[rattus58]

Hi Adam,

This...



or this



When I look at the market offerings I have to ask myself a couple of questions.... What is it about cold silver steel that "turns me on"? What is it about Walnut or Maple or other rich hardwood that "turns me on"? I have guns with Thumbhole stocks on them and somehow they just aren't right. Laminated wood can really be beautiful and colorful... but it just aint right... a nice clean blued barrel (or one that is Black Iced even) with a deep rich wood stock for me is a much warmer more friendly more "real" than are the synthetics... whether laminated or composite. That's one.

Two... some of the offerings just aren't graceful like the old guns are... I'm not talking T/C Hawken here... I mean like the Lancasters, the Isaac Haines and such, the Kentucky or actually maybe Tennessee longrifles.. those guns are just plain beautiful. I'm a member of NMLRA and get their magazine every month or so... and the one thing about the magazine is that they showcase an old gun usually every edition... and the one thing about that is that the only thing I miss about it is that the guns are usually shown in thirds... sad....

Not the point.. the point is I think that there are a lot more people who see the beauty in graceful lines and the value of a rich hardwood stock. The step back is a much shorter one when you are holding a flintlock than you are an Omega... in my opinion.

The question is, how can we get the message out? The best way is through the mainstream media on a regular basis and the bigger question would be how?

I love stories my Dad told me while he was alive... I love stories that other peoples Dad's tell of their exploits and history and I just have a gut feeling that others like a good story too... and that is what is missing for me in the NRA mags, the Field and Streams, the different state magazines.. a little history, a little show case, and a live example of a hunt or shoot. In my opinion, if we could start getting in articles, letters and pictures, emails, gun writers etc. to recapture and rekindle the alternatives, I think the ranks would grow... I can tell you this, its much easier to load my 58 with my homemade loading block and push pin than it is to load a sabot... and in the case of shooting... your shooting pleasure should be measured in pounds of powder...

Aloha...