Brown & Sharp Scale

[Pressman]

I met Santa yesterday, and yes he is real.

I had been trying to talk myself out of going to a gunshow in St. Paul. After much back and forth I decided I needed a day out. When I got there I found out it was $10 just to park and no alternative within a mile. My big truck just barely fit in the ramp.

Once inside I walked the rows of tables finding nothing till I got to the last table. There was the most beautiful K-31 rifle I had ever seen. It's was still there when I left. But, there was this little scale, the Brown & Sharp in near perfect condition with all it's weights.

I have been wondering if I were ever going to find one, now after 20 years of searching there it was. It completes the trifecta of scales in the collection offered in the Modern Bond catalogs from 1921 till sometime into the 1930's. More research is needed as the M-B catalogs are notoriously difficult to accurately date.

[big bore 99]

Will outlast a 100 electronic things.

[Green Frog]

Ken, I read your post too fast the first time and thought you said the scale was still there when you left! I was going to melt down! Looking at the pictures, it looks like you not only got a neat scale, but one in absolutely gorgeous condition as well. Congratulations!

BTW, I think of B&S more in terms of precision linear measure like micrometers, steel rules, etc. Their reputation for quality and accuracy in the machining industry is outstanding, so I'm sure the scale (or "balance" as we call it in the lab trade) is just as excellent as all their other tools. Just as a FYI, in the machine tool trade, the term "scale" is frequently applied to a ruler, kinda like sailors call a rope a "line" and a sail a "sheet." Our language sure gets strange at times!

Froggie

[Bent Ramrod]

Congratulations, Ken, on a pristine find of a rare item. Even Modern-Bond moulds are getting uncommon any more; the loading tools are rarer still and the ancillary stuff like powder measures and scales are almost unheard of.

Some people diss Gun Shows, apparently because they think they are supposed to find everything they want there, for cheep, like a fully-stocked discount department store. If you're looking for antique artifacts, it's more like panning for gold; mostly you come up dry, and then, in the least promising place, you'll find a nugget.

All it takes is that one item to make a Show a memorable one. Keeps me going to them, anyway. If others don't like them, it just means more and better opportunities por moi.

[LUBEDUDE]

Congrats on an exceptional find Ken, and thanks for sharing! Ramrod said it all.