Читать книгу Winchester Repeating Arms Company - Herb Houze - Страница 9

Chapter I

Collecting Firearms

RECENT HISTORY AND PROGRESS OF ARMS COLLECTING

It is no exaggeration to say that the growth of the hobby of collecting antique firearms in the years following World War II has been phenomenal. Neither is it an exaggeration to claim for this field the right to be known as one of the fastest growing collecting pursuits since WWII. That era must decidedly be used as the turning point for all types of arms collecting, for it is only since then that these hobbies—especially in the field of American arms—have really taken off and risen to spectacular heights. Those decades since the war feature technological advances along with a tremendous rise in the general affluence of the American public. Plotting the mushrooming of technology and affluence on a graph alongside the increasing importance of antique weapons collecting and their concurrent immense increase in demand and value would undoubtedly show extremely close correlation. Earlier slowdowns in the pace of collecting have noticeably reversed themselves as this ninth edition goes to press. It continues to be brisk ... and in some areas, heated. Although the field is not broad enough nor considered sufficiently important by economists to have had any trend-studies made in the postwar decades, it can be said from first-hand knowledge that interest, demand and values in antique American arms have continued upward on a steady rise over the entire period. (Certain small segments of specialties within the field of American arms collecting have shown sudden spurts upwards in price, leveled off, and then even fallen slightly backward for a short period; those special areas, however, were extremely limited and in general had no influence on the overall antique American gun market.) This steady upward rise included every recessionary era in business and economic cycles. The economic setback of the early 1980s continued that rise to a lesser degree, evidencing a general leveling of prices, while the broad recession of the early 1990s had no adverse affect on antique American arms values which continued their upward trend. Such was definitely not the case in other areas of collecting; such fields as coins, stamps, art and silver are especially notable. This factor has gone unnoticed by antiques commentators and editorialists. The phenomenon is quite intriguing. The author lacks experience as an economist to interpret either the why or wherefore, but it is certainly worth noting and musing over.

Prior to World War II antique guns, especially American ones, were very much on the low end of the collecting world scale. A few of the early Colts, some of the scarcer American martial flintlock handguns, and fine Kentucky rifles were about the only arms which fetched anywhere near noteworthy values. Those values, though, in comparison to other collecting fields, were still on the bottom rung of the ladder; only rarely rising above a three figure status. Fine European arms and armor of the 18th century and earlier were then very much in demand, but the collecting fraternity for those types was also small in size. Collecting of American arms was very much a narrowly confined field that is easily evident by the limited number of short-lived publications devoted to the hobby, as well as few published research studies or books. Antique arms was hardly a field of any prominence when compared to such giants as the collecting of art, rare books, coins or stamps and other similar time-honored and popular hobbies and areas of investment. Since the War, the picture has changed drastically, but it is probably still very much a case of “not seeing the forest for all the trees.” In living during the era and actually seeing the changes take place, it remains difficult to arrive at an overall perspective and visualize what the potential may actually be. Although certainly small by comparison to other collecting fields, the hard fact that not a few antique American arms have achieved price levels into the high six figure mark may very well be considered as a milestone and an indicator of what the future holds for what is still a very young collecting specialty. Proffered advice: condition will play an ever-increasing role in that future potential.

The foregoing remarks about price rises and new plateaus are not intended to indicate a feeling by the author that a stampede is about to take place (nor his hopes that it should!) in collecting American guns. Active, and thus close to this field in the postwar years, the author is hardly a disinterested reporter. He therefore very much wishes to emphasize his observations about the monetary aspects of this collecting hobby; for after all, value is very much what this book is all about.

Immediately following World War II, the collecting of antique arms gained ever-increasing popularity throughout the United States. Attributing this growth to any single specific reason would be in error, but a broad generality considered credible would relate the rising American economy and public affluence combined with the prominence given gun collecting by many writers. These two factors in combination allowed and inspired a relatively undiscovered or unexploited field to blossom. The same has happened in several other collecting pursuits and still takes place occasionally today. One wonders if anything remains “undiscovered.”

With the mushrooming postwar awareness and interest in antique arms and the dramatic influx of new collectors, there simultaneously appeared a number of guides, handbooks and specialized studies. No doubt each book gave further impetus to the hobby. With the rapid spread of knowledge the collector was afforded the opportunity to pursue many avenues of collecting formerly denied him due to a lack of published information. Many of the new books spawned hosts of specialist collectors and students, quite frequently leading to further research studies published in book or periodical form. The effect, although not then obvious, is quite evident in retrospect.

The era of the 1950s ushered in a truly dramatic expansion in the hobby of gun collecting. During those years a few important periodicals devoted almost entirely to antique weapons entered the field, some surviving to the present day. Several other journals have since become available on the subject, and the array of publications now in print is quite impressive. The 1950s also saw the formation of new, as well as the expansion of existing, arms collecting clubs (many of them growing to giant size) throughout virtually every state in the Union. Although antique arms shows were well-known even before World War II, they were usually small private affairs far from achieving prominence in the press or in the arms world. In the 1950s various state clubs began attracting guests and exhibitors on a nationwide basis while at the same time expanding their exhibition facilities from small rooms to grand exhibition halls. In the early 50s it was quite possible to make a few important arms shows in a year; beginning in the 1960s and continuing to the present one could attend two or even three significant (sometimes enormous) shows almost every week of the year somewhere in the country!

Prices for antique arms began their sharp and steady upward trend in the 50s. From that point they never backslid. It is true that all values did not rise proportionately nor at the same time, but plotting on a graph would definitely show a continued and progressive rise on a rather steep incline (with but one narrow plateau) through the late 1990s reaching another slowdown after the turn of the century. A comparison of all preceding editions of this Guide, first available in 1977, confirms that trend. If the number of collectors were to be plotted on that same graph, the result would probably be an identically proportionate rise.

The great influx of new collectors and the increasing affluence of Americans, combined with a general inflationary trend in money and the decreasing supply of available antique arms, were chief factors in creating the steady overall price rise through the 1950s and 1960s. As earlier mentioned, the recessionary cycles in the economy rarely played a noticeable role in lessening either demand for guns or downward trends in their prices. Thus prices in most cases, if not continuing their rise, remained consistent or steady, then continued their upward trend the moment the economy resumed an even keel. In several instances highly specialized areas of arms collecting showed price rises out of proportion with the rest of the field. This was usually observed only in cases where a few collectors were attracted to a specialty and competed simultaneously for the very limited available specimens. A noteworthy example was Confederate handguns; always a rare commodity commanding prices commensurate with their importance. In the mid-1960s a number of new collectors caused a sudden increased demand, and prices quickly rose almost unaccountably 50 to 100 percent. The result was what might be termed somewhat of an hysteria in the market, particularly on the part of the neophyte collector. After a short period it was found that quite a few Confederate handguns were available with no takers, and a number of speculators trying to cash in on the demand found themselves holding the bag. The very fast and disproportionate price-rise had simply discouraged some of the new collectors who then gave up and went into other specialties; those who had speculated were loathe to take losses and thus for the next few years the Confederate handgun market merely stagnated. Others were discouraged from entering the field due to the number of unsold and over-priced guns on the market. The passage of time and the general inflationary trend in the following years allowed the market to catch up with the prices of the Confederate handguns, and they once again took their rightful place of importance in the collecting field. Confederate handguns have not only continued to enjoy a healthy demand and solid sales, but now number among the arms showing the largest price increases. The Confederate handgun is but the most noteworthy example of disproportionate price increases; similar episodes have occurred in other highly specialized arms areas. Certain models and types of Winchesters have been caught up in this hysteria of sudden price rises only to find themselves being topped out. The passage of time, though, has found the market catching up with the prices. It does take some astuteness and common sense to recognize what is happening when very sudden and steep increases occur quite disproportionate to developments in the rest of the market.

Steady growth both in numbers of collectors and values of specimens, coupled with a vast amount of research studies and publications during the 1960s and continuing to the present contributed to the upward overall trend in the antique firearms field. It is interesting to note that the books currently available on antique guns and related subjects number in the many hundreds; yet there is still much room for improvement of many texts, and for new studies in relatively unexplored fields. A much larger number of titles have gone out of print and are difficult to locate.

In the early 1970s the greatest, often record-setting price increases were noted. Momentum remained high through the entire 70s and right on into the early 80s. True, there was a leveling off and a readjustment in the deep recession in the early 80s but prices (except in a few isolated instances) never slid backwards at any time and demand never slackened; overpriced mediocre merchandise merely stagnated much as it always had. Both demand and prices had increased almost on the same scale as the runaway inflationary trend common throughout most of the world in the late 70s. When inflation eased so too did the general price rise. The demand factor continued to reign supreme.

Reviewing the “Introductions” of the preceding eight editions of this Guide offers a credible means to get a handle on what has taken place in this hobby in the past 30 years; a practical and reasonably accurate barometer. The general trend certainly affects ever-increasing values and also recognizes the added emphasis focused upon detail and manufacturing minutiae which continue to dominate many areas of specialty collecting. Those same preceding years have seen greater significance, justly deserved, accorded to antique arms directly associated with specific eras and events in American history and the individuals that may have personally owned and carried them.

An interesting and influencing factor in changing the American antique arms market had been the entrance into the picture of the European buyer. Until the late 1960s, the European antique arms market, especially as it existed for the sale of American arms, played no role of any consequence. In fact, up to the 1960s Americans had been able to purchase large quantities of antique arms in Europe (both American made pieces as well as European arms) for import and sale throughout the United States. In the late 1960s this trend was completely reversed. Rising European affluence and a great influx of new collectors there caused rather meteoric rises in prices for arms in Europe, making it practically impossible for an American to purchase over there and import. European buyers (dealers and collectors) came to American shores to gather up great quantities of their own arms as well as American manufactured pieces to export for sale in their own countries. This situation was quite volatile and very much subject to the economy of the several countries involved as well as their currency restrictions (often subject to unpredictable fluctuations).

