trapdoors galore

Gentlemen, does anyone know what happened to Keith Rush. His website just states " closed".

From another board ... :(

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Originally Posted by hmendelson

I recently received an email from Keith Rush's son that Keith has died. I have been dealing with Keith was over ten years. In doing business with many people over several decades, I have seen both the good and bad. Keith was one of the good ones. He had amassed a large amount of knowledge on the Springfield 1873 rifle and carbine. His son said Keith was started his business 30 years ago and grew a long list of satisfied customers. He will be sorely missed.

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Regards,
Doug

I saw him on one of those staged episodes of Pawn Stars a couple of years back.
Sorry to hear of his passing.

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Originally Posted by ikesdad

those staged episodes of Pawn Stars

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The one with the Trapdoor rifle? I saw that one too.

I would beg to differ, and, with full regard for not speaking ill of the departed, Mr. Rush was NOT just the kindly old codger who "knew a lot about trapdoors". He may have started out that way, but, if he did, something went wrong.

Now, I know this site is not a hotbed of trapdoor enthusiasts, or deep knowledge re same, and you have to know a bit about trapdoors to get the point of this - but I was once asked to vet a low-numbered "Custer" carbine sold to a local gentleman for $7000. Did not have it in my hands for ten seconds before I noticed that the cut of the receiver profile below the ears was round, instead of square, indicating that a post-96300 receiver had been "tweaked". Upon complaining, Mr. Rush told him to pound sand. My party didn't like that, and took Mr. Rush to court, where we prevailed. There is absolutely ZERO possibility that a man with Mr. Rush's knowledge could have made that mistake.

I will also say that his pictures and descriptions over the years were masterpieces of how to skirt a very fine line. I also know, from direct personal experience, that he assembled guns from parts and passed them off as original. He once offered for sale a cadet rifle with the serial number of 12221. Now, IF you know TDs (as he loudly and frequently proclaimed that he did) that instantly pops out as one of the verified Custer carbine numbers, yet he was offering it for sale as a cadet! I do not know the details, but the receiver has since been installed on a made-up carbine.

Sorry, but i could not just stand by and have Mr. Rush characterized as "one of the good guys" - that is just simply not true.

Well put, Dick. I always thought there was something shady about his site.