bannockburn
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- Apr 24, 2007
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- 26,299
Speedo66
What...you mean to tell us he didn't try to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge too!!!
What...you mean to tell us he didn't try to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge too!!!
Guns with stories behind them...
- Thread starter BobWright
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Speedo66
Member
He probably had already sold that, but I could have possibly gotten the Manhattan or the Tri-Borough Bridge at a discount because he liked me.
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
S&W Model 2 Army revolver shipped from the factory September 7th, 1869. Delivered to C.W. May C. Paris, France. The shipment was part of a total of 150 units and they were all designated for the Japanese market. The back strap Japanese scrip translates to 1871 No.1,221 - Myodo Prefecture. The Myodo Prefecture was was located in the Shikaku region from1871 to 1880. It became the current Takushima Perfecture on March 2, 1880. The handles are original but carved into a coral pattern and enameled to that color.
The gun is nearly void of original blue but is mechanically tight, and the rifling is clear an brite (no rust) with some smoothness of rifling edges from wear. It was taken from a captured Japanese soldier during the battle for Okinawa in WWII.
The grip base has been smoothed and stamped OTTO B. 50 . I believe he would have been a Navy personnel from the Navy's 50th battle group. Since this picture was taken I have found and installed an original extractor rod.
The gun is nearly void of original blue but is mechanically tight, and the rifling is clear an brite (no rust) with some smoothness of rifling edges from wear. It was taken from a captured Japanese soldier during the battle for Okinawa in WWII.
The grip base has been smoothed and stamped OTTO B. 50 . I believe he would have been a Navy personnel from the Navy's 50th battle group. Since this picture was taken I have found and installed an original extractor rod.
Homerboy
Member
Does anybody here think that a Glock or any other plastic pistol will ever have the same “this was my dad’s gun” desirability? Look at all the guns here. Plastic guns have been around for over 30 years. Can anybody imagine passing one down as an heirloom? My own kids gravitate towards the revolvers and metal semi auto’s over my plastic guns. Inheriting Dad’s Chief Special is one thing. Inheriting his off duty Glock 26 just doesn’t come with the same feeling to me.
stonebuster
Member
My wife's father was the resident state trooper in our town in the 1960s and this was his 1967 Colt Trooper(357). My wife used to polish his brass while watching him clean this gun when she was a kid. She still remembers it like it was yesterday. When he passed he left it to her. Shooting this Colt for the first time is what started me shooting revolvers five years ago. Now, I've got a dozen. Her dad would've got a kick out of that if he knew.
My number 1 & 2 sons once traded guns, the younger getting his brother's .45 Colt Commander in the deal. He'd wanted that piece for carry purposes for years and finally got it...I don't recall the one he traded...but the Commander was finally his. He toted it around for several years, then spent one of his salary bumps on a complete Novak re-do...sights, checkering, match bbl., tuned trigger...re-blue...the whole enchilada. Two weeks after delivery, it was stolen during a home burglary which his wife and baby daughter missed by minutes.
A cpl years went by and the Cincinnati police finally called with news that the gun had been recovered in a meth lab bust and would he care to have it back. He'd kept it at home in a pistol box, not yet bolted to the floor under their bed before the break-in, and the thieves had taken the box, then used a sledge hammer to open it and thoroughly messed up that Novak tweaked beauty. The rear sight had been knocked almost out of the dovetail, the grip frame was bent in from below the grip safety to where you couldn't remove the magazine and that once beautiful finish was a thing of the past. It was wrecked...in a word.
He didn't have the heart to send it in to Novak again, but managed to get the mag out with a drift and a small ball peen hammer!. Then used a 3/8's drill rod to straighten the grip frame. The gun functioned ok, but the sights were TU. Novak supplied another rear and we tapped it into place for a good zero.
Today, he carries it when 'only the best' will do, worries not about the finish, and will tell that tale of woe on demand.....it's truly a gun with a story to tell.
Best Regards, Rod
A cpl years went by and the Cincinnati police finally called with news that the gun had been recovered in a meth lab bust and would he care to have it back. He'd kept it at home in a pistol box, not yet bolted to the floor under their bed before the break-in, and the thieves had taken the box, then used a sledge hammer to open it and thoroughly messed up that Novak tweaked beauty. The rear sight had been knocked almost out of the dovetail, the grip frame was bent in from below the grip safety to where you couldn't remove the magazine and that once beautiful finish was a thing of the past. It was wrecked...in a word.
He didn't have the heart to send it in to Novak again, but managed to get the mag out with a drift and a small ball peen hammer!. Then used a 3/8's drill rod to straighten the grip frame. The gun functioned ok, but the sights were TU. Novak supplied another rear and we tapped it into place for a good zero.
