Roger's 1887 speech on prohibition is an absolute gem of oratory, and very short and to the point. At the risk of being accused of stealing another man's thoughts or choice of words, "gun control" could be handily substituted for "prohibition". In conclusion, "What a man, what a gun."

Bruce, you are so fortunate to have a Parker with such wonderful provenance. Congratulations!!





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I looked it up . . . Here it is:

“Prohibition was introduced as a fraud; it has been nursed as a fraud. It is wrapped in the livery of Heaven, but it comes to serve the devil. It comes to regulate by law our appetites and our daily lives. It comes to tear down liberty and build up fanaticism, hypocrisy, and intolerance. It comes to confiscate by legislative decree the property of many of our fellow citizens. It comes to send spies, detectives, and informers into our homes; to have us arrested and carried before courts and condemned to fines and imprisonments. It comes to dissipate the sunlight of happiness, peace, and prosperity in which we are now living and to fill our land with alienations, estrangements, and bitterness. It comes to bring us evil - only evil - and that continually. Let us rise in our might as one and overwhelm it with such indignation that we shall never hear of it again as long as grass grows and water runs.”
~ Roger Quarles Mills

Thanks, Mills. I neglected to mention that the 1887 speech was posted at the second to last paragraph in Bruce's thread. I am sorely tempted to plagiarize this wonderful speech with a gun control bent, but will restrain myself, at least for now.

Sneak Preview of Breck’s work:
 

I requested a photo of the progress on my Top Lever Hammer barrels and I wasn’t disappointed. My barrels are in the middle, perhaps the other one’s belong to a member here. The Chain Damascus and the Bernard barrels (last photo) are awesome and are probably not even done yet. Breck said the photos weren’t very good but I liked them.
Well worth the wait, I’ll be burning Black Powder soon enough. Though Black Powder is in short supply due to the Goex plant shutdown, I did place an order for 5lbs of Old Eynsford 1F with Powder Valley recently. The 1F was the only in stock available. Luckily my shotguns aren’t fussy with digestive problems.:rotf:

Breck has two of mine ready and I am picking them up tomorrow. Can't wait to see the results

Since black powder was the cancer that killed so many damascus barrels, why would you use it? There are so many loads which yield lower pressures with acceptable ballistics.

Edgar gives good advice

I would say that those Bernard barrels are quite done.





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Edgar, I don’t believe black powder caused the ruination and havoc of any vintage barrels. All of the destruction was simply a result of neglect due to the lack of cleaning after use. Some of my oldest doubles (mid 1880’s) have unblemished bores from black powder use. I suppose I am a true traditionalist, vintage doubles were made for black powder use. I enjoy the sound, the smell and the smoke.