Jan C. Still Lugerforums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ralph Shattuck

33K views 45 replies 28 participants last post by  cirelaw 
#1 ·
It saddens me to inform the Luger Forum that Ralph Shattuck died today, on his 81st birthday. He has been in failing health for the past month or so. I don’t have any information about final arrangements.
 
#2 ·
While Ralph, in his later years was somewhat controversial, there is no doubt that he was one of the leaders if not THE Leader in making collecting of the Luger a great endeavor. His passion for the gun inspired others to learn about and collect this beautiful, deadly, but fascinating thing we call the Luger.

His knowledge was encyclopedic and anyone who spent any time with him came away more knowledgeable.

He taught me a lot and I hope he was my friend.

My thoughts go out to Nancy, who BTW is having her own health problems on the loss of her husband and soul mate.

I will miss him.

John
 
#4 ·
A giant of the Luger collecting community has left us. My heart goes out to Nancy and family. Whatever dealings you may have had with Ralph, he still was one of the Luger collecting pioneers and was in a large part responsible for the hobby as it exists today. I am deeply saddened by his passing.
 
#5 ·
I am shocked and saddened to hear this news. During my early years of Luger interest/collecting in the 1950's I kept seeing this Shattuck name on many rare and desirable Lugers pictured in books (Datig, Jones, etc.). With the advent of the Forum, then the World of Lugers web site, and then many Reno shows, I finally got to meet and know the man. He took his later threats to his integrity with great pain, telling me that "these people" just didn't understand and that he always wanted to see that his customers were satisfied. He took back two Lugers from me without batting an eyelash because there were some minor, but unadvertised flaws. He was a giant in his field and was respected by all who really knew him. For years he literally set all Luger prices single handedly, and fairly, I might add. There will be a great emptiness at the Reno show in three weeks. I hope they set up his table anyway and place a flower on it....he deserves it!
 

Attachments

#6 ·
De mortuis nil nisi bonum.

In my early years of Luger collecting, I bought several guns from Ralph. In looking through my records now, I can't believe what good deals they were. He was a true pioneer in the field of Luger collecting. My heartfelt sympathy to Nancy and the rest of the Shattuck family.
 
#7 ·
I am sorry to hear this, on every occassion that I met him, to include 3 or 4 visits to his house, he treated me with respect and friendship.

When my wife's father died, we were on our way back from Texas and stopped for a few minutes, which turned into several hours. He was gracious and friendly to Terry, making her feel better.

A friend that saddens me that he is gone.


Ed
 
#8 ·
Although I never had met him, it is impossible to deny Mr. Shattuck as one of the greatest names when you talk about Lugers. The Luger collecting is what it is in part because of this man’s efforts.

May he rest in peace and give his family my truly and deepest condolences.

Douglas
 
#9 ·
I read that Ralph Shattuck passed away today. I met him once at a show, an interesting person to talk with. May he rest in peace and his wife Nancy and family find comfort.
 
#13 ·
My wife and I met Ralph about 2 yrs ago AFTER we bought our 1st 2 Lugers. His W.O.L. was a 15 min drive from us. With just a phone call we where invited to visit and were warmly treated like friends from the start. He shared many stories about himself with us during our visits. Like myself, he was from Cleveland, Ohio. He has been a gun dealer since he was a adolescent. He shared about how he would ride around on his bicycle and purchase whatever pistols he could, at which point he would sell them to a particular party he would meet regularly at the local airport. He was a Law Enforcement Officer and related to us how he had used in the course of his duties a particular 10 gauge shotgun that was on the wall. He allowed my wife to handle what was described as a " Million $ Luger" (a pre-production version). I bought my full Arty rig from him one piece at a time and usually think of him when we display it. He always made us feel special and we will miss him.
 
#14 ·
I am really taken aback by this news. I have very fond memories of Natalie and I flying to Phoenix and visiting him and buying an assortment of guns. He and Nancy were truely gracious people and always rolled out the red carpet for us. Marvin Cook and I went back to see him after that. Then we had the Luger forum conventions there and was terrific to see everyone and spend time with Ralph, Nancy and their collections. I wrote a short story of each visit as they were very important and I wanted to remember every detail. One of the strongest memories was the first visit, when we entered the LUGER ROOM and smelled 1600 LUGERS, Ralph made a comment to Natalie that he wished he could put a bunch of them on the floor for me to roll around in. The other impression was kind of a "Deer in the headlights" moment when the ambiance was so over whelming. I count myself very lucky to have viewed his Luger history written on the wall of his collection and meeting two people that were so very nice to me. He helped me get my business going as did John and Jen Dunkle and many on the Luger forum. I will remain his friend and miss him dearly! He was one of a kind, that's for sure!
 
