MARIETTA - More than a dozen contemporary rifle makers and collectors joined forces Saturday for the third Contemporary Gunmakers and Allied Artists Show at Campus Martius Museum.
"This is our third year and it's going great," said organizer Bill Reynolds. "The weather hasn't helped bring people out, but we still have had a good time."
The number of people who attended the event, in which all proceeds were donated to the Friends of the Museums, was unknown, but Reynolds said people went through the display tables and attended the lectures throughout the day.
"It's a great way to see other artisans, who are friends of mine, and it gives us a chance to see others' work and see everyone," said John M. Barnhart, a rifle collector and contemporary riflesmith from Circleville, Ohio.
Barnhart said he collects mainly Barnhart muzzles while he also builds his own rifles.
"My ancestors have been gunsmiths all the way back to the Revolutionary War," he said. "After you start collecting them for a while you get curious to know how they were made and start building them yourself."
On display and sale at the event were traditionally-made muzzle loading rifles, powder horns, hunting bags, knives and related objects fashioned by hand by the artisans.
Tim Dowler brought a collection of powder horns he made and other items he traded to the event.
"I'm a horner and wanted to display my work," said Dowler, a Parkersburg resident..
He added that he decided to participate in the show for the first time, partly because it was held in the museum.
"I'm local and hadn't been in the museum since high school," Dowler said. "The opportunity to come in here and look at the craftsmanship and other work and the museum was great.
"This museum is one of the greatest kept secrets of the Mid-Ohio Valley that people don't take advantage of," he added.
Reynolds, who is a founding member of the Association of Ohio Long Rifle Collectors, said the event was organized, in part, as a way to show people that rifle-making is a large part of the history of the Mid-Ohio Valley.
"At the fair, people were able to see examples of the last 200 years of American gun-making tradition," Reynolds said. "The Mid-Ohio Valley has been a home to gun and riflesmiths since the first settlers arrived."
The displays housed the guns, which ranged in styles from the Revolutionary War through the Civil War and beyond.
"This (fair) is really a way to show that the tradition is still alive and to honor those who made the guns before us," Reynolds, who is also a riflesmith, said.
