Old guns that used obsolete cartridges or ignition were just junk to many people. There were many guns in remote areas that a gun collector would never see, much less buy. I bought a rifle in 1981 from a man in Southwest Missouri that had found it years earlier at a house in the mountains. A kid was dragging it by the barrel across the rocky yard beside the house. He gave $5 for it. Amazingly, only a few slivers of wood, the hammer, and one inlay were missing. With a little restoration, that rifle is still hanging on my wall. My father knew a junk dealer that traveled the countryside in a horse-drawn wagon in the 1920's buying up old "stuff". He kept all the guns, and 50 years later, his grandson showed me a few - a factory engraved Henry, Colt dragoons (two 1st Models and one 3rd Model), several Colt percussion Armys and Navys, and some early Winchesters. After the grandson's death 10 years ago, I asked his widow about old muzzleloaders. She said she had maybe 20, or more, old "Kentucky" (her term) rifles locked in a shed behind the house, and would show them to me one day. Well, that never happened, and now she's dead and her daughter owns them. Now, it's the same thing. The daughter says she'll call me some day when she gets a chance to go through things, and let me look at the guns. I'm still waiting.
