What Imbues a Gun With "Soul"?

[George Lander]

I have always believed that almost any old gun, especially SxSs, if they could speak could tell some amazing tales: of travels, of hunts long ago, of hunters gone on, of great hunting dogs, of huge quail coveys, of ducks and geese so numerous that they blotted out the sun, of times long past that are only distant memories now. I have learned to respect these old "girls" because they have seen things that will never be seen again.

Best Regards, George

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by John E. Williams

An old friend of mine, John Madole, once took some kind of old Savage .22 Hornet he bought for like $200 and threw every ounce of toolmaking knowledge and artistic ability into it. It was really rather absurd, but he turned that piece of trunk trash into an absolute jaw dropper of a rifle. I seem to remember James Corpe fitting an exhibition-grade Claro walnut stock and forend to the little gun, and John had engraved and French grayed the receiver and so forth. Again, it was absurd. That rifle had soul because two of the greatest artisans I've ever met collaborated on a gun that should've never been considered for such a project and absolutely rocked it. The story goes that someone at a FEGA show once asked John why he bothered with such a hardware-grade gun to customize. He supposedly answered in his subdued way, "How much was the piece of canvas worth before da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa on it?" That was classic John. Wasn't so inclined to give you a direct answer as he was to ask you a pointed question which revealed the answer. God, I miss him...

I don't believe I've ever read a better reply to such a dumb question! John Madole must have been a very impressive man.






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[Phil Yearout]

I just realized I thanked most every post on this thread. Must be a lotta soul here!

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Chris Travinski

Don't knock the reproductions, if you were 15 years old and opened one up for Christmas it probably have more soul than any other gun you would own for the rest of your life.

Well now after the assanine responses I got to the REM/Krieghoff 32/K-80 I suppose you'll just have to live with my personal feelings on the Jap knockoff' and with that being said you can throw Galazan's stuff in there as well .

[Autumn Daze]

Well ... Ya know how it goes with opinions. I thought some responces were very well thought out. A great thread....

[Mills]

Soul is like beauty - in the eye of the beholder

[edgarspencer]

Several years ago I made a comment in a post how some guns had a 'warm feeling' and others did not. The responses I got varied but generally I got the feeling many thought I was an idiot from that comment. I will grant you, I am an idiot, but that single post could not have given you that much insight.
I became aware of this feeling many many years ago, when I was able to wander around with other peoples Purdeys and Hollands. I distinctly recall almost every Holland had something that the Purdey did not.
I've long since given up my fascination with things Anglophile, except possible good Ale. My senses haven't numbed simply because I now can pick up most nice, original Parkers, and sense this warmness. I'd die from exposure trying to keep warm with a repro.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Dave Suponski

Well ... Ya know how it goes with opinions.

Kinda my feeling about people as well .

[Autumn Daze]

Ya... Thats funny mine too....

[Jim DiSpagno]

Well, while I have perished this thread with great interest, I have found a great variation in what some will define soul as. One comment by Fishtail caused me to pause and reflect. That was his comment on the Winchester model 24. While not a classic, and not the canoe Oates model 21 that so many hold in such high esteem, I have a model 24 that has more soul than Gladys Knight, her Pips, The Four Tops, the Temptations and James Brown all rolled up into one.
That little 16 ga 24, bought by a young man, age 24 in the midst of the Great Depression with money earned working in the WPA and used until he gave up hunting in 2001 at age 86 brought more game home than most guns ever saw. From native pheasant on Staten Island, when the population was less than 45K to ducks and geese along the now lost NE Atlantis flyway, to grouse [ partridge] as the old man called them and woodcock in the high Catskill mountains and the Poconoes. There were many buck harvested in the shotgun only counties of NY and NJ. The first time I was allowed24 on the outsid to go to deer camp with him was 1960 and although rifle country, he carried the e chance a shot presented itself for me. Well, in 1961, on a very cold late November morning, sitting with my Father atop a mountain, freezing but afraid to shiver, he quietly pointed towards a stand of mountain laurel and there, making its way towards us was a black bear at @ 150 yards. We watched in a statue like pose in what seemed like an eternity and when that bruin was at about 50 yards, that model 24 let loose with both barrels, one after another. That sound crackled forever it seemed until the silence was deafening. And the bear laid dead. Taken with a gun more suited to rabbits and birds. That gun hunted the northeast for six plus decades always the go to gun. There were others he used including a beautiful GHE 12 ga. but the 24 was always present either in hand or waiting in the wings as the pro always did. The most amazing thing I have ever witnessed was a shot Dad made on a real nice Dutchess County whitetail buck sporting a 9 point rack. As we were walking to position ourselves as standees on a drive, walking a small overgrown tote road, a driver yelled "buck coming your way". Looking towards the voice, that buck was hell bent to get away and flew over the slate walls bordering the road. In full flight about forty yards in front of the old man. Without hesitation, he shouldered that old, worn out 24 and swung through the shot like any good wing shooter would and that buck fell dead smack dab in the middle of the tote road, killed with a single pumpkin ball. Dad was 81 at the time.
To this day, no matter how many fine Parkers pass through my hands and how well sime handle and shoot, for some unknown reason, that old Winchester model 24 16 ga. outperforms them all. I'll call it SOUL but it is rather uncanny but some might call it his soul.