doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The borrower had to know......

"A person of the street"? What exactly does this mean, at least over here in the Colonies. Some Limey phrase perhaps. What is the cachet about a friggin' Purdey- Rudy Etchen had at least one-possibly more- but when the hard money was on the table, what did the Rude-ster shoot, more often than not? A Remington 870 pumpgun. Loan one of those to the clowns that want to "borrow" your heirloom Purdey Island Lock- Mike McIntosh had one, and shot it- but for the average guy- a tad pricey, and unlike the 870, only goes Boom-Boom twice before reloading.

Rudy had at least two Purdeys, one still out there for sale on the internet. It may never sell because it has short barrels. I tried to buy the long barrel pigeon gun from his son, Joel, when he advertised it through the PA store, but it was already sold. I would like to have a second chance at that gun today. I doubt that Rudy used an 870 in the pigeon ring.

Here it is,

At the 1950 Grand, shooting one of the first Remington Model 870 pump guns produced (the same gun he would shoot throughout the remainder of his career) he broke 100 straight in doubles; one of the first ever recorded. He repeated this feat again 32 years later at the Louisiana State Shoot in 1982 by breaking 100 straight with the same pump gun. These titles go on and on, and include winner of the World Live Pigeon Championship HOA in 1966 in Mexico City, winner of the Live Bird Championship in Monte Carlo in 1955, in Madrid 1955, in Paris 1955 and Columbaire Championships in Seville, Spain 1965, Madrid 1966, Egypt 1955 and was high score 3 years in a row at the Grand National Quail Championship in Enid, Oklahoma. Unquestionably, Rudy�s accomplishments with a shotgun place him with the top echelon of the shotgunner�s world.

http://joeletchenguns.com/mr870.htm


Pump guns seem to run in this family though,

Rudy's father, Fred Etchen, was a legendary shot in his era. He was a fabled field shot, superb at trap and in the live-pigeon ring - and later excelled at skeet when it came into being. In 1924, Fred was Captain of the U.S. team which won the Olympic championship in Paris, France. Following the Olympics he won the European Open Trap Championship with 200x200. Two shells were allowed at each target, but Fred won it the hard way, using only one shot per bird because his Winchester Model 12 pump wouldn't feed the short-length English shells.

http://joeletchenguns.com/rudy.htm

If you borrow it and tear it up, you have an obligation to make it right...Geo

I think so too Geo. What do you do if you borrow it, and you're told you tore it up? The more I look at the pictures, it seems like that gun was found in pretty rough condition. Aside from a buyer getting their own inspection, maybe a good question might be, 'who fixed it up'.

Whole lot of unanswered questions here.

The posting on guns international opens everyones eyes to the additional questions.

I quit loaning out good guns years ago after a couple of bad experiences. In one case my BIL blew up an mint Field Grade LC ejector gun after he stupidly obstructed the left barrel, then fired a 2 3/4" magnum shell thru the same tube (lost a good chunk of his left hand in the process). In the other a good friend borrowed my late 60's vintage Grade II .22 Browning
auto, my pride and joy at the time; and when returned, the right side of the frame featured deep gouges where it appears the barrel threads had been mashed into the engraving. I was in my early 20's at the time, but those experiences broke me; that was until the LC Smith vs. Parker Challenge Event commenced when I found myself loaning out my A-2 and Dead Pigeon guns. But I've since sold those guns and so now am forever cured!

The only time I've ever bulged a chamber (have yet to screw up a barrel), I was also in my early 20's. I had purchased the best rabbit/brush gun I've ever owned; a Spanish made Erbi with an original set of 18" barrels bored cyl/cyl and 3" chambers. The gun certainly wasn't pretty, nor was it well balanced; but those little details didn't matter to a kid, and in thick cover (and youthful reflexes) it was simply impossible to miss anything that flushed. As it sometimes happened, we got rained out one Saturday and me and my BIL were sitting around lamenting our boredom and the missed opportunity. And possessing the energies and imagination of the kids we were, and also a box of Win 3" 1 7/8 oz magnums; we decided we needed to settle the dust over which of us was the toughest man once and for all time. So we stepped outside with the little Erbi and that box of Roman candles, and in the cold drizzle determined that the winner would be that individual who could pull both triggers simultaneously and remain standing. He went first; and knowing I couldn't back down now, I followed. He caught me so that I was saved the indignity of a soggy butt over in addition to a bruised shoulder, and was thus declared the official winner of our stupidity contest. Back inside and wiping down my dampened Erbi, I was flabbergasted to note a very obvious bulge in the forcing cone area on the bottom side of the right chamber! I know there were no barrel obstructions (after blowing up the Smith, my BIL and I always look for nice round holes of daylight in each barrel before loading); so either a bit of the fiber wad in one of those Win shells got a bit sideways, or the barrel steel in that Irbi simply couldn't take the strain. Bottom line, although I still have what remains of that box of Winchesters 40 years later; I ruined the best game getter I've ever owned, and paid for another of life's hard lessons thru my wallet. My deceased father always said that the Good Lord looked after XXXXXX's and fools; so thru His grace I've managed to survived, gaining just a little wisdom in the process so that I no longer do stupid things with guns any longer. But my personal experience could add a little understanding to the issue being discussed here in that I did not notice the aforementioned bulge until such time as I was cleaning the gun; and since the bulges in the above photos are subtle, it is entirely possible that the offending shooter didn't either? And certainly, had they been clearly evident, the dealer would have noticed something askew when the gun was returned and not much later when the gun was being cleaned and put away. And although we will never know, I have to wonder if the dealer actually noticed those bulges; or if perhaps the problem was pointed out to him by a customer or other observer long after the fact?

I doubt that he did, but Hemingway won a shitload of pesetas in Cuba on Flyers with his 1928 field Model 12 12 gauge 30" full solid rib "corn-sheller"-- Fred Etchen had some special stock designs for his beloved Model 12's--see Dave Riffle's book on "The Perfect Repeater"--

Sort of like your son or daughter who just learned how to drive asking if they could 'borrow' the Rolls Royce to go joy riding with their friends.

Not knowing barrel specs and type of ammunition used all I'm going to say is there is reason when one rents firearm at a range their ammo must be used in it.