In the late'50s I became acquainted with Bob Tingle who had a small gun shop in Shelbyville, Indiana specializing in charcoal burners of his own design and hand craftsmanship. I got one of Bob's great .44 single-shot pistols. A huge brass framed hand cannon that was a great shooter. I also got one of his Walnut buttstocks for it with matching serial number. I believe that outfit was numbered 25.
Over the ensuing decades I collected and sold hundreds of guns both here and in Canada. In all those years I never saw another Tingle made gun.
A year or so ago Dan Shideler wrote an article about Tingle and his guns in The Gun List (now Gun Digest the Magazine). That started me on a quest to find more Tingles.
Here's a photo of one I found at an online auction recently. It's the same type of pistol I had decades before, but serial number 51.
I would like to hear from anyone with experience in handling any of Bob's guns. I've seen pics of a couple of his massive rifles and they went for equally BIG prices. Bob died in a snowstorm decades ago so there will be no more.
Anyone here familiar with his guns? I'd like to hear from you. I would also like to find one of his original buttstocks for this gun, but I'm afraid that's nigh impossible.
Best regards ~ ~ ~ FFF