The first identified owner of the U.S. Cartrige Company 24 gauge VH after USC was Bob Hess, who was a member of my gun club when I was a pup. When Bob passed away, his son was occupied in the military and Bob Sr.'s wife attempted to dispose of some of his collection. I visited the fellow she enlisted to sell some of the guns to purchase a wonderful Browning Superposed that I had to have. Rooting through some of Bob's "stuff", I found a full wooden case of Remington 24 gauge shells. Thoughts of the old gun raced through my mind. I asked about purchasing the shells, thinking I would work my way into the gun. The fellow told me he had promised to save the shells for the gentleman who had bought the gun. "Bought the gun?". I was crushed. Not only did I miss the gun, I couldn't buy the shells. Happily, I did purchase Bob's VHE 20 gauge skeet in the Abercrombie and Fitch 28 gauge VC case where it was placed after the minty VHE 28 was sold caseless and tagless. I tried to buy the tags for the fully optioned, field choked 28, but he wouldn't let go of the tags. Kevin M. and I were both mentored in that club along with Bob Hess' son who went on to an Air Force career and a place on the Air Force International Skeet team. I shot a little on the International Skeet circuit later on and ran into Bob Jr. a few times on the road. One of those meetings is another story I have told here before.
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