Generations

Last week my father gave me a gun. While that in and of itself if pretty great, it's not the gun itself that is really special, but the guns history. It took a little research, but I managed to figure out a little about the gun.

It is a version of the Pistolet Automatique de 7 millimètre 65 genre "Ruby", however, this one is made by Santiago Salaberrin and it is a .25 auto with the trade name "ETNA" stamped on the gun. There are a number of variations on this weapon, but this one is definitely a pocket pistol designed as a little holdout piece.

So the guns is not really all that special with over 30 factories making versions and copies I would bet these things are lying in boxes and in the tops of closets all over the world. So what's so cool about a 70+ year old gun? My great grandfather was a drummer in a band. He traveled the river boats up and down the Mississippi playing drums and generally doing what a musician would do in the roaring 20's. In his vest pocket for all of those trips was the little "ETNA"

So now I think I'll make sure it's in good working order and carry it with me to work. I can't think of a better legacy or connection to the past.