Who was J.C. Petmecky ????????

[John Mazza]

I just bought a neat old cleaning rod at an antique shop in Canada. It's ebony, with brass fittings. Three pieces, each 12 inches long. Really nice shape...

The question is in regards to a "fitting" attached to the business end of the rod. It appears to be a brass 2 7/8" 10 gauge shell with a large hole in the head (as if they greatly enlarged the primer hole). Inside this shell is a brass cleaning attachment that (on one end) threads into the rod, and on the other end, it sports numerous thin brass "fingers". When contained within this "shell" - the shell can be inserted into a 10 gauge chamber & the once the rod is pushed into the gun, these fingers spread open and can be used to clean/scrape loose fouling/plastic residue or any other sort of crud from within the bore. The "shell" also acts as a chamber/bore guide - keeping the rod centered within the bore as it's worked back and forth.
Stamped onto the "shell" is "J. C. Petmecky Austin Texas - Patented - November 27, 1883"

Have any of you guys ever seen such a cleaning device ??????

I bought the rod and this "device" for $ 95.00. Did I get a fair deal ?


Please let me know...

Many thanks, and best wishes for a happy new year to all !!!!!

John

[Dave Fuller]

Joe Petmecky, a Hungarian émigré who opened up a gunsmith shop in Austin in the middle of the nineteenth century. Petmecky gained recognition in the American West after inventing the spring-shank steel spur, which would automatically dislodge from a rider's boots should he be thrown from his horse, thereby avoiding possible broken ankles.

[Robin Lewis]

check out http://cartridgecollectors.org/samplejournal.pdf and look on page 14...... is this it?

[John Mazza]

Robin:

I'm at my work computer right now, and the website you mentioned is blocked. (Who knows why they let me on this site !)

Could you copy a picture from that site & post it ?

Thanks !!!!!

John

[Robin Lewis]

Here you go.

[John Mazza]

That's it !!!!!

Thanks a lot ! What a simple yet effective little device !

Does anyone have a feel for the value of one of these things in 10 gauge (and the ebony/brass cleaning rod, too) ?

I wasn't sure that $ 95 was a good price, but my better half talked me into it.

That was might nice of her !

[Bill Murphy]

Something similar to this is in an old Parker catalog, maybe the 1882??

[Dave Suponski]

I have an ebony three piece cleaning rod and it is identicle to the ones in a Parker catalog. The rod came out of a case that a Parker was in. To bad these things were not marked by the Brothers P.

I saw one of those bore brush's on Ebay a while back but forgot to bid on it..:banghead: They are very cool!

[Jeff Kuss]

Actually I have one that is marked Parker bros. I will take a picture later today. It was described in a PP article back in the Kirby days. I believe I gave $100 for it alone.
Jeff

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I've had a couple different varieties of them over the years, I think $95 for it and the rod was more than fair. The original name for them was the Budd - Petmecky and I believe the Budd end of it was Charlie Budd who was a famous shooter back in the day.

Destry

[Bruce Day]

As Destry mentioned above, he has had a couple Petmecky cleaning devices and they are pretty neat to have. Also try to buy any ebony cleaning rod now, you will pay way more than $100. You got a nice period accessory with a history.

[Drew Hause]

C.W. Budd "Iowa Indian" Des Moines, with his Smith. He used a Parker in defeating J. "147" L. Winston, "The Wizard of the West" for the Du Pont Cup in 1897 at Watson's Shooting Park, Chicago. He later shot for U.M.C. and used a Remington C.E.O. Trap and in Sept. 1905 was high expert at Cincinnati with a score of 545 out of 600 targets from 20 yards. In 1906 he was shooting a Remington Autoloading Shotgun which became the Model 11.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/21690841/357565398.jpg

[Jeff Kuss]

Destry should recognize the one with the box

[John Mazza]

Thanks guys for all the great information/discourse ! I figured that this forum would definitely be able to shed some light on this subject !

Thanks again !

(I think I should go hunting this afternoon so I can have an excuse to use the cleaning rod & attachment !)

[Drew Hause]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Brass-Shotgun-Shell-Cleaner-1876_W0QQitemZ220535151533QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_De faultDomain_0?hash=item3358eb5bad