[Ron Wood]

A bit of a belated account of the Albuquerque show. It was a mixed bag. A lot of the table holders seemed to think it was the worst show in 10 years. Only two or three displays (more on that later), not much coming through the doors, and sales/trades were generally poor.

On the other hand, it was pretty good for me. I hung out at Bob Adamsâ?? table along with John Eckert and Warren Buxton. Early in the day Saturday, Sid Gariss (Strider) showed up it was great to chat with him. He had scouted out most of the Lugers for sale, and pickins were pretty slim (a doggy 1920 commercial with a 6 inch barrel of unknown origin and a 1917 Navy in not much better condition with a rear sight that looked like it was coated with machinist layout blueâ?¦only $3500 and it could be yours). A little later a gent showed up with a WWI gun you donâ??t see everydayâ?¦a Fritz Langenhan Selbsladerâ?¦probably a clean 85-90% gun but it had busted grips and a missing firing pin. Definitely worth scrounging parts for. Sunday Bob brought in two outstanding and exceedingly rare Walther AP pistols to show off, one with an even rarer alloy frame!

But the real treat was John Eckertâ??s display. He had his usual mind boggling display of wonderful Lugers and accessories and won first prize, which with only a couple of displays doesnâ??t seem like a big deal. BUT, on his table was a recently acquired MINT, cased presentation 1902 Carbine with tangent 5-position rear sight and impeccable provenance! This gun has got to be one of the top 10 collector Lugers in existence! It was a sight to behold and I kept coming back to stare at it in awe. John has promised me pictures to post on the forum when he can get some taken. If it doesnâ??t happen before, I will take my camera along to Tulsa and photograph it there.