What Imbues a Gun With "Soul"?

[Kensal Rise]

Gentlemen:
The thread on the recent Fall Southern raised an intriguing question about certain guns having "soul."

So... rather than divert that thread onto a side road, I thought I'd post a new topic focused on a gun's soul.

As we can all agree, many Parkers have it. But a K-80 apparently does not. Neither would some plastic stocked Bennelli semi auto or Turkish box lock. Maybe even a thoroughly flogged and varnish slathered Trojan or Fox Sterlingworth would lack soul.

So... if we limit the issue to double guns for the sake of brevity, the question is:

Exactly what IS "soul" as applied to a Parker or other double gun?

And... which guns have it? And what guns don't?

[Big D]

Well, this will get me lit up, but here goes.

Reproductions don't have soul. IMHO, Almost nothing Japanese has soul.

[Pay Dirt]

I believe the first link in the "Soul Chain"
is the environment in which the gun is forged.
Organizational culture imbues soul.

[Fishtail]

It's a quality that is all but impossible to define in quantitative terms.

It's like asking what makes one woman attractive and another not.

It's like trying to explain why someone would restore an old tractor with a flathead four cylinder engine when he could buy a 4 year old Mahindra diesel for less money.

And it's possible a plastic stocked gun could have soul....let's suppose you carried it for 10 years in Alaska then through an Arctic nightmare that you barely lived through where it was your only means of survival. Plastic or not, by the time that was over it would have soul.

[Phil Yearout]

Originally Posted by John Campbell

Maybe even a thoroughly flogged and varnish slathered Trojan or Fox Sterlingworth would lack soul.

I don't know; in the world of vintage guitars the ones with the wine stains, wear holes in the top, and that look like they have been dragged behind a pickup truck for several miles are often referred to as having soul, so ...

[Dean Romig]

And yes, even an abused Trojan or Sterlingworth can have soul. It depends on how well it served its master and how that master reciprocated. But that's just a small fraction of what imbues soul to something inanimate.





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[Double Lab]

To me "soul" is defined by a gun that has been through decades of use, has been crafted by hands that had attention to detail and by methods deemed crude by our modern manufacturing techniques. Provenance also adds something special to that "soul" in my opinion, whether the previous owner was a farmer from Kansas or a professional shooter back in the day when shooting was a spectator sport. The little dings and scratches add to that. Patina, if you will.

[Autumn Daze]

Thanks Daryl. My thoughts exactly.....

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Daryl Corona

To me "soul" is defined by a gun that has been through decades of use, has been crafted by hands that had attention to detail and by methods deemed crude by our modern manufacturing techniques. Provenance also adds something special to that "soul" in my opinion, whether the previous owner was a farmer from Kansas or a professional shooter back in the day when shooting was a spectator sport. The little dings and scratches add to that. Patina, if you will.

"If" that were 100% true and etched in stone so to speak , you guys wouldn't try to find BH and above grade guns in almost never used condition and rather look for Trogans or such that have almost had the life shot out of them . Provenance while nice to have for resale or bragging is nothing more then a verification that someone who was deemed important owned the object at some point , it adds nothing to the use ability of the gun or object . Provenance adds nothing to me liking or disliking an object .

[John Truitt]

to me it has nothing to do with grade or that stuff.

there are just some Parkers that I pick up and there is no connection/ no feel to the gun.
Others I pick up and I can instantly feel a connection to the gun. Like its got something special to it. You can feel the extra quality come out. Like shes got no misses in her and She is telling you she knows what to do.
Hard for me to put into words.

to me those are the guns that have soul.
each of us will be different. thank goodness or else we would all be fighting over the same guns.

for me soul can be found in any gun and any make. some have it, some don't.