The Tour

Frank W. James, famous gunwriter, blogger, farmer and ham. 

I stopped in to see Farmer Frank today. While he is an irascible stubborn ol' farmer, I can assure you he is a charming host and funny to boot. I was given the tour of the various homesteads and saw all the ground, plus a glimpse of his gun collection and reloading building. I kinda figured we'd get along, because we've had some riotous phone calls in the past.

Got to meet their kitties and the resident Doxy as well. He showed me a gun he was reviewing - and of course I'm not gonna tell ya about it. You'll just have to wait until the article is published.

That is his "truck gun" he's posing with - it is, as he says, a mishmash of parts that aren't worth anything, but it makes for a good self defense gun for the pickup. M1 carbine, aftermarket paratrooper stock, cone flash hider - pretty trim little ventilator.

Of course his Smiths caught my eye - he seems to have plenty. I saw a lever action, and of course it wasn't just any old lever action - it was a Wild West Guns Alaskan Copilot takedown in 30-30 - not the usual 45-70. He told 'em he didn't need to shoot at bears in Indiana - the 30-30 would suit him fine. Sure was a quality piece.

One thing I really, really liked about talking to Frank is that he never talked down to me. Considering how much more extensive his gun knowledge really is, he could do so quite easily. But he explained his thinking on various technical subjects in terms I easily understood and felt I could add to the discussion.

Plus, he got to meet Elmer Keith back in the day. I asked. He'd have never dropped Keith's name if I had not asked about him.

I surely enjoyed our too brief meeting, and it is my fervent hope that there will be another opportunity with more time to perhaps exercise some shootin' irons in the future.