A Circuitous Journey

U.S. Military Krags
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Dick Hosmer
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Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2005 4:11 pm

A Circuitous Journey

Post by Dick Hosmer »

Around 1971, I was at a local Northern CA gun show. Walking down the aisle comes a guy dangling what appears to a Krag barreled action with bolt draped over his finger, and a little bag of parts. Everything was there except the wood - I mean every screw. Had to be a cut-off, right? Nooo - it was a very nice, and completely correct, “1895” carbine. He wanted $90. He got it. Back in those days I had a few spare stocks, so, by that night, 26429 was whole again.

Fast forward 40 years of being in my personal collection.

A good friend of mine - who had not been too discerning in his acquisitions over the years, wanted “one nice Krag carbine and one nice trapdoor carbine” to replace his cut-offs. Since by then, I’d acquired 24893, the other was a duplicate. I sold him the two guns, for a fair, but stiff price, each with a “first-refusal” buy-back agreement.

Sadly, last year my friend passed away. Not wishing to be pushy and having been told that “nothing would be done in a rush”, I let a decent interval pass, then asked about the guns. His son professed no knowledge of the agreement, and told me that the guns were “all gone”. “Some guy came down from Idaho with a couple of trailers and took everything”. Guessing (correctly it turned out) that “some guy” pretty well had to be a man I knew, so, I called him. “Gee, I’m sorry, Dick, those are all gone, and I just lost my business partner so everything is messed up.”

Well - that’s it, I thought.

Then, and just a few months ago, the Idaho dealer (Glenn Mattox - nice guy, he will be missed) passed away. ALL possible hope of information, or a trail, now really gone.

Fast forward to yesterday. I set up at a (different, I'd moved 100 miles) local Northern CA show - which, though nearby, I seldom attend, and where I had never had a table, but, we wanted to dispose of those of my step-son’s guns in which we had no interest. After setting up, I finally went for my first walk around. Soon I see a Krag carbine on display with a pretty high price very prominently posted. This naturally attracted my attention, as this is NOT a “collector” show (black rifles, duck hunters, and female gee-gaws).

I don’t have to tell you it was 26429, do I?

Turns out that the seller also knew Glenn, and had bought the carbine from him at some point last year, out of state. WHAT are the odds that it would show up in the ONLY place where I was possibly the only person to truly appreciate it, at exactly the ONLY time I would be in THAT place? AND, the seller said he was soon to be leaving for a large military collector show next weekend - where it would NOT have gone basically un-noticed.

Yes, I bought it. Took ALL my laboriously-saved gun kitty, but, it is as good as money in the bank, AND it was two days after my birthday!

Whig
Posts: 1992
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:53 am

Re: A Circuitous Journey

Post by Whig »

Kismet! What a story. It belongs, again, to you. Very inspiring, Thanksgiving tale. The main thing I focused on, though, was that in 1971 I was in third grade! Thanks for the story!

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King carp
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Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:43 am

Re: A Circuitous Journey

Post by King carp »

Nice score! Its good to know good karma works. Just looking at it probably is like hitting the lottery.

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rickhill
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Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2015 9:34 pm

Re: A Circuitous Journey

Post by rickhill »

Love these collector stories! Did you notice the very nice Model 1899 Krag carbine (Lot #289) that just sold at Amoskeag Auction Co.? I wanted it to upgrade the average one I have in my collection so threw an internet bid of $1,600 against an estimate of $1,200 - $1,800. Hammered for an incredible $5,000 without the juice!
Military Arms Collector

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butlersrangers
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Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: A Circuitous Journey

Post by butlersrangers »

Fun stories. Happy belated birthday, Dick!

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