January 2001 Gun Show

Welcome
to the
Utah Gun Collectors Association
January 2001 Gun Show
"The ORIGINAL Ogden Gun Show"
Click here for date and location of our next picnic and historic arms shooting session

Here are some samples of the educational displays presented by UGCA members.
We hope you enjoy them. Part of the pleasure of gun collecting is learning about the historical, technical, and artistic features associated with firearms. Gun shows provide members, and the general public, a chance to appreciate these aspects.

We recommend you just scroll down the page to see everything.
You can also use the links in this table to find a specific item:

What Showed up	Colt Frontier Scout
.32-40 Rifles	Hunter in the Old South
Amazing .30 Caliber Carbines	Old West Bits, Bridles & spurs
Lugers, Lugers, Lugers	Workers at our show
Evolution of Colt Dragoon	Western Military History Assn.
revolutionary War	South Pacific Souvenirs
Arms of Springfield Armory	Civil War Era Guns
Stevens Single Shot .22s	Hat Creek Cattle Co. (Cowboy Action Shooting)
Gun safes

If you collect guns, we invite you to join UGCA.
Membership benefits include for free admission to all UGCA shows, reduced table rates, and a great newsletter.
Click here for membership information and application

Let's go to the UGCA gun show!
Before we look at the displays, lets see some items that showed up with dealers or the guests.
Three especially neat items attracted a lot of attention.
A very nice Smith & Wesson lever action .31 caliber pistol, one of a small number made in 1853-54 when they were struggling to find a market niche. Their foray into the lever action cartridge gun business ended by 1857 when they acquired the patent rights to a cylinder bored through for a cartridge, and the left the lever gun business to the folks at Winchester. This item was NOT for sale, it was a recent acquisition a collector brought in to show some friends.

One dealer had a fantastic Winchester cartridge board, with an even greater story. This had been in the barn of a ranch in Wyoming for over 100 years. The owner was selling some guns to a dealer and mentioned that he also had this. Unfortunately it is in regrettably wretched condition, but would be a tremendous conversation piece with a collection of rusty relic guns.

There was an intriguing Winchester Model 1892 MUSKET, a blackpowder .44-40 gun. While that model is really rare anyway, this also has markings indicating use in La Paz, Bolivia. Was this one shot at Butch Cassidy?

Lots of people bring old guns or related items to our show for free appraisals or to sell. Maybe you want to do this at the next show.

Now- on to the Great Displays!

A Glimpse of the .32-40 Rifle

Dan M. earned the Best of Show award for this handsome display of fine old rifles from many makers, but all in .32-40 caliber. Most people today have never heard of that one, but from about 1880 to 1910 it was the most popular target shooting cartridge in the U.S. Dan is in the is in the consumer finance business in a small Utah town.

Truly "one of a kind" A WInchester Single Shot Rifle (designed by John M. Browning in Ogden, UT) made in .32-40 caliber but with a smooth bore for firing shot loads in trick shooting exhibitions. The ammunition is very scarce also, and has a hollow wooden bullet to hold the shot.

A Ballard Custom Rifle, rebuilt for modern Schuetzen competition.

Marlin Model 1881 made in 1886 with rare :light weight" barrel.

Marlin Model 1893, made in the first year of production and still in 100% factory new condition. Note the beautiful color case hardening on the receiver.

Remington Hepburn single shot rifle.

Winchester Model 1894 "Takedown" rifle (made to be easily broken into two parts for easier carrying) with scarce 22 inch barrel.

Unusual single shot rifle made by Wurfflein in Philadelphia, PA, as a two barrel set, one in .32-40 and the other for 16 Gauge shotgun shells.

Stevens SIngle Shot Rifle Model 110, made circa 1893-95. Rebuilt in .32-40 caliber by the famous Denver, CO gunsmith George Schoyen.

Even some European makers liked the .32-40 cartridge, as with this German Schuetzen rifle. The thing that looks like a skate or clock key is used to adjust the sights.

Another Winchester single shot with samples of .32-40 ammunition and reloading tools.

"The Hunter in the Old South"
George N. brought out what many people think of as "Kentucky" rifles and pistols. These were used widely throughout the country with different areas or "schools" having distinctive features. Here are some nice rifles and pistols that were used by hunters in the south.

The Amazing U.S. Military .30 Caliber Carbine
An impressive and complete exhibit of variations and accessories for these popular guns. There were more .30 caliber carbines made than any other U.S .military weapon in history.

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M1A1 carbines for paratroop use on the left, and scarce M3 (top) and T3 (bottom) on the right. The telescopes are infrared units that allowed soldiers to see about 135 yards in the dark. A few of the T3 types were used in Okinawa, late in WW2, and the M3 units with a slightly improved scope were used in the Korean War.

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Various types and packaging for Carbine ammunition (left). Top right is a carbine for hunting tanks, equipped with an early M8 Grenade Launcher and two inert rifle grenades. These had a range of about 150 yards. Lower right is a late manufacture carbine with a bayonet lug and bayonet, allowing the carbine to be used as a spear. Some of these were used in the last bayonet charge by U.S. troops (during the Korean War).

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Grenade launcher sight (left). Carbine bayonet variations (left to right) rubber handle with markings on blade; wooden handle; aluminum handle; and plastic handle. The standard leather handle (shown above) rotted easily, resulting in experimentation with the other types before adopting the plastic grips.

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Carbines were shipped in cases of 10. This display included one from each of the eleven companies that made nearly 6 million in less than three years (September 1942 to August 1945).

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Your tax money at work. "Demilitarized" carbines cut into scrap. Nine of the eleven makers are represented here.

Old West Bits, Bridles and spurs

Maybe you saw the "Antiques Roadshow" episode where someone had a horse hair bridle made in a prison. That was neat, but here are FIVE of them! And this UGCA member brought some magnificent spurs and bits to go with them. We always enjoy seeing the neat items this member brings.

