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Mathews resident a passionate collector of historic firearms

Anyone who walks into Walter Scott Hunley’s den knows right away that the lifelong Mathews resident loves old guns. His collection of antique and reproduction guns is displayed on every wall of the den, along with various old gun accessories, knives and tools that he has collected over the years.

Hunley is particularly proud of two 1842 Springfield muskets that he said were carried by Mathews men during the Civil War, one by Charles Henry Winder, who once lived at Hookemfair, and the other by Arthur Bridges of Hallieford. He said both were privates in the Confederacy.

An 1860 Colt that Hunley owns was “dug up out of a stable in Middlesex,” he said, “and I know nothing else about it.” There’s an original German Jaeger, a .36 caliber Lancaster, and an unusual double barrel swivel breach. “You shoot one, turn over the barrel, and shoot the other one,” said Hunley. “They were expensive. They didn’t catch on.”

Then there a...

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