With my normal workload greatly reduced during Covid I am working at trying to better organize my tens of thousands of digital images, in hopes that eventually I or someday perhaps my son will actually be able to find what is wanted, when it is wanted. Over the years I have been granted exceptional access to some really great ordnance collections, and the information is of no use if it only sits in my files. As I get time I’ll try and post some of the different pictures that may be of interest.
A few years back I was doing a quick run through the Rock Island area, and I knew that their museum has a firearms collection that is exceptional. I had not known prior that I was going to be there, so I had no opportunity to make advance arrangements. I was only in the area for part of a weekend and one work day, with a work full schedule, so there was not much time. As any avid researcher knows, the best stuff is not always the most popular stuff, and frequently the most interesting items are in storage. I visited the museum on the weekend and spoke with a museum employee, I was told that, as normal, only the head curator can approve visits into the storage area, and that the curator does not work the weekend.
The first thing Monday morning I made contact and was able to secure permission, the problem was time available. The curator was willing to give me full support, but due to my schedule I only had my lunchtime available. After dashing to the museum this gave me a little less than 30 minutes in the storage area. Sometimes you take what you can get.
First photos are some general pictures of the display area from the weekend visit.
