Armed with a 1933 Bannerman's catalog, I ventured into gun collecting with an enthusiasm that has never waned. I started with a pair of converted to percussion English duelers given to me by my Dad and a Burnside carbine I bought from him for $3.00. This was my first experience in collecting economics. After the deal was consummated, Dad burst out laughing because he had purchased the Burnside at a surplus sale for $1.50, thus receiving a 100% profit. I never forgot this.

In those early days collectors had little to work with. Few books on old guns were available and Bannerman's was the bible. In 1934 I became a member of the National Rifle Association and received the advantages of The American Rifleman with its advertisements and an occasional article on collector guns. Dealers in antique arms were few and most old guns were found in sporting goods stores and antique shops.

Nobody seemed to pay much attention to selective collecting - you bought and collected what ever titillated your fancy. Early Colts were desirable and the 1860 Army model could be had for about $6.00. We looked for either the "three screw" or "four screw" variations. That's all we knew. 1851 Navys cost less, but a representative Colt Dragoon was considerably more dear, bringing $25.00 to $50.00. Most of us thought condition was unimportant - a Colt was a Colt. Kentucky rifles could be had for $15.00 to $25.00 and few people began to recognize their art and individual rarity until Dillin's book, The Kentucky Rifle, was published.

So my "collection" grew with a well-worn American Eagle Luger at $9.00, a Bannerman Belgian flintlock pistol at $6.95 and a nice Kentucky rifle at $25.00. For the budding collector who didn't have much money - and no one had much money in the 30s - plain powder horns and bayonets were available at 75 cents and a used single shot .22 rifle could be had for a dollar. I know. I bought them.

This is not to say fine and rare guns were not obtainable; they were, but few collectors in those days could afford them.

As we moved into the heady 1940s some fine early collections came on the market and a mint cased Paterson Colt could be had for $600.00, but this was usually way beyond the ordinary collector's pocketbook. An old collector friend, and a dealer too, suggested that I concentrate my collecting on one phase of arms and to search for those specimens in as near mint condition as I could find them. Sage advice and I took it to heart, choosing Colt pistols as my field. I took his advice so to heart that I wrote an early article for Gun Digest on the subject, emphasizing that one fine gun of any type was worth a dozen in poor to mediocre condition. And this wasn't bad advice either, for it proved to be the criteria for the entire antiques field - and for a VALUABLE antique or gun, it is still true today.

From about 1946, when I returned from Army service in World War II, until 1960, I concentrated on Colts and assembled a world-class collection, numbering among others, 14 Paterson models, 5 Walkers, 3 "Buntlines" and a Peacemaker number one. (I wish I had them today!)

Good gun collecting books began to come on the market and collectors formed organizations where we could meet, buy, sell and handle guns. Knowledge spread. As it did, good guns disappeared from antique shops and dealers established themselves as a full-time operation to the benefit of the collecting fraternity. Of course, there were a few bad apples, as there apparently always will be, but on the whole, antique gun dealers contributed in counseling new collectors and providing a source of supply. Few guns were sold at auction in those days and some dealer catalogs represented very worthwhile information as well as current prices.

Collectors owe a lot to the ethical dealer, and I hope they never forget it. I said this about dealers in a 1956 speech to the members of the National Rifle Association in Washington, and I also predicted then the emergence and strong trend towards collecting Americana, which later came to pass.

Within some few years of this period, I became increasingly interested in history as it concerned guns, and with the famous individuals who used them. I wrote two books on the Custer Battle guns and assembled a large collection of books and manuscripts on the subject as a result of my research.

In 1960, my Colt collection contained a number of important historical personages, among them Custer, Sherman, Secretary of War Floyd, Lord Cardigan, Generals Rosecrans, Porter and Sigel, Benito Juarez, Van Syckel, Said Pacha and lesser notables. This interest in historical association continues even though I traded-off my Colts twenty-five years ago.

Next, I went into a different field, which consisted of Kentucky pistols and rifles and also pistols, muskets and swords of the Revolutionary War period. As we entered the 70s and 80s, the antique gun field (as did most all phases of Americana including paintings and furniture) became a battleground of people intent on attempting to make money, with little interest in collecting. This invasion forced prices to astronomical proportions and froze many serious collectors out of their chosen field. Collectors who had suffered, as well as new ones, began to search for something they could afford. They necessarily chose guns that the big money operators were not currently interested in. Bear in mind that this big money was concentrating on rare types and condition to them was of paramount importance - the same advice I gave so many years ago in my Gun Digest article.

Here's another thought on just one subject for you to think about. We have already talked about historical association. Collectors of Colt single action Army models have followed this plan of collecting, searching for mint examples of each variation in a revolver that was manufactured by the thousands from 1873 to the 1980s. Prices have been driven up to astronomical highs that have no bearing in common sense when the number manufactured is taken into consideration. And once prices hit these highs, the faker is drawn into the picture. Plain guns have been engraved. Fake letters of authenticity, claiming to come from the Colt Company, have been produced. And what of history? Factory records indicated the serial numbers of some guns sold to famous Westerners and desperadoes, so collectors search for them as well as the Colts that were used by cavalry regiments in the West and in the Custer Battle of 1876.

Fair enough, but remember that these guns were USED - particularly those captured by the hostile Indians. Condition, the criteria of the big money boys, now goes out the window. And who wants to collect an example that spent its life in a bureau drawer, or in an ordnance depot and was never issued? Not a true historian. The more used, probably the more history, whether carried by a cavalryman, a cowboy or a desperado. Many parts were field replaced, finishes were altered or worn off - grips were changed, barrels shot out or cut off, sights replaced.

To me, these worn guns breathe history. Some change for the chap who once collected only condition! And it is reasonable to believe that "Billy the Kid," like Custer, owned dozens of guns and who knows what the serial number was or where they got them? Your worn old single action that the "condition" boys wouldn't look at not only doesn't cost big bucks, but may well have thrown lead in a desperate situation that would make your hair stand on end. Or maybe a deputy owned your gun and brought his quarry in to justice and the rope - or as the old cow poke said when the trap was sprung: "poor old Joe, he was jerked to Jesus." What can be said of the Colt single action revolver can be said of guns of most any war, right up to and including World War II. So what are you waiting for? And speaking of condition, I dearly love those old "dug" relics and have some in my collection. Rusted so solid they are inoperable and many are found partially loaded. What stories they could tell - a few shots fired before their assailant dropped them in their tracks. Think about it. That's great history!

So what is the better approach? If you like mechanical variations, imaginative design and (if a rarity) great value, then by all means go for condition and the "bureau drawer" gun. On the other hand, if you appreciate history and understand that the gun had to be used to make history, then you still have a wide collecting field covering many generations and at a pretty reasonable cost. And despite the lower cost, appreciation of value is still in the cards, for one day collectors may suddenly realize what they have been missing.

Makes sense, doesn't it?

So maybe in 55 years of gun collecting, I've come full circle, and I'm back, pretty much where I started. And in retrospect, what's wrong with that?