Author Topic: Collecting Kentucky Rifles and American History... a movement (Read 13157 times)

Hurricane ( of Virginia) · « **on:** October 17, 2013, 04:41:53 AM »

The issue was raised anew in the Julia Auction thread. A personal story follows. When I joined the KRA at age 64 and attended my first annual meeting, I recognized that I was amongst the youngest in the meeeting and exhibition ( certainly there were a few younger) and recognized that almost instantly. As a result of that thought, belief Bruce Miller ( NORD) and I , in agreement, proposed and eventually were able to start and develop the ALR Library and Museum, intending amongst other, goals to create a resource to attract younger historically oriented " American Folk art " students and "preservers" to a repository of information available in the digital format, the language of the 21st Century....The ALR Library and Museum! Certainly Dennis and all the moderators had amongst their goals a similar one. We have succeeded in the ALR Library effort with the help of many...700 guns to view in detail, history and commentary not available anywhere else, and a permanent community supported repository to capture important but small amounts of information only known to a few...now avaible to all.

NOW to my point. Why don't we use the collective ideas of all ALR members to brainstorm the issue of attracting younger generations who might be inclined to join us and carry on. Certainly there are many budding American History and " Folk Art" students in this country and elsewhere. How do we get some focused on the early American history and culture that surrounds the Kentucky Rifle?

Your comments are requested and particularly your ideas to address this issue of "developing" , "recruiting " and supporting younger enthhusiasts with these ideas , perhaps, many ( some of us) can begin to formulate and implement plans/ideas that could further this "cause."

In particular, I recall many comments about not being able to "afford" an original. Can this be over come? Can one join us without serious money and if so how. How can we further distinquish ourselves as "art historians" ran than "gun enthusiast" ( guns are fine with me)? Perhaps an effort to start with, promote or enhance the contemporary artisans?

Please add your thoughts and particularly your ideas no matter how distant a reality they might be. Collectively, we should try to succeed in this important effort. Lets use this digital forum to vet anyones ideas and collective look for a "glass half full" solutions.

Hurricane
fgarner@verizon.net
(703-451-2815)

WElliott · « **Reply #1 on:** October 17, 2013, 05:45:23 AM »

Fred, I really appreciate what you, Bruce, Dennis, et al., have done to provide and maintain the ALR forum. It is a brilliant outreach to a younger generation. Regarding the cost of entry into collecting the antique rifles - and the high cost is certainly is a barrier to entry - I am hopeful that contemporary and make-it-yourself kits are providing an important entry point for budding longrifle enthusiasts who, hopefully, will turn their collecting interest to antiques when they are older.

Those who have been fortunate to collect some of the better antiques would serve the future well by displaying and exhibiting their guns in available educational forums. Since there are relatively few museum curators who seem open to firearm displays (even of 200-year-old important American works of art), the idea you gentlemen have of the digital on-line American Longrifle "museum" is excellent and timely. Thank you.

Hurricane ( of Virginia) · « **Reply #2 on:** October 17, 2013, 06:10:35 AM »

In response to yyour mthought, WAyne, how can we get the ALR as a resource more well know to the public, perhaps selected segments of the public??. As I call or meet KRA members , many are completely unaware of the ALR site

WElliott · « **Reply #3 on:** October 17, 2013, 06:20:36 AM »

What about a short article for the KRA newsletter introducing ALR and its potential benefits to collectors?

spgordon · « **Reply #4 on:** October 17, 2013, 01:12:39 PM »

Wow, this is a really excellent and difficult question. Sorry for the long reply.

I am not a collector--never owned a Kentucky rifle and likely never will. But I do research and publish on gunsmiths and, more generally, the gun trade in the eighteenth century, and I have learned a lot from the research that folks on ALR Forum (and elsewhere) have done.

That said, much if not most of that research is inaccessible to most people. You cannot find KRA publications in many libraries and they are almost never in large university research libraries where they would be available to non-collector researchers. Take the excellent Moravian Gun Makers of the American Revolution. WorldCat, the catalog that is a good guide to holdings in libraries around the world, indicate it is only in 5 libraries, none of these circulating/research libraries. The recent Lancaster Long Rifle book is only in 8 libraries and the earlier Berks County Longrifles only in 6: in the two last instances, only one of these institutions, Princeton, is a library that could loan this book to university-based researchers (historians, art historians, etc.) around the country.

