A friend of mine recently passed and his son invited me to the vault that contains the most complete collection of US military handguns in existence. Some of you may have seen it at the NRA museum where it was on display for a couple of years. These photos are not of the complete collection, just stuff that I found interesting.

The one photo that I missed was of a particular Simeon & North pistol that was the only one in the world known to exist.

The amount of work required just to keep everything waxed and dusted is phenomenal. My friend used to spend 6 hours every Sunday caring for these. His son can't maintain that, so he is going to sell them at a variety of auctions over the next few years. He can't sell it as a collection since very few people/organizations could afford to buy them as a group and selling them all at one time would flood the market and lower their value.

I would not have believed it possible for one man to have assembled such a comprehensive collection of rare firearms and related items in one lifetime.

What a shame they can’t be kept together.

Thanks for posting this. It’s simply amazing.

If upkeep and cleaning is the only reason, Seems like investing in some glass front cabinets would alleviate the need to sell them.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
I would not have believed it possible for one man to have assembled such a comprehensive collection of rare firearms and related items in one lifetime.

What a shame they can’t be kept together.

Thanks for posting this. It’s simply amazing.

Mike, He also has over 60 pre-1900 US Military rifles also.

My friend's son just made a deal with the Cody firearms museum in Cody, Wyoming to allow them to be displayed on a two-year loan.

Nice that it will be in a museum and available for public viewing if only for a little while.

An amazing and once in a lifetime collection. Obviously there is a lot of value in the collection but the son and maybe other family members have not had access to this value in their lives until now and may live comfortable lives in their own right.

What a grand gesture and honour to their father if the collection were permanently donated to a suitable military museum or institution where the collection could remain intact and available to the public and scholars in perpetuity.

A crying shame for all your friends work to be dispersed around the globe.

Digger (that was his nickname) was 84 years old when he passed and I talked with him about the subject of donating the collection. His philosophy was that it would be better to sell the collection off in pieces to promote collecting and to get as many people as possible interested in it.

I'm not saying that it is right or wrong but that was his view on it.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
Digger (that was his nickname) was 84 years old when he passed and I talked with him about the subject of donating the collection. His philosophy was that it would be better to sell the collection off in pieces to promote collecting and to get as many people as possible interested in it.

I'm not saying that it is right or wrong but that was his view on it.

Fair enough, at least it's Digger's wish being fulfilled.