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"A gun was meant to be fired and a car, driven," he said. "That's what guns are for. I have a 1965 Mercedes 190 DC and every year I drive it at least 3,000 miles."

Bleimaier gave high marks for the event. "It's the best event of its kind that I go to, and I've been to [events] in Maryland, California, New York and Georgia."

In one of the huge vendor tents, Kevin McCormack, 64, of Oakton, Va., stood at a table counting money. The Environmental Protection Agency retiree had just purchased an ebony cleaning rod for $160. Part of his enjoyment is refurbishing and building gun boxes and outfitting them with original accessories. A Holland & Holland double lay nearby.

"I always wanted a London 'Best' gun," he said, referring to English doubles made by Holland & Holland, Purdy [& Sons], Boss [& Co.], and others. "I shoot everything I own and hunt with a lot of them. They're works of art from the hands of masters long gone and they're made to shoot."

The organizer of the event is Kempffer of Apex. A side-by-side advocate since hunting as a youth in Missouri, Kempffer said that attendance was up this year. He spent Monday and Tuesday tearing down and cleaning up for a another event this weekend.

"We had over 1,500 people come through the gates and over 900 entries [to shoot]. We had people from Washington, California, Maine, Florida and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan," he said. "The rain held off until after the black powder [last] shoot on Sunday."

Kempffer said the allure of side-by-sides for many is tradition.

"It's a very American tradition," he said. "It's stepping back in time -- after World War II over-and-unders and repeaters [pump actions and autoloaders] became less clunky looking, more user friendly and cheaper to manufacture."

Now, at least among shotgun fanciers, what's old is new again. Just a little more dear, as the English would say.

There are plenty of "modern" doubles that are perfectly functional, but to really get into the finer, older guns, it doesn't hurt to have Jed Clampett's checkbook.

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