Do you buy safe queens?

I have enough safe queens that I'm considering installing a camera in my safe so I can admire them from the living room...

I used to buy safe queens, mostly Browning High Powers, but as I get older I realize there isn't any fun in that any more. Now, everything I buy is to shoot and some, not all, of the safe queens are sacrificed to fund the shooters.

I have a number of them, but they were all bought by my grandpa. Some I shoot on rare occasions; like the nickel 357 python, 1903 colt, 1899 savage.

I did buy an 1882 mfg 1873 Winchester in 32-20 but I have shot it, albeit only one time.

I did just buy an 1892 colt pistol that's a safe queen right now because it doesn't lock up. But it will eventually.

I have 3 1897 winchesters, two if which are unsafe to fire and were family heirlooms, and the third I have fired.

If you count a 1914 Luger and a byf 43 P.38 , then I guess I am guilty. They were each shot once as a function check , now they are Safe Royalty.

My 1 actual Safe Queen was a modern nickel model 40 Lemon Squeezer , unshot. What a jewel it was. After having it about a year and a a half , I had shown it off to everyone I could think of , admired and wiped the finger prints off and cradled it ad nauseum , and I began to wonder "Why do I have this thing?". I entered into a lopsided - for the other guy - trade for a model 15 , my first K frame. The 15 was was no safe queen ; it was a well balanced excellent shooter that opened my eyes to just how rewarding it can be to shoot a good and proper revolver. Dollar value wise I got soaked ; experience and shooting reward wise I came out great.

It really depends on your personal definition of the term "safe queen" . My guns are all stored in safes and the better ones definitely get the royal treatment they deserve. For me that includes shooting them with lovingly prepared reloads, cleaning and caring for them. I also try to research the manufacturing history and the technical data.

How would I appreciate a Korth and would know the difference to a S&W and Colt Python if I weren't shooting them? Just looking at them is fun but shooting them is much funner!

Gotta admit to having a few.

I picked up a Bren Ten last year, and it's likely as close to a safe queen as I have. I've had it out twice since I bought and will probably bring it out one or twice a year. I've read that frame cracking is not unheard of with Brens (and it was by far the most expensive handgun I've ever bought!) but it's such a nice-shooting pistol it deserves to be shot once in a while.

I can't bring myself to buy safe queens, but don't down people that do. Certainly there are many collectible firearms out there, and I'm glad someone is preserving them.

There are some of my guns I shoot far less than others, but they all see day light. Since I've gotten my CC permit, I haven't even brought myself to buy anything that can't be concealed, because for me, it's more fun to shop for something I can use daily.

Now when I think about this, I have two that one is seldom shot and the other has not seen a bullet except for when it left the factory. My thought now is that these may be for times when I need some $$. One is a Browning HP MkIII and the other is a S&W 686-3. Generally I buy to enjoy shooting and that was the intent when those two were bought yet in reality those took a different direction.

Dragonfly said:

I picked up a Bren Ten last year, and it's likely as close to a safe queen as I have. I've had it out twice since I bought and will probably bring it out one or twice a year. I've read that frame cracking is not unheard of with Brens (and it was by far the most expensive handgun I've ever bought!) but it's such a nice-shooting pistol it deserves to be shot once in a while.

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Keep a weather eye on your springs

Probably won’t ever shoot my 1979 manufacture Colt SAA. I just like to look at it. I do have several other Single actions to shoot though.

It dont get bought, if it ain't getting shot.

Never bought with safe queen intentions, but a few have become that. One is a Dan Wesson 1911 that is just too purty to monkey with. After the first and only range session, I was so happy to clean it and get it back together without scratching it.

Another is a nickel 6" Python bought new nearly 40 years ago and shot a lot that got put away when I realized how much it was worth. The third is a 6" PowerPort 686 with an excellent trigger that is scary accurate.

There are some guns that make me feel unworthy.

Styx said:

Have any of you purchased "safe queens?" That is, pistols that you knew beforehand wouldn't be carry or fired very much? You purchased just because you liked the way it looked, just to say you own one, and/or to be a family heirlooms?

If so, what was it, and why did you buy it?

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I bought a Kimber CDP II Compact when I thought I was past 1911's as Carry Guns. The deal was to stupid good to pass up.
I had been looking for a steel 5" for a range gun.