The European factor caused considerable change in the American market beginning in the early 1970s and was especially noticeable in affecting prices of American made guns of the Civil War and Indian War eras, mainly pieces in poor and mediocre condition. Quite a few Europeans have a great fascination with those periods of American history, and a heavy demand was created for weapons of those eras, partly influenced by a proliferation of television and movie Westerns. However, the European collector is generally not as discriminating a buyer condition-wise as is his American counterpart. Hence, the demand was much greater for lower quality pieces, and prices for those arms shot up disproportionately. Demand and sale of American arms oscillates in direct ratio to the fluctuations of the economies (and money restrictions imposed) of individual European countries. In the early 1980s the European buyer, once here in prodigious numbers, had, like the passenger pigeon and the buffalo ... or even the dodo bird ... become an almost extinct species! Although he no longer directly affected the American market, he left behind a very wide following of lovers forsaken who, like the mariner’s wife, look forlornly to sea waiting for the ship to return! Those same “lovers scorned” continued their lonely vigil with many sitting on piles of mediocrity they had accumulated for the foreign market; one which had merely been a temporary aberration on the collecting scene! The hysteria those dealers created in their frenzy to accumulate hoards of ordinary merchandise for Europe, left a trail of carnage behind them in the many unknowing collectors and small-time dealers who thought their mediocre guns were suddenly turning into gold all over America ... never realizing that it was only the temporary, short-lived European market that kindled, and ultimately doused the demand!

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a slow return of European and a few Scandinavian buyers to the American market searching for antique American arms as well as those of their respective countries. By the mid 90s even that sporadic trend slackened. Their impact has been much more modest than it was with the earlier wave. Restrictive gun laws in a few countries have caused some to limit the scope of their purchases here. While generally adding to the collectors’ market, they have not generated the volatility attendant to their earlier entry.

Another interesting observation and reality of the antique arms business in America, and one for which no explanation is offered, is the changing pattern of the professional full-time antique arms dealer. In the 1940s and 1950s there were quite a few full-time dealers issuing catalogs on a regularly scheduled basis. The number of such dealers today has dwindled to the point that less than a handful regularly issue sales catalogs. Very possibly this number may dwindle to nil, since there are but the slightest signs of dealers coming into the field who intend to regularly catalog their merchandise. Likewise, there is an apparent decreasing number of full-time dealers who have retail establishments open to the public at regular hours and to which the collector may freely visit. The trend, with increasing frequency these past years, has shown a great influx of new and full-time dealers in the field, but their manner of conducting business is completely at contrast to the time-honored approach standard in almost every other collecting field. As a matter of fact, the modus operandi is peculiar to this antique arms business and offers an interesting insight into it. The general antique arms dealer of today—and most likely those of the future—normally conducts business along four parallel lines: he travels to the better known and larger gun shows throughout the country; he advertises some of his best pieces in one or two of the better known and widely circulated antique arms publications; he has a small gun room or showroom associated with his home and will allow visits by appointment only; and, with ever-increasing frequency maintains a Web site on the Internet.

GUN AUCTIONS: THEIR IMPACT AND INFLUENCE

The many changes that have taken place over the years in the manner in which business transactions are conducted are likely best illustrated by the changeable roles and variable influence of gun auctions. That role has made a noticeable about-face since my last comments about their decreasing importance in the 8th Edition. Perhaps recounting their fluctuating history may place them in clear perspective for the collector and best indicate that variable influence and importance.

It was only with the 4th Edition of this Guide, in 1987, that first notice was even given to the significance of gun auctions. Until that decade, they made but minor inroads in the manner by which antique firearms were bought and sold in this country; their influence on arms values was negligible. Auction prices were invariably inconsistent over the past decades, subject to so many influences that their role as reliable price criteria was minimal at best.

The popular press, and even the gun press, occasionally reported a record auction price but usually failed to reflect what general, or average, prices were for that very same item when bought and sold in the usual course of the hobby. The American market had not been auction-oriented as far as antique guns were concerned, in direct contrast to the British market which had been, and is, very auction dominated. Proof was obvious by the very lack of gun auction houses in America or auction houses scheduling regular and frequent arms sales. The few firms game to try either held them at lengthy intervals or dropped them as unsuccessful. Within the past few years the foothold earlier established by a few reputable auction houses has increased dramatically. The author’s prediction in earlier editions since 1987 that “... there is every likelihood that auctions will play an increasingly important role in the acquisition and disposition of antique arms ... may well portend the future” certainly was realized.

The following years of the 1980s through the mid-1990s witnessed the growth of a number of auction houses specializing in gun sales; at times becoming top-heavy. By the late 1990s I noted the growth of the auction market was in an “…unmistakable decline in both quality and quantity of arms attainable at auctions, i.e. those worthy of attracting attention and creating strong competitive bidding. Without such material, auctions are lackluster and so, too, are the prices realized.” Further comment noted the downward trend, clearly visible in merely reviewing the numerous auction catalogs then being issued in which “…even the illustrations are frequently of endless quantities of monotonous, undiversified material. Auctions will continue to play an important role in arms collecting, very much governed by the class of merchandise they make available.” The caption to that section of auction commentary said it all: “GUN AUCTIONS; THEIR DECREASING IMPORTANCE.”

How the tables have turned! These last six years since that 8th Edition have witnessed a significant change in the influence of that auction market and the firms that participate in it. Certainly, the most obvious indicator has been the many record-breaking prices achieved by a wide variety of models and types of antique American firearms, their levels of quality and /or rarity.

The proliferation of superbly assembled and printed, color illustrated auction catalogs, the likes of which have never been previously seen in this field represent a credit to the auction houses that issue them and to the antique arms community in general (and they certainly place generations of gun catalogs that preceded them in their shadow). This great change of pace was ostensibly brought about by those few auction houses that had the foresight (and good fortune) to acquire from consignees significant outstanding specimens of antique arms and make them available on a reasonably steady basis. With proper promotion and marketing they frequently achieved startling values. Widely reported in both the general and the antiques press, those exceptional prices were ostensibly the stimulus for owners of similar material to take advantage of what was developing into a really hot market; there was no doubt that it truly was just that. In their aftermath, a veritable flood of great material, the very best of their respective types emerged on the auction scene and so it has remained. It is important that the collector bears in mind that those record values were achieved by what are considered to have been the very top, the ne plus ultra, of their particular category of firearm and that those very same prices seldom transpose to even slightly lesser rarity, quality or condition levels of identical models. There is little doubt that the notoriety of those auction values has been favorable for the hobby. They have certainly been responsible for a remarkable turnaround for a number of auction houses. In order that the neophyte collector as well as the veteran gun trader not be carried away by the excitement of those record-breaking values, it bears repeating that they have seldom had relevance or influenced values on antique arms of the same types if anything less than the very best or the most rare.

A few words about auctions are in order here for the collector ... and the dealer. Auctions will continue successful only if they do not revert to their former common practices of taking everyone’s “cats and dogs” with protected prices, while allowing the very owners of those pieces to bid them up during the auction. These abuses were so flagrant that they colored the entire American gun auction market, with but a handful of notable exceptions. With reputations at stake, it has been observed that many houses have taken great precautions to keep their acts clean. When a legitimate collection has been offered at auction on a no-holds-barred basis, results have often been spectacular. Those results certainly attracted the attention of the collecting world and were equally noted by the auction houses themselves.

Many abuses to which auctions have been, and still are, subject will continue to be the major stumbling block to their success. An uncomfortable feeling exists when auction houses either own all the material themselves or have given healthy loans or advances towards the material they are about to auction. By the very nature of these actions there is an obvious conflict of interest. For instance, if the collector seeks the auction house’s advice, it is very difficult for the house to resist the temptation to push their own material instead of consignment items. The bidder enjoys greater peace of mind when the auction house has no vested interest.

A phenomenon peculiar to antique gun auctions that has been noticed by the author, is the lack of dealer “rings” or “pooling.” The practice is illegal, but one that has been rampant for many years in the antique auction business in both America and abroad. The “ring” consists of a number of dealers who have conspired to rig the bidding, electing one member of their group to bid openly and purchase an item against the general public, thereby assuring that the item never brings a fair, or top, price. The owner or consignor is cheated from realizing full value for the item while the auction house is likewise cheated from realizing a higher commission. Following the auction the “ring” meets furtively and re-auctions the piece among themselves (the “knockout”), splitting the realized profit among themselves in various proportions established beforehand. The author has never witnessed a dealer “ring” at work at an antique gun auction. Collectors and dealers have been found too independent and fiercely competitive ... which usually makes for a spirited auction! Of course, the possibility always exists for the exception to the rule. It is sincerely doubted that such tactics will make inroads in this particular field. The practice elsewhere has been quite vigorously prosecuted in recent years.

Auction galleries, in former years, were not the competitors to dealers that they have become today. Their increase in numbers has made acquisition of material by dealers considerably more difficult. A noticeable difference is the great emphasis by auction houses on “investment” and “profit” potential. Although dealers certainly are not immune to stressing that point, the more conservative will tend to downplay it. Auction galleries rarely have the time or expert personnel to advise or guide neophyte collectors as an experienced dealer might. For practical reasons many will not handle items below certain dollar values, which immediately eliminates segments of the collecting community.

In many instances the collector might find it practical and advantageous to use a reliable agent when buying at auction; either because his own expertise is weak or he is unable to personally view or attend the auction. Bidding agents usually charge a fee (10 percent seems about average) with such fees scaled downward if values reach five figures or more. It is a widely held opinion that the fee should be earned; to do so, the agent must be held responsible for more than merely bidding. While representing the collector, the agent should be answerable and held accountable for the authenticity of the item to be auctioned. Any doubts that he might have as to its originality should immediately be made known to the customer, at which time the responsibility then passes to the customer. When a bidder does not personally attend an auction, placing bids by mail or telephone with an auction house, without the use of a personal representative, it is possible that their bid may be used against them. Although telephone or mail bids should be used with the greatest of confidentiality, and it is assumed that a reputable house will do so, there have been enough unethical abuses of absentee bidding to create apprehension on the part of some bidders. Reputations of the auction house or the auction agent will certainly precede them. Above all ... never bid on anything unless you have personally examined it ... or had a trusted representative examine it ... or have an ironclad money back guarantee from the auction house that it may be returned if found not as described.

