More about NJANEAR Thank you for stopping by. Unfortunately, I have elected to allow this site to become static at this point in time for various reasons, but I still believe that it can be of use, especially to new collectors. I do wish you luck with your collecting and hope that it brings you much joy. Regards.
Just a little curious about who I am? Well, read on for a little more info..
Who am I and what do I do? I am just your average guy, with an average job and above average family ;) My name is Ron and I live just south of the Atlanta, Georgia area. I am married to a sweet lady, have one great daughter and one great son, and work as a manager at a distribution center for an international company. When I am not at work, I like to spend time with my family as well as work on developing and improving my small yet interesting firearms collection.
I USED TO possess a Class 03 Federal Curios and Relics License, and used this to develop my interest and knowledge of world military history. Every weapon in my collection tells a story about a certain period of time in a faraway place; by working to bring these artifacts together, I serve to develop a 'living' history to be passed on to others in the future. My collection is one of my only relaxing hobbies and I wish to share it with you and possibly assist in helping you work on developing your own to carry on the history.
Want your own Class 03 C&R FFL? Click over here to learn how to get it!
Or even better yet, read about it in plain English? Give TheOG a click here.
How did I come up with that name? Once upon a time, I was a machinegun-toting, gung-ho member of the Army National Guard, serving in a Combat Engineer Company (12B - the way to B!). When attending a distinguished military college as a freshman, we 'frogs' were challenged to come up with unique nicknames to identify us from each other (it's an amazing fact that 300 freshmen with freshly shaved heads and starched green fatigues look almost identical to each other ;). With one quick glance at my castles and remembrances of the blood, sweat and tears I gave for them, it only took me a second to create the one-of-a-kind name that I still go by and am very proud of. Bless the Army Corps of Engineers: Essayons!
My Alma Mater was known until just recently as North Georgia College. It is one of only four senior colleges in the United States classified as a military college by the Department of the Army (the other three being the Citadel, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and Norwich University) and has been providing military officer training since its inception in 1873. Located in Dahlonega, Georgia, in the gorgeous foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is now known as North Georgia College and State University. For more information on this exceptional school, please follow the link below. What distinguished military college did I go to?
How did I become interested in firearms? I can't tell you exactly when I became interested in firearms, because it probably went back to birth ;) Actually, I have been around firearms all of my life. My father introduced me to hunting at an early age, teaching me to hunt with single shots: a Remington M41 Targetmaster .22 and an old .410 shotgun. I got my first .22 rifle (Marlin Glenfield Model 60) when I was 11 years old, my first shotgun at 12 (a Savage M94C 12 gauge), and my first handgun at 14 (a S&W M19 .357, which I traded the next year for a Ruger Redhawk .44 ;) That was just the start of my collection of new firearms for hunting, self-defense and plinking, which slowly continued to grow for years until just February 1998, when my interests in military surplus weapons overtook the need to buy more of those 'regular' firearms.
Amazingly enough, in all my collecting, I never owned a military surplus rifle until I was 21 years old, when a Swede M96 briefly entered my life. Although long, it wasn't ungainly and ugly, and talking about accurate; what an eye opener! After it left on a trade, it was 5 more years until I traded my old Redhawk for an International Harvester M1 Garand. Slowly I got sucked towards U.S. military-type rifles, buying an AR15A2 and a M1A to fill the collection. After a few years, the AR15A2 and M1A went up on the block for some much-needed cash, but not that Garand; I couldn't let that go as it meant to much to me (aside from being a great rifle, it was also the favorite rifle of my late Uncle Jim, who was my mentor on firearms).A few years ago, I stumbled into a Roses Department Store and saw they had some Mosin Nagant rifles for $40 each. The rifles looked NEW, so I decided to gamble on a couple. Unlike that first Swede, they were somewhat ungainly but the price was right. After acquiring them, I found myself in Roses again a few months later and saw some Swede M96s. Remembering the first, I bought one for $75 and brought it home. All of these then pretty much sat in the closet until January 1998, when my new PC brought me into this wonderful world of the net and opened my eyes to those C&R rifles.
Amazing!! My $40 wonders were 2 of only 24,000 Finn Tikka M91/30s ever made; my Swede was considered as the smoothest Mauser ever made; that old IHC Garand was from the factory with the lowest production (and wore the highly rated original LMR barrel). Then I discovered that I could get a C&R Firearms license from the ATF for $30 and start buying mail order. The floodgates opened up with the license's arrival in April and here I am - definitely poorer but surrounded by the objects of my interest.
And that's how I got interested in firearms (especially Military Surplus).... Now back to my page.