Finally got it out of the safe after 2 years and took it to the range (after a clean and lube). Out of the first 8 Shots (Rapid Aimed Fire) at 15 yards 7 of them where in a 2" Group within the 2.75" Bull and the 8th was a called flyer (got in a hurry and touched it off before gun tracked back to the aim point).It proceeded to fire 200 flawless rounds with every magazine I had for it.

I seem to have forgotten exactly why I stopped carrying a 1911, Even in a short grip, aluminum frame, shorter sight radius gun I still shoot it better than anything else.

Yes, but only one! In 1977 I bought two S&W model 66 4” through the department. I carried one on duty and put the other one up with the idea of passing it on to my oldest son. He was not interested in revolvers so it will go to my grandson.

All the rest I shoot as often as possible. That keeps us all in shape!

For the last 20 years or so, all the guns that I have bought have been bought with the intention of never firing them. I wouldn't call them "safe queens" though. That's a denigration that they don't deserve.

I do buy safe queens. Not only guns but almost anything expensive. Typically I'll but a 'great' version and a couple cheaper but 'good' versions to use. Cars, Guns, Knives

I was going to try it with women but ... that didn't work ...

tercel89 said:

No and if I ever get my dream gun , a Singer Sewing Machine 1911 , I'll shoot it and carry it regularly !

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My father worked in the armory on the battleship Alabama in '45. He often told me about the five Singer Sewing Machine 1911's they had. He had no idea there were only 500 made. I suppose nobody did in those days because the information probably wasn't available. He said they were absolute junk and when the senior officers and old petty officers decided to practice shooting, they always chose a World War I Colt.
One of his jobs was once a week to pick up and clean the Captain's personal 1911.

He was kind of amazed when I told him years later how valuable the Singer guns were and what a prized collectable they would be. I've never seen one.

I’ve bought several, the nicest is a silver chrome BHP MKIII that was NiB and I paid $375.00 for it years ago. I missed out on a few Colt Pythons but that’s one that is still on the bucket list.

No, but I still have a few. Simply guns I don't shoot anymore. A DWM Luger that was given to me by a friend, which I've never shot. Add to that my Redhawk, which hasn't been fired in nearly 30 years, and my H&K USP compact, which hasn't been fired in the last 17. Also my Colt Delta Elite, which has been retired to the safe, in favor of a Glock 29.

Sure, I buy guns that I don't intend to shoot much or carry, for the most part they are very rare. They still get used but not like other guns I have that are replaceable. My King's Gun Works '48 Colt Commercial Gov't was built by 'Al' Capone in the '70s, that gun, and what it represents in the history of custom 1911s, can't be replaced. I bought it knowing that and that is why I bought it, it gets shot and I occasionally run it in a match but it doesn't get carried much. The same for my Krebs Commander and Krebs 'Crowbar' .45ACP S&W 28-2, both one off custom builds and, although, Mark Krebs is still alive, he's no longer doing any 1911 or revolver work. I have a few others like that.

I have a Beretta 84 from 1979, which I meant to shoot, but it turned out to have a frame peening. It's a condition that arises when owners wear out the recoil springs, but do not replace them and continue shooting. When that happens, the slide hits the frame hard enough to deform it. What's most unfortunate, once this process starts, getting a new recoil spring isn't going to do the trick anymore. Even with the new spring, slide slams where the frame is damaged, does not meet it at the right angle, and then continues to erode the frame further. I didn't know anything about it when I bought the gun. When the problem came to light, I relegated the gun to the safe queen status.

If the criteria is guns I knew I wouldn't carry or shoot often, would a Raven .25 and an H&R .32 top break count as a safe queens that I bought to just own?

Absolutely. I don’t have any that are never fired. I fire some rarely. They all kind of turn into safe queens as I move on to something else because I never sell.

I have bought some as investments, Colt single actions, Lugers and just recently an unfired Colt woodsman sport, that replaced one I had to sell to take care of my wife and young children, early on. I have some I don’t shoot. More that I do shoot. In my opinion some are like fine art and are just nice to admire. True they are all made to use but some deserve a special place. I don’t see that as a problem. I own many firearms and each one is for a specific reason or purpose. Some to hunt with, some to target shoot, some to haul around in the truck and some as collectibles and investment. It is no different than a person collecting coins or stamps. Your not going to buy groceries with a 1900 $20.00 gold double eagle or mail a letter with a rare stamp. It’s just an individual thing. Nothing wrong either way one sees it. Some of my firearms are art and history to me, another person may see it differently. Nothing to be ashamed of either way.