I should add that academic researchers cannot afford to buy as individuals the many, many, many books they use in their researches. They rely on borrowing from libraries. So they will not buy the high-quality longrifle books that typically retail for $75 or $100. The only way to encourage non-collector researchers to use these books is to make them available in libraries that will lend them through interlibrary loan.

Similarly, the magazines/journals where gun or rifle research appears--KRA Bulletin, Muzzle Blasts, etc.--are also not available in research libraries. So it is next to impossible to obtain a copy of an old article even if one knows it exists.

A small piece of a larger solution about how to take gun-collectors' research outside the gun-collecting community might be to donate copies of all KRA publications to research libraries across the county: UCLA, U Chicago, U Texas at Austin, U Penn, Michigan, Harvard, wherever. This doesn't mean that individuals would have to use these books at these places, but it would ensure that these books would come up when other researchers do searches on these topics and so they would be known (and eventually used).

Another possibility would be to make back issues of KRA Bulletin or Muzzle Blasts, etc., available for free online. I know this won't seem like a good business decision to the folks who run these publications. But it may be a good idea for the long run. If these back issues are available online, in searchable form, they will turn up when people do online searches and the research will be far more well known. It is the only way to make this research available to the general public and build a new generation of interested researchers.

If all this remains unavailable, as at present, the situation will remain the same: gun collectors' research will reach only other gun collectors. That isn't healthy for the research itself (which always benefits from different perspectives) and deprives historians, art historians, etc. of all of this rich knowledge.

Majorjoel · « **Reply #5 on:** October 17, 2013, 01:59:16 PM »

We are basically a very small PRIVATE fraternity of folk's from all walks of life sharing the same interests in the longrifle and it's culture. As a group this interest has leveled the field of class where doctors, lawyers, CEO's, politicians, movie stars, military generals, etc., rub elbows with the middle classes. This common ground is the longrifle and it's rich history. This situation and it's rules were put together a long time ago when our country was a lot different than it is today. By our own desires for privacy from the general public, we have isolated ourselves into the spot we are in. Many of us would probably like to keep things just as they are. Others in our group go above and beyond their calling by writing articles for various publications, publishing books, putting their collections on display in various exhibits, holding special shows and work shops, providing information and guidance\sharing their vast knowledge to all who ask through websites like the ALR and private messages created from such sites. Contributing photographs and information of their collections to the ALR museum library. Seeking out the younger folks to befriend, share, mentor- educate, and enjoy in our small community. About all I can say to add anything of value here is to continue with all of the goings on and more so of the same! Everyone should latch hold of their son's, daughters, nephews, and nieces. Bring them along to these events and work with them to make things fun. Education is probably the most important part of this whole interest. Once a spark can sometimes turn into a true flame. In my younger days my school provided many outlets for the history bug within me. From assembly's featuring native American performers to wonderful Civil War exhibits. Very unfortunately, today's trends and atmospheres are not going back to those good ole days. The movies and the entertainment industry's have been very good for us in the past. There is still always hope in this venue. Perhaps a good story can still be spun into another block buster movie. If we want to get real serious regarding the young generations someone will have to develop a video game making a complex story of life and it's hardships on the frontier. With the proper tools to survive of coarse!

Hurricane ( of Virginia) · « **Reply #6 on:** October 17, 2013, 02:00:27 PM »

Thanks again Sgordon. Is there a centralized association of executive librarians or something like that to start asking the question why. HIB runs the KRA Foundation which publishes much of the material , several authors of recent books also follow this forum, and follows the ALR.. perhahs they will respond?
Perhaps we can start a fund to buy some of the books and donate them to "key" library related resources. Maybe even the big auction house would be intrested in helping raise money for this?
Hurricane

spgordon · « **Reply #7 on:** October 17, 2013, 03:01:40 PM »

Many objects now considered the most valuable, elite collectibles--impressionist paintings, certain kinds of pottery, etc.--began as items collected by a small, "private" fraternity. And I would guess (honestly just guessing) that part of the process that gave them such legitimacy (and increased their value) is when academics began to study and write about them. This is one direction that the collecting and study of longrifles could take. But there are real impediments to this happening, which I've tried to describe in my earlier post.

