I hesitated to join in this discussion – mostly because of a conversation I had with Russ when Oscar Gaddy died. Russ was friends with Oscar & I had talked to him on the phone a few times. I noticed that Russ had not posted on the thread about Oscar’s passing, so I called him. He said that Oscar was his friend, but he was gone & nothing he said would really matter anyway – he just wanted to let him rest. Well, Russ isn’t gone so I’ll post. Maybe he’s still getting a few of these messages.
Many of the posts state that they never got the opportunity to meet Russ. Well, I was lucky enough to get to. It was April ’04 and I needed a set of barrels for a Smith. Russ sent me his list of barrel inventory and we found a match. I drove over and knocked on his door and when he opened it he said “Mr. Steele, I presume?” but there was a long pause between my name and the rest. I think he was expecting someone a little older – you could just tell from the look on his face. I was 29 at the time and we had talked a lot via email and over the phone a few times, but we had never discussed age. It was funny, maybe you had to be there – but let me tell you it WAS funny. We spent the day talking guns. Russ’ collection, at the time, was extensive. He had a 20 ga Smith that he had sleeved the chambers and made into a 28, a Syracuse Quality 3 he had found at a show with no lockplates that he added later Grade 4 locks and called it his Quality/Grade 3 ½, a Smith Hammer gun that he had sleeved with 50cal machine gun barrels to make a double rifle – the list goes on. I mention these items because I think it’s an example of the kind of guy he is. He doesn’t just like Clunkers – he IS a Clunker, no, he is THE Clunker!
Russ is a friend – everyone feels like Russ’ friend.
Best wishes Friend!
