Runge Engraving Log

[Kevin McCormack]

Bob Runge's logbook detailing his engraving details and the guns he worked on by serial number is in the hands of one of his 2 daughters (I forget which one). I saw it many times over the years, off and on in Del Grego's shop on 5th Ave. in Ilion, and when I interviewed Bob for material on the article I wrote on him for Double Gun Journal.

His wife was very insistent on his keeping accurate and detailed records on the guns he did to make sure he was paid in full for his work. After she died Bob stuck to it; much of the log is on simple 3' x 4" spiral bound pocket notebooks he carried with him everywhere he went while working on the guns.

After Bob died, his oldest daughter's husband abruptly gathered everything available of that nature to prevent the obvious (fraudulent gun documentation, bogus attribution of Bob's work, etc.). It bothered some but it was probably a very wise move in retrospect.

The young lady Dean refers to in his earlier post is I believe Bob's granddaughter. I sent her a copy of my article and a couple of lengthy e-mails after getting the OK from her father (not the man who gathered up all Bob's records) to correspond with her. She thanked me warmly but never carried the conversations any further. I think she was just coming of age to realizing what an incredible talent and a wonderful man Bob was. I miss him.