I can't believe someone actually asked, but ya'll can blame Doublesharp for this. Elsewhere, in the forum he inquired:
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Hey Jim, How about giving us a quick update on how your work is going from time to time?
__________________
... and THAT is all the excuse I need.
I've got a punch list of Really Cool Things that I've had the great good fortune to be involved with at the NRA Museums these past couple years. I'll start with a biggie, and if ya'll are interested, will tell you about others.
BRAND NEW MUSEUM - This August we celebrated the one year birthday of the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield MO. It is nothing short of spectacular.
See for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOSukuqSEO8
Among the 1,000 guns on exhibit:
* Timeline of American Sporting Arms, 1500 to present. Five cases, five dioramas, 150 lineal feet of the history of hunting guns in the US.
* Remington Factory Collection. 80 guns, 20 original century-old iconic oil paintings, never before seen together outside of the Rem. factory in Ilion NY. Includes prototypes, experimentals, first-ofs, one-ofs, never-weres, milestones, etc. How bout the first Rem. 870? The ten millionth Rem. 870? The Nylon .22 Tom Frye used to aerial shoot those 100,000 thrown wood blocks? The only known Rem. 45 ACP that was actually chosen to replace the Colt 1911 for the Navy and Marines in 1918 trials? (End of WWI intervened).
* Spectacular collection of US Martial Handguns, 1797-1898. Nearly every variation you can think of, with some VERY rare pieces. By way of illustrating the completeness of this collection, yes, it includes a Kelton Safety Schofield and a US purchase Safety Hammerless. In the same case are actual guns from the US Military Trials for the adoption of the 1911 pistol, including the actual Savage .45 that went head to head for 6,000 rounds against the Colt 1911 in the final shootout.
* Famous guns? We got famous guns. i.e., attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, Annie Oakley, John Wesley Hardin, Napoleon, Dwight David Eisenhower, Jesse James, John Phillip Sousa, Frank Hamer, Townsend Whelen, Pres. Grover Cleveland (the only 8 ga. double barrel shotgun ever made by Colt), Duke of York, King James II, Black Jack Ketchum, George Farr, John Hession, Lt. Col. William McMillan (along with his 1960 Olympic Gold Medal), and Medal of Honor recipient Gen. Marian Maus
Hollywood guns here include Tom Selleck's Matthew Quigley Sharps, John Wayne guns, and the Walker repop used by Clint Eastwood in Outlaw Josie Wells and by Kim Darby and John Wayne in True Grit.
* Museums within a Museum How cool is this Museum? It's soooo cool that it has a couple exhibits that either were or should be their very own Museums! That would include the ATA's Trapshooting Hall of Fame and the Pachmayr Foundation exhibit of the spectacular engraved and custom guns collected by America's gunsmith, Frank Pachmayr.
And lots, lots more.
My very favorite part? In our first year of operations, we had over 375,000 visitors!
That's well over 1,000 people a day. Lots of families, lots of kids and teens, men and women of all ages.
It's free. It's open 10am to 7pm every day of the year except Christmas.
If ya'll want more, I can tell you about our new TV shows, our new books, a remarkable Theodore Roosevelt exhibit, and the new gallery at our original NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax VA that has been called "the single finest room of firearms anywhere."
Thanks for asking, Doublesharp!
Jim
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Jim, How about giving us a quick update on how your work is going from time to time?
__________________
... and THAT is all the excuse I need.
I've got a punch list of Really Cool Things that I've had the great good fortune to be involved with at the NRA Museums these past couple years. I'll start with a biggie, and if ya'll are interested, will tell you about others.
BRAND NEW MUSEUM - This August we celebrated the one year birthday of the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield MO. It is nothing short of spectacular.
See for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOSukuqSEO8
Among the 1,000 guns on exhibit:
* Timeline of American Sporting Arms, 1500 to present. Five cases, five dioramas, 150 lineal feet of the history of hunting guns in the US.
* Remington Factory Collection. 80 guns, 20 original century-old iconic oil paintings, never before seen together outside of the Rem. factory in Ilion NY. Includes prototypes, experimentals, first-ofs, one-ofs, never-weres, milestones, etc. How bout the first Rem. 870? The ten millionth Rem. 870? The Nylon .22 Tom Frye used to aerial shoot those 100,000 thrown wood blocks? The only known Rem. 45 ACP that was actually chosen to replace the Colt 1911 for the Navy and Marines in 1918 trials? (End of WWI intervened).
* Spectacular collection of US Martial Handguns, 1797-1898. Nearly every variation you can think of, with some VERY rare pieces. By way of illustrating the completeness of this collection, yes, it includes a Kelton Safety Schofield and a US purchase Safety Hammerless. In the same case are actual guns from the US Military Trials for the adoption of the 1911 pistol, including the actual Savage .45 that went head to head for 6,000 rounds against the Colt 1911 in the final shootout.
* Famous guns? We got famous guns. i.e., attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, Annie Oakley, John Wesley Hardin, Napoleon, Dwight David Eisenhower, Jesse James, John Phillip Sousa, Frank Hamer, Townsend Whelen, Pres. Grover Cleveland (the only 8 ga. double barrel shotgun ever made by Colt), Duke of York, King James II, Black Jack Ketchum, George Farr, John Hession, Lt. Col. William McMillan (along with his 1960 Olympic Gold Medal), and Medal of Honor recipient Gen. Marian Maus
Hollywood guns here include Tom Selleck's Matthew Quigley Sharps, John Wayne guns, and the Walker repop used by Clint Eastwood in Outlaw Josie Wells and by Kim Darby and John Wayne in True Grit.
* Museums within a Museum How cool is this Museum? It's soooo cool that it has a couple exhibits that either were or should be their very own Museums! That would include the ATA's Trapshooting Hall of Fame and the Pachmayr Foundation exhibit of the spectacular engraved and custom guns collected by America's gunsmith, Frank Pachmayr.
And lots, lots more.
My very favorite part? In our first year of operations, we had over 375,000 visitors!
That's well over 1,000 people a day. Lots of families, lots of kids and teens, men and women of all ages.
It's free. It's open 10am to 7pm every day of the year except Christmas.
If ya'll want more, I can tell you about our new TV shows, our new books, a remarkable Theodore Roosevelt exhibit, and the new gallery at our original NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax VA that has been called "the single finest room of firearms anywhere."
Thanks for asking, Doublesharp!
Jim