TRENDS IN COLLECTING

Undoubtedly the most significant trend in arms collecting is the constant search for weapons in pristine or close to “factory new” or “mint” condition. The most noticeable difference between the old-time American collections (those formed before 1950 and especially prior to World War II) and those of the postwar period is the overall condition of the latter group. In the earlier days, when guns were plentiful and quite inexpensive, very little concerted effort was made to seek only the finest or “ultimate” specimens. At the same time price differences for varying states of condition had a much smaller spread than in the current era. In articles dating from those earlier periods of collecting, condition is prominently mentioned as a desirable goal, but collectors then seldom sought the “ultimate” and quite often were satisfied with just reasonably clean specimens or those in a “fine” state and no more. The progression and advancement of the hobby, the spread of available knowledge and the great influx of new collectors have caused the search for perfection to become much more pronounced, to the point where among many this has achieved an almost fetish stage. Obviously the proportion of arms of any type in the “excellent” or “factory new” state is quite small in relation to overall quantities available; thus, the greatest price spreads will be found between average condition pieces and those in the top grades.

Another noticeable trend has been the increasing specialization to quite limited, confined fields. Much of this can be attributed to the wealth of data published in both book and periodical form, allowing the aficionados access to a guide for building their own collections. Without the availability of such material, it is extremely difficult to specialize in many areas, and the collector must have a bit of pioneering instinct to do so. The easy availability of arms literature and the steady stream of new research studies have in themselves spawned a host of subgroups and sub-studies which in turn have identified other variations and types of arms that were heretofore unrecognized or completely overlooked. This is especially evident in some of the less expensive categories (the Damascus barrel breech-loading shotguns are an example); pieces which formerly were rarely collected or at best had severely limited followings. These types have generally achieved a much elevated status in recent years, with demand continuing to increase. A number of specialties have yet to be researched and documented, and remain as yet unexplored.

A dramatic change in collecting is the wholesale mobility of the collector himself due to the fantastic network of interstate highways built in the postwar years as well as the easy availability of air travel. Such advantages now taken for granted certainly serve to increase the collector’s propensity to travel to all ends of the country in pursuing his hobby.

The increasing importance of antique arms well restored is a noteworthy development in the most recent years. The subject in general will be covered in Chapter III, but it is worthy of mention here as a decided trend in the collecting world. With the diminishing supply of fine specimens, combined with an increasing demand for those available, collectors have accepted restored arms on a wider basis than formerly. The subject is one sure to stir considerable debate and involves the matter of ethics; our purpose here is merely to report on what is occurring in the field rather than involve ourselves in dialectics.

Foremost among restorations is the reconstruction of flintlock arms; mainly in restoring to flintlock pieces that were earlier converted to percussion. At one time this practice was very much frowned upon, and even derided, by the majority of collectors. Feeling has mellowed considerably over the years and as long as there exists no intent to deceive the buyer into believing the specimen is in its original flintlock state, such restorations are not only acceptable, but are sometimes desirable. Of course, the work should be competently and accurately done. Certain other previously frowned upon restorations have become generally acceptable in recent years; these are usually on the earlier pieces of the muzzle-loading variety.

A very noticeable improvement in the postwar years has been clearly evident in the matter of arms descriptions. With the steady parade of value increases as well as the frequency with which specimens are advertised and sold through collector magazine mail order advertisements, the descriptive qualities of the advertisers have generally improved over earlier cataloging days. With no little sense of pride, the author feels that he has played an instrumental role in helping transform the general quality of the jargon of the collector and setting a pattern for the details necessary to provide a complete verbal description for mail order sales. In days when guns were inexpensive, a few words of description would often suffice for each item. With the great increase in values, every defect or fine point plays an important role in pricing; thus, to competently describe a gun, it should be reduced to a description of condition for each of the various components. A quick sampling of dealer catalogs of earlier days and those that exist now will poignantly illustrate this trend.

THE ANTIQUE ARMS PRESS

Among the more interesting means to get a handle on collecting trends is to survey the history and background of the various periodicals devoted to antique arms that have come and gone over the years. I recently had the opportunity to do just that while preparing an article for the 50th anniversary of The Gun Report, the longest-running journal devoted exclusively to arms collecting and antique firearms. The retrospective proved to be a fascinating exercise. Should the aspiring scholar find the initiative to chart and graph all those many antique arms and their values over the decades, they would reflect not merely obvious value fluctuations (invariably substantial increases) but, more importantly, the changeable patterns of collecting that occurred.

Although all of the various journals and periodicals that preceded The Gun Report (and its contemporary Man at Arms) were short-lived, each in its own way was an important milestone in the collecting of antique firearms in America. The most probable cause of their individual failures was the lack of financial support by what was then but a small nucleus of dedicated antique arms collectors. In an article on this very same subject by the noted collector Henry M. Stewart in the November, 1974 issue of the Monthly Bugle (journal of the Pennsylvania Antique Gun Collectors Association), his research revealed that the earliest article in a national magazine dealing with antique gun collecting appeared in Outing Magazine in 1902 under the title “Collectors and Collections of Pistols.” That was followed by a second article in 1903 in that same publication, “Pistols with Pedigrees.” Likely the first American periodical solely devoted to the subject was the Magazine of Antique Firearms. Its first edition of 22 pages appeared in April, 1911 followed with consecutive issues monthly through August 1912. Published in Athens, Tennessee, its masthead declared it: “Official Organ of the American Society of Antique Weapon Collectors.” Now approaching a century in age, those issues contained many excellent articles and illustrations and still make interesting reading.

With its introductory issue of March, 1923 Stock and Steel, billed as the “Official Organ of the Associated Firearm Collectors of America” was next in line for the American arms collecting world. This also short-lived monthly published in Marshalltown, Iowa ended with its fifth issue in July of that same year. It was the first of many equally transitory literary productions of F. Theodore Dexter whose name appears on the masthead. An intriguing fellow who deserves much recognition for the major role he played in the development of early arms collecting in America. “Dex,” as he was more familiarly known, in 1923 earned his basic living in that small Iowa town playing piano in a movie house to accompany the silent films then in vogue. Eventually becoming a well-known, respected antique arms dealer, Dexter took pride over the years in advertising that he was a “commission dealer,” i.e. preferring to handle fine antique weapons on a consignment basis rather than purchasing them outright. He maintained a high profile in the antique arms field for approximately three decades, the 1930s through 1960s. Operating primarily from Topeka, Kansas, he was the creative spirit behind many antique arms catalogs published under the guise of journals such as Dexters Antique Weapon Trade Journal in 1929, which featured a number of then prominent antique arms collections that Dexter sold on consignment for the owners. Subsequent sales catalogs, issued 1933-34 under the appearance of “journal” named Arms Reference Club of America (ARCA) were later changed to “ARCA ARMS REVIEW.” Other name changes followed erratically over ensuing years until October 1940; two later catalogs/journals in the early 1950s were equally short-lived. Although those publishing ventures may have had a rocky track record, they are not to be demeaned. They enjoyed a popular following and exerted considerable influence on the early American collecting market while equally credited with disseminating much valuable information. During the era Dexter issued those periodicals, he was also publishing a profusion of lists of illustrated antique firearms for sale.

November, 1939 witnessed the first issue of an antique arms journal that many consider to have pioneered the more scholarly articles of this hobby; the first to bear the name The Gun Report. Its large 8x12 format and four-column print made for a healthy measure of information. Each issue was accompanied by an inserted, smaller sized four-page monograph featuring a specific model of antique firearm. Published monthly in Akron, Ohio it lasted through April 1942. The very earliest conspicuous stirrings of the American arms collecting world are evidenced through the many advertisements, as well as the cross-section of articles contained in those issues. Of special note among those ads was that for the first edition of Charles E. Chapel’s The Gun Collectors Handbook of Values, the notable, initial work to attempt to catalog all American antique firearms. A popular book, it enjoyed numerous editions through to the 1970s. The advertisements by many early antique arms dealers, who were soon to become the very backbone of the hobby, make equally interesting reading these many years later.

Next on the horizon, shortly following WWII and reflecting the initial rumblings of heightened interest in collecting antique arms was the noteworthy Gun Collectors Letter of October 10, 1946. Its first few issues were merely four-page brochures issued twice monthly. Quickly changing to monthly and growing in size, its name was shortened in December 1947 to merely The Gun Collector. Published in Madison, Wisconsin under the editorship of the knowledgeable collector and researcher G. Charter Harrison, Jr., it enjoyed a longer run than its predecessors. But, like them, it too was unable to find sufficient financial support to survive. Although growing in size and significance of contents, it soon changed to a bi-monthly, its issuance becoming increasingly sporadic until it was discontinued in 1953 with issue no. 48 to the dismay of American collectors. The gap left by that worthy publication did not go unnoticed by the collecting world, then experiencing its first substantial outward growing pains. The wealth of conscientiously researched articles, authored by some of the most well-known and creditable names in American arms collecting, brought home the awakened, critical need for such a publication. The Gun Collector continues to make absorbing and constructive reading; many of the articles in those issues are yet cited by collectors and authors of present day, or have proved to be the basis for numerous later scholarly studies.

With that checkered track record of defunct journals, collectors in the burgeoning hobby were at a loss for circulating newly completed studies on antique arms or even communicating easily and continuously among themselves. Except for a few sporadically appearing articles on historic firearms in the National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman and occasional articles in The Texas Gun Collector (journal of the Texas Gun Collectors Association; inaugurated August, 1950 and devoted primarily to their organizational affairs) there was a distressing absence of a regularly issued trade journal. Talk of such need was widely prevalent, with the collecting world rife with rumors. Yet, no one leaped into the breach in the two year interim following departure of the The Gun Collector. The time could not have been more propitious for Kenneth Liggett, an enthusiastic arms collector and advertising manager of his local Aledo, Illinois newspaper to step up to the plate. Acutely aware of the pressing need and recognizing the potential for such a journal, he established a newly renamed Gun Report, printing its first monthly issue June 1955, one and the same that celebrated its 50th anniversary of continuous printing in 2005. It continues to the present with well over 600 editions already to its credit and still going strong.

