Central Alberta duo loves to buy, refurbish, sell old guns

The Eagle Hill duo of Al Simms and Bill Main presided over one of the approximately 250 booths during the 10^th annual Olds Gun & Antique Show, held Aug. 10-11 at the Cow Palace in Olds.

For the past 10 years or so, Simms and Main have specialized in buying, refurbishing and selling old guns.

“We both used to shoot a little bit. Then we got the idea of fixing guns up and selling guns,” Simms said during an interview with the Albertan.

“It started out with one gun show; Calgary was the very first one,” Main said.

“We went there for the first time and then we bought some guns and yeah, it just snowballed,” Simms added.

“It’s interesting,” Simms said. “We deal in old firearms, so we like the old firearms, the western firearms, the British firearms, the German.”

“My sort of bent is Winchesters,” Main said. “I have a few of those and I’m in the process of still repairing a couple of them and making them work like they did when they were new.”

Simms and Main had several guns on display, including a British Snider-Enfield that dates back to 1864.

Simms said technically, that gun is an Enfield. Originally, they were muzzle loaders (shells were loaded from the end of the gun). However, Jacob Snider invented a breech so the gun could be loaded closer to the stock.

Main and Simms said the Snider-Enfield attracts interest because of its age. “It’s the most unique, you don’t see these every day, and that’s what makes it interesting and kind of nice to have around,” Main said.

However, the duo said the most challenging guns they work on are the Winchesters.

Main said that’s because “the screws and stuff are locked in.”

“They’re all seized in. They’re 100 years old, these old guns, so (when) you start working on them, it’s hard to take them apart,” Simms explained.

Over the past 10 years, Simms and Main have attended gun shows across central Alberta; as far north as Edmonton, as far south as Claresholm, and as far east as Consort, which is just west of the Saskatchewan border.

Of all those shows, they said the Olds Gun & Antique Show and one in Torrington are the best.

“I’d say it’s pretty good, this is one of the better shows,” Main said.

Simms agreed.

“This one and the one in Torrington are probably the best shows, because it’s local and you get a lot of farming people,” he said. “We know a lot of people around too in our work. They know they can trust us, so yeah, they come, have a visit sort of thing.