Having recently read the Biography of Robert Ruark, and reading of the discovery of some historic firearms among these forum, I got to thinking about what happened to Robert Ruarks guns.

In the Biography it indicated that a number of items dissapeared from his home after he died but guns with this kind of history surely do not "drop off the face of the earth".

I am aware of the Bell/Ruark/Selby .275 Rigby but what of the others ?.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book on Hemingway's guns and note that Julias have his Westley Richards .476 (?) for sale but have never read much about what happened to Ruark's guns.

quote:

Originally posted by twobobbwana:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book on Hemingway's guns and note that Julias have his Westley Richards .476 (?) for sale....

Is that the one he said that pulling the trigger felt like the last turn of the key on a can of sardines?

After reading Ruark Remembered by Alan Ritchie, I got the idea that a whole lot of things disappeared from the house in Spain after his death. As I recall Ritchie talked about trophies, watches, but I don't recall the guns being mentioned. I bet those were the first to go.

PSmith,
It was Ruark Remembered by Alan Ritchie that refer to.
He attempts a list of the Guns of Robert Ruark but he mentions that it would be difficult to put together a definitive list as Ruark bought guns on a whim and often gifted them as easily.

But being portable "attractive" articles with a history I'd say the guns "walked" pretty quickly. As you said Ritchie didn't mention their "exit" though he may not of been aware of it.

When I locate my copy of Alan Ritchie's great book I'll list the firearms here just in case it prompts a few memories or someone can add to it.

Wooly ESS,

I can't recall offhand the comment's origin though, if I can locate my copy of Green Hill's of Africa (??), I'd say I could verify it.

In Alan Ritchie's biography of Ruark "Ruark remembered - By the Man who Knew him best", page 205 it states:

"It was difficult to know exactly how many guns Bob possessed at any one time, since he was always giving them away or lending them to white hunters or friends. However, on one count in 1962 he had an impressive collection that was listed for his Playboy gun piece called "The Gentleman's Hunting Arsenal". At that time Bob had in his gun rack a .30-06 Remington, Bell's old .275 Mauser-action Rigby,the .244 Holland and Holland Magnum, a Jeffery double, a 20 guage Lewis shotgun, a 12-guage Webley & Scott double, the ancient Ithaca 12, a .416 Rigby, a .375 Winchester Magnum, a .243 Winchester Magnum, and a Czech Brno .22 long rifle. Then at the time there was a brace of Spanish doubles given to a Texas friend, a matched pair of English 12s in Spain, a Marlin .30-30 left in Japan, another .375 lent to a friend on safari, a .318 in the hands of the Kenya police, and a .330 magnum in a gun shop for rebluing.

It would seem very peculiar to me that anyone selling one of Ruark's rifles would not publicise it to obtain the maximum return.

Guns held by police sometimes "surface" especially if they've got a good resale value to to a famous owner.

The Texan with the pair of 12 guages. A white hunter with a Ruark gun. Guns loaned to friends. Even if people did not to part with them, as they were a gift from their great mate Ruark, they would have been proud to show them off to good friends.

How can these dissapear???

I take it that the Jeffery double would have been the Bell gun. That the .318 and .330 would have been Rigbys or Jefferys.

"he could not resist visiting his friends at Westley Richards in London's west end and ordering yet another custom-built shotgun or rifle."........." perhaps WR has records of his gun purchases.......and their subsequent rework.

I can't believe that these guns remain hidden shrouded in secrecy unavailable to us gun junkies.

The sardine can key comment was in regard to a rented 470 from his first safari, not the 577 WR.

As far as Ruarks guns being sold, I think if we put ourselves in those days, Bob was a bit of a non-entity. He had lost contracts, his readership was very small, and he was kind of just riding out his life, as young as it was. Also, I think the notion of buying “celebrity” guns is a recent thing. People werent scouring the internet or auction houses to buy up stuff from old outdoor writers. Even Hemingway’s guns were sold in no great fashion after he died. In short, I don’t think Bob was all that famous when he died - his meteor had risen and was well into fizzle by the time he died.

I do know exactly where the 12 Webley Scott went, and about 90% the 318 WR. Not at liberty to say though. Actually, I know who owns the Jeffery double too. Both are stateside.

Nice old post!

BaxterB,

Ruark was still a best selling author in books and magazine articles. Very well circulated for his time.

Some of these guns must have survived. If they disappeared out of the house after his death I doubt if whoever passed them on/sold them would have missed the opportunity to advertise their providence...….unless of course they weren't supposed to have them.

It is understandable that the owner of the Ruark guns that you know of would want their privacy...……..but would it be possible to get pictures so that we can see them ???

BaxterB,

Was the Jeffrey double the Bell double ???

Yes, the 450/400 was Bells. The rifle is pictured here: https://www.americanrifleman.o...aheri-safari-part-i/

And here: https://www.americanrifleman.o...aheri-safari-part-2/

The owner is stated.

As to Ruarks estate... a pair of his 100 lb tusks ( I believe they were from the elephant in the story, the one at Ilaut), sold for 25K. They didn’t even meet the estimate of 30k to 50K.

Ruark was popular in the mid50s really. At the end of the 50s and early 60s, he produced very little that was remarkable. Consider this, Something of Value was 1955, after that, the only new books were Poor no More in 59 and Uhuru in 62. Poor No More is just ponderous and Uhuru, while decent, lacks the feshness of SOV. The old man books were 57 and 61,but these were collections of previous material. His last book, The Honey Badger was (in my opinion) his attempt to lightly veil himself in his character and create the end to his life he really wanted. One chApter is a previous magazine article literally copied and pasted. It is not a great book, but is interesting to read if only to peek into his psyche. I’ve spent about 60+ hours poring over his papers at UNC, and read hundreds upon hundreds of his letters. Toward the end he was falling apart mentally and physically. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. I used to live near his grandfathers house in Southport, NC. Researching him has been a hell of a lot of fun, and has helped introduce me to some mighty fine people.

quote:

Originally posted by BaxterB:
Yes, the 450/400 was Bells. The rifle is pictured here: https://www.americanrifleman.o...aheri-safari-part-i/

And here: https://www.americanrifleman.o...aheri-safari-part-2/

The owner is stated.

As to Ruarks estate... a pair of his 100 lb tusks ( I believe they were from the elephant in the story, the one at Ilaut), sold for 25K. They didn’t even meet the estimate of 30k to 50K.

Ruark was popular in the mid50s really. At the end of the 50s and early 60s, he produced very little that was remarkable. Consider this, Something of Value was 1955, after that, the only new books were Poor no More in 59 and Uhuru in 62. Poor No More is just ponderous and Uhuru, while decent, lacks the feshness of SOV. The old man books were 57 and 61,but these were collections of previous material. His last book, The Honey Badger was (in my opinion) his attempt to lightly veil himself in his character and create the end to his life he really wanted. One chApter is a previous magazine article literally copied and pasted. It is not a great book, but is interesting to read if only to peek into his psyche. I’ve spent about 60+ hours poring over his papers at UNC, and read hundreds upon hundreds of his letters. Toward the end he was falling apart mentally and physically. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. I used to live near his grandfathers house in Southport, NC. Researching him has been a hell of a lot of fun, and has helped introduce me to some mighty fine people.

Always enjoy your perspective and synopsis of Ruark's work.

The last time I read those two articles, I think they were posted by you. It was time to enjoy them again. Thanks.

Both the Selby's Bell guns were later sold by Mark Selby .