Two other creditable periodicals added substantially to the lore of American antique arms collecting in the years since inception of The Gun Report, offering that venerable publication but the slightest competition. The American Arms Collector, published by the Collectors Press in Towson, Maryland sustained a very short run of but eight issues between January, 1957 and October, 1958 while the Arms Gazette, published in Los Angeles, California enjoyed greater success in its seven-year run from 1973 to 1980. Both of those periodicals added significantly to this field of American arms collecting; many of their articles are regarded worthy of reference to present day.

Perhaps the growth of antique arms collecting as a hobby and the popularity of the guns themselves are best evidenced by the fact that it now supports two long-lived periodicals devoted entirely to the subject. With the establishment of Man at Arms by Andrew Mowbray in Rhode Island and the issuance in January, 1979 of the first edition of that monthly magazine, the collecting world has since been favored with two equally important, long-lived and widely read, regularly-issued authoritative journals.

Other privately published periodicals have also added significantly to the literature of arms collecting and continue to do so. Journals and bulletins such as those issued by the American Society of Arms Collectors, the Kentucky Rifle Association and the Monthly Bugle of the Pennsylvania Antique Gun Collectors Association as well as those by Colt and Remington arms collectors organizations (and other similar specialty societies) regularly contribute important articles regarding their various fields of concentration. Such publications however are limited in their circulation, usually restricted to their membership. The proliferation of such material further evidences the vastly increasing interest in the broad field of antique American firearms.

OLD GUN CATALOGS ARE NOT TO BE OVERLOOKED!

With the advent of the computer age, the proliferation of elegantly compiled, magnificently color-illustrated catalogs of antique firearms (issued almost exclusively by auction galleries) has been astounding! Quite a few are deserving of a permanent place on the arms student’s shelf, particularly those that include noteworthy collections devoted to a specialized field such as the arms of an individual maker, or perhaps a specific category of firearm (e.g. military carbines, etc.), both of which often include scarce or rare variants seldom seen or mentioned in the usual published references. Such catalogs often serve as a valid source for factual data and manufacturing minutiae that are part and parcel of collecting. Although pre-computer age catalogs often fall short quality-wise when placed alongside those currently in vogue, many remain significant references, while others have achieved collectible status in their own right. Among more notable examples is that issued in 1973 of a conspicuously prominent American firearms collection, particularly renowned for its selection of Colt revolvers and longarms. The handsome 541-page, copiously illustrated (black and white), hard cover catalog The William M. Locke Collection (Biblio. Chap IV) serves not merely as a souvenir of the disposition of those many hundreds of superb firearms, but continues to serve as a source for research. Among other examples worthy of mention is the 1980 Catalog of the Karl F. Moldenhauer Collection of Remington Arms (Biblio. Chap V-E). The legendary catalogs issued by Francis Bannerman Sons of New York City were unique. Early dealers in antique and government surplus firearms along with other weapons and equipment from the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War and other eras, their business, founded in 1865 continued to the mid-twentieth century. The remarkable selection of material in their catalogs said to be “the greatest and best show of Military Goods, War Relics and Curios” was no idle boast; the quantity and broad range of arms and militaria available was unrivaled. Quite a few American arms collectors (including myself!) were introduced and inducted into collecting by those arresting, large, profusely photo and drawing-illustrated Bannerman catalogs, issued sporadically circa 1902-1960. Highly collectible in their own right, yet containing significant information on the background of many American arms, they are often mentioned in arms literature and continue to hold relevance for arms collecting to the present day. Bannermans played a major role in the development and history of antique arms collecting in America; its significance cannot be underrated and is deserving of long-awaited, intensive scholarly study.

THE BROOKS COLLECTION; PROGENITOR OF THE U.S. CARTRIDGE COMPANY COLLECTION

Vaguely remembered (if known at all) the 1899 catalog of the A. E. Brooks’s [sic] Collection of Antique Guns, Pistols, etc., Hartford, Connecticut (Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford Press) is said to be the first extensive illustrated listing of antique firearms assembled by an American collector. It classified and identified over 3,000 artifacts and relics, predominately those of the Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, Indian Wars and Spanish-American War. Almost 600 of those entries were antique firearms (mostly American) as emphasized by the subtitle: Guns and Pistols from the Earliest Periods and a Complete Collection of all the Different Guns that were Used in Both Armies During the Civil War 1861 to 1865. Privately published by the collector A. E. Brooks who stated in his “Prefatory” that he had been collecting, studying and researching the items for thirty years and that he solicited opinions of others “who may be interested in a collection of this character, with the view of correcting whatever errors may exist [and that the collection was] the most complete one in this country.” On closing, he pointedly remarked “that the collection is now on exhibition at the [prestigious] Wadsworth Athenaeum [in] Hartford,” apparently indicating the catalog was intended to accompany that display. Significant for the collector is Mr. Brooks’ explicit statement that he had included with his catalog descriptions “the history of each piece so far as it is known to me. At the time of each purchase I invariably copied all the historic memoranda obtainable, or recorded the tradition as related by the former owner.” Although such oral or other histories and provenances, unaccompanied by valid documentation, are subject to abuses and the occasional derisive comment about their reliability, it would be reasonable to assume that the preponderance of those ascribed histories in the Brooks captions (if not all) are genuine. Given the era the collection was assembled circa 1850s to 1890s, and the fact that many, if not most of such arms were acquired direct from the men that may have actually carried (or captured) them and their minimal monetary value, there ostensibly would have been little cause for owners who had disposed of their personal or family relics to fabricate spurious stories or, by Brooks likewise. At that time Civil War and Indian Wars weapons (including many of those captured from Indians), were merely secondhand items, some not yet considered obsolete. The mere fact that the sources of many of those arms and relics were still imbued with life would tend to preclude any inclination to fabricate specious origins and openly relate them in a catalog printed for local consumption.

THE BACKGROUND OF THE A. E. BROOKS COLLECTION

As so little has ever been written about the Brooks collection and its successor, the U.S. Cartridge Company, and as it has special significance for the American arms collector, a résumé of its background and a short chronicle of its history is relevant. The collection and A. E. Brooks, both received substantial recognition in the news media. Headlined: “Valuable Collection of Firearms / Unique Specimens Owned by Mr. A. E. Brooks of Hartford,” the New York Times article of May, 1894 offered interesting background on the formation of that vast assemblage of weaponry, including a portrait of the bearded A. E. Brooks, “who has spent his life [assembling the] collection which embraces not less than one thousand stands of arms, revolvers and pistols [and is] the most complete private collection in the country [of its kind].” The article continued at length with details of the gun collection “he began in 1859 and has done great and valuable work as a collector…the history of firearms will be materially benefited by his researches.” The lengthy Hartford Courant article of February, 1897 is also worthy of special note. Captioned “THE A. E. BROOKS MUSEUM TO BE DEPOSITED IN WADSWORTH ATHENAEUM’S SPLENDID COLLECTION OF FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION,” it described much of that material then on display: “the collection [considered] largest of its class in the country and not excelled by any exhibit of its class in the country also [containing] cases of swords, bowie knives and daggers [etc.].” The Courant noted that the collection was being moved “from his place of business to the Wadsworth Athenaeum [as] Mr. Brooks is obliged to vacate the premises he now occupies at 387 Main Street [and] has offered to deposit the collection with the Athenaeum for exhibition and the trustees have accepted [and] will provide room for the 40 or more cases in which the collection has been numbered and cataloged by Mr. Brooks.” The story mentioned the firearms and relics had been displayed at his “restaurant.”

Further summarizing those articles along with some basic data from the U.S. Census returns of 1860, 1880 and 1910, finds that Abel E. Brooks was born 1834 in Massachusetts to parents who were hotel keepers. By 1854 Brooks relocated to Willimantic, Connecticut where he managed a restaurant for a few years, eventually erecting a larger building in 1860 named the “European House” (believed a restaurant, possibly a hotel) which he maintained until 1872 and relocation to Hartford. “Geers Hartford Directory” listed him as a “Saloon Keeper” or as a Liquor dealer or merchant and having two locations on Main Street, Hartford. Newspaper biographical sketches indicate that one of those was a restaurant in which the interior walls were decorated with thirty large cases of his antique firearms, while another eight cases of military relics were displayed in his den upstairs. Brooks collecting activities began in earnest in the mid-1850s and were relentlessly pursued to the late 1890s.

The initial change of ownership of the Brooks Collection was reported in the Courant of Jan. 24, 1902. It related that [his] “collection of war and other relics and curios” was to be transferred from the Wadsworth Athenaeum to Boston [for] exhibit at the show of the Massachusetts Sportsmens Association from mid-February to mid-March that year and “at the conclusion of [show] the guns, pistols and cannons will be taken by Paul Butler of Lowell, Mass., president of the U.S. Cartridge Company of that city. For many years this collection gave a distinction to Mr. Brooks’s café on Main Street. After he went out of business most of the relics were deposited with the Athenaeum and there they have been ever since Mr. Butler, who has purchased the firearms, is a son of the late General Benjamin Butler. He is also president of the Massachusetts Sportsmens Association.” Five years later, the Courant (May, 1907) reported that the Brooks collection of Indian relics had been sold at auction, the largest purchaser being the American Museum of Natural History. As for all the Civil War relics and other accessories, ordnance equipment and edged weapons, their whereabouts yet remains a mystery.

