Quote:
Originally Posted by Stan Hillis
My heart was beating so hard it felt like I was walking up to the wedding altar again! As I looked down those barrels I was keenly aware that Nash had seen the exact same view as he shot those "tall ones" over the cypresses. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I took it apart, measured the bores, chokes, barrel length, made notes on the checkering style, and everything else i could think of to check. I had previously spoken with Dave Noreen on the phone to get his advice on what all to look for to try to determine authenticity. At the time, there was much naysaying going on about it's authenticity. I came away totally convinced of it's authenticity, and made that statement on the AHFCA forum eventually.
I always thought there were a lot of gun fanciers who were more caught up in the gun's legend than in the gun itself. It was almost like it was heresy to claim that the gun was authentic. It seemed that many wanted the gun to remain lost, because it made for such a good story. When Austin Hogan examined it for Julia's many of the naysayers hushed up. Then, there were those who tried to claim it was "stolen" and should be returned to Nash's heirs. I emailed Julia's about that and they replied with a very lengthy rebuttal to any claims as such, which made perfect legal and ethical sense.
To those who say they would not pay a penny more for a vintage gun based upon provenance, I say fine. But, I would .........if it had been used by Mistah Nash.
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Stan, I could not agree more. There is a pretty decent account of what Julia's did to legally sell the gun in a Garden and Gun article some years back. For me, there are really two legends to the gun: one that is the story of its loss and subsequent recovery/verification, and the other is the mystic attached to the gun written about (and used) so effectively by Buckingham.
On a similar note: last September I had the chance to examine, measure and clean Fred Gilbert's L. C. Smith that he won the 1895 Du Pont Cup with. Looking down the barrels of that gun (which I knew by touch fit me perfectly) made me think that even I might be able to drop a bird in the ring.
It's special "stuff" for lovers of these relics of the past.