doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Theoretical, and the gun in hand

A friend with whom I have attended and exhibited at gun shows since college days has a line for the "I have one of those" guys. He puts a $100 bill on the table and says, "I'd really like to see that. We'll be here all weekend. Bring it in to show it to us and the $100 is yours." He is still using the same $100 bill thirty some years later. Maybe he will post and share some of the stories about "The Bill".

Yeh, gun shows are full of "Pinocchios". One guy had one of them rare cal. 45acp SS subcompacts (about size of PPK and it looked like AMT or ?). He was bragging about his carry gun. My remark was: "gee sir, I'm surprised you still have your hand". He said "I shoot it and there is practically no recoil", "but of course sir".
Gee, I wonder why so few of them gems were made. Perhaps because most folks don't cherish developing arthritis in their hand at old age?
PS. I shoot my H&K MK 23 with military 230gr ball a lot and it has little jump or recoil, but there is that polymer frame, counter recoil spring, and the slide is an "ANVIL".

Thorny, I been telling ya for years, concentrate on that clay or feathered thing out there in front of the bead, not the name, or city on the rib. My group of n'eer do wells have been hanging around the gun club long enough that we have the keys to lock the place up when we leave. When one of those name guns come along, it's almost always a disappointment-it wasn't built for the bloke who has it now, so he can't hit anything with it, it's got a crack near the head that you can drive a Triumph Tiger through (ya need a name stocker to stock a name gun, don't cha know) the rib is a wee bit loose, bla, bla bla. The smart ones, almost ALWAYS have a "lesser" gun, usually a pump, that they can run the entire course with, while the "name" rests in it's case, in the trunk. Usually, where it belongs.
The game is so much different here than in merry England. American loads put the R in recoil, ruffed grouse and wild pheasants put the R in rough shooting. Quit trying to rationalize that square peg in a round hole.
It's long past the time for you to admit, you shoot that sawn down model 37, or the Fox, better than the Beesley.
The truth, Thorny, will set you free.
Best,
Ted

Ted has a point. The gun I shoot best is an Ithaca SKB XL300 20 ga. 3" semi that I bought for the ridiculous price of $55.00 in excellent cond. However the stock is at least 1 1/8" too short for me and with it's super light weight (aluminum bbl. and receiver) and the running start it gets at my shoulder, it actually bruises me after 25 shots at skeet. But I will consistently break 24 or 25 so I endure the bruising. I put a 1" pad on it for a while and instantly began shooting under everything, so removed it. When I go hunting though, I always take one of my doubles even though I know the best of them won't give me the success rate that SKB would. I don't care anymore than the guy who loves to drive his 6 mpg high octane muscle car vs. a more practical Prius. The SKB and a Remington pump sit idle waiting for burglars because the mere sound of the action closing is so much more attention grabbing than the "snick" of a double closing. Having 3 extra in the mag is comforting too. I say thank God we have different desires. If we all couldn't live without a Model 94 Winchester, even 7 million wouldn't be enough and the price would skyrocket.

Oh please, these things are part of rich folks investment portfolio and not for use in field sport. Did you ever wonder about buyers preocupation with originality. Why should original timber matter if it wasn't made to the buyers spec in the first place? You see, this is much like stamp investing canceled ones are worth much less and alterd ones are next to worthless. Also look at coins............

I don't normally cotton to what you're sayin' JMeister, but you are right. It ain't about the shootin', it's about the ownin'.
The people that espouse "They are meant to be shot" are just blowin' smoke. They know every penny lost to a stock scratch.

What ever happened to gun owners, that they no longer care about being 'straight shooters'? A recent thread here was all about "aging" a new recoil pad, trying to make it look original by artificially adding stains or signs of wear. IMHO, honest wear looks good on any gun, but faking it is just - well - faking it.

Oh gosh, you caught me, JM. I just finished putting iodine on the hideous, stark white plastic grips of that bowlachile re(pro)volver to make them look like Wild Bill's ivory handles.

jack

Some opinions are less H than others.

When a known restoration shop has to intervene with magazines and auction houses to preserve their integrity, the cat is fully out of the bag.
The way I figger it, this pollywog's gotta spend some time swimmin' wif de sharks, if'n I's gonna gonna keep from bein' et by the one's I don't know about. So I come here.
I like to read all the negatives about various auctions before the hammer falls, and then later a member announces his acquisition. The Parker DH of last week soundingly condemned, the Beesely of this week, the Optimus of a couple weeks ago, yet, there's always a home for the fallen. Imagine that.
I take the pronouncments of junk with shovels of salt.