Well, as I discussed, there are 4 underlifter C Bernards, and the general collector knowledge is that one survives. There are 35 top lever C Bernards, 10 10ga and 25 12ga. This is one of a handful of known surviving 12's. High barrel and stock refinished condition, uncut, newer Jostam Hy Gun pad, great barrels. SN 36,491 , an early top lever, ca 1883. There is a better one of these, but they are rare.
We had a lot of rare guns. A new , maybe never shot 8 ga CH damascus, nothing but drag marks on standing breech, nothing case colored over. A new 1917 deep cut engraving 28ga Acme, nothing but ejector drag marks. So many outstanding C grades where there were 4 or 2 known and they were all there. Now who knows what is in some closet someplace but I think the instances of those finds are getting fewer.
I personally brought 3 guns, all almost unique for one reason or another, but there were so many fine guns there that a person could spend hours looking carefully at each gun. Dean brought his newly acquired Benard, an outstanding example of a standard Bernard 12, and one that he bought at a very good price while others sat on their hands and hoped the price would get lower still.
So people have asked me to do a PP's article on C's, something updating the TPS chapter and I suppose I will do that with what we now know . C's had great variety and that can be discussed at length. But as I talked Sat night, I saw one of the ladies start to doze off and so I thought I had better cut this thing short before more start to get chair whiplash, so I did, and could go on and on until everyone is asleep.
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09-12-2011, 08:46 PM
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