Gun shows

Thanks to everyone who called in for serial number searches from the Missouri Valley Arms Collectors Assoc. show last weekend. I did about 30 serial number searches and answered a lot of questions about the CFM and the Records Office.  Wish I could have been on the ground there.  Hopefully the budget will allow us to go in the near future.

Next month I’ll be open to support the folks at the Big Reno Show on the 15th from 9 am to 5 pm (Moutain time).  Check out the Big Reno website for information about the show http://www.bigrenoshow.com/

June in Cody

We are into our busiest weeks of the year. 

This weekend (June 12-14) the CFM and the town of Cody host the Winchester Club of America annual gun show.  The show is at the Riley Arena (1400 Heart Mountain Street – Cody). 

Next weekend (June 19-21) the Winchester Arms Collectors Association annual show is also at the Riley Arena. 

The Records Office will be doing serial number searches for folks at both gun shows and offering discounts on CFM memberships.  I invite to stop by the shows if you are in the area.  

The rest of the  BBHC also has a lot going on this month with the Plains Indian Museum Powwow and the grand opening of the new Whitney Gallery of Western Art and many other activities.  The whole town bustles with events and activities so visit Cody in June!!

Travels and gun shows

We wished Dave a fond farewell a couple of weeks back and have been settling in to work sans curator.  No word on the search for a new curator, but we hope to have someone in place this fall.

I returned home from the Denver gun show last Monday (May 18).  It was a good weekend; we did around 150 serial number searches, eight Cody Firearms Museum memberships and a number of Factory Letters.  I wish I could make it to the Orangeville, Ontario show on May 31 as I am in the area visiting family, but unfortunately, I fly back to Wyoming that day.  We are looking forward to the two big gun shows in Cody in a couple of weeks.  The Winchester Club of America show is June 12-14 and the Winchester Arms Collectors Association show is June 19-21.  Makes for a couple of long weeks for us, but we enjoy seeing old friends and making new ones.

Perpetuated Oddities

If you spend enough time in the gun business, you learn better than to say that Winchester, Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, or anyone else “Never did this.”

I am about to do the unspeakable…

We received an inquiry from a gent. His question has to do with a Winchester Model 12 shotgun and whether or not it was ever produced in a left-side-eject/left-handed version. He bases his question in an image printed in the George Madis book, “The Winchester Model 12″. On Page 83, there is an image of a Model 12 with a factory-installed Cutts compensator.

The issue here is that the image shows the right side of the gun, with no visible ejection port. My belief is that the image used in the publication of the book was flopped, creating a reverse image. In other words, Winchester never did this.

There. I said it. At least I won’t be here next week when someone shows up with one…

Cheers,

Dave K.

Thanks to all of the supporters and firends I met over the last (nearly) six years!

Lots to do

So I am watching it snow while thinking about all of the various and sundry things that are going on.

The BBHC is about to announce a new venture with some local Cody businesses. We will be producing a BBHC-approved reproduction of the Winchester Single-Shot Rifle (aka, the Model 1885). We are looking at a limited run of 100 guns at a decent premium. The unveiling of the prototype will take place at the Colorado Gun Collectors Association Show in Denver next month. If all goes well, we will be able to proceed to the next step and go all out. If this project is a success, we will look at making this the first of a series of five guns.

In preparation for my departure, I am trying to get things caught up administratively. There is a small pile of things that need resolved before I am out the door. Amongst these is my participation on the AAM reaccreditation committee.

As part of the 10-year cycle, we have to renew our accreditation with the American Association of Museums. The final package will fill about three 3″ binders. I am the tech-person and I have to assemble everything into something understandable. I know I have mentioned it before, but it is something that needs done before I become the ex-Curator.

Cheers,

Dave K.

Gun Show Support from the Cody Firearms Museum

All -
The following is a listing of the shows that we will be supporting through the beginning of summer.

The Records Office will be available by phone (307-578-4031) during regular work hours and on the dates listed. Keep in mind that we will have “boots on the ground” at the Denver and Cody shows.

- April 4 – Wanenmacher’s Tulsa Arms Show, Tulsa, Okla. – Sat. 8 a.m.– 4 p.m.
- May 16-17 – Colorado Gun Collectors Assoc. Annual Gun Show, Denver, Colo.* – Sat. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. & Sun. 9 a.m. – noon
- June 13-14 – Winchester Club of America Show, Cody, Wyo.* – Sat. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. & Sun. 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- June 19-21 – Winchester Arms Collectors Assoc. Show, Cody, Wyo.* – Sat. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. & Sun. 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Cheers,
Dave

More “gun guy” questions

We often receive questions from gun guys who are hoping to better understand the production of antique arms – particularly Winchesters.

A recent question to me was related to the percentage of case hardened Winchester Model 1873s. Although no one has done a solid survey, I referenced Jim Gordon’s book on the 1873, Winchester’s New Model of 1873, A Tribute, and according to him, “Case hardening was a relatively common feature. A substantial majority of the Model 1873s with deluxe wood or other special features were shipped with case hardened receivers.” (pg. 199)

So, quite often, the importance of what knowledge is in your head is not as great as knowing which book to reference.

Hope this helps.

Dave

1,000,000 is less than 350,000? (or: Customer Service is the Key)

I am constantly impressed by the ability of the Records Office Staff to respond positively to questions from our customers. Just today, I was informed that a customer, when told that we did not have the record for his Winchester became incensed (and questioned the validity of the staff member’s education) because “1,000,000 is less than 350,000″.

To clarify this matter, a description of the records office is in order. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (as part of the Olin Corporation) and the Marlin Firearms Company gave us the records pertaining to more than 4 million guns manufactured by Winchester, Marlin, and the L.C. Smith Gun Company (These being links to the collector organizations). The staff of the Cody Firearms Museum uses these records to determine production information on these guns as a fee service.

