I was in Louisville Ky. this past weekend with some of the Turnbull Restoration crew for the National Gun Day. Show promoter Ron Dickson kicked off the show by yelling “its Gun Show time” and people get a real kick out of that. Show attendance was quite good (there was no snow there – unlike the blizzard in Harrisburg a few weeks ago).

People seemed to be spending some money which is encouraging. Many dealers I spoke with throughout the show shared this same perception. I sold a couple of old Colt SAA revolvers to engravers for upgrading, as well as a Colt 1911.

We also sold a few of our Turnbull Manufactured 1886 Rifles as well. There was a lot of interest in the lever action rifles and people were talking about using them for hunting hogs and deer. Many folks were interested in how well they worked in Africa on the big animals too.

Several people wondered who was loading the ammo for the lever action rifles, so I told them about our partnership with ammunition manufacturer COR®BON to produce the .475 Turnbull cartridge, now that the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) has certified the rifle cartridge for mass production. We also carry all the brass, bullets and reloading dies if you want to do your own.

While roaming the show, I stopped by to see Mike Methie from Maine who had his Winchester rifles and some really highly-conditioned lever actions on his table. I saw an unusual fishing reel that was made by the Fox Shotgun manufacturing company. Very unusual! And Walter Earl of Antique Gallery had a couple of skulls from ancient mastodons with the tusks on them. Very cool looking!

As always, it was great to get out and see old friends, and to meet new faces along with generating interest in our restoration services. Hope to see you at one of the many shows we’ll be at this spring.

Doug