CGCA show

[marlinman93]

Heading out tomorrow morning before daylight to the Colorado Gun Collectors annual May show. The new venue is at Greeley, co. now and is 1000 tables. Four of us traveling together, and everyone is excited as usual, but maybe a little more with the larger venue!
It's a 2 day drive for us, so we'll make Wed. a long drive, so Thu. will be a short trip to get there for 2:00 p.m. opening for setup.

[Griff]

Travel safe. Enjoy.

[Shrapnel]

Headed out 1:00 AM Thursday. 1 Sharps display table and one Winchester trade table, see you there…

[Bill in Oregon]

Vall, I look forward to seeing all the Marlin/Ballard treasures you inevitably bring home!

[Griff]

Headed out 1:00 AM Thursday. 1 Sharps display table and one Winchester trade table, see you there…

travel safe also. Keep a watch out for idiots in big trucks!!

[Shrapnel]

Tough show. Hardly any public interest. I doubt there were more than two people out of ten that were not dealers.

I did pick up a rare sight and good information on the 50-100-450 I just bought. It was well received by the dealers with a lot of interest in its rarity. There was quite a bit of junk there, something you don’t like to see at a collector’s show such as this.

At this point, I don’t know if I will go back next year…

[marlinman93]

We had a great show, and nearly sold out of everything I took along by end of day Friday. I had one Ballard, and some small parts leftover when we headed out Sunday afternoon! The other guys all did well also, both selling and buying. We saw a lot of guys from the CGCA club Friday, and more from the public on Sat. too. Sunday was slow as it always is at any gun show, but we spent the slow time visiting and enjoying the social time.
I got a "bucket list" gun, so I'm very pleased with that purchase. It's of course another Ballard, in a factory engraved #6 Scheutzen, with a heavy 32" George C. Schoyen .32-40 barrel! I'll post some pictures once I recover from the week away from home!
One high point of the show wasn't even at the show! We went to a local steakhouse for dinner, and as we were waiting for dinner to arrive the waiter asked if we'd like a round of drinks. We asked why, and he said a young couple wanted to buy us drinks! When we asked why and who, he pointed at a couple nearby. We walked over to thank them and ask why, and the guy said he heard us talking about the show, and old guns and was having fun "eavesdropping" on our discussion. Turned out he is a deputy, and firearms instructor for the county. We asked them to join us, and we visited for almost an hour. As we left we noticed the restaurant was empty, and asked if we'd detained the staff? The lady told us they closed almost an hour earlier, but she thought we were enjoying ourselves and didn't want to kick us out! Just a great meal, and wonderful people! We left the deputy with an extra vendor's pass so he could attend the show the next day.

[Bill in Oregon]

Great report, Vall. Glad you found another bucket lister. There can’t be too many left on that list are there?

[Griff]

Nice one Vall... and thank you for extending the hospitality to the Deputy.

[marlinman93]

Great report, Vall. Glad you found another bucket lister. There can’t be too many left on that list are there?

It's getting tougher to fill!

[marlinman93]

Nice one Vall... and thank you for extending the hospitality to the Deputy.

He was a great young guy, and very outgoing. He really deserved our thanks for what he does, more than we deserved his kind gesture. He stopped at the show the next day to say hello and thank us for the entry badge.

[GunnyMack]

Good for you Val! Can't wait to see your new Ballard!
When I went to gun shows, gee been 20 years or so since I went to one! Er, I digress- we would get the check if we saw military in the restaurant. A PFC sure isn't making a ton of money!!
I miss those days...

[marlinman93]

Good for you Val! Can't wait to see your new Ballard!
When I went to gun shows, gee been 20 years or so since I went to one! Er, I digress- we would get the check if we saw military in the restaurant. A PFC sure isn't making a ton of money!!
I miss those days...

My wife and I do the same for military or police officers whenever we can. Not often we see either in uniform around here, but we do it when we see them.

[marlinman93]

Some pictures of the George C. Schoyen Ballard #6 I was fortunate to buy at the CGCA show last weekend.









.32-40 heavy 32" barrel, with the Schoyen browned finish. Stocks and receiver are factory original, but the forearm was done by Henry Simmons, Schoyen's stock maker, to fit the Schoyen barrel and match the buttstock.
I'll have to build a palm rest to fit the dovetail base built into the barrel.

[Oldncrusty]

Fantastic! Congrats on another one for the bucket.

[GunnyMack]

That's a winner for sure! Beautiful piece of history. When skilled hands ruled !

[marlinman93]

Thanks!
Dug through my old single shot parts today, and discovered a nice palm rest I think wont take much to rework. It's lighter colored wood, so I'll strip the finish and see if I can stain it dark enough to match once I reduce the shape, and make it fit my hand better.