Inside the Collectors’ Corner in Louisville
With over 800 booths and vendors, the sprawling National Rifle Association Annual Meeting and Exhibits in Louisville two weeks ago had something for everyone– especially collectors.
Tucked away in the “6000s” the collector section at NRAAM took up one almost forgotten corner of the Kentucky Exposition Center but for those who were lucky enough to find it, the assemblage of collectors, auction houses and relic curators had a rare firearm exhibit open to the public rivaling anything you could see in a museum.
How about a prototype Radom VIS, serial number 108, in unfired condition. One of just 134 early guns made, there are only five left in circulation today and won the 2015 Silver Medal at the NRA’s Meeting in Nashville?
Or the only known low serial number Polish Army Radom Model M.31 (SN#45) in existence and a super rare Maroszek rifle Kbsp wz. 1938M (SN#1030). Speaking of NRA Silver Medals, the Maroszek picked up one of its own in 2014 in Indianapolis.
The Smith and Wesson Collectors Association came correct with a table of rare guns owned by former NRA directors and well-known shootists Col. Rex Applegate, Bill Jordan, and Cecil King. King’s .44 Military smoothbore, the only gun known to have been made by S&W in this configuration, has a 6.5-inch barrel with a BATFE C&R approved smoothbore barrel– the attachment on the muzzle is the choke!