Wyoming Jade and Brownings

[444 Magnum]

My father passed away in January and my brother in October.

My brother left me his gun collection which included these three Belgian Brownings- one each in .30-06 (the BAR II), .7mm Rem MAG, and .300 Win Mag.

I previously posted many of the guns from my father's collection. An interesting item he had was this 14# hunk of Wyoming Jade. It has a cut side and the rest is in the rough.

We lived in Casper when I was a wee lad. My first memories are camping and site seeing in Wyoming. My father brought this jade home with him from a hunting trip during this time.

I was watching an auction and ran across a Browning knife advertised with Wyoming jade scales. It was part of a special run of knives all with jade scales. To make a long story a little shorter, I bought it and am very pleased with the results. It's polished and the stone isn't so the match isn't perfect, but I think it reflects on the collection well.

 

[444 Magnum]

When I opened the package from the auction house, I got a great surprise. The knife came complete with the original packing box from Browning to the retailer. This wasn't in the description and is certainly a bonus.

 

[Golddollar]

This thread intrigued me because until I found a piece of jade jewelry from British Columbia on a trip in Canada I always thought jade came from China or Japan. What a fabulous piece of jade that is. If I had it I would preserve that piece just like it is.

 

[444 Magnum]

Apparently, Wyoming has some of the best jade in the world. This stone that I have is a mediocre sample of nephrite jade. There are other examples that have much more clarity and gem quality.

My wife and I have a small rock/stone collection that we just sort of 'fell into'. Some were her grandfathers and others I found. The jade will go well with it.

I collect knives and edged weapons in addition to firearms. This knife with the jade scales just spoke to me so I grabbed it.

 

[Golddollar]

Apparently, Wyoming has some of the best jade in the world. This stone that I have is a mediocre sample of nephrite jade. There are other examples that have much more clarity and gem quality.

My wife and I have a small rock/stone collection that we just sort of 'fell into'. Some were her grandfathers and others I found. The jade will go well with it.

I collect knives and edged weapons in addition to firearms. This knife with the jade scales just spoke to me so I grabbed it.

Yeah, I've had guns say, "Take me home" to me.

 

[Marshal Tom]

My brother left me a very large, both commercial and custom knife collection when he passed a few years ago.I have been selling off the extensive collection for a couple of years. One of those Brownings was in the collection.I didn't care for the weight of it but it was a nice looking knife for sure.