As far as who could "fund" the acquisition of longrifle research by research libraries ... hard to say. Typically, research libraries would just purchase these books on their own, but that obviously isn't happening. The best solution (in my opinion, but just mine) would be that publishers, who presumably do make a profit on these books, would be able to set aside 20 or so copies for donation and factor that cost into the rest of the business model. Starting a fund through ALR, as Fred suggests, would be another possibility, but very hard to manage and I'm not sure it's the most fair model anyway.

Don Getz · « **Reply #8 on:** October 17, 2013, 03:52:10 PM »

Many organizations are hurting when it comes to enticing younger members, and collecting antiques, be they flintlocks, or any
other items, are regulated by one's "wealth". Many of us went thru the same thing. When we were younger we were busy
raising children, buying houses, cars, etc., and usually did not have extra thousands of dollars laying around. I saw some
comments about the recent Julia auction, stating that they were not bringing the big bucks that they expected. Holy cow, I
still can't afford some of those guns. That is why I relegated my collecting to the later period guns, and is still fun to find
a neat gun that was built in 1840, or later............Don

RAT · « **Reply #9 on:** October 17, 2013, 06:03:46 PM »

I work at the Montana State University library. I have for the last 22 1/2 years. We have very few books on modern guns. Nothing on the American longrifle. Most of what we have was purchased decades ago or donated. Personalities come and go, but generally speaking, collection development librarians will not buy gun books. It seems for their own personal political reasons. However, we have multiple copies of books that dispute gun ownership in America... go figure. Public libraries are a better resource. Very few of my interlibrary loan requests for longrifle books were able to be filled. The ones that were came mostly from public libraries.

In the case of our library, we started getting the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal, but have now stopped. Apparently it's not considered academic enough even though it's a peer review journal. Our former special collections librarian has written several articles for this journal and is on its review board.

Our new dean is considering making our library book-less. That right... a library without books. We've become more of a computer lab and student center than a library. Books are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Small runs of high cost specialty books aimed at a small buying market seem to be the future for publishing with regards to nonfiction. When the publishers can no longer make any money, the printing of books will end.

How to get young people interested? Do a Google search for heat treating a flintlock main spring. Half the hits will be for forum postings on some site about a pirate video game. The reality is that this is all dying out. When those with gun collections die, their family will sell everything off for pennies and people will use them form their Halloween costumes until the guns are destroyed and thrown in the trash.

Welcome to the new world.

spgordon · « **Reply #10 on:** October 17, 2013, 10:25:22 PM »

I work at a university, too, and have run a university press for the better part of a decade, and the bleak picture that Bob paints seems mostly accurate to me. The small print runs of most academic publishers is a reality, as is the very high cost of their/our books. I don't think the book is going any where any time soon, though some people may disagree. We had "scrolls" a long time before book technology was invented and book technology--flipping back and forth by means of pages--is a far better technology for many things than scrolling, which has now returned. For the duration of our lifetimes and our childrens, books and digital delivery formats will co-exist.

But I don't think any of this matters to the present circumstances of longrifle research. It may be true that to get books on longrifles it is more productive to interlibrary loan from public, rather than university libraries, but this just re-states the point: university libraries do not at present purchase longrifle books. I don't think it's likely they will start.

If longrifle researchers want their research to reach beyond the present (shrinking?) audience of collectors (and I am not sure that they do, but I was picking up on Fred's provocative question), then they will have to be pro-active in getting their research where the main researchers of American history, American material culture, etc., are--and that is to say, in the universities. Or find ways, despite the difficulty of the business model, to make it available for free online. To continue to produce very high-priced books that are exchanged, for the most part, only among collectors is to ensure the invisibility of all this incredible research and other work that goes into these publications to anyone other than collectors. To get these books into university libraries (or public libraries), however, is to make sure that they will be permanently available to researchers. That's all I'm saying.

bama · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2013, 12:27:34 AM »

I have been atempting to build longrifles for close to 40 years. It has only been in the last 5 years that I even considered collecting original guns. Mostly due to the fact that in the area that I live there are not that many originals to be had, the other to the cost of rasing a family. I don't think that I am much different than most people.

If you have no access to originals, no information available then there is no reason to be interested. If it had not been for Fess Parker and the Daniel Boone show I probably would be doing something else than building and collecting Kentuckies.

We need another Daniel Boone TV show, video game, Mcdonal's add campaign with an action figure or the likes to grab the attention of the youngsters.

So how do we make that happen, that is what is going to keep this culture alive. Surely some of our membership is involved in media in some way. We need to do what ever is possible to try to make this happen.

As far as the Library goes, we have a virtual museum, why not a virtual library. I do not want to hurt any current book sales but there are numerous books in our collections that are out of print that could be posted. Let's face it, most libraries are tied in some way to tax dollars and the people the give out those tax dollars and for that matter most of the people that run the libraries are left leaning and really do not want gun related material available to the public.

I know that this would be a big undertaking and to be honest would have no clue on how to go about making it happen but if we don't do something we will only last maybe another generation.

Facebook and Tweet could possibly be put to use, again I don't know how to make that happen but we need to get into the mainstream of today's electronic comunicaton. Surely some of our younger members could help with this. Let's start our own campaign.

let's come out of our small closet and let the world know we are proud to be Kentucky Rifle Collectors.

nord · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2013, 03:41:14 AM »

Fred and I have discussed this very subject many times. I've always semi-seriously maintained that our biggest mistake is referring to our antiques as firearms. By US law they're not! Maybe they once were but today they're something totally apart.

Should we begin to focus on our firear... (Oops! Antiques I mean.) as unique and beautiful works of art that happen once in awhile to be signed on a brown metal tube, then we might just get somewhere. I never hesitate to explain to a casual "looker" that these are not firearms but artistic treasures.

Seriously... Many of our pieces were made by artisans who put Grandma Moses to shame! They carry artistry, religion, superstition, and history in a package unique to North America. The buttstock of my Schroyer contains more quality artwork from the lock rearward than just about any other "primitive" media and there are many better examples out there than my humble piece.

There is universal appreciation in art no matter one's beliefs. Perhaps we should somewhat refocus our approach and become a bit more inclusive. Member only shows are fine. There we display rifles. Otherwise we might be better off to open ourselves to the public and display a unique collection of history and art as expressed in fine carvings and inlays presented on a pallet of wood, brass, and steel.

Just my opinion!

Karl Kunkel · « **Reply #13 on:** October 18, 2013, 04:08:30 AM »

The discussion on longrifle books in libraries is interesting. Several of the books in my small personal collection are former library books, that were discarded and sold off.

Hurricane ( of Virginia) · « **Reply #14 on:** October 18, 2013, 04:37:52 AM »

The thoughts expressed so far are good and obviously the subject needs an open, complete and unrestricted discussion, more identifed issues ( barriers, so to speak) and then solutions. I for one will be calling the major auction houses who also are "at risk" requesting a "donation and ideas" toward this noble goal..lets keep the conversation going. Books on line with authors support, at least at the end of the sale of the printed editions, seems worthy of more discussion. I like the refocus on American history and art as well.
Thanks
Keep thinking.
Hurricane

Mark Elliott · « **Reply #15 on:** October 18, 2013, 05:42:52 AM »

In the Julia thread, I was rather pessimistic about the future with regard for the demand for longrifles, antique or contemporary. There do seem to be fewer young folks entering the hobby. I consider myself one of the young folks, and I am almost 52.

All that said, contrary to the reaction one might expect, given that we tend to think the rest of the world is populated by gun hating liberals, when I tell younger folks (20s-30s) what I do, the general reaction is "cool". Most young people are never exposed to any sort of gun culture. It is strictly prohibited in the schools, elementary through university. Guns are simply not allowed and not discussed other than run for cover if you see one, and dial 911. Of course, to teens and young adults, that is exactly what makes them "cool".

We have to play up the art, the culture, and the history to get through the gate keepers and to the young people. The most important thing, I guess is to make an effort to get through to them. I really never thought about it much except as a lost cause. Perhaps, I shouldn't be so negative.

I really need help around the shop for the more physically demanding tasks. I had thought more than once about going up to the local high school and talk to the shop teacher about finding a student who would like to learn the trade. I guess I really should include the art teachers also. Maybe we should make a concerted effort to reach out. You would probably only have a student for a couple of years at most. Exposing a new kid to the hobby every couple of years could add up after a while. Something like that could pay off 20-30 years down the road when they have time and money.