Today, he carries it when 'only the best' will do, worries not about the finish, and will tell that tale of woe on demand.....it's truly a gun with a story to tell.
Best Regards, Rod
Whiskeyhotel2020
Member
1992 was my dad's last year as an active duty Marine and we were stationed in San Antiono. My dad and a buddy of his went to a gun show in the area. My dad was looking at possibly taking a job with a P.D. in I forget which southern state and the only pistol he owed at the time was a 1911 and that particular department did not allow single action autos. My dad went to this show hoping to find a Smith & Wesson 625.
He came across a vendor that had several 625s on his table. His next decision was 3 or 4 inch barrel. He decided on a 4 inch 625-3. On the way home my dad was looking at the factory box and the serial number caught his attention BEN####. He wasn't sure when he left the gun show if he made the right choice as far as barrel length, but after seeing the serial number he knew be got the right gun. I remember the look on his face when he got home and took that revolver out of the box and looked at me and said, "Well Ben hour name is on this gun so it'll be yours one day." From that day on that 625 was known as "the Ben gun".
I have that 625 now and it brings a smile to my face when I bring it out and think back to when my dad would his buddies about the last gun he bought in Texas.
He came across a vendor that had several 625s on his table. His next decision was 3 or 4 inch barrel. He decided on a 4 inch 625-3. On the way home my dad was looking at the factory box and the serial number caught his attention BEN####. He wasn't sure when he left the gun show if he made the right choice as far as barrel length, but after seeing the serial number he knew be got the right gun. I remember the look on his face when he got home and took that revolver out of the box and looked at me and said, "Well Ben hour name is on this gun so it'll be yours one day." From that day on that 625 was known as "the Ben gun".
I have that 625 now and it brings a smile to my face when I bring it out and think back to when my dad would his buddies about the last gun he bought in Texas.
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Whiskeyhotel2020
Member
Maybe in a few more generations. I'm sure there will be stories of "plastic" guns having there place in this thread. As duty guns of mothers and fathers get passed down (hopefully).
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
GeoDudeFlorida
Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2020
- Messages
- 11,062
The one I let get away...
Had a buddy. Good guy, the kind who always makes you feel better for having been around him. My wife and his wife were friends, sharing an addiction to treadle sewing machines. We traded guns once - I brought a NEF Handi-Rifle in .500 S&W to show off at the range and he took a shine to it. Traded me a very minty first year Remington 10 in 12 ga. plus a like new 1930s Singer Model 15 for my wife for the NEF and what was left of a box of ammo. It was a great trade for us both. Years passed and the Remington sat so when the safe got too full I sold it (and a BUNCH of other guns) on Gunbroker through my LGS. Got a really good price for it - over $1K. Called him a week or so later to brag about my "good deal" and ask about a get-together. His wife said he had passed a couple days back. He wasn't that old - 68 - and it was very sudden, no warning. You just never know.
Had a buddy. Good guy, the kind who always makes you feel better for having been around him. My wife and his wife were friends, sharing an addiction to treadle sewing machines. We traded guns once - I brought a NEF Handi-Rifle in .500 S&W to show off at the range and he took a shine to it. Traded me a very minty first year Remington 10 in 12 ga. plus a like new 1930s Singer Model 15 for my wife for the NEF and what was left of a box of ammo. It was a great trade for us both. Years passed and the Remington sat so when the safe got too full I sold it (and a BUNCH of other guns) on Gunbroker through my LGS. Got a really good price for it - over $1K. Called him a week or so later to brag about my "good deal" and ask about a get-together. His wife said he had passed a couple days back. He wasn't that old - 68 - and it was very sudden, no warning. You just never know.
Driftwood Johnson
Member
Howdy
I've told this story before, but I'll tell it here again.
One day when I was a kid, probably about 15 years old, I was poking around in the basement of our house. I came across a big cardboard box that I had never seen before. I reached in, there was a lot of stuff in there, but my fingers closed around something and I pulled it out. It was a little pump action 22 rifle. I went upstairs with it in hand and asked my dad what it was. He said,"I guess that's yours now".
When my dad was around 15 or so he told his dad he would like to have a 22 target rifle. My grandfather commuted into New York City for work every day, so one day he walked into the big Abercrombie and Fitch store on Madison Avenue. This would have been around 1931 or so. In those days Abercrombie and Fitch was much more than the yuppie clothing store it is today. It was a full service sporting goods store. It occupied a 12 story building on the corner of 45th Street and Madison Avenue. One entire floor was devoted to guns, and there was a shooting range in the basement. So Pop went in and came home with the little 22 Pump, a Winchester Model '06.