Following their acquisition and display of the gun collection (c. 1902) the U.S. Cartridge Company issued a 104-page photographically illustrated catalog, intended to accompany the exhibit at the Sportsmans’ Show. (That first printing of the catalog is apparently quite rare.) The company later (c. 1910-20) revised and enlarged the catalog to 140 pages; copies of that undated edition are occasionally available on the collectors’ market.

The widely known U.S. Cartridge Co., a major manufacturer of ammunition, was established in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1869 by the notable Civil War, Union Army General Benjamin F. Butler (later governor of Massachusetts, 1883). By 1870 he had secured complete control of the company, continuing to direct operations until his death in 1893, whereupon his son Paul Butler and other direct descendants assumed his controlling interest and management of the company. The Brooks collection, acquired in 1902, served to promote the company name. In 1904, following initial display at the Boston show, the company shipped it to Missouri for exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition. It was there that it was first viewed by the Smithsonian Institution’s curator. Subsequent to the return of the firearms from St. Louis, the company entered negotiations with the museum to place the collection on loan. By 1906 it was sent, virtually in its entirety, to Washington, where it remained until 1931. The large file of correspondence generated in the ensuing years (on record in Smithsonian archives) chronicles the loan and eventual return of that collection. A majority of the stock of the U.S. Cartridge Co. was purchased in 1910 by the National Lead Company, however ownership of the gun collection remained in the estate of General Butler, reverting to his son Paul and other direct heirs in that year (National Lead Co. assumed 100 percent ownership of the company in 1919). In the years that followed, the Butler heirs carried on protracted correspondence with the Smithsonian, requesting return of the firearms collection; ultimately shipped back to them during August 1931. Whatever transpired during those years of their return to Massachusetts and storage in the decade that followed is unclear. By 1942 the collection was acquired by parties unknown and offered for sale through a small, paper-covered, unillustrated catalog issued by Robbins H. Ritter of East Hartford, Connecticut. It is apparent from that austere listing and accompanying single page price sheet that at least 565 antique firearms had been returned from the Smithsonian and had then been sold. The Ritter catalog commences with item no. 101 ending, in sequence, with no. 670, but omits a group of 53 pieces (item nos. 403-550 possibly sold prior to issuance of the catalog).

RELEVANCE OF THE BROOKS AND U.S. CARTRIDGE COMPANY CATALOGS FOR THE COLLECTOR

For today’s collector, trader and dealer, both the Brooks and U.S. Cartridge Co. catalogs have a direct significance beyond their scarcity and value as collectibles. Seldom, if ever, mentioned is the unusual, corroborative historical information they include which is directly relevant to many guns described and illustrated in them. Certain antique arms (especially those of the Civil War) directly identifiable to the Brooks collection have sporadically appeared on the collectors market. Most that I have viewed had been totally unrecognized by collectors for the specific markings that identify them directly with entries in the Brooks (and by presumption the U.S. Cartridge) catalog and their consequent enhanced historical significance and market value. It became evident after encountering specimens clearly traceable to the Brooks collection that he customarily marked each gun with his acquisition number, using small, individual die stamps of identical size which he applied in an unsystematic manner, usually to the stock (often the forearm) of his firearms. Most consisted of four numerals (although his Indian-owned and used longarms were struck with only single or double digits). Following verification of the authenticity of the stamped numbers, it becomes essential the Brooks catalog be utilized for identifying both provenance and historical background often associated with the weapon. Although each catalog entry is merely sequentially numbered, the Brooks acquisition number (to be matched with the firearm) is appended to each description. The numerous photographic plates illustrate showcases filled with guns, rather then individual specimens. Hence the photographs, although a valid means of cross-checking with the captions are not dependable for positive identification. At that juncture the U.S. Cartridge Co. catalog may be found particularly useful as those very same firearms are illustrated individually in larger size and detail. That latter catalog makes no mention of the Brooks collection and retains but few of the associated histories. With diligence and patience it is possible to match U.S. Cartridge Co. firearms to those of the Brooks catalog.

PRACTICAL ADVICE

Just one caveat for the collector contemplating acquisition of a weapon or other relic attributed to the Brooks collection! The watchword is “caution.” Mr. Brooks die-stamp-on-the-wood identification system was amateurish and obviously subject to present-day forgery or other abuse (particularly so, as this is likely the initial discussion in modern arms literature of the history and significance of the collection). Hence, the uninitiated or overeager collector and trader should proceed with caution before tacit acceptance of die-stamped numbers matching those in the Brooks catalog. If confirmed genuine to the gun, that identification is certain to heighten its interest and desirability. Depending upon its published provenance and history of use, an increase in value, possibly substantial, may be warranted.

GENERAL VS. SPECIALIZED COLLECTIONS

Although there has been a decided trend towards specialization in collecting, there is no doubt that many collectors are still considered of the “general” category and many newcomers will undoubtedly follow these same “general” interests. Each field of collecting has its merits and undoubtedly satisfies the needs of the aficionado. Not a few extensive and fine “general” collections have been formed which have achieved wide notoriety. This type, though, does often tend to get out of hand, and is often associated with a “pack rat” syndrome— which may be likened to a squirrel storing nuts for the winter! Regrettably, a majority of these general arms groups are put together with no purpose at all in mind and tend more often than not to reflect just that attitude. At this point a word of caution is in order for those who might be embarking on a collecting career purely on an investment or speculative basis. The best advice would be to quit now while ahead! Many are the perils in store for purely investment-minded gun buyers. All too numerous have been the articles in recent years in leading financial journals as well as popular national publications about the remarkable price rises in antique guns and the often “big money” made, or which could have been made, on them. Such articles will surely continue to appear, but should they be the sole stimulus for a buyer entering the gun market, he may well be in for a very rude awakening.

It is certainly accurate to state that many collectors have turned handsome profits on their antique arms, especially by individuals who have been in collecting for some years; likewise a small handful of pure speculators have also made “killings” on a few very choice pieces. Rarely though do those abovementioned financial journalists ever report the other side of the coin; many are the losers who entered collecting on a pure investment basis only to quickly find themselves much poorer for the experience. The articles rarely, if ever, are researched in depth, and in most instances rarely scratch beyond the surface. They either report the hysteria reached at a single auction as being indicative of the entire market, or concentrate on sensational prices acquired for a few pieces, or possibly note cataloged prices of a few pieces which do not accurately reflect actual sales! Experience and common sense should caution that it is impossible to wisely buy in the collecting field, whether antique guns, furniture, coins or art, unless the buyer is well armed with some knowledge of the field and the commodity and a good deal of patience. Few are those who have entered collecting on a purely speculative basis and have remained active very long. The very essence of collecting is the acquisition of knowledge ... and that takes time. A sincere interest in the items to be collected should be the key requisite for entering this field as a hobby; the ultimate return should be the enjoyment one has had from his collecting activities. Obviously money should be very well spent—just as an investment in anything of value should be carefully considered—and experience in the field of arms collecting has proved decidedly that prudent investments have brought very rich returns.

It is best to narrow a collection, especially a beginning one, to certain confined limits where a reasonable amount of management can be discerned by both the owner and the viewer. Taste and pocketbook will very likely determine the category. Examples of broad classifications which offer an array of possibilities might be to confine the collection only to muzzle-loading or breech-loading arms of specific eras or types (e.g., sporting weapons, military weapons, etc.). A fine and interesting area for broad specialization, and one which would cover the longest historical period, would be to show arms of all ignition types used in America and the many variations of each. Collections of these types offer intriguing as well as educational values. For the neophyte collector they offer the advantage of the broadest possible understanding of antique guns over a lengthy period, and at the same time present the opportunity to assemble a group of items having a wide general interest to others.

The last subject “wide general interest” is worth digressing for momentarily. It has been the author’s feeling that one of the distinct inner satisfactions of collecting should be the ability to share and impart one’s enthusiasm and interest to completely disinterested non-collectors and to see that spark of enthusiasm kindle itself within them. At the very least, the scope of the collection should be sufficient to arouse curiosity and elicit some feelings of interest on the part of the non-collector and visitor to the gun room. The more highly specialized and detailed a collection becomes, the less interesting it is to the public at large. As is often the case, especially with technically detailed collections (where the placement of a screw or a variant of a maker’s mark may cause many hundreds of dollars difference in price), the owner finds it very difficult to talk enthusiastically to the casual non-collector gun room visitor. Although the collection may have great monetary value, it is of interest only to another dyed-in-the-wool collector. An arms group broader in scope and possibly associated with an historical era rather than concentrating on manufacturing variances will lend itself more easily to a display that is easily understood by the non-gun person. The majority of people visiting a collector’s home or office, or wherever the pieces are displayed, are most likely not fellow collectors. It is easier and generally more enjoyable, to give an interesting, or even exciting, tour through one’s collection if it is of this broader scope. There is no intent here to disparage those highly specialized collections heavy in technical variations, for such pursuits are highly regarded and have made their own contributions to the antique arms field. It is obvious, though, that one loses his listening audience the more he becomes involved in detail and esoteric points. Thus, depending on one’s needs and social mindedness, it is well worth remembering to what degree and with whom the collector would like to share his collecting activities.

Many are the avenues down which the collector may travel in pursuit of his hobby; the possibilities are just about limitless. Here are a few categories for starters: American military long guns or handguns; firearms of the Civil War or Indian War periods; firearms used by the frontiersmen covering the entire mid- and late 19th century; highly decorated American arms; arms of the same type used by famous Americans; firearms of specific American makers (either mass produced or hand crafted types); all guns made of one specific caliber (caliber 45-70 is a favorite in this field); firearms of unique mechanical designs; firearms designed for specific purposes (i.e., target rifles, fowling pieces for bird shooting, small bore hunting rifles, etc.) or guns bearing inscriptions tying them to specific events.

