Wait,The late, lamented Novus Collectus from this site.
Thank you, sir, and rest in peace.
He left the site over a disagreement, and I believe he passed away sometime in the last year or so.Wait,
What happend to Novus?
Similar story for me, Grandad had an early Parker Bros. "Lifter" double barrel hanging in his den (it was his grandfather's) and I discovered he also had a Colt Pocket Hammerless (.380) in the box and a Remington Model 10 tucked away in the closet. He'd used the Remington for hunting and carried the Colt as a "Neighborhood Warden" during WW2. I convinced him to let me clean the 380 and the shotgun and took both completely apart since they were all jammed up with congealed oil and grease. It took considerable effort to get them back together again But that started the fascination with both the history and the mechanics old firearms. Fast forward some years and he gave me the two shotguns and my brother got the Colt... he got the better end of that one.Finding a big pile of dusty and neglected antique/C&R guns in my grandparents basement when I was about 12. My grandfather pulled them all out to show them to me and there was just something about the history and the smell/feel of old metal and wood that got me hooked.
Purchased my first C&R a year later at 13 (Japanese Type 38 carbine and bayonet) from an antique shop for $100. This was in the mid ‘90s and apparently still a time when they had no issue with a 13 yr old walking out with a rifle!