Herschel Chadwicks guns

[Dean Romig]

I remember Jim Austin at Kittery Point in Maine. I met him just once just before the pot boiled over.





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[Researcher]

W.O. Rowley was dealing Parkers in Dallas well before Herchel. Sold the A1-Special 28-gauge two-barrel set to Clem Buckman in California for $3000.

Jimmy Austin's wormy cherry paneled barn at Kittery Point was a favorite shop of mine for looks, and for some time David Trevillion had his workshop there. I bought my No. 2 NID 28-gauge from Jim. A year or two later I was at the Syracuse show and he had a big display there. Invited me to sit with him and share a libation and his big ice chest full of ice and shrimp. Treated me like his long-lost friend from the old country! Always wondered if he had me confused with someone with money!

[Bill Murphy]

I was only at Jim's shop one time, but he wasn't there. I shot geese with him and Terry Smith on the Eastern Shore. I remember us taking a Mag Ten Ithaca apart in front of our blind when it malfunctioned. As we were outside the blind with a disassembled gun, a flight of geese started to pitch into the decoys. We ran for our guns and, as I recall, one of us took a desperation shot and killed one goose. Jim kept us entertained with a variety of stories about just about everything.