The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was at the home of a collector in Kennewick, WA several year ago. He sold me several machines and then asked if I'd like to see his parts that were available. Now what collector doesn't want to see available parts? I saw what appeared to be a nice Columbia nickel horn. When I took it off the shelf it had decades worth of dust covering the outside. As I asked for the price I spun the horn to look at all panels. In mid-sentence I felt something rough on my fingers. Before giving a price he informed me that the horn was gunshot. I immediately thought of a hunter cleaning his gun that went off accidentally. The result would be a junk horn and I was not interested. But then he said there was a gunfight in a Montana saloon and the fatal shot went through the horn first. That information made the horn personally interesting and I paid the asking price of $75. If you look at the photo it shows a dowel passing through the horn. The bullet entered from the left side and out the right side. You can tell it started to fragment because there is more damage on the right side.

With a story like that, would you have this horn in your collection?

Or was he a good salesman and sold a gunshot horn from a gun cleaning accident?

Jerry B.

Cool.

I bought a Regina music box many years ago that had a bullet hole in the cabinet. Actually, calling it a "hole" is not 100% accurate, since it didn't go through. It hit right on a molding and embedded in the cabinet. I reproduced the molding, which now covers the hole and the bullet. Came out of Detroit. Probably a good story there too...

Without proof of the claimed incident I personally would treat it as a tall tale. I might still use the horn so long as it didnt affect the sound too much

Jerry B. wrote:I was at the home of a collector in Kennewick, WA several year ago. He sold me several machines and then asked if I'd like to see his parts that were available. Now what collector doesn't want to see available parts? I saw what appeared to be a nice Columbia nickel horn. When I took it off the shelf it had decades worth of dust covering the outside. As I asked for the price I spun the horn to look at all panels. In mid-sentence I felt something rough on my fingers. Before giving a price he informed me that the horn was gunshot. I immediately thought of a hunter cleaning his gun that went off accidentally. The result would be a junk horn and I was not interested. But then he said there was a gunfight in a Montana saloon and the fatal shot went through the horn first. That information made the horn personally interesting and I paid the asking price of $75. If you look at the photo it shows a dowel passing through the horn. The bullet entered from the left side and out the right side. You can tell it started to fragment because there is more damage on the right side.

With a story like that, would you have this horn in your collection?

Or was he a good salesman and sold a gunshot horn from a gun cleaning accident?

Jerry B.

At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I'll just say that anything I buy or have in my collection or display is there because I personally like it. If someone else has a problem with it, well, my house has more than one door.

I once had a really nice Victor V with a lovely spear tip horn. The horn also had a hole, and I was told a similar story about how the hole was made. I had the hole repaired at the time I got the rest of the horn restored.

Garret

I've seen that horn and phonograph in person, and it is a bit more impressive live. I like the story behind it and it doesn't matter if true or not, it makes for a great conversation!
One of my machines has a wild modification done to it that relates an interesting story. I've told the story several times to visitors who mostly find it interesting, and who appreciate the machine that much more.
Thank you for sharing this Jerry!
Cheers, Russie

startgroove wrote:I've seen that horn and phonograph in person, and it is a bit more impressive live. I like the story behind it and it doesn't matter if true or not, it makes for a great conversation!
One of my machines has a wild modification done to it that relates an interesting story. I've told the story several times to visitors who mostly find it interesting, and who appreciate the machine that much more.
Thank you for sharing this Jerry!
Cheers, Russie

how can you tell that without telling it !

Did the seller sell it to you on April 1, Jerry?

Did the seller sell it to you on April 1, Jerry?

Thanks, made me chuckle. Thanks! Jerry

The diameter of the entrance hole should give you a good indication of the caliber, which could or may not eliminate or bolster the gunfight story and the time period. Most machines probably had pretty mundane existences, but a few had to be there for the wild occasions too, so why not a gunfight?