Hey Michael -
My main interest is sort of the psychology and sociology behind the great American sporting rifles built between WW1 and WW2. If that sounds a little odd, maybe I can sum it up by saying that the reasons these men did what they did tell us a lot about them, and their times. I am certainly interested in them as functional arms, as art objects, as collectibles, but I'm also interested in the time and place they and their makers and users inhabited. Knowing the history behind Whelen helping to set up Griffin and Howe, wondering why Hoffman Arms went bankrupt, wondering about little known men like Reginald Sedgley and Barney Worthen and all the rest of them, fascinates me. Who were they? Where did they live? Where are they buried? Having built several rifles and poured a lot into them, I know that when you pick up a fine old rifle you're picking up a piece of someone's heart.
I guess you can say "with me, it's complicated."
