doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Russ has passed on

Truly a loss, sorry to hear of it.

Klunk, rest easy now.

C. Kofoed

Sad to hear but happy that he was at home with family that he loved. When I go I hope that I am as lucky. In the end, our family is all that we really leave behind that is important and love is what makes a family. Rest easy Russ.

Sorry to hear, God Bless Russ

I never met him, but talked a good deal with him on the phone and we swapped guns a few times. He had a great taste in guns.

Russ use to make me smile on some of his posts. I one I remember is there was a dealer that had an unfinnished Optimus Lefever for sale. Russ said "I have a room full of unfinnished Optimus Lefevers"

Russ you will be missed.

Bob

Another great friend gone to his reward. We will miss you, old lion. I hope that in the next life we will meet and be joined in brotherhod. Chopper

Dear Ed:

I simply cannot say very much that others have not said, but have to offer a few thoughts.

Like so many others, I never met him in person, but Russ was an inspiration to me. We carried out an email and phone correspondence for quite a while, and I found I could share the oddest gun questions with him and he would already have thought about them, or sometimes had already figured them out. He encouraged me to do my Flues failure research, looking at it as an engineering problem rather than and old wives tail. He even contributed a cracked frame to my research. It sits on my desk as I write this.

He was sometimes irascible, frequently entertaining, but I knew he was honest in his appraisals , was no respecter of persons, and could be relied upon to liven up a dull conversation.

When I expressed some trepidation about cutting and machining some elephant ivory tusk he had sold me to make gun grips, he made a comment about civil engineers not being super bright and then provided me with a step by step "how to " , so I could get up to speed quickly.

All I could do was grin and think "yup, thats the Klunkermeister".

My family extends our prayers for you and yours in your loss.

Regards

Gregory K. Taggart

I will miss Russ a lot - yet I never met him. One of the few men with the correct mix of authority of knowledge and humility. Where I was schooled the greatest final accolade was a heartfelt "Well Done". Well Done Russ.

My heartfelt sympathies to you, your family, and your extended family and friends. Although I never personally met Russ, we were kindred spirits when it came to collecting American double guns. His totally unique style and personality was regularly exhibited in his posts here and on the LCSCA forum; sometimes with blunt candor but always with a dry sense of humor, lots of wit, and tons of common sense. He enjoyed instant name recognition throughout the collecting fraternity, regardless of moniker; and our forums have certainly been a little less exciting in his absense. His daily contributions will be sorely missed; but his past contributions will be long remembered. None of us are perfect, and maybe Russ wasn't either; but we were indeed fortunate to have had the privilege of his fellowship. May the Spirit of God comfort you and your family as you adjust to a daily routine without Russ in your lives; and may Russ rest in peace.

Thanks for the time and knowledge he gave us, best wishes to his family.

God's Speed, Russ.

Ed - one fine Pop, you had. He will remain with you and always be a source of good thoughts and inspiration. He certainly made his mark on us and, certainly, on me.

God Bless Your Family.

My sincere and heartfelt condolences to you and your family Ed. Russ was truly one of a kind with a great wealth of knowledge that he shared with so many of us that frequent this bbs. His wit and manor on this bbs was entertaining, direct and unforgetable. Which is to say that when he posted here he was as likely to 'stir the pot' or to focus the discussion. That is the way I will remember him. I still recall many of those interesting posts along with many of the threads that he participated in as they were so very entertaining and informative! God bless you Russ and God speed. Jeff S.