rburg
Member
I have a similar story, but not about guns. A couple of friends wanted to go to the big show down in Louisville a while back, I'm guessing early 1990s. So we stole my wifes little car and headed out. One of my buddies is also a knife guy, his uncle having worked for the Randall shop off and on over the years, and an earlier uncle or grand uncle having killed Billy the Kid (Pat Garrett). The other guy was younger, but fun because he was kind of gullible. We abused him terribly.
So we were hiking the show, just havin' fun. We have pretty specific interests, and spent little or no time at military rifle booths, or modern plastic junk. But a good knife booth might have us anchored for a long time. At one set of tables was Jack Crider, a well known knife purveyor and probably a used car and siding salesman for fun. He could sell an eskimo a bag of ice. One of his knives was a Randall 10-3 with the duraluminum handle. Our younger buddy was in love, but couldn't quite swing the multi-hundred dollar price tag. Other buddy just offered up "I've got one of those in the junk drawer at home."
Of course the knife seller and our young friend scoffed and all but called him a liar. His response was "OK, don't believe me."
So we finished walking the show and drove the 100 miles home. First buddy says "hey Roger, come to the basement and look at this." I knew what was coming, and had learned long ago not to question the knives he had. It was one of those walk in basements/garages. So in we go, and over to the rollaround tool box. In one fluid motion, he pulls out the bottom drawer and flips it upside down on the floor. It was like shining daylight on a bunch of rats. Stuff scattering every direction. Old greasy bolts, broken sockets, brackets off old motors, a couple of forelorn air tools, and just general junk. All with a grease and slime layer generous enough you could shovel it.
So my buddy picks up a likely stirring stick and starts pushing stuff around. Soon he spies the aluminum piece he was seeking and hauls it out. A little worse for wear, but a dead ringer to the one we'd seen earlier on the gun show table! My buddies only comment: "Guess I'll have to clean it up and find a new gasket scraper." Then he shoveled all the other **** back in the drawer and put it back in the bottom box.
What made it so interesting for me was 2 months ago at the July OGCA show, I bought one with a 9" blade, exactly the same. I paid $300 for it and thought I got a bargain!
We had a vendor at our small, out of the way gun shows. He was kind of a character. I doubt if he took regular baths or showers. It was pretty obvious he didn't bother with washing his clothes. He even wore a top hat, moth holes and all. His guns weren't kept any better.
It was educational for me, because I was so meticulous about putting each revolver in its own gun rug, then carefully packing them into soft sided bags for transport. This old guy used milk crates. They came with handles, and if he filled it with nasty old guns, up to the 2/3rds point, he could still pick them up and stack them. I never saw him pack up, but I imagined him taking an arm and just clearing the table with a single swipe onto the plastic cases. His wares were all nicked and dinged up. He actually had some S&Ws, but they were old rotten victory models, back then overpriced at $125 or so.
Different folks don't all have the same idea's about proper care for their toys. Its why some of us own pristine collections, untarnished or rusted. Then others have beat up old tools, barely serviceable. The sad part being we collectors spend as much time looking at the junk as we do at the safe queens.
So we were hiking the show, just havin' fun. We have pretty specific interests, and spent little or no time at military rifle booths, or modern plastic junk. But a good knife booth might have us anchored for a long time. At one set of tables was Jack Crider, a well known knife purveyor and probably a used car and siding salesman for fun. He could sell an eskimo a bag of ice. One of his knives was a Randall 10-3 with the duraluminum handle. Our younger buddy was in love, but couldn't quite swing the multi-hundred dollar price tag. Other buddy just offered up "I've got one of those in the junk drawer at home."
Of course the knife seller and our young friend scoffed and all but called him a liar. His response was "OK, don't believe me."So we finished walking the show and drove the 100 miles home. First buddy says "hey Roger, come to the basement and look at this." I knew what was coming, and had learned long ago not to question the knives he had. It was one of those walk in basements/garages. So in we go, and over to the rollaround tool box. In one fluid motion, he pulls out the bottom drawer and flips it upside down on the floor. It was like shining daylight on a bunch of rats. Stuff scattering every direction. Old greasy bolts, broken sockets, brackets off old motors, a couple of forelorn air tools, and just general junk. All with a grease and slime layer generous enough you could shovel it.
So my buddy picks up a likely stirring stick and starts pushing stuff around. Soon he spies the aluminum piece he was seeking and hauls it out. A little worse for wear, but a dead ringer to the one we'd seen earlier on the gun show table!
My buddies only comment: "Guess I'll have to clean it up and find a new gasket scraper." Then he shoveled all the other **** back in the drawer and put it back in the bottom box.What made it so interesting for me was 2 months ago at the July OGCA show, I bought one with a 9" blade, exactly the same. I paid $300 for it and thought I got a bargain!
We had a vendor at our small, out of the way gun shows. He was kind of a character. I doubt if he took regular baths or showers. It was pretty obvious he didn't bother with washing his clothes. He even wore a top hat, moth holes and all. His guns weren't kept any better.
It was educational for me, because I was so meticulous about putting each revolver in its own gun rug, then carefully packing them into soft sided bags for transport. This old guy used milk crates. They came with handles, and if he filled it with nasty old guns, up to the 2/3rds point, he could still pick them up and stack them. I never saw him pack up, but I imagined him taking an arm and just clearing the table with a single swipe onto the plastic cases. His wares were all nicked and dinged up. He actually had some S&Ws, but they were old rotten victory models, back then overpriced at $125 or so.
Different folks don't all have the same idea's about proper care for their toys. Its why some of us own pristine collections, untarnished or rusted. Then others have beat up old tools, barely serviceable. The sad part being we collectors spend as much time looking at the junk as we do at the safe queens.
Last edited:
