STETSON GUN CLUB

[carter]

Here's another version, the Gun Club 1100". This has a velour finish, is moss green in color, and has a different liner.

 

[GWD]

Gary, That Gun Club is a beauty and the humidor is as well.
Only one gun... you're practically unarmed!
I guess the replacement of the duck with a Stetson shield meant less armament was necessary.[huh]

Good eye on the humidor! I'm not a smoker so I keep old wheat pennies and buffalo nickels in it. It would be interesting to see the evolution of the Stetson Gun Clubs, but I have no idea how to determine which liners are older than the next!

 

[Atticus Finch]

Hi All,

Thanks for the compliments on my photo! My girlfriend, Jackie, was the photographer and she can make almost anything look good...even when she has nothing to work with.

I bought that hat on e-bay about two years ago. Its a modern Stetson and it has a dimensionally cut, raw-edge brim. I don't think it has been modified. Evidently, someone did block the hat as long oval because it fits me like a dream. Absolutely no pinch at the front.

Here's another photo of it.

AF

 

[GWD]

I just noticed that the liners with the birds and the two guns crossed are double barrel shotguns and the single gun in mine is a flintlock rifle. I don't know what that means but it is interesting. [huh]

 

[carter]

I just noticed that the liners with the birds and the two guns crossed are double barrel shotguns and the single gun in mine is a flintlock rifle. I don't know what that means but it is interesting. [huh]

I think it means that you'd be a heck of a marksman to bring down a duck with a flintlock.
Of course, if you need four barrels for one duck, you'd probably save money by using your flintlock.

It would be interesting to find out the progression of the Gun Club liners.

 

[gtdean48]

Hi All,

Thanks for the compliments on my photo! My girlfriend, Jackie, was the photographer and she can make almost anything look good...even when she has nothing to work with.

I bought that hat on e-bay about two years ago. Its a modern Stetson and it has a dimensionally cut, raw-edge brim. I don't think it has been modified. Evidently, someone did block the hat as long oval because it fits me like a dream. Absolutely no pinch at the front.

Here's another photo of it.

AF

Interesting...Looks GREAT, love that 2 ply ribbon treatment! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Wasz]

I knew if I kept reading around here I'd find what I wanted. Great lids gentlemen. How would one go about finding one of those pins? As an avid shooter I would love to have one of those.

 

[Cool1]

Stetson seems to have a bunch of hats under the current Gun Club banner, including wider-brimmed Aussie styles like the Dune. Scroll down on this list:

http://www.qualityhats.com/

Of course, why anybody would get a Dune for nearly twice the price of an Akubra Cattleman, Stockman, etc., with today's painless Internet ordering is beyond me!

I have had my Dune for going on thirty years. It has travelled with me all over the country, fished great trout streams with, sat in on some great jam session, you name. It's been a fantastic piece of gear and it is and has always been a great hat. I am reluctantly considering that it may be nearly time to retire it, and if I do, I will surely get another.

 

[gtdean48]

I have had my Dune for going on thirty years...

I've always like the Dune. Seems to be a nice Outback style. I almost ordered one but had a vintage Open Road with a 3" brim so didn't see the need. Your Dune sounds like it really earned it's keep.... :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Cool1]

Gun Club Brims

Nowadays no gun club hat has a brim bigger than 2 1/4" Don't know how far back this goes.

Actually, the Gun Club Catera is listed as having a 3 1/4" brim. I don't know exactly how long this one has been in the lineup, but I first noticed about a year ago. It's in the "drover" style mode, as well, but nicely done.

Best,
C1

 

[Picard1138]

Just picked up a Stetson Gun Club cowboy hat 4" brim with a teardrop crown. Sort of a cross between a fedora and a cowboy hat. I will post pictures when it arrives at my house ( I had it shipped from the store I was just at in New Mexico.

-Max

 

[sprint3]

Gun club...trotter model

I purchased a stetson gun club model trotter in 81 or 82 can't remember. Tag on the box said imperial grade. Wore it one time...still in the box...the feathers are kinda going away...but still pristine other that that...was this a popular model of the gun club series? I will try and get photos up if you would like to see it. Thanks...Mike

 

[JimWagner]

Here's my Stetson Gun Club. Bought it new but I can't really say how long I've had it. Probably more than 10 years. Maybe 15.

