Tom Gibbons Passes at 80

[eightbore]

Our friend Craig Libhart brought us the news of Tom Gibbons' death on Dave Weber's website. No other information to share.

[200052]

See: lancasteronline.com; under obits. Thomas J. Gibbons,III 26 Oct 13

Ed Farrand

[Researcher]

http://lancasteronline.com/obituaries/l ... --III.html

Only gun I ever bought from Tom, September 1984, this straight-gripped, 30-inch, 16-gauge, A-Grade of 1933 vintage --

[loggy]

A very nice gun!

[fox-admin]

I purchased my first Fox from Tom----it was the start of an expensive education---I was not impressed with his business ethics. I am glad my dealings with him did not kill my desire to collect Fox guns.
The gun collecting marketplace will be better off with his passing in my opinion. Never a customer left unscrewed.

[eightbore]

Craig, was Tom Gibbons or his Executive Buying Service listed as a member of the AHFCA?

[fox-admin]

Tom was never a member, nor was EBS

[MARSHFELLOW]

...........he had is own "records" .......or something like that, didn't he?????..........or lack there of....

[loggy]

I enjoyed reading his ads. They described guns you wish you owned but were about guns that probably didn't reside at the authors location.

[bbman3]

i called him once about a 20 gauge Fox but it was too high for me! Bobby

[eightbore]

Loggy, you wouldn't say that if you had ever been to his shop. He had various rooms for various brands of guns and various grades. He would send a customer to the room that matched his ability to pay. That's how I bought my first and only gun from Tom. He sent me to the cheap gun room and I ended up buying the gun that was holding the door open. I asked the price and he replied, "Would $225.00 be too much?" I think he was just teasing me about my gun buying habits, but I made him sell me the gun for $225.00. Over the years, I took other customers to the shop who actually bought high dollar guns, but I never bought another gun after the $225 coup. That was a big mistake, because he had some wonderful guns.

[Jim Cloninger]

It seems like several members had bought just one gun from Tom Gibbons. I too was guilty of that! Jim

[abner]

I once tried to buy a set of X grade barrels he advertised in the Gun List, he was never able to locate them. I would call back from time to time and he guessed that he inadvertently left them in a gun case and had sold the case. Who has my 12 ga X grade barrels?

[loggy]

Eightbore, I was never met Mr. Gibbons nor did I ever do any business with him. I remember reading his print ads in the Gun List. He would advertise about fifty Foxes in one ad and describe many as "finest XE grade Fox in existence". "Whoopee What a Fox". "Mint", "best ever found" or "perfect". Perhaps they were. The text was certainly more flamboyant than that used by Chadicks, Griffin and Howe and others in the publication. I am still entertained by his old ads. Mr. Gibbons also ran separate ads for Lefever and other great guns. I am sure he did have many goods guns pass through his shop. Mr. Gibbons is no longer here to defend the transactions on less than perfect guns. Enough said. John

[eightbore]

He is about 90 miles from my home. I wish I had visited him twice a week to see what he had. In today's world of collectors associations, it was an even bigger mistake to ignore him. He probably had some real deals in the last four or five years. "I could have had an X 20 Special". Of course, I may see it, or a few, when I visit my neighbor who has more than a few of Tom's "Specials". I'll let you know. He has some Lefever "Specials" too.