#15 ·
I always liked Mr. Shattuck.... Every time I would get another Vet luger I would haul it to the next Tulsa Gun Show in hopes that he would be there and give me some clues as to what I had that time. I did that for years. Mr. Shattuck was always gracious and always accommodating. In later years I would always look for that Red Blazer just to go by and pay my respects. He was a Pioneer in Luger identification and value..... Ralph Shattuck will certainly be missed.. Henri
 
#16 ·
Ralph

I first met Ralph in person in May 1968; prior contact had been my mail and phone calls. I was on active duty in the USAF and had received orders for Vietnam; I called Ralph and asked him if it would be possible to visit him prior to leaving on my assignment. He responded of course yes. My dad and I drove from Illinois to Ralph’s home in Michigan; I took along my one Luger that I had bought in a pawnshop in Champaign, IL. Ralph treated us as welcome visitors, I showed him my Luger which a guy from the NRA had identified as a parts gun and it turned out to be a 1929 Sneak Luger and Ralph let me know that I had a great find, making me feel good even in the midst of his collection of what I thought were thousands (actually got the shakes viewing all the Lugers). I had been saving some money so asked about some purchases and ended up getting a 1918 Erfurt and a 1906 Dutch. Ralph tried to convince me to buy a "K" date but I wanted quantity. However, ended up getting it anyway as my dad bought it for me. While looking at the 1906 Dutch Ralph showed me an unmodified like new Dutch mag, I asked about it but he said did not want to sell and was quite expensive. I told him to look for one for me. Two months after getting to Vietnam I received a letter from Ralph as we had been corresponding, he said that he had felt bad about not selling the Dutch mag and that he had sent it to my wife and to send him $50 when I got a chance; talk about faith. After my father died I use to call Ralph Dad whenever we met or corresponded. I visited him several times in Phoenix as I had relatives in the area and of course during the big get together that the Luger Forum members had in Phoenix where we all got to visit his home and view his extensive collection once again. I will truly miss Ralph he treated me fairly and was always willing to pass on information and assist in my collecting. RIP my friend..
 
#17 ·
I met Ralph in the early 1960's. Eddie Adkins & I drove to Detroit on more than a few summers evening, not getting home until 3-4am just to look at what Ralph had & had for sale. An experience that will never be equaled. He told me that whatever else I do, be a purist when it comes to Lugers. While death is inevetible, I am always somewhat shocked & saddened when one of these giants leaves us. There can be no replacement........ PJHeck
 
#18 ·
I went to the first Napca show in Tulsa. It was a day to remember forever. At that show I met Ernie Lang, Dan Crews, Ralph Shattuck, , Sid Aberman ( he let me hold a KPK and the # 2- 45 cal test Luger) ,and many other great guys that shared there knowledge Freely. I am reluctant to list others who might have been there as they are living and could say I wasn't there. I don't know how long I have known Tom Knox. Joe Wotka, Dave Noll, Harold Anderson but it seems like forever. When the show closed about 5 of us went out to eat then back to the motel and Ralph's room. The conversations flowed freely (I think several bottles of scotch were involved). I remember Ralph telling storys about he and Arnold Chernoff and a TOGA Party that had us all laughing to the point of tears. About 3:30 AM Ralph suggested that we all should go for a swim in the outdoor pool. It made sense to all of us at the time, so we did. The motel manager apparently didn't see the humor in our undertaking. He mentioned the police so we decided swim another time and the party was over. I saw Ralph many times over the years at shows and Napca conventions and talking on the phone. I will miss his red coat and big smile and great conversations. We never swam together again though. I wonder if anyone else remembers that night. Ralph was more than a collector-dealer, he was a friend. I will miss him. Bob Benson
 
#25 ·
Brandy, would like to hear more about your golf game with Ralph and John. To share another small episode in Ralph's great giving in life, I was at Ralph's table in Reno about 10 years ago when another dealer came up with a mint Mauser banner luger, 41 date commercial, said to be from the Mel Torme collection. Ralph told me that it would make a great addition to my collection, but I didn't have the $2K asking price. Ralph simply bought it and let me pay it off over the next few months as I could, of course without any interest. He even shipped it to my FFL free! I'm sure others have stories such as these.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top