I know that same fella -- or a few others like him in the trade. One in particular is an iconoclast and talent First Class. Was privileged to sit in classes taught by him, in Rare Academia. He knows more ways to expose Silly Correctness and Overweening Bureaucrats, while doing superb and informed work than any scholar/artist I ever met face to face.
As to "found' condition, I grew up next door to an old farmer in a small town who had bought 'those old relic guns' whenever they turned up. He had them hanging horizontally from the garage rafters in rows. The walls were covered with pistols, local Indian artifacts [NW Ohio}, and all manner of gunny related goods. They were all as found, and my mind's eye still sees them well.
After his death I was there for the auction, which coincided with the sharp rise in interest for such guns. It's not too likely any of them retained their appearance, after purchase. One of the few books about Long Rifles at that time, had new owners of such finds scrubbing them down with a good lye solution, in order to begin the 'restoration' they obviously needed. By contrast, a local gunsmith, who had an advanced appreciation for such goods, told me the ones that had been stored in dry spaces very often were heavily greased, often with animal fat. He came to believe that in their using days, such firearms were KEPT pretty greasy as a means of preserving an expensive and necessary object.
However, on assorted farms in the area, as a youth, we found guns in outhouses, pumphouses, barn rafters, tractor sheds, and about everywhere else an active boy could get into. Most of these were cartridge guns, and I know now, of the mail-order catalog genre. They had been left where they were last used, or broke, or leaned away -- and were in pretty bad shape. I 'restored' a few, but most were just Industrial Age Relics
Interesting contrast in preservation, from when a gun was defense and larder, to when it became a mere obsolete agricultural implement.
Thanks for the topic. Very Interesting.
Last edited by JohnM; 09/23/12 07:48 PM.
