Gun show finds.

[marlinman93]

We had our monthly collector gun show on Sunday, and as usual I rarely get away from my tables. But a friend told me I should go look at a guy's Ideal tong tools, as I might be interested in them since he knows I collect them. So off we went to take a look!
I got to the table and saw this giant Ideal #6 tool, which are the largest tool Ideal built, and this particular tool was a very early first variation! I asked the seller what caliber it was and was told it was ".40-65 Win." tool. His price was cheap, and he came off it another $10, so I bought it. Here it is next to another regular Ideal in .32-20WCF:



Not much nickel left, but mechanically it is very good condition, and the mold is perfect! So I got my magnifier out to look at the markings, and patent date, and to my surprise I see ".40-60M & COLT" marked on the tool! I was pleased at it being any caliber, but being an Ideal tool for the .40-60 Marlin and Colt made me over the top excited! Since these Ideal #6 tools in this particular caliber are much rarer than they'd be in the Win. caliber, and my love for things Marlin, I was over the top excited to find out the seller was incorrect on the caliber!

Also picked up a brand new in the box Steve Brooks .45-70 mold for $20! Seller had three of them, but before I could inspect the first and realize what it was, somebody had already grabbed the other two! Didn't even get to see what caliber the others were?

[gamekeeper]

Congratulations, hunting takes many forms…….

[Pitchy]

Very nice, congrats.

[Pete44ru]

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IMO, you did very well, Vall !

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[marlinman93]

Thanks. I have quite a few of the smaller and more common Ideal tools, but I've never had one of the larger #6 sized before. The smaller are about 8" OAL, while the big #6 is about 10.5" OAL.

[Shasta]

Marlinman,

Congratulations on some good finds!

Since you collect old loading tools, have you seen (or do you have) a copy of the excellent paperback book "Early Loading Tools and Bullet Molds" written in 1988 by R.H. Chamberlain?


Shasta

[Sixgun]

Marlinman,
I've been looking for that 40-60 Marlin mould for many moons. That's a NICE one and it belongs with me!

One of the most satisfying aspects of dealing with the old guns/accessories is that you can never complete it all....new and exciting items are always popping up and no matter how old we get, there's always a void that needs to be filled. You have to figure that there was probably only a few thousand Marlins made in that caliber so that leaves even less in moulds for it and how many of those moulds survived the last 100+ years? Good snag!

My 1881 in 40-60 has always been happy with the standard 40-65 NEI mould at 270 grains.----6

[vancelw]

Congratulations, hunting takes many forms…….

+1

Some people don't get that.
I enjoy hunting for a certain gun or tool as much as I do hunting animals.
Some folks gripe about the cost of a gun show admission ticket...but where else can you go and see that many guns? You'd spend $50 to $200 in gas driving to enough gun stores to see all that. And no where near the variety.

[marlinman93]

Marlinman,

Congratulations on some good finds!

Since you collect old loading tools, have you seen (or do you have) a copy of the excellent paperback book "Early Loading Tools and Bullet Molds" written in 1988 by R.H. Chamberlain?


Shasta

Yes, I have Dick's book, plus the updated and larger version that he and Tom Quigley put out later. Also have Gerald Kelvar's book on old loading tools, telescopes, and sights. All great resources, and never far from me! Looked at Rowe's new loading tool book, but it was disappointing for the price, so wont buy it unless I find it dirt cheap later.

[marlinman93]

Marlinman,
I've been looking for that 40-60 Marlin mould for many moons. That's a NICE one and it belongs with me!

One of the most satisfying aspects of dealing with the old guns/accessories is that you can never complete it all....new and exciting items are always popping up and no matter how old we get, there's always a void that needs to be filled. You have to figure that there was probably only a few thousand Marlins made in that caliber so that leaves even less in moulds for it and how many of those moulds survived the last 100+ years? Good snag!

My 1881 in 40-60 has always been happy with the standard 40-65 NEI mould at 270 grains.----6

Since the 1881 came out in .40-60M, but Ideal didn't exist until 1886, and the 1881 was done by 1894; it leaves even less years for the caliber and tool! Any large frame #6 tool is tough to find, and I've found numerous Marlin 1881 tools in the .40-60M caliber, and no Ideal tools prior to this lucky find. I do already have a good 1881 tool in .40-60M, so this makes a 2nd tool. But I try to stick with the Browning designed 1881 tools, or Marlin caliber or Marlin marked Ideal tools. So my tool collecting isn't varied, or a huge collection. I also really like old 1800's custom built tools, and those are often passed over by most collectors because they aren't made by a company. But I always felt that since there weren't many companies building tools then, I'd prefer tools built by gunsmiths or advanced shooters more. Heck, John Barlow made tools before he started Ideal, and those tools would be ignored by those who only collected Ideal tools!

[Griff]

Congrats. All I seem to find are old, rusty, seized up crescent wrenches!

[marlinman93]

Congrats. All I seem to find are old, rusty, seized up crescent wrenches!

If somebody brings those into our collector show, it better say Winchester on it, or they'll be asked to remove it from their table! We try to make sure everything in the show is gun or edged weapons related.

[Griff]

Congrats. All I seem to find are old, rusty, seized up crescent wrenches!

If somebody brings those into our collector show, it better say Winchester on it, or they'll be asked to remove it from their table! We try to make sure everything in the show is gun or edged weapons related.

No, not gun show finds... stuff I found piled up in a corner of the tractor shop... under some equipment the previous owner had, I've never used and finally moved to make some room for stuff I wanted to pile in that corner!