brass insert dovetailed into the iron...then cut for the 32-40 Bullard bullet. No maker's name is apparent; double cut-off sprue cutter plates were added. At least two similar Schoyen made molds are known.

The middle mold was made by insertion of brass inserts into a rare Winchester 45-100 .S.SP mold. Western makers frequently re-used Ideal or Winchester molds by inserting dovetailed brass or bronze inserts that could be re-cherried to the desired bullet configuration.

The bottom image shows another mold made from a recycled Winchester one. This time, it started life as a 25-20 W.C.F. mold and was opened up to the 32 caliber bullet you see. Also, a double cut-off sprue cutter was installed.