Maybe just a simple thing like taking a kid shooting could spark an interest. I got interested in longrifles because I found a book in my elementary school library on guns in general. It was just one of those little pocket books. That lead to looking for more books on the subject. We were also approaching the American Bicentennial and there was information everywhere about American History. It all kinda dovetailed for me. I started going to gun collectors meetings(there are no more local gun collectors organizations). I also started going to gun shows. I found out I couldn't afford an antique longrifle, but maybe I could buy a reproduction or make one. That is what I did. I asked for a CVA kit for Christmas and that started me down the road. A lot of people helped me along the way including my Father, my Grandfather, and their friends. A lot of people stepped up to fuel my interest.

The first thing that started it all as that book in the school library. That goes back to what one of the previous posters said about getting some books in the libraries. I think they need to be in the Elementary and Middle School libraries as well as high school and college. If you don't get a kids attention before they hit puberty, I am not sure you will.

Is there a way to identify available books that are appropriate to various age levels and then donate them to the local schools? I could probably afford to donate a few books, say to all the schools in a 10 mile radius from my house. I think that would be six elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. Each level would get a different book. Perhaps even each school would get a different book. There is also a county public library from which I got a couple of longrifle books as a kid. One of them was Kauffman's book which in retrospect was probably extraordinary for a small rural library. However, I lived in a county with a long and rich history and the old ladies running the library cared about such things.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts off the top of my head. I will think about it some more, and perhaps do more than that and try to put an idea or two in action. I wish there was a way those of us with an interest could get together locally to do some of this. I only know one other member of this forum that lives in my county. Otherwise, we are just spread out all over the place.

Mark Elliott · « **Reply #16 on:** October 18, 2013, 06:09:54 AM »

I had another idea. Why don't we approach the local scout troops and/or district offices and offer to make presentations on longrifles and offer our services as advisors on the various merit badges for which we have expertise. For me that would inlcude:

American Heritage
Art
Collections
Computers
Disabilities Awareness
Leatherwork
Metalwork
Photography
Rifle Shooting
Woodcarving
Woodwork

I could probably help with other things too, but these are my strongest. All of these are a way to introduce the kids to ALL my interests

My interest in gun/muzzle loaders/longrifles as a kid also bled over to other kids through the scouts. He father was a scouter just about his entire life. When I got interested in firearms, he supported me and got involved himself. That included joining a local range. Once he did that, he started taking his scout troops out there and let them shoot his musket, which I had to maintain and for which I had to make his ammunition. He never did learn to do that stuff himself. Anyway, because of my interest, many many scouts were introduced to muzzle loading shooting for many years even after I grew up and moved away.

As I think about it, this might be the best tact of all, and the one with the least resistance. I don't know why I never thought about this before.

HIB · « **Reply #17 on:** October 18, 2013, 06:14:37 AM »

Mark, I think you are on to something with taking the initiative of doing something personal and local. I herald your thought of an apprentice from the local high school. That's exactly how my interest started. I happened to be in a wood working class with a senior one grade above mine and we got to talking about a joint project to build a long rifle. I have to laugh when I think about it but we got it done and received an A+ for our effort. We didn't have kits in those days, only good ole' Turner Kirkland. Without going into details we made our own rifling bench, carved our own wooden brass forms , learned how to sand cast and actually shot the finished product. Only one problem; the gun weighed over 16 pounds and it took both of us to hold it up for the glass photo. An A+, however, is an A+ !!

Expand on your thought and my adventure and you have the making of a local club or organized group donating a kit form of a Kentucky Rifle. Take some politicking but I'll bet it can be done. I'll approach my local high school and the one or two 2 year trade schools here in Roswell and let you know if your idea has merit in the deep South. I might take my Lawyer neighbor with me. Stay tuned HIB

HIB · « **Reply #18 on:** October 18, 2013, 06:30:30 AM »

Mark, Your last post came on board as I was typing mine. In order to assist your last thought the Kentucky Rifle Foundation has a canned presentation on the importance of the Kentucky rifle in the development of our country. The presentation has recently been upgraded to 'Power Point' from the old slide presentation we developed 12 years ago. [Try and find an old Kodak that still works]

It's been around for some time and is offered free to anyone who'd like to use it. Several KRA members have and I personally have given the presentation at least 6 times. The last one being to a group of retired Navy pilots who meet once a month to solve the worlds problems. Two of the gentlemen brought old Civil War guns for me to inspect and make comments on. That was two years ago so I think the flyboys might be ready for another talk as one of them asked me to do it again. Might ask them to include any local young people who they feel may have an interest. Stay tuned once more, HIB

