Barry in IN
Member
I just heard last night, from a friend of mine, that one of the neatest gun shops ever, has closed.
I guess it's been a while since the closing, but I don't get there much, so I didn't know.
Stewart's was one of a kind.
You name it, and it was there. It just might be hard to find.
It was ran by an older lady, JoAnne Stewart, who knew guns. I mean really knew guns. If she liked you, she might let you know what she knew. If not, she'd just let you go on wondering.
When I first went there, she looked to be about 50-ish. Thirty years later, she looked to be about 50-ish.
Everybody was "hon" or "honey".
The last shop location was the biggest, but still not very big by today's standards. The floor was covered with wooden long gun racks. And junk. The glass counters were full of handguns. And junk.
And I mean FULL. The handguns were piled in. All with little white tags with some obscure code scrawled on them that only JoAnne knew.
"Junk" was everywhere, with little paths to stumble through. Piles of old books and magazines. Anyone who has been there will never forget the chair made from steer horns.
The walls were another thing. Among the war tropies, trench art, fishing nets, and Native American artifacts, there might be an autographed picture of Ad Topperwein. Or a really odd gun.
The long gun racks held any and everything. There were racks behind the counter, but there could be anything right out on the floor. One visit, I passed by countless Marlin Glenfield 60 .22s and H&R single-shot shotguns to see an engraved, Belgian, underlever 4-barreled Drilling.
I've lost interest in the average stuff in the racks, then found an ArmaLite AR-17 "golden gun" shotgun.
The H&R single-shots might be right alongside a gold-inlayed Superposed. I've seen things there, that I've never seen outside of a "not for sale" display at a show.
The counters were the same. High-Standard Double Nine revolvers, some Ruger single-actions, etc. Not junk, but not exciting either.
Then, there would be a High-Standard Olympic. Or a Ruger Hawkeye. Or a Seecamp. I remember a Liberator once.
All in the same pile.
Myself, and a friend of mine, are High-Standard .22 auto nuts. She would pull a treasure out when either or both of us came. She dragged out that Olympic from the pile under the counter with the other stuff. It was in a paper sack for safe keeping.
She sold guns all the time, yet others were the same guns that were there my first visit in the '70s.
Sometimes, you would try to price a gun, and she would respond "I haven't figured it up yet." Then, get the same answer, on the same gun, three years later.
You could ask if she had any XYZ guns, then she would pull something out of a cubbyhole in a roll-top desk, unroll a sock revealing a pristine example, and proceed with a 30-minute tale, knowing you were dying to get your paws on it. Then, when the hook was set, you would ask the price, and get "Oh, I'm just not ready to sell it."
Then there was the Ithaca 37 Ultra Featherlight 20 gauge that a friend of mine wanted. Twenty year-plus-old gun, which he would be plenty happy with, but "I have the box here, but don't know where, and I'd want you to have it, so I can't sell it to you." That went on for two years that I know of.
In the last shop, her husband was more active in it. He had the war trophies, Civil War relics, etc. I would guess that there were things in there that would astound collectors of such things, if they knew they were even there to be seen.
What things must have been discovered when they moved out.
I guess it's been a while since the closing, but I don't get there much, so I didn't know.
Stewart's was one of a kind.
You name it, and it was there. It just might be hard to find.
It was ran by an older lady, JoAnne Stewart, who knew guns. I mean really knew guns. If she liked you, she might let you know what she knew. If not, she'd just let you go on wondering.
When I first went there, she looked to be about 50-ish. Thirty years later, she looked to be about 50-ish.
Everybody was "hon" or "honey".
The last shop location was the biggest, but still not very big by today's standards. The floor was covered with wooden long gun racks. And junk. The glass counters were full of handguns. And junk.
And I mean FULL. The handguns were piled in. All with little white tags with some obscure code scrawled on them that only JoAnne knew.
"Junk" was everywhere, with little paths to stumble through. Piles of old books and magazines. Anyone who has been there will never forget the chair made from steer horns.
The walls were another thing. Among the war tropies, trench art, fishing nets, and Native American artifacts, there might be an autographed picture of Ad Topperwein. Or a really odd gun.
The long gun racks held any and everything. There were racks behind the counter, but there could be anything right out on the floor. One visit, I passed by countless Marlin Glenfield 60 .22s and H&R single-shot shotguns to see an engraved, Belgian, underlever 4-barreled Drilling.
I've lost interest in the average stuff in the racks, then found an ArmaLite AR-17 "golden gun" shotgun.
The H&R single-shots might be right alongside a gold-inlayed Superposed. I've seen things there, that I've never seen outside of a "not for sale" display at a show.
The counters were the same. High-Standard Double Nine revolvers, some Ruger single-actions, etc. Not junk, but not exciting either.
Then, there would be a High-Standard Olympic. Or a Ruger Hawkeye. Or a Seecamp. I remember a Liberator once.
All in the same pile.
Myself, and a friend of mine, are High-Standard .22 auto nuts. She would pull a treasure out when either or both of us came. She dragged out that Olympic from the pile under the counter with the other stuff. It was in a paper sack for safe keeping.
She sold guns all the time, yet others were the same guns that were there my first visit in the '70s.
Sometimes, you would try to price a gun, and she would respond "I haven't figured it up yet." Then, get the same answer, on the same gun, three years later.
You could ask if she had any XYZ guns, then she would pull something out of a cubbyhole in a roll-top desk, unroll a sock revealing a pristine example, and proceed with a 30-minute tale, knowing you were dying to get your paws on it. Then, when the hook was set, you would ask the price, and get "Oh, I'm just not ready to sell it."
Then there was the Ithaca 37 Ultra Featherlight 20 gauge that a friend of mine wanted. Twenty year-plus-old gun, which he would be plenty happy with, but "I have the box here, but don't know where, and I'd want you to have it, so I can't sell it to you." That went on for two years that I know of.
In the last shop, her husband was more active in it. He had the war trophies, Civil War relics, etc. I would guess that there were things in there that would astound collectors of such things, if they knew they were even there to be seen.
What things must have been discovered when they moved out.
