In my grandfather's house there was a hand-made, black-cherry gun cabinet. Over the course of his respectably-long lifetime, he filled it with fine guns (mostly doubles). That gun cabinet sits in my humble gunroom now and I've pretty-much done the same thing. My earliest doubles were fairly rudimentary (Field Grade Smiths & Lefever Nitro Specials) but they confirmed for me that those were the guns that I wanted to use going forward, mind-you... that took a little time. I had a dalliance (or two) in my youth with other technologies (pumps & autos of course) but I'm fully-settled now. My current doubles are a little better than where I started from, but not obscenely-so. Good guns (or even fine guns) have never been inexpensive and I've always been forced to balance the other portions of my life with my hobbies (probably learned this from my paternal grandfather as well). Some are finer than the others but... they all fit me and they all get used afield, and with gusto!
Unless we completely go off the rails in this country (& as much as things drive me crazy when I actually look) I don't think that will happen. It may not be pretty, but I'm still confident that this will all get sorted-out eventually. I'm also not too-concerned about where my guns will end up after I'm done with them as they are for my pleasure alone. Much like Gough Thomas, when I need a break in the woods I usually find myself contemplating the weapon in my hands and then feeling immensely grateful for its presence there. I count them among life's many blessings in this country of ours. "A thing of joy and beauty forever" really isn't far off of the mark.
Last edited by Lloyd3; 08/16/23 02:02 PM.