Quite a few arms of foreign manufacture played direct and important roles in various eras of American history. The two most notable were the Colonial, pre-Revolutionary years and the 1861-1865 Civil War years. The wide importation of those pieces (often under direct U.S. Government purchase or contract) and their wide acceptance and use during those periods have endeared them to the American gun collector. Such pieces are quite often found in well-rounded collections of American guns which encompass the respective eras. A few foreign pieces were so widely used and highly regarded that they are given equal status as an “American” collectors’ item and are considered a necessary inclusion in certain American arms collections. The famed British “Brown Bess” of the American Colonial era, the French Model 1763 flintlock musket of Revolutionary America and the French made LeMat “grape shot” revolver of the Civil War period are certainly prime examples of these types. Other European pieces that are either direct infringements on American guns or made under license are noteworthy pieces for inclusion in American arms collections. European infringements of early Colts, Smith & Wessons, Winchesters and Henry rifles are prime examples of these types.

STARTING A COLLECTION

The reasons for collecting antique firearms are endless, but certain ones are basic. Although the investment angle must play a role, it should be but part and parcel of stronger motivations which tie the collecting activities to some personal preference that has captured the imagination and curiosity of the prospective collector. Appetites for gun collecting are often whetted by mechanical ingenuity, artistic features or historic associations. The possibilities and potential in collecting antique American arms are virtually unlimited; but these must be matched to both one’s pocketbook and the amount of time one can devote to what can become a possessive mistress.

Probably the best approach to beginning a collection is to assemble a basic arms library and read those books thoroughly. But, alas, years of stressing this point and offering the same advice many times over has found it to be the least often accepted counsel. Whether time is too precious or gun money tends to burn a large hole in one’s pocket, it seems the neophyte collector just cannot visualize that book hanging on two hooks on the wall! This note of sarcasm is well intended, if the collector-to-be can persevere and acquire a few recommended basic primers, he will find his money very well spent indeed. Larger city libraries are bound to have a good shelf of gun books as do many of the larger book stores; a few dealers specialize in arms books and issue catalogs, or, a visit to a gun show will usually find dealers with a wide variety of titles on hand. The Bibliography, Chapter IV, should be found helpful as a guide to basic works. Thoroughly digesting such primers will provide a good cursory knowledge of what gun collecting is all about. Recommended as a basic starter is the recently published “331 Essential Tips and Tricks for the Gun Collector” by S.C. Mowbray (2006). See Biblio. Chapter IV.

Armed with the basics, the next order of progression should be some astute travel—to a museum featuring a well-rounded or specialized collection (quite a few of these will be found throughout the country), to a gun collector’s home, to a dealer specializing in antique arms, or to a nearby gun show; (none of these need be in any special order). New horizons will quickly be opened, especially at that visit to the first show where anywhere from a hundred to a thousand (or more!) tables may be seen displaying and offering for sale thousands of antique guns; a fascinating and unforgettable experience. Probably on display will be more guns than can be seen in most individual museums, plus a variety of accessories, parts and literature. The shows also offer an excellent forum for meeting with a very wide cross-section of collectors and dealers.

On the assumption the aspiring collector was able to attend that first gun show and not purchase anything (but some books), the next logical step should be to subscribe to a few of the regularly issued periodicals devoted to or featuring articles on collectors’ arms. The importance of belonging to the National Rifle Association cannot be over-emphasized. Their highly respected and widely circulated publication The American Rifleman contains a great many informative articles for the gun collector, and the Association offers services to collectors who are members. Other periodicals devoted entirely to antique arms are of great value to the collector and should be subscribed to (see details in Bibliography). A host of other magazines covering modern weapons is readily available, and most of these carry some articles on antique and collectors’ firearms. The importance of all these periodicals to the neophyte is not only their wealth of informative articles, but the profusion of advertisements of dealers and collectors nationwide who are offering their services or their lists or their items for sale. One of the best mediums of exchanges in the antique arms business is mail order. Advertisements and listings for all the regularly scheduled gun shows throughout the country will also be found in these publications.

Before money is laid down for that first gun, it would be wise to have selected a general area in which to confine one’s collecting activities. Likely a choice was made by reading and by studying museum and private collections; at least some general guidelines should have been established, and the search for specimens can be confined to within a given category. A key asset for the neophyte is a mentor whose opinion is valued (and who is not trying to sell one of his own guns!); an outside impartial opinion as to the wisdom of the first choice will do much to start the collector on the right foot when making that first selection at a gun show or at a dealer’s shop; it is also a great aid in building self-confidence. If on his own, then good common sense and judgment of human nature should take precedence when assessing circumstances surrounding the purchase of that first piece. Checking the reputation of a dealer or collector source is a worthy step, and remember that a guarantee, either verbal or written, is only as good as the party giving it.

The matter of GUARANTEES is worth dwelling on for a moment. Regardless of what one might be told about a gun, and even if said data is committed to writing, there are so many vagaries involved that unless the party making the guarantee is reputable, it will be found worthless. Proving an item is not what it is stated to be in a court of law is a highly involved process and a costly one as well. Courts and (most) lawyers know nothing about antique guns, so it is a matter of hiring witnesses (an expensive matter) and trying to educate judge and possibly jury as well! Unless a gun is worth many thousands of dollars, there is little likelihood that the aggrieved owner will ever get satisfaction if the seller does not choose to honor a complaint. In only the most flagrant violations does a collector have a chance to get together a consensus from the seller’s peers and coerce him into making a disgruntled refund. This discussion is not intended to lessen the importance of acquiring a detailed bill of sale, which in some cases may deter the seller from passing off a spurious piece. A general observation in some five decades of dealing has shown that those highly detailed, multi-part bills are rarely asked for or offered, nor are they necessarily what they appear to be if the seller had larceny in his heart from the beginning! The entire subject has very broad legal and ethical implications not within the realm of discussion for this book, other than to bring them to the readers’ attention and strongly stress the extreme importance of knowing the party from whom the purchase was made. It is very much a matter of a man’s word being his bond. A source of satisfaction for the majority of those active in gun collecting is that such a statement stands not merely as a hackneyed cliche, but a standard of one’s ethical code.

Undoubtedly the best rule-of-thumb on purchasing antique guns, and one that is heard repeatedly, is to limit one’s buying as much as possible to quality and condition. Far better it is to have one good piece than a dozen “dogs.” This is one of the most difficult points to get across to new collectors, especially when they are itching to buy that first piece! From studying human nature and collecting habits, it may be broadly stated that the new collector most often commits all the sins that he has been pointedly warned to avoid and that he ultimately comes to the realization that those were not such bad warnings after all. Those seeming bargains just are not bargains and are so damned hard to pass by! The mere fact that a gun bears a price tag and is being sold by a dealer or collector in his shop or at a show is not necessarily a measure of actual or accurate worth. That tag does not always indicate the actual price a seller is willing to accept. In some instances it may even be purposefully inflated, outlandishly so; a rather crafty device to tempt the prospective buyer to make an offer, after which the trap closes quickly on the unwary! The buyer must be prepared to analyze not only the weapon, but the person selling it, including their knowledge in that particular area, their method of doing business, their standing and reputation as a collector or dealer.

On auction buying: The final rule-of-thumb on bargains is worth remembering when it comes to attending an auction. Under no circumstances ever bid on any gun (or any other item for that matter) unless it has been very closely examined at the exhibition preceding the auction by yourself (preferably) or someone representing the collector and whose opinion is valued. This is a time-honored, unwritten rule equally applicable to neophyte as well as expert. The novice, with no idea of gun values, has no business bidding at an auction and is gently cautioned to possess his soul with patience and wait until he has some collecting experience under his belt before entering bidding competition. Common sense dictates that when one stands toe to toe and slugs it out price-wise—and that is what auctions are all about—he should at the very least know what he is doing.

SELLING ANTIQUE GUNS

There comes a time in every collector’s life when he has to sell a gun or guns, or just try his hand at turning a profit. No matter how great the protestation, “... I never sell a gun ... I will never sell a gun ... I never sold a gun,” everybody meets the situation face to face at one time or another. It is difficult to understand why a certain few collectors make a fetish of the claim that they never sold a piece, as if to do so were beneath one’s dignity. You will meet these types often, but only rarely are their protestations credible. Some collectors are really more dealers than collectors; at least their buying, selling and trading activities run at a fever pitch, and they never seem to settle into any collecting pattern. A great majority of collector sales are due to a wide range of reasons, e.g., up-grading of specimens, disposing of items that no longer hold an interest, or a pressing and immediate need for cash. A number of for-sale methods are available depending on the time and effort one wishes to take. First to note is that the “book” or advertised or listed price for a specific piece is not always the one that can be realized for it. In some cases there may be no takers for the piece at any price. At this point the collector may acquire a quick education—and a most lasting impression— of one more detail of the fine art of gun trading!

Setting forth a listing in this book and neatly assigning a value to each piece tends very much to be misleading, especially to the neophyte or only casually interested owner of a gun or two. This is not unique to antique arms, but holds true for any collecting field. The mere fact that a gun is listed with a price in no way precludes that the owner must achieve that figure or even a predetermined percentage thereof. No central market place or bourse exists where all gun dealers and collectors conduct their transactions as on the stock or commodity exchanges; the arrangement is much looser with a great many variables; hit-or-miss is a more apt description. To avoid disappointment it is well to understand and be aware of the peculiarities and complexities involved in evaluating collectors’ firearms.

Owning a rare gun with a healthy dollar value and realizing that value is at times analogous to “... being a horse of another color!” The collector should be aware that one gun is not as easily sold as another and that the demand factor greatly influences price and marketability. True, a great many very rare American guns are worth in the many hundreds or thousands of dollars; many will be seen listed in this work. Those pieces quite definitely fetch those prices when sold to a retail customer. The number of collectors for some of those particular type guns, however, may be extremely limited; as such, it is possible to occasionally experience not only sales resistance to a gun, but considerable lethargy as well. Possibly the only way that that particular piece might be sold would be to lower the price to a figure so attractive that it would be tantamount to forcing a sale. The same can hold true of a quite rare and valuable gun that is in great demand, but is in a very low grade of condition.

