RDH45,
Sorry I wasn't more specific between Marlin and (Marlin) Ballards. In fact that Flues Marlin schutzen is the only Marlin schutzen I've ever seen. I was merely trying to bolster how obvious it is that Flues was an accomplished engraver even before he left Michigan c1906.
To the other readers,
I have asserted that some of the top dogs have been purposely misleading the the readers of this forum. I've waited until the timing was right so nothing would be ambigous. Still, I would have never posted except for Schotz's full blown fabrication that needed to be addressed before others started to believe it. He even called on Snyder to back him up in order to lend credibility saying "maybe Walt remembers"...like Walt maybe forgot seeing 6 or 7 Flues made guns in the same pile while smack in the middle of assembing a book about Ithaca with precious little information about their most important model. The more I think about this fabrication, the more it smells.
Prove me wrong Chris. Shame me in front of the other 500 readers who have read this post over the last week. Get one other ESACA member, like Walt, to concur that he too saw that pile of 6 or 7 and and I'll break out the catsup and starting eating crow with photos posted.
Again, I think that these guys know full well Loy's secret signature yet they're keeping it under wraps until they hog all the Loy engraved guns, just like they did with all the Kornbrath engraved Bakers. Shotz being the one of the main architects of that deceptive tactic.
Their silence tells me that I am correct. When the word gets around about Loy, watch how they all agree that it was common knowledge and they knew all along.
All of that is deception is acceptable to me. After all, knowledge is king especially when investment opportunities are floating by, but a person really crosses the line of ethics when they put up not only misinformation, they generate false gates. False gate is a locksmithing term which describes a mechanism designed to mislead an amature lock picker.
As a Flues researcher, had I not known who Chris Schotz is, and myself being a 30+ year member of Empire State Arms Collectors Association (Rochester Show), I might have takin the time to appeal to ESACA directors and try convince them of the historical significance of my search in order to view a list of display table holders across the 70's and 80's in search of that mystical Flues guru who had 6 or 7 Flues made guns. After all, I'm a 30 year member in good standing. I could have spent weeks trying to run down that false gate to no avail.
This is an exact repeat of the Baker tactics that resulted in the person who currently owns the Baker records saying he would rather let his wife throw them out after he dies before he would let someone hornswoggle him. And I understand.
Now you guys can tar and feather me yet again, for over stepping my boundaries about Joe Loy, but I will not stand by without at least trying to keep the history of Flues from being mucked up with fabrications and false gates for future unsuspecting researchers. Please note... that if this person were a real researcher, not driven by greed, he would automatically understand how potentially damaging his statements can be to other researchers.
Come on Chris, your one posted photo away from teaching all these guys the most important piece of investment information about Ithaca SxS's they are ever likely to learn. Surely a lifelong student of NY SxS's didn't chime in this conversation without advanced knowledge on this subject. Please redeem yourself by showing everyone that you didn't enter this thread just to post misinformation.
