Colt
 

Another upland gun for the fall.

12 ga, 28” 7lbs 1oz.

Chambers 2 3/4”

Bores Right .725, choke .012
Left . 721 , choke .021
Tight bores.

Gold initials are as made.

Very nice

Great grandfather? Uncle?

No relation, just fortuitous. The gun is from Westchester, New York. My forebears had long been in Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas by then, moving west 1820-1840. They were on the northern plains during the Spirit Lake Massacre and the Sioux Wars.

Bruce that’s probably the nicest Colt I have ever seen! Love it!

Particularly from Reggie that is a fine compliment. Reggie consistently acquires fine guns and has an eye for quality.

well then you'll just have to make up a good story :rotf:

a gun to be proud of

Bruce, your gun appears more highly embellished than most. I love the butt plate. Just drove by the great "Blue Onion" the other night.

Edgar those must have been fascinating times when we had those great American companies and the finest craftsmen in the world. I like some Swiss watches and that whole industry started copying American designs with cheaper labor. Now where are the Elgin’s, Hamilton’s , Illinois and Waltham’s ?

We’ll take Colt Patent Firearms Company out here with open arms.

Buy American.

Nice gun, 1883? Gary

This is the only thing I've ever found with my name on it. I never even thought of making up a story

Edgar all you gotta do is put a nipple on it! Gary

Bruce’s gun is by far my best gun show find ever. I was cruising the aisles of a show and usually only stop when I see two barrels oriented the right way (side by side, of course!). Stroll up to this guys table and he has several horrendous looking Belgian guns and this 1883 Colt. I notice it’s in nice shape and has some gold so I ask if I can see the gun. Then notice the gold has Bruce’s initials on the trigger guard. His exact initials. And the gun was in damn nice original condition.

Damn - that doesn’t happen every day!

I text a few photos around and get the OK to buy the gun for Bruce. In what had to have been the world’s worst show of negotiations, I tell the seller my friend’s name is exactly as the initials are on this gun. He knows the hook is set and makes me pay full sticker price for his gun- wouldn’t back off even a single dollar! It didn’t matter because I couldn’t leave the gun there but it damaged my ego to be the first guy in gun show history to pay the full sticker price at a show!!

Since we are all a little crazy and the fun is in the hunt, I’m still looking hard for a “JSL” factory engraved/gold inlaid gun to show up.....

Gimme me a day or so. My engraver is backed up.

That's sweet!

Trust me Josh, you’re not. I’m guilty of doing it often (but you know that).

When you just gotta have it, you do it - unashamedly.



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Bruce, I have had a couple of Colt shotguns, but yours is by far the best I have ever seen, congrats and good going Josh, Gary

Hmmm...First guy, eh? We need to time stamp all of our purchases and compare. I'll bet I can give you and Dean a run for your money on this.

And I had been saying that I really didn’t need any more guns.

So here I am in central Missouri where there are no more wild bobwhite , right ? And I’m doing some rusty pilot instruction at the local rural airport , we taxi out and turn into the wind for the run up, I look back and here is a covey of 10 quail lined up and crossing the taxiway by where we had just come . Maybe they are back , it sure looked wonderful. Now if we could only get gentlemanly quail hunting, fine bird dogs and civility back around the nation’s capital, maybe things could improve.

I’ve been reading the book about the Kavanaugh hearings.

Amen to that! Gary

Colt
 

Bruce I think we would get along just fine on a bird hunt no matter what. I've been hunting with a guy since 6th grade, he retired from the outdoor desk of Houston Chronicle newspaper after 35 years. He was the protege for Bob Brister whom I had the pleasure of having several mixed hunts with. What a grand gentleman. Anyhow Joe Doggett and I still bang a few caps together and we never fail to be in a situation where one bows to the other. Is that still alive today? I'm certainly instilling that in my 16 old grandson whom I just wrote about in PP. Anyhow more than you want to know but tell Josh to be on the lookout for DHB while he is cruising the aisles!!! Your Colt is a real trophy piece and my God with your initials. I'm hunting for a Remington 1894 C grade if you cross over one but forget the initials! Good hunting to you this year. I shall tell a tale of a Laminated barrel Lifter in the Dove fields this year. This gun is 140 years old seems like it should have retired by now but that's not the case if you live in my gun cabinet. Best David

David - I truly hope we get to meet someday!!






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David , we put on an exhibit of Parker shotguns at the last NRA annual convention and show in Houston. You would have seen us. We had the Czar gun and a bunch of neat stuff.

Bruce, you had Parker No. 168304 ?





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Colt
 

Bruce I moved from Houston 4 years ago after living there for 68 years. Way too much concrete. If I had known of the exhibit I would have driven back 3 hrs to see such an exhibit.

The odds have to be astronomical that a gun with your initials and full last name would end up in your hands. That looks like an Oklahoma quail buster.

I’m off to the plains in a few weeks then back around to the north woods, gone several weeks , then pheasant then OK quail.

I’ll take the Colt and a Parker hammer gun, both about 7 lbs, 28” 12ga upland game guns choked IC and Mod. New hammer screws are coming for the Parker.

Good Luck, Bruce. I hope the weather is good for your hunting and that there are birds for the dogs to find...and for you to shoot at with those nice guns.

I’ll be in Minn oct 1-12. You and I stay somewhat close locations. Maybe get together at Fish Tales or the Timberwolf by Marcell.

Elaine and I would certainly enjoy catching up with you in MN. We really enjoyed meeting Jeff Christie last year. Unfortunately, our two weeks begins on Sunday Oct. 13. If you get snowed in again this year, and you have to stay a bit longer, maybe we can catch up with you. Reports indicate similar numbers of birds to last year, so please leave us a few.