CHRISTCHURCH MAN’S HOBBY

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29010, 26 September 1959, Page 10

CHRISTCHURCH MAN’S HOBBY

Antique Weapons Collection

GUNS, RIFLES, BULLET MOULDS, POWDERFLASKS [Specially written for ‘'The Press” by J. W. PACKARD] A ST. ALBANS man, Mr L. C. Perham, wants muzzle-loading guns, old rifles, bullet moulds and powder flasks, the reason being that he is engaged in amassing what experts have called one of the finest antique weapon collections in the country. At his home, Mr Perham spends most of his spare time in his armoury, surrounded by racks of polished guns and bottles of gunpowder and percussion caps.

In this home-built armoury, old, rusty weapons which Mr Perham obtains from auction sales, or through exchanges with other collectors, are stripped down and thoroughly cleaned. The use of steel wool and a liquid called Plus-gas are needed to eradicate the surface rust which usually exists in weapons that have not been cared for. Finally, with some thin oil and a lot of elbow grease, the weapons are converted into shining, working relics of old sporting days. Mr Perham’s collection dates from a 1763 Chariville of French manufacture (used before and during the Napoleonic Wars) to modern high-velocity sporting rifles. The total number of weapons resting in the gleaming gun-racks is 40-odd, while scattered around the armoury are old bullets, gun pouches and powder flasks. How It Began The reason why Mr Perham started collecting all these objects stems from an incident in his boyhood. The owner of a neighbouring scrap yard possessed two ancient muzzle-loading shotguns, with which he let young Perham play. Finally, on reaching the years of discretion, the boy was allowed to have the two weapons. The period which he spent in waiting for the guns was the deciding factor that made him start collecting, as it was during that time that he really learned to appreciate them. After the eighteenth-century percussion period of the Charliville, the Purdey was invented. Mr Perham’s model was probably made for Indian service. From an engp-aver’s point of view it would be a prize piece in the collection, too, as it is beautifully hand-engraved in the very ornate style typical of the period, being dated at 1831. Sharing a treasured place in Mr Perham’s collection is a military carbine of the type that was used in the Maori Wars of the 1860’s. Judging by its well-worn, heavilyscarred butt, one could safely say that it has had a very interesting life history. Even a “volunteer” rifle of 1862 exists in the collection. These rifles were presented by wealthy patrons to champions of volunteer rifle clubs in England. The particular specimen in Mr Perham’s collection was presented by the then Marquess of Ailsa. Hexagonal Bore Another piece remaining from the Maori Wars is a Whitworth, with its highly unusual but deadly accurate hexagonal bore. This is the pride and joy of the collection, and Mr Perham has competed in modern rifle shoots with it, and has outshot the scientifi-cally-inachined guns of today. This gun is the result of a mathematical theory produced last century by its inventor of the same name, for a highly-competed prize which was offered by the British Government of that time. It certainly says a lot for it; that it can still more than hold its own today. An example of the first breechloader also exists in the collection. This was the needle gun, which was first produced in 1877. Another breech-loader was a sporting pin-fire rifle which never really gained popularity among its companion sporting rifles, but rather was blended into a long line of shotguns. The cartridges have long pins set at right-angles to the base, which if touched

accidentally may explode violently in the hand. The most costly item in Mr Perham’s collection is a heavy double-express rifle made just before the turn of the century at a cost of 187 guineas. While on the subject of expense, it is interesting to note that antique arms collecting can be very expensive indeed. The bulk of Mr Perham’s collection has been valued at £ 1000. Of the Boer War pieces, the representative weapon is the 7 mm. Mauser which is still very popular today. There are also several examples of the first British breech loaders manufactured by Snider. These were the last types of breech loaders which were converted from muzzle loaders. Like all antique collectors, Mr Perham has his own pet, this being the famous Winchester, still very much in the news today. His specialisation is fairly recent however, for he practised general antique arms collecting for more than seven years before branching out. Mr Perham felt that .once more he wanted to do something different from normal collecting, which usually is based on military pieces. Difficult Task The selection of this famous sporting rifle as a main topic is just one of the many deviations from normal arms collecting procedures, practised by Mr Perham, and he is also determined to collect all the calibres as well as all the different models. To do this, a very difficult task has been self-imposed, and in Mr Perham's own words, “The job is going to be quite an undertaking.” Although there are increasing numbers of antique, arms collections being made all the time in New Zealand as the hobby is becoming increasingly popular, Mr Perham’s is perhaps unique, in that every piece in his collection

is capable of working, and all have been fired by him. It was this wish to possess a workable collection that first started him off in the realms of ammunition manufacturing. A member of the local hand-loading club, Mr Perham reloads all the cartridges he fires.

Besides its being an economical hobby, making a saving of £5 per hundred cartridges, there is an additional thrill put into shooting when one realises that the charges were home-made. To do this reloading there' are two machines mounted on Mr Perham’s workbench. Empty shells are put into this, sized, precisionturned and then filled with the correct weight of explosive, after being percussion-capped to start the operation. Finally the crimping takes place and the finished product comes out the bottom. With four friends around at the armoury for an evening, they can fill and complete the cartridges at the rate of 100 every two hours. Mr Perham .hopes to demonstrate in the near future his object of making all his weapons working models. He intends to form a deer-stalking party composed of men all using the oldest weapons available. Being a keen deer-stalker, and being tired of the slaughter of animals which sometimes takes place today with modem high-velocity rifles, Mr Perham hopes to reinstate the “sporting” outlook among amateur shooters. This is his ultimate aim, the combination of a homefounded hobby with a vigorous outdoor sport. When he can prove to others that the “older the weapon, the more the enjoyment,” Mr Perham feels that he will have achieved his purpose in collecting antique arms. MEXICO CITY IS SINKING MEXICO CITY The old “City of the Palaces” as Baron von Humboldt called Mexico City, is putting on weight. This is seen in a report made by those who study these things, pointing out that whereas Mexico City sank only three feet in the 40-year period from 1898 to 1938, during the last 20 years the city has gone down 20 feet. They add that at this rate, by the year 2000 the city will have sunk 26 feet in comparison to 1898. Technicians explain this phenomenon as parallel .to the growth of the city. With a constantly increasing population, more and more water is being extracted from the subsoil, thus creating a loss in pressure. The logical solution, they say,

would be to bring Mexico City’S drinking water from basins independent of the valley of Mexico, but sfich a project would cost 2000 million pesos (about £52,000,000 sterling) which the Government is not in a position to spend at this time.—Reuter.