doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reading about Bo Whoop....

OWD, the document posted is not a hang tag, it is an order card from Savage Arms Company. It has never been outdoors, so it is in pretty good shape, unlike a hang tag. The serial number has been known for a while, was incorrectly identified for a longer while because of an error in an old book. Another point to make is that the barrel legend is not unknown until the gun surfaced. A Nash Buckingham quote in a NB book described the barrel legend. The legend, from the information on the order card, may not have been a factory item, could have been done by Burt outside of the factory, or by a corner gunsmith. Since Nash was a sporting goods dealer and author, Fox may well have built the gun gratis.

I'd sure like to see other work by Burt Becker to compare with this "Bo-Whoop". Anyone out there with a Becker Fox who can post pics?

This gun is not a Becker per se. It is an Ansley H. Fox. There are Becker articles in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Three, Issue 4; Volume Seven, Issue 2; and Volume Ten, Issue 2.

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the input.

8bore - you going to Greenwich?

OWD

Murphy,

The quote by Nash about the loss of the gun only says that his name is on the barrel and it says that it's on the opposite barrel from which this one presents. The quote was from a letter written shortly after the guns loss so his memory would have been pretty fresh I'd imagine. If there's another description of the barrel markings please enlighten me, I've never heard of it.


Destry

So, can anyone give a Reader's Digest version? Did the thing turn up? Any verification of it's provenance? etc.

So....I'll ask the big question. What are the legalities of a gun that is 'lost' then shows up decades later? Is there a Statue of Limitations? Or even a statute of limitations?

It was last not seen in GeorgeL's trunk.

I still think the gun, if it IS the original Bo-Whoop, belongs to he Buckingham family, no matter who has possession of it and how long they've had it. This is not like a legal trophy of war like the WW-2 bringbacks by GIs. This gun was misplaced by the rightful owner, heavily advertized as lost, and even has the owner's name on it.

The fellow who found it did not steal it when he picked it up, he stole it when he failed to return it to its rightful owner and 'converted' it to his own use. The second theft occurred when a buyer took possession of it later, knowing it was stolen property.

Statutes of limitation are not so simple as they seem. The time is for example usually tolled or extended while the crime is unknown or during the period of any incapacity on the part of someone entitled to recovery. In addition, the crime of possessing stolen property may be a continuing crime as long as the possession goes on, or a new crime may be commited by someone else recieving the stolen property.

My best guess is that Julia will not auction this item unless and until the provenance and the ownership matters are settled between the interested paries...Geo

In at least one of his writings Nash mentions it was insured. If he collected the insurance, the only possible entity with a claim to BoWhoop would be the insurance company.