Actually wear it to my gun club from time to time.

From everyone's pictures it looks like the Stetson Gun Club has undergone quite a few changes over the years.

 

[KC Capellor]

The Stetson Gun Club

I was surprised to see that Stetson Gun Club is a dead thread from '06. It was a brief discussion of whether or not the stingy brim pork pie style fedoras from the Gun Club line are legitimate hunting hats -- or merely fashion statements and "presentation pieces" for promotional gifts (a very popular practice during the first half of the 20th century) -- as opposed to the medium to wide brim Open Road and Safari style western/fedora hybrids from the newer Gun Club line.

I think we should get the record of all styles and eras of the Stetson Gun Club going here for reference.
Stetson Gun Club / The Gun Club by Stetson owners - show us your hats, please!

How early did the Gun Club line start? What styles how early? When did liner colors / logos change? What hatbands and pins from when?

Here is typical vintage stingy brim with pin: Note beautifully striped ribbon of hatband.

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Another typical vintage stingy brim with pin:

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Here is current Stetson Gun Club Catera model:


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[KC Capellor]

I own one of the stingy brim pork pie fedoras: Stetson Royal DeLuxe Gun Club 1 3/4" brim, 4" crown creased, 5 1/2" open, charcoal black mohair finish felt with chocolate brown/charcoal weave silk grosgrain ribbon hatband (missing its pin but holes are there and I intend to replace it). The gorgeous black with silver flecks long hair Royal DeLuxe felt is velvety-soft with no stiffness in any part of the hat and takes a beautiful soft dry crease from porkpie to teardrop pinch each time it is worn. I would guess it equates to 5X beaver or better(?). Truly more like velour or velvet to the touch, this super-luxurious feeling hat tops even my best Kitten Finish Resistol stingy brim for on the noggin' comfort.

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[KC Capellor]

Does the stingy brim fedora make for a hunting and sporting hat worthy of the Stetson Gun Club?

IMHO - you bet! It is just way too nice a luxury hat to tear up in the woods!

The stingy brim fedora - or Trilby as it is called by the British - was developed in the late 1800's as a short brim, low crown version of the fedora for gentlemen's sporting pursuits including hunting. The close fitting low crown and short brim make it snug, lightweight and trim, much less prone to snag on brush and branches or to impede aiming a gun or bow than a wider brimmed hat. The trilby shape is a direct descendent of the alpine hat and the medieval "archer's hat" - think Robin Hood and William Tell. The basic profile is very similar to modern canvas "boonie" and "bucket" hats so popular with hunters and soldiers. I think the credentials of the stingy brim fedora more than make it worthy of inclusion in the Stetson Gun Club.

Antique style trilby / stingy brim fedora:

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Stetson Gun Club Dune:

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[Grizzly Adams]

Here is my wife's Gun Club. Not sure of the model, but great little hat! Felt is thin and very soft.

Here is a shot of her wearing the GC at a recent Cowboy Action Shooting event. Sorry for the poor image.

 

[Atticus Finch]

I just bought this modern Gun Club off the 'bay. I wonder if I bought it from a member here. I've already got one GC in black that I might put up for grabs here in the classified section. My black one is size 7 5/8 and I've finally resolved that I'm more comfortable in a size 7 3/4. I'm thinking this new one will feel better on my very large noggin.

You know, modern Gun Clubs are one of the very few hats that trip my trigger (no pun intended) enough to make me stray from Open Roads and OR clones. And, oddly enough, I don't much care for the older, stingy brim GCs. I just think that the newer hats have an "out door" look that appeals to me. They certainly are more in keeping with what is normally worn around modern skeet and trap clubs...or at least the one's I've visited. I understand that men's men used to wear stingy brims (think Bear Bryant), but I don't think I could get away with wearing one to the annual oyster roast at the New Bern Gun Club. If Old Rogue is reading this, he probably knows what I'm saying.

AF

 

[Historyteach24]

Ok I have no experience with the Gun Club line. Found a what I think is a good deal on this so I took a flyer. Who can give me some basic info? Normal price I should expect to spend? Decade it is from?

 

[gtdean48]

I have a Gun Club with that liner that I bought new in the mid to late 1980's.
Stetson seemed to position the line to be between dress fedoras & westerns = outback & outdoors (hunters, fly-fishers, etc.)
Rugged but not rodeo....