On the assumption that the collector has bought wisely and ably, he might well find that a dealer will pay him as high a price or more than any collector in the area. The dealer’s own specialized clientele and access to a national market allows him to know exactly where to place that gun quickly, and in such instances he is usually willing to pay a premium price. The dealer normally pays cash on the spot for the item, whereas in many cases of private sales, the collector has to accept trade items in lieu of money. There is no general guide as to what gun dealers pay for their merchandise. To flatly state that they pay 50 percent of market value or to assign any fixed percentage would be absolutely erroneous. The only accurate statement is—a dealer expects to make a profit! With very fine conditioned pieces, numerous rare models and certain types for which he has a special demand (and for any number of other reasons), the dealer is often in the position to pay the highest price for a piece and work on an extremely small profit margin to get it. This has been especially true in recent years. The dealer might even pay the so-called “book” value for a piece as he has been commissioned by a client to specifically acquire that model for a premium price. On the other hand, if that dealer has no demand or clientele for certain types of arms, then regardless of price, he might not want to invest money at all as it would represent completely dead merchandise for him. Many dealers are specialists themselves and handle only certain types for which they have an immediate following and will completely pass by pieces that are not of interest to them regardless of price. There are no generalizations that will apply to the subject of all arms dealers. A quite interesting observation is the fact that a tremendous amount of business is generated between dealers themselves, since most have their own followings and customers. If the dealer operates on a large scale and in mail order or makes all the major gun shows throughout the country, thus having access to a national market, it is obvious that he will have a wider range of interest and broader coverage of antique arms than the dealer who is conducting his business strictly on a local basis. In the latter case, the dealer will normally pay highest prices only for those pieces for which he has a walk-in local trade, whereas other items would be attractive to him only if they could be acquired well under “book” value allowing for wholesaling to other dealers. As a general statement, the larger the dealer and the broader his scope and sales coverage, the higher the prices he is willing to pay for merchandise.

If the collector does not realize the price he expected from a dealer or fellow collector, five other options are open to him for selling that arm at the greatest possible figure. Each requires time and effort on his part, but the results may prove worthwhile. The easiest method is to take space at a regularly scheduled gun show and display the arms to be sold as attractively as possible. A good opportunity is afforded to sell or trade there providing the price is realistic. Through actual show experience, where feverish trading often occurs, the collector will come across and very likely take for his own use much of the banter heard about the floor. Eavesdrop on any large gun show and chances are one will hear a chorus or two of the following elucidations during the course of the day, “... That’s less than I paid for it! ... I don’t care if I sell it or not! ... That’s less than I got in it! ... I got more than that in it! ... If it doesn’t move, you can bring it back!”

A second sales option available is the auction. This could prove both hazardous and expensive, and the collector should be well aware of the rules of the game. If the auction is “open” or “no reserve” (that is, one in which every item must be sold to the highest bidder) and it happens to be one of those bad days (influenced greatly by weather or economic conditions among other things), the gun could be sold for a pittance of its cost. Adding salt to the wound, the collector must pay the auctioneer’s commission, normally from 10 to 30 percent. In some cases auction houses allow a reserve figure (i.e., a price under which an object will not be sold), a means of protecting against an under-value sale. But, with a reserve, a commission usually must still be paid to the auction house. The “reserve price” has its strong detractors as well as supporters. Two key factors to its successful use are the quality of the other material in the sale and the reputation of the auction house. On the latter subject, it’s essential that the financial stability of auctioneers is verified and that they are bonded. Slow payments...and no payments...to consignors has been a cause for concern these past few years causing a few well known houses to enter bankruptcy proceedings. Other costs are likely to be incurred by the consignor, and these must be carefully weighed before entering into an agreement. Basic are such items as charges for insurance (know for certain who is insuring the items while in the possession of the auction house) and charges for cataloging, including extra reproduction fees for catalog illustrations.

Consignment is another method that can be utilized to realize a higher value from a collector’s gun. Many dealers will accept certain select pieces from their clientele to sell on this basis. Consignment allows the dealer to add to his stock, permitting a broader selection of merchandise, without having to invest capital. Because of this, the dealer is willing to realize more for the collector than he would be willing to pay cash on the spot. The collector agrees to leave his gun with the dealer for sale at an agreed upon retail price. Details should be clearly understood, and the agreement made in writing. The collector further agrees to allow the dealer a flat percentage fee (normally about 20 percent) of the retail price if the item is sold. Should the item not be sold after a specified time, the collector has the right to take it back and to dispose of it at his own discretion. Normally, no charges are made to the collector if the piece is not sold, unless previously agreed upon. All these factors, especially the matter of the commission fee, should be definitely committed to writing at the time the consignment is made. A great many fine firearms are sold by this method. Advantages are obvious for both owner and seller. However, to utilize this method successfully one must choose wisely the dealer who is to handle the item. Most dealers are not interested in taking insignificant, low value items on consignment; e.g., pieces worth $100 or less; nor questionable objects requiring guarantees to their clientele while the consignee is relieved of all responsibility. Important in the choice of a consignment dealer is one that is not only reputable, but is financially reliable. In many instances the dealer sells his items on a time payment method (that is, the money comes in in dribs and drabs), or a trade may be necessary to realize the best transaction. In such instances it is important that the dealer pays the consignee the full agreed upon price the moment disposal is made, regardless of how he was paid for it or whether a trade was involved. Regrettably in many instances, consignment has proven an unpleasant experience for the collector as it was found that the dealer selling on a time payment method could not come up with all the money by the time the final payment came in. A trade situation also can prove to be a similar problem. It may be necessary where trading is involved that the consignee must sweat it out until each of the pieces taken in trade are themselves sold; sometimes an almost endless process. Thus, choose wisely and be sure to commit the agreement to writing.

The sales option requiring the greatest amount of time, but reaching the widest possible audience, is advertising the gun in one or more of the collecting periodicals. These are widely circulated throughout the United States and abroad, and present the collector with the very best chance of finding the ultimate specialized buyer most actively seeking that particular piece. Bear in mind that a considerable time lapse exists in mail order selling, from placing the advertisement to the date of publication and circulation; normally a minimum of two months. The collector must be prepared to service and answer all inquiries as well as to give full cash refund should the piece be returned by the buyer if not found up to specifications. Not a few well-known dealers active today started off by dabbling in part-time mail order. A cautionary note must be made with regard to buying and selling firearms of all types—especially through the mail: One must be familiar with the text of the Federal Firearms Act of 1968, which regulates interstate trade in firearms, and to be equally familiar with local and state firearms ordinances— decidedly a mixed bag! In the most general terms, guns made prior to December, 1898 are free of regulations under the Federal Act, but they do not conflict with or cancel any existing state or local laws in effect in one’s area. The laws are readily available and their finer points can be checked with local gun clubs and organizations conversant with firearms regulations.

Trading as a final option. If all else fails, there’s always gun swapping! Probably no other collecting hobby affords as many opportunities to trade as does antique firearms. This time-honored method is also a means of sharpening one’s wits. With not a few collectors their major interest in the hobby is the action and satisfaction derived from the pure trading aspects. Depending on technique, it is very possible to amass quite an impressive collection with a minimum expenditure of cash and a little ingenuity and Yankee horse-trading. Likely superfluous would be a caution about trading values, but inasmuch as “... some never get the word” (to summarize an old story), only the reminder will be issued here that highly unrealistic prices are often encountered in the area where trading rather than sales is anticipated. The reason for this might possibly be the psychological advantage thought in allowing someone more for his gun in trade than could be attained for it in cash. The whole thing is based on both a not-too-cute or clever and often self-deceiving principle and brings to mind the classic story of the two $500 alley cats traded for the $1,000 mongrel dog!

GUN INSURANCE

Surrounded as we are with thieves, scoundrels, rogues, knaves, scalawags, prowlers and the light-fingered in this modern civilized era, the collector would do well to take safeguards to protect his valuable guns. The hazard of fire is also ever-present. Not a few articles have been written on insurance; the subject is well covered in the James E. Serven book The Collecting of Guns and in several American Rifleman articles. In broadest terms, antique and collectors’ firearms are not best covered under the most commonly used “Home Owners” policies. In most circumstances under that type coverage, a maximum fixed percentage (usually 10 percent) of the total value of the policy would apply to items such as firearms. Also, a limit or maximum dollar value would be set for any one piece, coverage generally applies only to guns actually on the premises and claims most often are paid on an actual cash or cost basis or even according to replacement cost less depreciation. Establishing some of these factors often entails considerable administrative as well as emotional problems after a loss has occurred. Special waivers and riders can cover some contingencies, but experience has shown that collectors rarely bother to adequately investigate their coverage for antique and collectors’ guns under a Home Owner’s policy. The result is very much a case of closing the barn door after the horse has gone.

One of the best and broadest types of coverage for antique and collectors’ firearms is under policies known as “Fine Arts Floaters.” Any good, knowledgeable insurance agent will be familiar with them. A number of attractive plans are even offered by some of the larger collecting organizations. The key feature of the Fine Arts policy is the fact that each and every gun in the collection is itemized and valued and kept on record with the insurance company and agent. These policies normally have provisions allowing for coverage even when the guns are on exhibit at a show and in transit. Should a loss occur, settlements are normally quicker and are generally for the amount on the scheduled list. It is, of course, quite necessary to continually update the schedule as prices change, or as items are bought or sold. Coverage under Fine Arts policies has not only been found to be broad in scope, but often features advantageous rates. They are well worth investigating.

APPRAISALS

Professional appraisals are often important in establishing values for antique and collectors’ guns. Such evaluations are specified requirements for some insurance policies, for any estate and gift tax purposes, for tax plans of various types and damage and loss claims. They play an important role in determining originality of a collector’s item, by supplying a professional opinion in writing.

