We have an excellent collection of Colt Gold Cup pistols, most in exceptionally nice condition with original boxes. Also a number of scarce military rifles, including some really great and some very inexpensive examples, and a several military shotguns. We also have a large group of military pistols. Most of these are not yet posted, but a few were recent additions that we included on the Newsletter Specials page in case you missed them..

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Feature Article:

Beware Of Fakes

As Harold Peterson, one of the pioneering arms collectors in the U.S. once said, "I don't worry about the fakes I recognize, but I worry a lot about those I don't recognize. We know the feeling, and the other day were puzzling over an apparent M1 Garand Type 1 National Match rifle, but with a pitted receiver, but it came with a CMP box and CMP certificate. After a bit of detective work, we figured out that the box probably was used to ship a different rifle, the certificate was a clever fake from a color copier, and the pitted receiver was also a "reweld", and the NM marks on the barrel were probably phony too. Having caught it, we will now sell it for what it is, not what it appears to be. (You can see it on the Newsletter Special page for now).

Another site with a good section on fake cartouches is http://home.comcast.net/~robbj/cartouchepage1.html

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We just got done cataloging a lot of different types of guns. Before posting them for the public, we wanted to give our loyal customers and subscribers a shot at them. A bit of everything with some ugly guns ("assault rifles"- that we normally do not carry, but got as part of a collection); some great Enfields, a variety of U.S. military longarms and other WW2 guns, some nice modern handguns, and who knows what else. Go check them out at http://oldguns.net/nlspecials903.htm This page will only be up for a few days and then we will be moving these to the regular catalog pages for everyone else.

The Newsletter Specials page only has guns, so don't forget to check all the regular catalog pages as we have added a lot of stuff in recent weeks that you may have missed.

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The Big Reno Show

If you do not go to the Big Reno Show, you are missing a great show and a lot of other fun events. In August the Garand Collectors Association had their convention there, with many wonderful displays of U.S. martial arms (not just Garands). I especially liked Gary's superb presentation of post WW2 U.S. Sniper rifles, and Rick's U.S. Grenade Launcher and rifle grenade exhibit. Some really great stuff that I had only seen in books before. The GCA also had a nice reception and a great diner. The dinner speaker was Walt Ehlers, the only surviving person who won a Medal of Honor on 6 June 1944. (He will be featured on Ollie North's War Stories in the next week or so.) Last time GCA met in Reno, the late Joe Foss was speaker. The Winchester Arms Collectors Assn and some other groups also meet in conjunction with the Reno show. At about 900 tables it is one of the largest and best shows in the country, at least in the west. I like t better than Las Vegas, even though (or maybe because?) that has a lot more extreme high end stuff that most of us cannot afford. The next show (without the Garand Collectors) will be at the Reno Hilton, November 14-16th. See you there!

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Book Review:

Ruger & His Guns

Ruger & His Guns: A History of the Man, the Company and Their Firearms,
R.L. Wilson, 1996, 358 pages (Out of print, but copies available in the $65-85 range)

Not being a Ruger collector, I procrastinated about adding this to my library. I wish I had gotten it earlier.
William B. Ruger founded Sturm, Ruger & Company in 1949 with production of their semi-automatic .22 pistol. Then came single action revolvers, and semiautomatic rifles, single shot rifles, then bolt action rifles, and shotguns, and semi-auto large caliber pistols, and the Mini-14, and machine guns for law enforcement. In less than 50 years, Ruger has become a successful player in every aspect of the firearms market, unlike most of the older makers who concentrate on a small segments (e.g Colt and S&W do handguns, Remington and Winchester do longarms).

More impressive is Bill Ruger's personal involvement with most of the innovative features which have come to mark Ruger products. Also, Bill Ruger was a gun collector, as well as an engineer, and he was keenly aware of the need to integrate ease of manufacture and use, and visual appeal into new designs.

