Tag Archives: NRA 17

Poking through Collector’s Corner in Atlanta

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Tucked away in the “100s” the collector section at NRAAM took up the first aisle of the Georgia World Congress Center exhibition hall and the assemblage of preservationists, auction houses and relic curators had a rare firearm exhibit open to the public rivaling anything you could see in a museum.

I went poking through them.

A Colt Python owned by Elvis that has been in the news lately

The Georgia Collector’s Association was on hand with an extensive collection of antebellum-era master gunsmith/silversmith/militia colonel Wiley G. Higgins, who made firearms in the Indian Springs area of Monroe County (which was the frontier in the early 1800s and capital of the Creek Indian Nation) prior to the Civil War. He was a fan of extensive patch box work on his stocks

How about a correct U.S. Navy Model 1861 Plymouth Rifle with bayonets brought to the show by the Virginia Gun Collectors Association? Just 10,000 of these .69 caliber muzzle loaders were made for the sea service during the Civil War and the OSS later wound up buying 500 from a surplus dealer in World War II to arm local militias in the Pacific islands.

More in my column at Guns.com

Hearing Protection Act ‘alive and well’

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Cutaway of the Maxim Model 15 “silencer” on a 1903 mockup.

Since 1934, the federal government has treated devices designed to muffle or suppress the report of firearms as Title II devices that required registration under the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record and mandated transfers that included a $200 tax stamp. The HPA would repeal this requirement and treat suppressors as firearms – which would allow them to be transferred through regular federal firearms license holders to anyone not prohibited from possessing them after the buyer passes an FBI instant background check.

We spoke with industry insiders about the Hearing Protection Act on the eve of the 146th National Rifle Association Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Atlanta last week, who argued the measure has a fighting chance.

More in my column at Guns.com

A conversation with Mr. Parker

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Larry A Parker, 74, of Belmont, Ohio, has had a career in the firearms industry that has taken a lifetime but has produced treasures that will endure through the ages.

I  bumped into Parker at the 146th National Rifle Association Annual Meetings and Exhibits at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta and asked him about his work, that of a master engraver. The career path, with ties to the old world gunsmithing artisans of yesteryear, is not your typical one.

“I started building rifles in 1958. I actually started working on guns in shop class when I was in high school — I don’t think you can do that today,” he said.

Parker, the son of a carpenter, built 16 muzzle loading rifles, both flintlock, and percussion in his youth, all from scratch using curly maple stocks.

“Back then there wasn’t any kits available. You got you a plank of wood and you carved one out.”

And what he has created since then, with decades of study behind him, is amazing.

More in my column at Guns.com