The Model '06 was similar to the earlier Model 1890, except where the 1890 could only feed 22 Short, 22 Long, OR 22 Long Rifle, the Model '06 could feed all three.
My grandfather was an expert fisherman, but he did not know much about guns. Dad told me he had actually wanted a target rifle. The little Model '06 is a gallery rifle of the type that was used in shooting galleries all over the country. Although the workmanship was excellent, up to typical Winchester standards, it simply was not a target rifle.
I don't think my dad ever had the heart to tell his dad the little Model '06 was really not what he wanted.
Here is a photo of my dad shooting the little Winchester at Lake Katahdin in Maine in 1931. Dig the knickers. He would have been about 15 years old at the time.
I used to ride my bike to the local sport shop and buy a box or two of 22 Shorts at the time. The store owner would always ask me if I was 18 and I would say yes, and he would wink and sell me the ammo.
I set up a little shooting range in our basement, using a steel plate as a backstop and the bullets would fall into a box of sand. I never told my dad about this and would only shoot the rifle downstairs when nobody else was home.
Many years later I told my dad about my little shooting range in the basement. He smiled and said he had done the same thing.
My dad has been gone about 15 years now. The little Model '06 has some nicks and bruises on the finish, but it is still a tack driver. Needless to say, I treasure it.
I've told this story before, but I'll tell it here again.
One day when I was a kid, probably about 15 years old, I was poking around in the basement of our house. I came across a big cardboard box that I had never seen before. I reached in, there was a lot of stuff in there, but my fingers closed around something and I pulled it out. It was a little pump action 22 rifle. I went upstairs with it in hand and asked my dad what it was. He said,"I guess that's yours now".
When my dad was around 15 or so he told his dad he would like to have a 22 target rifle. My grandfather commuted into New York City for work every day, so one day he walked into the big Abercrombie and Fitch store on Madison Avenue. This would have been around 1931 or so. In those days Abercrombie and Fitch was much more than the yuppie clothing store it is today. It was a full service sporting goods store. It occupied a 12 story building on the corner of 45th Street and Madison Avenue. One entire floor was devoted to guns, and there was a shooting range in the basement. So Pop went in and came home with the little 22 Pump, a Winchester Model '06.
The Model '06 was similar to the earlier Model 1890, except where the 1890 could only feed 22 Short, 22 Long, OR 22 Long Rifle, the Model '06 could feed all three.
My grandfather was an expert fisherman, but he did not know much about guns. Dad told me he had actually wanted a target rifle. The little Model '06 is a gallery rifle of the type that was used in shooting galleries all over the country. Although the workmanship was excellent, up to typical Winchester standards, it simply was not a target rifle.
I don't think my dad ever had the heart to tell his dad the little Model '06 was really not what he wanted.
Here is a photo of my dad shooting the little Winchester at Lake Katahdin in Maine in 1931. Dig the knickers. He would have been about 15 years old at the time.
I used to ride my bike to the local sport shop and buy a box or two of 22 Shorts at the time. The store owner would always ask me if I was 18 and I would say yes, and he would wink and sell me the ammo.
I set up a little shooting range in our basement, using a steel plate as a backstop and the bullets would fall into a box of sand. I never told my dad about this and would only shoot the rifle downstairs when nobody else was home.
Many years later I told my dad about my little shooting range in the basement. He smiled and said he had done the same thing.
My dad has been gone about 15 years now. The little Model '06 has some nicks and bruises on the finish, but it is still a tack driver. Needless to say, I treasure it.
Whiskeyhotel2020
Member
I have a Winchester Model 61 pump action .22 that used to hang above the doorway in my Grandparent's house. It was there in case of emergency. When I was 13 or 14 I was visiting them for the summer to work for a different .22 rifle (I'll tell that story later). Grandpa came home for the weekends and while he was home we would take the model 61 out plinking. By we I mean I would shoot while he watched and told stories. He did shoot one round that was darn near perfect. He quit shooting that time declaring victory (not wanting ruin a perfectly placed shot lol). Everytime I pick that rifle up my chest swells and my eyes tear up a bit as I remember my grandfather and that summer.
.455_Hunter
Member
I have many historical weapons that are combat veterans, but there is one that has "seen the elephant" for sure. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, but my 1897 production 8 mm French Ordnance Revolver (the "Lebel") has a scattering of high-velocity frag hits on one side of the frame, along with a hit on the cylinder wall that necessitated an armorer to re-cut one chamber to remove the dent.
That gun has done some things and seen some stuff...
That gun has done some things and seen some stuff...
