Tom,

WOW, a member of LCSCA, no less. That's problematic. Especially if the seller is someone on who's word collector advice is dispensed. And the problem is, not everyone will know. I mean, I see a certain fallen 'engraving book author' quoted everywhere there is mention of a famous engraver, and I think to myself...even if he really did have true knowledge and expertise...how can one believe any of it without suspecting now? How much of what he wrote was just made up to make himself sound like an expert?

Between shysters value profit over reputation, and genuinely crazy people who covet forum thread notoriety..."Beans" is NOT the only one...he just blew up the loudest, but he's still active on other forums and guys there have no idea he's 3 beers shy of a 6-pack. One of our own LACA guys almost went down a wormhole with that dude...had him hooked on some secret oddball connection between Dan Lefever and L.C. Smith, or some such nonsense. It's enough to make me sour a bit on collecting doubles. I find myself spending more time with vintage 22s. There isn't enough money in them to attract serious collectors (yet), so dealers only dabble. Ammo is cheap, and it doesn't require a drive to 'the club' to go shooting.

Besides, I've about had it with 'concerned' guys running up to me with 'safety advice' about shooting Damascus guns every time they see me dusting the course with one of my Lefevers. The last guy was in my party, and he stood 30 feet away each time I shot...amazed I just didn't seem to be dying.

"Because my brother-in-law, he told me a story about a guy...you can read it on the the internet, just Google..." confused

I've given up explaining. I just say something glib, like "wow that's crazy...you should definitely stand further back, then." I can't recall his name...Randy something...a gun writer. He's often quoted in these encounters, so he must be a 'leading light' of Damascus knowledge.

All the same, my guns just stubbornly refuse to blow up. So miraculously, I'm still here.

NDG