The key to acceptability of the values or opinions stated in an appraisal by the party to whom they are submitted are the credentials and background of the appraiser. It is a simple matter to find anyone with the slightest knowledge of guns and have them write an evaluation, pulling figures out of the air so to speak; all that is needed is a typewriter and paper. However, the collector should well understand and remember that those evaluations are subject to review by quite a few official parties before acceptability and that one of the major features scrutinized is the credentials of the appraiser; his experience within the field of guns (not merely a general antiques appraiser) and his reputation are principal factors. Major appraisers associations are able to furnish lists of recognized experts whose specialty is firearms. A number of well-known dealers in the antique arms field are quite well qualified and handle evaluations as part of their normal business routine. Appraisal fees vary considerably and are dependent upon the qualifications and credentials of the appraiser, his expertise and professional affiliations, and, of course, his location. Fees are often based upon hourly and daily rates or on a flat rate based on quantity involved. The common practice of charging a percentage of the appraised value of the item or collection is looked upon unfavorably. It is no longer in use by most major auction houses and is actually forbidden in the bylaws of some major appraisers’ associations.

RULES OF THE GAME— THE COLLECTOR’S ETIQUETTE

A few basic rules should be strictly observed and adhered to when dealing with fellow collectors or handling firearms. These canons are based on plain, common sense, but it is surprising how many times they are broken unthinkingly. The briefest and simplest admonition and one which smacks of rural New England is “... keep your mouth shut and your hands in your pockets.” Not only does this make sense, but since knowledge and experience are key elements of success in collecting, quite a bit can be learned by doing just that!

For starters, obey the most cardinal rule of them all—never point a gun, be it flintlock or otherwise, at anybody. Next most often heard and important rule of etiquette is never snap a hammer on any gun, modern or antique. Manners aside, snapping a hammer may do irreparable damage; metal striking metal can often break and replacement parts rarely exist. Sometimes the maxim, “He who breaks it, owns it” would be applicable, a speedy means of purchasing a piece that was neither desired nor affordable. If necessary to test the mechanical functioning of a gun and permission has been granted by the owner, then and only then is the hammer cocked. When the trigger is pulled, the hammer is let gently forward into its “off” or “fired” position, either by the thumb or by the other hand. This very same rule applies to the handling or mechanical functioning of any gun, antique or modern. Permission should first be obtained from the owner to even pick a piece up, and permission received before testing any mechanical function. Better still is to ask the owner to demonstrate the weapon himself.

When permission is granted for handling a firearm, it is important to do so properly. The hold should be on the wooden stock or grips; when this is not possible and the fingers must touch metal, the sides of the fingers (rather than the tips) should be used, at best they should be used gingerly. Fingers, and especially finger tips, leave a rust-causing residue; some individuals do so greater than others, leaving a trail of carnage behind.

Don’t be a cowboy with another’s guns. Spinning cylinders is decidedly bad manners and potentially harmful; score marks may be caused on the cylinder periphery. Spinning guns Western style is as silly as it is hazardous. When the pistol drops, it may break both itself and the collector’s toe, to boot. A few other senseless stunts which should be consistently avoided (and which indicate complete unfamiliarity and lack of etiquette) are the rapid and needless working of the breech of lever-action rifles TV Western style, the careless placement of a gun after viewing and handling (when longarms fall over they often tend to break the stock) and the shouldering and reshouldering of longarms as if they were to be fired or as if buying a new shotgun for field use. The latter, especially at a gun show, is tantamount to making a bloody nuisance of oneself and besides, an innocent bystander is likely to be poked in the head!

A subject on which to tread lightly and exercise restraint and common sense is money. If in a dealer’s shop or at a show, a gun is marked with a price, the game is everybody’s. If a gun is in a personal collection or “for exhibit only” the subject of values could be quite personal. To ask anyone, whether collector or dealer, how much they paid for it is completely out of order; that is nobody’s business but their own. It is possible to ask how much they feel the piece is worth—even when it is not for sale— but only discretion and good judgment and, of course, the circumstances surrounding the question can suggest if the time is proper for such an inquiry. The essence of gun trading can be reduced to its very simplest denominator as that of engaging in friendly sociable relations while maintaining self-discipline and respect for another person’s taste and property.

RESEARCH COME TO NAUGHT

A phenomenon all too common to this arms hobby is the disheartening frequency with which arms specialists, who have spent much of their collecting careers accumulating extensive research data, pass away before that valuable information is published or shared with fellow collectors. The commonness of such distressing instances appears inordinate in this arms field. I am aware of, and have personally collaborated with, numerous collectors over the years whose all-consuming interest and sole objective, fostered through years of study and handling antique firearms, was to commit that knowledge to writing and see it published. Their collecting experiences were broad in scope, often unique, having had access to innumerable antique arms no longer easily available; a firsthand knowledge through practical experiences seldom attainable. Yet, all too many of those lifetime projects were not carried through to a reasonable (and all too often, promised) conclusion; nor were those interminable accumulations of research documents passed along to others. All were merely forgotten, lost and irretrievable, much to the regret and sorrow of fellow collectors, many of who had been kept on tenterhooks in anticipation of seeing their collaborative efforts ultimately realized.

Aside from innate procrastination, it is suspected the source of inactivity rests with a simple piece of blank white paper! Assembling the vast treasury of notes, documents and raw material was relatively easy by comparison; both challenging and satisfying. Transposing that same material, in even the simplest format as a starting point, became for many a major roadblock. That appears to have particularly been the case for those who never previously faced the ultimate hurdle of the researcher, i.e. committing that knowledge to paper (or, the blank screen of a computer). It would be presumptuous (and ingenuous) to offer here suggestions to easily defeat that intimidating blank sheet of paper in order to get such a project underway. For a collector facing the prospect of such an obstacle, the mere knowledge that it exists and is easily overcome may offer especial incentive. You can take it from one who’s been there; its worth giving it a shot!

LOADED GUNS: Safety Advice

Although instances are few and far between, the occasional loaded (part or full) antique firearm rears its ugly head. In the author’s experience they are mostly found in single or double barrel muzzle-loading, percussion shotguns/fowling pieces; guns that, in their day, were kept easily accessible in readiness for an unwanted intruder. The need never presenting itself, the gun, at a later time, was moved and stored, its full charge forgotten ... but remaining to this day just as potentially dangerous. The same could (and did) happen with a few handguns and longarms of all types. In the interest of safety, all firearms, antique and modern, should be closely checked to ascertain they are empty. The very simple process requires only a wooden ram-rod or wooden measure at least as long as the gun’s barrel. While pointing the muzzle away, slide the rod down the bore and mark the depth that it travelled. Remove the rod and place it alongside the barrel; if empty the lower tip of the rod should reach to the touch-hole (if flintlock) or the bolster and nipple (if perc.). If it comes up short it indicates there is an obstruction or a powder charge. Do not, under any circumstance, attempt to remove it by firing the gun ... extremely hazardous! If inexperienced, have a competent professional gunsmith look at the problem. It often turns out to be paper, cloth, stones, glass, etc. that were stuffed down the barrel by parties unknown. The potential hazard is sufficient to cause it to be handled on a “worst case” basis.

REGULATIONS, ORDINANCES & STATUTES

An awareness of rules, regulations and legislation pertaining to guns is requisite for the collector. He should familiarize himself with those of his local community and state as well as the Federal Gun Control Act (GCA) and National Firearms Act (NFA). Although the Federal Government and many states exempt “Antique firearms” from legislation and regulation, it should be understood that even the definition of “antique” is subject to different interpretation and definition. There is no simple, all-inclusive statement to absolve responsibility from legal ramifications of the myriad of gun laws. It’s estimated there are over 10,000 of them on the books of towns, cities, counties, states and federally. Generally speaking...in the very broadest of terms...most firearms made in or before 1898 are considered “antique” and, with but few exceptions, are exempt from provisions of Federal firearms legislation. Quite a few states use that same cut-off date; others may use various dates or not address the subject of date at all. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) of the U.S. Treasury Department is responsible for enforcement of Federal firearms laws. A copy of those laws and those of many states is available from BATF by request (Washington, D.C. 20226). A modest attempt was made to bring an awareness of a certain few, but not all, arms or devices found listed in this work that may fall under the provisions of the NFA or GCA. It is quite possible others are in those same categories. The reader is cautioned to verify the legal status of such arms if he is uncertain.

A Disclaimer About Serial Number Data: Included in various chapters throughout this work where serial number information may be utilized to indicate date of manufacture of various firearms, particularly for ascertaining status as “antiques” of pre-1898 manufacture: serial numbers and ranges are neither precise nor unerring and may be taken only as a general guide. The information is that which has been generally accepted by the collecting community and which has appeared in specialized works on the respective makers and/or manufacturers. Exact serial numbers (or serial number ranges) i.e. whether merely the date the manufacturer of the respective firearms cease production or the date the firearms were shipped from the factory of the respective gunmaker is often uncertain. In other instances serial ranges may have been broadly estimated by authors or researchers of the respective make or model.

COLLECTING ORGANIZATIONS AND ARMS MUSEUMS IN THE U.S.

Almost every state in the U.S. has an antique arms collecting club or association; many have more than one. At the last rough estimate, the count of such groups approximated 110. The best current listing with addresses of secretaries or presiding officers may be found in the annual edition of the Gun Digest, this most widely distributed work may be found in almost any sporting goods store or book store in America. Several collecting organizations place large advertisements in the two popular periodicals Man at Arms and Gun Report devoted entirely to antique weapons. Each magazine also publishes a calendar of scheduled gun shows. Collectors’ organizations and shows run the gamut from loosely organized affairs to very professionally run exhibitions. Regardless of their size and quality, all offer the budding collector the opportunity to rub elbows with people of kindred spirits, and they certainly afford the opportunity to get acquainted with the entire hobby.

The United States is rich in museum collections of antique arms representing a fine cross-section of guns of all periods. These museum holdings range in size from small, highly specialized collections included with other exhibits in large public museums to extremely extensive, broad scope collections in museums devoted solely to weapons. One of the most detailed listings of collections available for public viewing is found in the highly recommended work The Collecting of Guns, edited by James E. Serven (see Bibliography, Chapter IV). Over 70 of these will be found, with notes on the nature of their arms group and details of their location and hours open to the public.