doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Call from David Trevallion - Crossed Chisels

David gave me a call this evening. I haven't been in contact for a couple of years and that was my fault. His voice was healthy and intelligent (at age 86) but he said he's had some health problems. He's selling his Custer massacre .45 revolver at Poulin auction in early June (can't find it on the Poulin site) and is starting to winnow down his collectables (as all of us should be doing after 80).

He said RIA had asked him to refurbish some damage to the Reilly 4 bore shotgun sold last December that I've posted a couple of times. He refused. He is finishing up a Purdey which he will donate to the Worshipfull Company of Gunmakers in London.. .and that will be his last gun. He has a new young apprentice 23 yoa who is impressing him and that is something to rejoice in.

What a character and what a repository of the history of gun making both here and in UK. There is an old adage in the intelligence world - "If it's not written, it didn't exist." I asked him if his experiences have ever been written up. There was an article but he didn't much like it. He likes the picture of him with President 43 George H.W. Bush - he was his gunsmith. But there is a project underway apparently to write a better definitive work on what he saw and did. He commented that "Shotgun Technica" is in its 3rd printing and selling very well.

Argo, thanks for the update. There are lots of stories to tell.

In the early 1970s I was just getting started in gun collecting. Somewhere I had seen an article including Mr. Trevallion . At that time he was located near Indianapolis. I was visiting my brother in that city and came upon and purchased the finest gun I had seen to that date. I was an Ithaca 5E, NID, with all options , high condition, but the buttstock had been poorly altered. I called Mr. Trevallion about getting a proper stock for the gun. He did not hesitate long and said he did not think my 5E was a good enough gun for him to restock. I have thought about his view off and on over the years. Eventually I think I did get a few guns worthy of his work.

I well remember your ads in "Shotgun News", Daryl.
JR

John, yes the Shotgun News. I was in Alaska, not shotgun country, and the Shotgun News was about the only vehicle to find doubles. There was another lesser publication but that name skips from me at the moment. In those days a $500 gun was very expensive, and maybe the difference between $350 and $375 might be a deal breaker. As I remember most answers to my ads came from New York, then Pennsylvania, then California. I am wondering at this moment if the Shotgun News still exists.

When I was a neophyte I had a Stevens 311 that wouldn't cock. A friend told about a smith near us that specialized in double guns so I brought it to him. He fixed it on the spot, didn't charge me and was incredibly nice to an obvious idiot like myself.

Over the years Abe Chaber did a bit of work for me including full restorations of my Warrilow and Purdeys. Great guy. I've actually been in his shop a couple times when Trevallion would call.

Daryl,
Like a lot of things, Shotgun News changed over the years:

https://www.firearmsnews.com/

Technically, it is still around, but leans more to an online presence. Depending on a guys age, that may be a good thing, or, not. Periodicals are not the driver they once were.

Double guns are not the focus. I don’t ever believe they were, but, it is even less so, today.

Best,
Ted

I could never get my subscription to SHOTGUN NEWS quick enough to get the “deals”….well almost never!😆

Great thread. I have only spoken to him once or twice and that was years ago. What an interesting guy!

I never met him and probably never spoke to him. Except maybe on this board years ago? I remember he was an icon of the game. I always enjoyed what he said and did.

I had a Parker CH 16 gauge with Damascus barrels that had the buttstock snapped in two pieces. I wanted the best of the best to fix it and someone gave me his name. Sent him the gun and he repaired it to the point where I and some serious Parker collectors could not locate the repair. Amazingly good. Above said, the cost to repair it was unbelievable at the time, but when you go to the best you don't debate the cost, you just do it. I think it is currently owned by someone who is on this forum quite frequently, and it fact I sold it on this forum years ago.