One of their major innovations was the use of investment castings to achieve complex shapes of great strength with minimal amount of machine tool time to run up costs. Early on, Ruger set up their own casting operation for firearms parts, and eventually got into casting titanium parts as well, with an eye to a more diversified customer base. In fact, they produce some of Callaway's "Big Bertha" golf club heads. (Useless toys for folks who don't know how to have fun shooting, in my opinion.) In his spare time, Ruger also designed and built a prototype classic car (he was a car collector, too) and a yacht. Another passion was collecting fine western paintings and art.

The research for this book was started by the late Ed Ezell, of the Smithsonian (and the man who arranged for Eugene Stoner and Mikail Kalashnikov to meet in Virginia). Ezell died before the book was too far along, and it was eventually turned over to R.L. Wilson for completion. Wilson is in his element dealing with wealthy patrons, praising their accomplishments, albeit well justified in this case. He mixes a good balance of interviews with Bill Ruger along with letters and interviews with those who worked with him in many different capacities in design, production, sales, of merely friends. Further, and this is unique in my experience, he includes generous selections from the Company's annual reports summarizing that years' experiences, profit and loss info, new product introductions and the plague of lawsuits. These provide a keen insight into the intended and actual direction of the Company's progress over the years, as seen from specific points in time, but then blended together into an excellent historical narrative. An appendix provides selected financial data on an annual basis from 1949 through 1993 (which I believe is related to use of Ruger as a case study at Harvard Business School or Wharton.) Ruger NEVER borrowed any money to start or run the company, an uncommon philosophy these days, but one that proved very successful.

As you come to know how the Man and his Company developed over time, you also are introduced to the Ruger firearms in the same timeline. Besides the historical background, each model is honored by a two page spread with an oversized detailed photo, and loads of data of great interest to collectors. This includes dates, serial numbers, marking variations, engraved and special feature guns, model numbers for variations, and often cutaway or exploded views to appreciate the mechanical features as well. There are also appendices containing charts showing serial numbers for each year for each model (through 1993) and examples of scores of marking variations used.

Wilson does an admirable job presenting a wealth of interesting and useful information in a readable manner, making this a most useful reference book. It is further enhanced by the superb quality photography which make it a visual treat worth careful study even if you have no interest in Rugers.

Bill Ruger's focus was traditional yet innovative designs, built with excellent manufacturing quality at a reasonable price. Understandably, this has created hordes of loyal customers and a large number of enthusiastic collectors, including the highly regarded Ruger Collectors Association.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in guns or gun collecting as a great education about a great man, a great company and some of the greatest guns made in the 20th century. With the book out of print and seven years old, Bill Ruger's death in July 2001 would justify a second edition with a final chapter on the Man, and an update on the guns. Let us hope for that, but meanwhile, see if you can locate a copy of the first edition. You will be glad you did.

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Last Minute Travel Suggestions

We highly recommend two outstanding special exhibits that will be ending soon. Surprise your spouse by whisking them off for a delightful mini-vacation. I cannot think of better choices than these two.

"Colt: The Legacy of a Legend" is a once in a lifetime exhibit at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY, home of the superb COdy Firearms Museum, plus some of the finest western art and Indian exhibits anywhere in the world. (And, a Natural History museum that suffers from excessive political correctness.) The special Colt exhibit closes October 6th, and the items will be returned to the various sources that lent them for this special exhibit. The museum complex is open 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM in September but cut back to 8:00 to 5:00 in October.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (in Minnesooota) features "Three Centuries of Tradition: The Renaissance of Custom Sporting Arms in America" through October 5, 2003. This pioneering exhibit (excoriated by one rabidly anti-gun, anti-hunting elitist "art critic") presents "custom-made sporting arms as consummate examples of the decorative arts, demonstrating the highest artistic achievements in carving, inlay, and engraving of metal and wood." Utterly fantastic work, well worth the visit, if for no other reason than to thumb your nose at the "artsy" types offended by "killing instruments" in their galleries. Open 10:00 to 5:00 most days, Thursday evenings until 9:00 PM.

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We hope it was useful or interesting.  We invite you to visit Antique and Collectable Firearms and Militaria Headquarters, http://oldguns.net/ when you are ready to add to your collection, or even if you decide to sell all or part of it.
John Spangler & Marc Wade