South Pacific Souvenirs Member Larry J. continues his presentation of souvenirs brought back by WW2 vets. This time he concentrated on Japanese handguns, including some very scarce examples. The uniform on the left is from a Japanese General. Many collector put out displays as "bait" in hopes of attracting new items for their collection. It worked for Larry! Someone brought him the compass from a Japanese Zero fighter plane.

Native American lithics These are not guns, but still are very interesting historical artifacts of how the Native Americans lived hundreds, or even thousands of years ago. No electricity, indoor plumbing, aspirin, heat, air conditioning, highways or anything convenient like that. If you needed shoes, you made your own. This won the "Visitor's Choice Award".

Arms of Springfield Armory George F. has an impressive display of U.S military arms. That is George in the striped shirt, talking to his photo of John Garand, or maybe someone behind the photo.

A sample of George's impressive display.

Evolution of the Colt Dragoon Jimmy C. brought this crowd-pleaser out, along with his magnificent Colt Frontier Scout .22 revolver display (below).

Evolution of the Colt Dragoon

This eye catching, award-winning display will take you through the early history of samuel Colt and his influence on the development of the modern revolver. Come to the next Utah Gun Collectors Association show and find out more about:

1. How a trip on a sailing ship influenced the development of the revolver?
2. How the Army and a conflict in Florida led to the development of the largest production revolver of the 19th and early 20th century?
3. Hold a copy of the Walker Colt.
4. When was the first time Colt went bankrupt?
5. What influence the Texas Rangers and a problem in Texas had on Colt?

The Colt Frontier Scout, Peacemaker and New Frontier Model revolvers
Another great display by Jmmy C. showing that even guns made in recet years have interesting stories to tell and lots of collector appeal.

Colt Frontier Scout, Peacemaker and New Frontier

The Frontier Scout, Peacemaker and New Frontier is a series of .22 caliber single action revolvers 7/8 the size of the Single Action Army (Colt 45). They were manufactured from 1957 through 1985. The original Frontier Scout was made in a light weight model with a “Q” or “F” serial number. Heavy framed models were issued in nickel plate “K” series and blue with plastic “stag” grips in the “P” series and marked as the “’62” model.

The Peacemaker and New Frontier with adjustable sights were steel framed and case hardened. The later versions had a safety block installed. In 1985 a few New Frontier’s were made in very poor blue finish.

Come to the next Utah Gun Collector Association show and see one of the largest award-winning displays of these Colt revolvers in the west.

Learn:
1. Why the muzzles of some guns are flat and others crowned.
2. What the “safety block” is and why was it installed.
3. Why the serial number prefix on the Frontier Scouts was changed from “Q” to “F”.
4. Why an “L” was substituted for a “G” on some of the Peacemaker/New Frontier guns, and why was it changed back to a “G”.
5. About the “ugly” guns and why were they made.
6. How can you know if your gun was issued with one or two cylinders.
7. When your Frontier Scout Peacemaker/New Frontier was manufactured.

Just a Gun
Not just any gun, but mainly Civil War era guns. A very nice collection.

Three Organizations Representing various interests in the shooting sports:

Utah Gun Collector's cheerful staff ready to check in members and guests. Thank you for helping!


The National Rifle Association now has over 4 million members!. Chuck seems to be signing up members 4,000,001 and 4,000,002. WHile the NRA emphasizes firearms rights, most members are adamant that ALL our rights be preserved and protected	The National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association emphasizes black powder firearms, many of them are custom built or made by hobbyists.

The Hat Creek Cattle Co. has YOU on their "Wanted" Poster! These guys and gals are looking for a few more shooters to join them enjoying Cowboy Action Shooting at the Box Elder WIldlife Federation Range on Sundays. They brought along a few of their guns to show that they are using the same sort of stuff that collectors like to lock up in a safe, or at least modern copies of the old timers. They also brought along a dead buffalo they had shot. It looked pretty tough to me, but you don't need a special hunting license for these and you can shoot as many as you can hit!
Contact Mike at micatjohnson@uswest.net for more information on this outfit.

Springfield Basics- Jeff D. showed nice examples of the basic types of actions used on Springfield Armory military arms. A lot of collectors start out with the goal of assembling a basic collection like this, but then decide they want to add a few more variations and then the addiction gets serious and they end up with dozens of guns, all different.

Stevens Single Shot Guns
A very nice selection of rifles and pistols popular circa 1890-1930.

safes for sale
safes are an excellent method to protect your guns from theft, misuse, or even damage during an earthquake. However, good ones are not cheap. UGCA supports legislation to grant a tax credit for anyone buying a "residential security container" to safeguard valuable and reduce unauthorized access. (Not just guns, but your coin or beanie baby collection, family photographs and silverware, prescription medication, etc.). Most of the residential safes sold in the U.S. are made right here in Utah mainly in Utah County.

Western Military History Association
Once again our friends from the Western Military History Association had some interesting items. This time they brought some survival gear used by downed aviators in WW2, along with historic uniforms from Utah veterans.

Everything you need for your next fishing trip? How about for a few days or weeks in the middle of the shark infested ocean?

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The sleeve on the right is from the uniform of Captain Bennion, a Utah native, who was killed at Pearl Harbor while in command of the battleship USS West Virginia.

The American revolution- A Fight for Liberty
Dave G. showed examples of the arms, uniforms and camp equipment used by Americans when they risked their "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" to win us the freedom that we enjoy today. Dave is a plumber and donates a lot of his time working with schools on living history presentations.

A very appropriate question! What will you do to keep from losing the freedom we now have?

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SEE YOU AT THE NEXT UGCA SHOW!

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