Hurricane ( of Virginia) · « **Reply #19 on:** October 18, 2013, 06:34:35 AM »

Excited at everyones interest and offerings... good ideas keep bubbling up. Keep going guys!! Any body belong to the NRA... ( not always in favor but they might have some ideas, interest and educational outlets/networks that moght not be so controversial. I live close by and they have/had an exhibit of Kentuckies...about 15 as I recall...nice ones as well...any ideas???. XX Supeka (?) is their director and he could be a valauble resource as well as their network...he did sell Kentuckies before he moved and also offered pictures of his NRA collections of Kentuckies( see exhibts)
Hurricane.

Mark Elliott · « **Reply #20 on:** October 18, 2013, 06:40:38 AM »

I have been looking over the requirements of the merit badges and for the counselors. I now remember why I haven't done this before. The BSA has their own way of doing things, and I am not qualified to teach shooting even though I have been doing it for 40 years.

Buck · « **Reply #21 on:** October 18, 2013, 03:19:26 PM »

Mark,
I remember someone kicking around the idea of having the scouts come to the KRA meeting while the Lady's were on their trip. I can't remember if that was you or Patrick Hornberger but I thought it to be a good idea. Henry is this a possibility?
Buck

bama · « **Reply #22 on:** October 18, 2013, 03:37:08 PM »

I think the Boy Scouts used to have a special part of the group that was based on early American and Indian culture that asscoiated with muzzle loading. I forget what it was called but it was a great part of the organization, something along the Order of the Feather or something like that. Your local Scouts may be very receptive to demenstrations of our Longrifle Culture.

Another place that can be explored is the 4H. 4H is very active in shooting and hunting skills and muzzleloading is part of the training that is available through them. I was a 4H shooting sports instructor for a number of years until I took a job that requires a lot of traveling. Hopefully after I retire I will be able to get back to this. I really enjoyed teaching the youngsters about firearms, firearm safety and the art of shooting a muzzle loader.

I was very impressed at the youngsters willingness to learn. We held classes at my local range and gave shooting classes weekly. We always had 15 to 20 4H'ers eager to learn. A lot of the kids were being home schooled and surprizingly it was the mothers that were bringing the kids to these shooting classes.

There are avenues available to reach the younger generation but it does take an investment of time and as we all know time is hard to come by.

While I was a shooting sports instructor I also worked with teaching 3 Position Air Rifle and Small Bore. I learned that there are quite a number of our youth that are not only interested in firearms but also in the disipline of shooting. During this time I had to opportunity to shoot at Wolf Creek. This was the Shooting facility built right outside of Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic Games. A wonderful facility that the City of Atlanta was trying to have torn down and may have suceeded as I have been out of teaching and competition for about 10 years. Anyway the youngsters that were there to compete were absolutely fabulous and very serious about shooting. So there is hope for our childern but we must invest our time and open our treasures to them for them to know that they exist.

I don't know the answers but I do know that if we don't put forth the effort to teach the youth about our rich history and the art of the longrifle then nobody else will.

bama · « **Reply #23 on:** October 18, 2013, 06:52:29 PM »

Yes, Order of the Arrow that is it. It has been a few years for me so could not remember the name. In our troop we incorporated a little ML but like I said that has been a while back, probably not allowed today. May still be possible to get with the local troops and have a demonstration of antique flintlocks.

mkeen · « **Reply #24 on:** October 18, 2013, 08:03:31 PM »

One idea that might help lower the bar for getting more people interested is to explain the terminology that is unique to guns. A big turn off for most people is when they cannot understand what is being said. A glossary of terms on the ALR website with illustrations would go a long way to explain what is being said in the forums and also in books about long rifles. Utilizing gun specific lingo can be like a foreign language to outsiders.

From a recent book review on a book about long rifles. "One of the biggest problems is terminology. The authors wrote with the gun-collecting community in mind. A glossary of terms with illustrations showing various gun parts would have been a huge benefit to the general public. Terms such as swamped barrel, barrel tang, roller frizzen, double-set triggers, pill lock, butt plate and toe plate are mentioned but never explained." While members of this forum understand the terms those outside of the gun community do not.

Martin

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Author Topic: Collecting Kentucky Rifles and American History... a movement (Read 13157 times)

mkeen