The benefit of this service, while interesting to someone trying to find more information about “grandpa’s old Winchester”, is an inexpensive insurance policy for the collector of these guns. Being able to find out what a gun looked like when it left the factory can keep you from spending $10,000 (or more) on a gun that isn’t worth $1,000.

Unfortunately, we don’t hold the records for every Winchester, Marlin, or Elsie (as the collectors call them). Our list of represented serial ranges (in PDF format) will let you know if we should have the record for your gun. Unfortunately, the aforementioned gentleman looking for information on his Model 1894 could not understand why we do not hold a record on his gun serialized in the 1 million range when we hold the records from 1-353999.

Gotta love Customer Service

Cheers,

Dave

Some Bad Guns Out There…

One of the most time-consuming, but interesting, aspects of life at the Cody Firearms Museum is responding to the literally thousands of inquiries we receive each year – not counting the more than 5,000 requests that reach the Cody Firearms Museum Records Office. One of the two Cody Firearms Museum Curatorial Assistants, Warren Newman, is responsible for replying to the vast majority of these inquiries. Whether by phone, email, or good old fashioned postal mail, your inquiries will get to us and we will get back to you.

Unfortunately, several recent inquiries point to an influx of guns onto the collector market that, while having a great story, appear to be in the Bad Gun category. We did not think too much of some photos sent to us by a gentleman hoping to get more information on a couple of his recent purchases. However, over the last few weeks, several other individuals asked us about similar guns. This prompted us to get some scans of a couple of pictures in order to show others what to look for if a gun appears to be too-good-to-be-true. Sorry about the images. We did not take them. We are also not disclosing the name of the individual who owns the guns and took the pictures or the individual makes and models of the guns on which the embellishments appear.

“Lillian Smith” gun, right side of stock

“Lillian Smith” gun, left side of stock

“Annie Oakley” gun, right side of stock

“Annie Oakley” gun, left side of stock

Gun Number 1 – Annie Oakley – 1st – Trick Shot World Champion

Where to begin?

Factually, I will agree with the idea that Annie Oakley was a great shot and, likely, the best shot of her day – male or female. However, there were few opportunities for shooters of the day to be crowned as a “Champion”, much less “World Champion” in anything other than target shooting (rifle or pistol) or shotgun competitions. Occasional matches between two renowned trick-shots would take place, but these were few and far between.

After a bad train wreck in 1901, Oakley left the Wild West and did not tour with the show again. As for Buffalo Bill and his show, they were not in St. Louis for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. During the years 1903-1906, the Wild West was touring in Europe.

With that resolved, we move on to the markings and metal plates on the gun. The stampings on the left side of the stock are uneven (both in line, depth, and application) and likely of a style not available at the time (If someone knows more about the last 150 years of stencil/stamp design, please let us know!).

The metal plates on the gun’s right side are unevenly cut and, again, unevenly marked. On true prize guns from the era – especially to individuals of the stature of Annie Oakley – the name would have been nicely engraved on the frame of the gun or on a metal (brass) plate (also called an escutcheon) inlet into the stock.

There are simply too many things wrong with this gun to look at it as a legitimate prize gun owned by Annie Oakley. In order to legitimate it, there would have to be a proven chain of custody, identifying the gun by description and by serial number, from the initial owner to the current owner. This chain of custody does not include notarized letters by someone two or three generations removed. It does include diaries and journals, entries in wills, probate records, arrest records, other court documents, newspaper articles from the period in question, etc.

It is hard to do, but when everything falls into place, there is a real sense that there are no questions. If you have to “feel that it is right”, it is likely not a good thing.

Gun Number 2 – Lillian Smith – World Champion – 1888

Given the above look at the “Annie Oakley” gun, I will let the reader try to pick out some of the issues with this one but I do want to point out the military-style stamp used on the left side of the stock. Take a look at this one and then look at the “Annie Oakley” gun, above.

Lillian Smith was a real person. She was a known trick shot artist, toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West for a couple of seasons (1887-1889), and was a rival of Annie Oakley. With the dates of her employment with Cody’s outfit, you would think that there would be something on the gun tying Smith to Cody.

Take a look at a PBS page or the Wikipedia Entry for more information on Smith.

Gun Storage Questions

The staff of the Cody Firearms Museum is often asked about the best way to store guns. I was thinking about getting to this subject at some point, but I had not gotten there yet. Now, for the second time in a week, I find myself commenting on a topic that came up in the L.C. Smith Collector Forums.

Without attempting to answer directly to their questions, I can offer some of the following pointers:

• Keep the temperature and humidity as stable as possible. Granted, this isn’t always possible, but everything helps. Rapid changes in these factors can play havoc with wood and metal.
• Unless the metal is completely dry (no oil or almost no oil), try to store longarms with the barrels pointing down. This prevents the oil from migrating through the action into the stock. I know that most folks only use a couple of drops of oil and then wipe off any excess, but oil is still a liquid.
• Do not store firearms in a cardboard or foam- or sheepskin-lined case. Acids in the treatment of cardboard can affect the appearance of some gun finishes. Also, cheaper foams are often used in cases. This makes the case fine for transportation but, over the long run, this foam can fall apart (oxidation, exposure to solvent, and the like), damaging the gun.
• Use Ethafoam as a replacement for less expensive foams or as a barrier or cushion between the guns and carpet, plywood, or other materials in long-term stoage situations. You can use a hotglue gun to secure the Ethafoam in place.
• (Late addition) Decock the gun making sure that the gun is unloaded. This relieves the tension on springs, pins, and other parts in the gun.

There are lots of other tips out there, but this is a good starting place.