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I'll add that I've seen pix of some of Xausa's collection.
All collections have a genre if you will, and Xausa's is a snapshot in time of the guns I remember being talked about and admired when I was young and getting into the game. Alas, for finance reasons I've never been able to build such a fine collection, but as he says, there are such things as "vicarious pleasures" and for me that is knowing such guns are kept, admired and used by those who can share them with others in both picture and word. The style and engineering ideas they possess are so helpful to those who may want to "roll their own" in the future, and copy the classic lines of many of those great guns.
I for one have greatly appreciated Xausa's posts, shared expertise and creativity, photos of "back in the day" and to be frank, more than everything else, his service to our country in a day when it was not popular to do so.
As we live in a time yet again when cowards seek to rule, let us never forget the lives of men like Xausa.
Thank God for men like Xausa and thanks Xausa!
Back 40 years ago, Xausa owned one of the finest gunshops in the USA. He can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe he bought a large quantity of African and Indian guns and rifles in London, and moved everything to Tennessee. What a haul that was: Alexander Henry, James Purdey, H&H, Westley Richards, Churchill, Lancaster, Wilkinson, Jeffery were just a few of the famous makers represented.
His partner in the venture, Harry Creighton, was one of the finest men I have ever known, as well as being a top-notch metal smith. Their shop was a gathering place for all the riff-raff of sporting persuasion in the Nashville area, and indeed, most of Middle Tennessee! Did I mention it was an enjoyable place?
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Re: Vicarious pleasures