doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A "keeper" gun

With a resume’ like that, I think YOU should be helping Gene with the translations.

Not me. I’m a hack.

Best,
Ted

Thanks, Larry. The point I was trying (vainly, it seems) to make is that grammar should be important to all, and especially one who teaches others, or writes. Understanding grammar is the key that unlocks the meaning of one's writing. The title of this thread is "A keeper gun". Keeper in that phrase is an adjective, describing the nature of the gun. It is not a possessive, which would have had an apostrophe and an "s", as John said. That would have implied that it was a gun that belonged to a keeper.

It may seem pedantic to some, but to me, as one who was always interested in English grammar and spelling, it's just second nature. Odd ....... a farmer being more concerned with it than former professors, but there it is.

Have a good one. Stan

I am always looking at those CZ-- G2 intermediate every time I go to my local gun store. I really like the 20 gauge with the 14" LOP. I like the shorter LOP now, too, that I'm older. I think it is supposed to weigh about six pounds. But they have the word INTERMEDIATE in big white letters across the trigger guard and that really turns me off. It makes it look like a kid's gun. The regular 20 gauge has a 14 1/2 LOP and just doesn't feel right. I passed last month on a- like new 20 gauge BSS because they were asking $3200.00 for it. I just thought that was a bit too much for it. I could buy a Model 21 for not much more. But I can shoulder a 14" a lot better anymore.

A saw is your friend, Jimmy.

I see that I am living large in your head this morning. Your (just to annoy you) hoot...

My only "keeper gun is a gamekeepers gun. It's that BLNE Warrilow I spent all that money restoring years ago. I shoot it well, it was stocked for me and I'll never get my cash investment back. No matter...

For newer members...

There's been a lot of discussion concerning what Lloyd meant when he started this Thread subject of "A Keeper Gun". But all one has to do is actually READ and COMPREHEND his initial post to know that he is referring to those guns which are "keepers" because they have certain attributes such as "feel, fit, and finish" that make them desirable, and well worth keeping. These are the guns that many would regret ever selling. To that, I might add guns that have a certain sentimental value, such as family heirlooms that cannot be replaced for any amount of money. I have several true 'Keepers", including my first gun, a single shot Winchester .22 that Santa Claus left under the tree for me when I was 10 years old. Then there's my first shotgun, a Savage 220A 20 ga. hammerless single shot that I bought with my paper route earnings. I figure I hauled my sack of newspapers at least 36 miles to earn the money for that one, and of course, I still have it. Then there's my Dad's old Model 70 featherweight .30-06. These are guns that I wouldn't ever want to sell, even if I was starving.

My "Keeper" double shotgun is a Syracuse Lefever 12 ga. FE grade. It is the very first Syracuse Lefever I ever bought, and I didn't know it at the time, but I really lucked out because it is one of the very scarce 12 ga. guns built on a small frame. I was leaving a gun show and saw a guy carrying three guns in cases, and I asked if he had any doubles to sell. He said two were doubles, and we went to his car so he could show them to me. One was the Lefever FE grade, and the other was an L.C. Smith 20 ga. Ideal Grade with auto ejectors. Both were in great condition. The guy knew next to nothing about them. They had belonged to his late Father-in-law, and his wife wanted them sold because she felt they were dangerous to their grandchildren. He told me the doubles were very special to his grouse hunting Father-in-law, and when his house caught fire, he remembered how he was freaking out until he learned the doubles were not damaged in the fire. He had an offer for all three guns (the other was a 12 ga. Model 12 pump), but the buyer never came up with the money, so he brought them to sell for the same amount he had been offered. I only had enough money with me to buy one, so I bought the L.C. Smith Ideal grade 20 ga., and got his business card, telling him I would think about the others. When I got home, I looked up the Lefever, and saw it was actually more valuable than the L.C. Smith. I called him and he said he would bring the gun to his business on Monday so I could take another look and buy it if I wished. I was there first thing Monday AM.

As I said, the guy knew nothing about the guns, and I actually thought the Lefever was a 16 gauge because it was so light and trim. I learned it was a 12 ga. only after I took it home and dropped 16 ga. snap caps into it, and they fell deep into the chambers. It weighs 6 lb. 3 oz. and handles like a dream. In all this time since then, I have only bought one other 12 gauge Lefever gun that has the small frame, and surprisingly, it is an I Grade that weighs about 6 lb. 5 oz. These small frame 12 gauge guns do not have the XX stamp on the water table as seen on the 16 and 20 gauge guns. (I recently bought a 16 ga. EE grade that also does not have the XX stamp on the water table, so I am still finding new things about these guns) This FE grade is also unusual in that it has the engraving typically seen on E grades in the same serial number range, Krupp Essen fluid steel barrels, gold plated triggers, and sear adjusting screws, also seen normally on guns of E grade or higher. The very nicely figured wood looks like it belongs on a C or B grade, and it fits me extremely well. Had I bought one of the more typical 7 to 8 pounders, I might not have been so smitten, but this one started a 30 year love affair with Lefevers.

They must've gotten something right, because I vaguely recall that I hit the first trap target I'd ever seen with mine my first time out, and by the end of my fourth round I was breaking maybe half of them. Far better showing than I'd expected. And things just kept getting better all summer.

Love the pictures. Nice to see another one getting used.

Stan, I do get your point. And as a writer, using English correctly has always been important to me. For that matter, also working in intelligence. You want to make sure anything you write is very clear. But I can't think of an instance in which I've ever heard "keeper" used as anything except a noun. "That gun/car/boat/dog/wife is a keeper . . . all of those work fine. And if I were the only reader who had wandered off relating the gun to gamekeepers, I might well have thought I'm obviously the odd man out. Anyhow, interesting discussion.
Larry

Wow!! A .22 when you were only 10 years old!! Most kids barely have a BB gun at the age of 10. You must have really been trustworthy. I didn't get my first .22 until I was about 15 and I had to sneak to buy it. Actually my 17 year old brother paid for it because I was still to young to purchase it. A Winchester Model 67. And even then, I had to have my uncle keep it for me and he went with me when I first started hunting. He took his Model 42 and we went together. I wish I still had that gun for old times sake. Good luck.