Rock Island Airgun Video Showcase and Ingvar Alm biography

Here is the 2019 Gun Auction Schedule.

Air guns from Ingvar Alm's collection.

Dr Ingvar Alm:

With thanks to Dan Thorngren of RIAC for permission to post this biography:

Mark (Mlee5107) posted this on the AVA:

"Ingvar was a close friend of mine.  I still miss our visits and phone calls.  Many may not know that he was a chiropractor in a prior life and he had debilitating joint disease from rheumatoid arthritis.  As a result he was unable to grip and cock most spring/pneumatic airguns.  

Because of his love for airguns, he converted many spring and pneumatic classics to CO2 so that he could still enjoy shooting them.  I've had the opportunity to handle most of these conversions and they were done very well.  As a collector, I initially cringed when I saw that he converted one of his Webley MKII service rifles to CO2. I understood why when I saw the big smile he had on his face when he shot it as we compared specimens.  

He was a vast repository of airgun knowledge and I wish I had another decade to learn from him.  He was a humble man.  I recall during one visit to his 'garage' shop, we were discussing concentric airgun pistol designs.  I asked if he had studied an example of an Anson's Star - one that I was obviously missing from my collection.  He answered yes and he thought he still had one, maybe two?!  He then turned to me and asked if I wanted to see his 'real' collection.  When he shared with me the airgun museum set up in his home, I was simply amazed!  Sure he had a couple of Anson's Star pistols hanging on a wall peg, but it was the historical display of virtually every airgun rarity imaginable that left me speechless.  In his office shelf he had a beautiful collection of crank and bellow guns - some made for royalty.  As we left his home he mentioned that he didn't let many friends in.  I've kept that experience private until today.  

He was a great loss.

Mark"

and this:

"Ingvar was a very close friend of mine and we visited frequently - up until his unexpected passing.  We've shared many specimens between our collections and I've learned so much from him over the years.  Many of you may not know that he had a DC degree (Doctor of Chiropractic) and retired early from that profession.  He was struggling with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis that was refractory to many treatments.  As a physician myself, I made many trips up to check up on him - but we ended up chatting for hours  about airguns.  

He loved testing springers, but he couldn't cock anything at all.  He shared with me a lot of his 'one-off' conversions that he had done just so he could enjoy shooting classics.  As a collector, I have to admit that I took pause when I saw that he had a Webley MK II service rifle and a Sheridan Supergrade converted to CO2, but after watched his enjoyment being able to awkwardly cock them to fire them off a rest, I understood why he had them done.  As was mentioned earlier, Ingvar bought up such CO2 conversions when they showed up on the market place.  He didn't want to part with them as it allowed him to continue to physically use them - something that I often take for granted.  

Anyway, I share this in honor of my missed friend.  RIP Ingvar.  

Mark"