What Imbues a Gun With "Soul"?

[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....

[Alfred Greeson]

I have to go back to the old Parker collector, now gone, who said we love the old guns because they harbor old men's souls and they remind you of the old soul's now gone that we wish we could share the old gun with just one more time and relive the best days.
I like the reference to the old guitars, ever see Willie Nelson in concert and his old guitar that is so worn it has a hole in it and he sits it down right beside the bottle of Jack he sips during a concert, talk about soul! Old guns, old friends, good whiskey and old souls, not sure how to define them but I know they make life worthwhile.

[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

[Phil Yearout]

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

[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.

[Jim DiSpagno]

Pleas excuse that damn auto spell etc. thanks Jim

[Dean Romig]

Very nicely told Jim. I'll bet that ol' 24 holds a coveted position in your gun rack... and in your heart.






.

[Jim DiSpagno]

Dean, more than you know. As Dad got older, like many of his generation, shot shells were never separated, just returned to any empty box. Well hunting pheasants in Rhinebeck NY, with his 3 Brittanies, who were as odd as he was at times, pointed and flushed two cockbirds at once. That old 24 emitted an odd sound and one rooster literally blew apart. Dad loaded the right barrel with "00" buck and that pheasant never stood a chance. His words of wisdom were " don't have to gut that one, just put him in the soup"