The Old West lives on for collectors of antique guns

Webster's dictionary defines scrounge, a colloquialism, as: 1.

to manage to get or find by hunting around, 2.

to get by begging or sponging; mooch 3.

to take without permission; pilfer.

Dangerous Dave, chief executive officer of The Old Western Scrounger Inc.

of Mound House, says scrounging is an old military term."It means finding what you need for the troops." His business deals in obsolete and antique ammunition.

Dave Cumberland was nicknamed by customers back when he operated a gun store in the Bay area,where he employed five.Now he likes being independent,without the hassles of paying employees.His son Marc and daughterin- law Teresa help run the business, which is 99 percent mail order through the Web site ows-ammunition.com and a 16-page catalog.

Some of the customers for antique ammunition, such as those buying Japnambu, took trophies during World War II.

But 95 percent inherited the old guns from granddad, says Cumberland.

These are the new owners of old Remington,Winchester rifles and Colt pistols.

"Remington and Winchester refer customer requests," says Cumberland."But mostly, after 27 years in business, collectors call us."

The big challenge: "I can't keep merchandise in stock.

It sells out faster than I can replace it."

They scrounge for ammo from Texas and Oregon,Mexico and Australia.

They get it at gun shows, from private collectors, and even from old FBI stock.

Once a year, Cumberland travels to a big gun show at Nuremburg, Germany, in search of inventory.

Nevada is also a prime area for re-enactors, such as groups that stage Civil War battles, replete with historically accurate weapons and uniforms.

Each June such a group stages mock battles for the public at Mills Park during the Carson Rendezvous.

In Fernley, the Nevada Light Artillery Brigade hosts an annual canon shoot for its members.

The shop also manufactures reloading equipment "for guys who like to shoot big guns," says Cumberland.

In addition to ammo, the Scrounger uses reverse engineering to recreate light canon used in 1885 by the British and Italians while fighting colonial wars in Africa.

The Gardner guns remained in use until World War I, when used by the Dutch.

Currently, a prototype is being built by Doug Shrode, owner of Edmac Inc., a nearby custom machine shop.

They plan to make six more of the "big boys toys" which require a $5,000 deposit on a $20,000 gun.

The ammo supply business is one of about two dozen weaponry-related companies located in the Mound House area.

The reason? "The county is receptive to this type of business," says Cumburland."It doesn't over-regulate." In Siskiyou, California, at a remote location set on 11 acres,"where my wife had to drive 50 miles for a bottle of milk," the county required Cumberland's warehouse to be in a fireproof building outfitted with thick steel doors, "They were afraid the stock of ammo would explode and kill someone," says Cumberland.