Loitering around Chattanooga

[butlersrangers]

A couple of weeks ago, we attended an organized/guided trip around Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Lots to do. Lots to see.

Too many 'Safe Queens' in the Claude Fuller Arms Collection, which is housed in the Orientation Center at the Chickamauga Battlefield, over the border in Georgia.
Some of this modern stuff should have come home with me!

[polska]

That's why, enjoy what you have and shoot what you got. The day is coming fast where the only place we will see firearms is behind glass.

[King carp]

That rod bayonet 03 and Krag school rifle are nice looking. I guess most of those are behind glass and not out in the wild.

[P0H0]

Those all look incredible!

I wonder how all the stocks were stained — did they polish them some? Maybe it’s just the wax?

[FredC]

Having a few "Safe Queens" around seems to me a good thing. We get to know what these Krags looked like in fit and finish when they left SA.
I wish I knew the answer to POHO's question as to whether the Krags displayed were original finish or spiffed up for the display.

Every gun in the display seems to have a couple of "seals" on the stock. Are those sticky adhesive applied or riveted on?

[waterman]

The markers look rather uniform. My bet is that they are held on with some sort of tack. Does that make them tacky?

Behind glass, but they still might gather dust. Nice display, but the curators or those who tend the displays probably would not know one from another. Markers are probably the only way they can tell one from another. The Fuller collection itself must be pushing 100 years old. How long has it been there?

[Culpeper]

It is great to see the Win-Lee and a Bolo Bayonet on the Krag but I hope the markers are only attached with a non-permanent adhesive especially on the bayonet.

[butlersrangers]

Claud E. Fuller passed away in 1957. The museum display at Chickamauga was opened in 1954.
Fuller began collecting arms during his Kansas childhood in the late 1880's.
By 1923, he and his wife had assembled a collection of over 2,000 arms.
Through books, articles and displays, they shared their knowledge and collection with the public.
The Fullers collected at a time when pristine and very rare U.S. martial arms could be acquired (and for reasonable money).

This is an 'old' collection that has been well taken care of.
It is in a very good geographic location, for much of the U.S. population.
It is easily accessible via I-75 and located on the Chickamauga Battlefield.

The brass i.d. plates are 'tacked' onto the gunstocks. This was state of the art, when the collection and display was assembled.
The museum's display area is climate controlled. The arms undoubtedly have a coat of wax, that protects wood and metal.

www.nps.gov/chch/learn/historyculture/f ... ection.htm

[P0H0]

Here is a Krag at the Smithsonian Institution for comparison:

https://www.si.edu/object/nmah_416814

[butlersrangers]

I don't believe many of the firearms, possessed and controlled by the Smithsonian, are on "view".

I would imagine the items under the jurisdiction of the Smithsonian are very well protected and preserved,
but, telling a meaningful story involving or about firearms does not seem to be a priority.
The Smithsonian has some very interesting firearms related "stuff".

In my opinion, it has been securely stored, out of view, with little context and very limited access.