This is a great thread
I have a Colt officers model 22 that was my great grandfathers, the story with the gun is one day at camp after hunting or fishing my great grandfather and friends were shooting, one of his friends accidently shot him in the leg and felt bad about it and gave my great grand father the gun. He didnt want the gun he was shot with so traded it in on the colt. My aunt said she saw a newspaper cliping of where it said he "accidently" shot him self
And its a sweet shooting gun
Dan
I have a Colt officers model 22 that was my great grandfathers, the story with the gun is one day at camp after hunting or fishing my great grandfather and friends were shooting, one of his friends accidently shot him in the leg and felt bad about it and gave my great grand father the gun. He didnt want the gun he was shot with so traded it in on the colt. My aunt said she saw a newspaper cliping of where it said he "accidently" shot him self
And its a sweet shooting gun
Dan
NIGHTLORD40K
Member
I have an Arisaka with shrapnel still embedded in the stock and a teacup wrapped around the grip and tacked into the wood as a field repair. Sometimes I wish it could tell stories, but I suspect they would be terrifying, bloody, and have an abrupt ending.
sgt127
Member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2003
- Messages
- 2,113
About 10 years ago one of my buddies was about to retire. (September I think)
I knew he really liked a nickel 29 I had. So, I made some custom grips with an old school nickel Butt plate. A miniature badge from our PD and his initials. Another friend bought an El Paso Austin Holster and, we presented it to him.
Unknown to me. He had purchased a complete El Paso Austin rig for ME for Christmas. To fit the gun I just gave him.
So, come Christmas, I got this 629. Engraved, stag grips. With a full leather rig...and, the story.
I really came out ahead on that deal.
I knew he really liked a nickel 29 I had. So, I made some custom grips with an old school nickel Butt plate. A miniature badge from our PD and his initials. Another friend bought an El Paso Austin Holster and, we presented it to him.
Unknown to me. He had purchased a complete El Paso Austin rig for ME for Christmas. To fit the gun I just gave him.
So, come Christmas, I got this 629. Engraved, stag grips. With a full leather rig...and, the story.
I really came out ahead on that deal.
Speedo66
Member
Almost sounds like the Gift of the Magi, by O.Henry.
Buckeye63
Member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2018
- Messages
- 2,259
My Dad purchased a Winchester 37 20ga single shot shotgun back in 1942 ..It fed his young family , squirrels and rabbits.. he had broken the stock in the mid 50’s .. his uncle made him a replacement... great fit but shaped a bit different..
he had the shotgun stolen from his truck in 1962 at his garage in NC .. 1974 he was at a tree nursery in New York State .. there he saw a shotgun hanging in gun rack in the back of a pickup.... the fellow that owned the truck was the nephew a business associate back in NC ... Dad ..walked over took the shotgun out of the truck .. checked and it was his and loaded ... right in front of the guy ... Dad put it in his truck ...not a word said ....
My Dad is gone .. the 37 is in my safe ....
It has taken alot of game over the years ..
he had the shotgun stolen from his truck in 1962 at his garage in NC .. 1974 he was at a tree nursery in New York State .. there he saw a shotgun hanging in gun rack in the back of a pickup.... the fellow that owned the truck was the nephew a business associate back in NC ... Dad ..walked over took the shotgun out of the truck .. checked and it was his and loaded ... right in front of the guy ... Dad put it in his truck ...not a word said ....
My Dad is gone .. the 37 is in my safe ....
It has taken alot of game over the years ..
Mid 1970s - I'm working in a retail paint store in a shopping center right beside the housing projects.
I got stuck working the "late shift" of 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. - meaning I had to close in the pitch dark.
All the other stores close at 5:00pm - so - I was pretty much the only place with the lights on.<<<--easy target since it was easy to see I was alone.
Company policy forbid firearms and/or any other type of weapon.
I bought a cheap FIE .380. I'd wanted a .38 special but - the guy in the gun store told me the .380 was the same thing, only a semi auto & not a revolver.
Anyhow - I kept it loaded with one in the chamber on top of a stack of paint in the warehouse. I figured if someone wanted the cash drawer they were welcome to it - but - if they marched me towards the back room - it was me or them.
Sure enough - one day it's about 10 min to close and this scruffy looking drunk or high or both - individual comes in and mumbles. "First your close, then the money". I'm 99% sure that what he said - I asked him to repeat it since I didn't think I heard it correctly. Just as I said to repeat it - someone came in the front door and the bell rang. The guy turned around and beat feet out the front door and took off running.
That cheap gun has a great deal of sentimental value. I'll never part with it as long as I live.
I got stuck working the "late shift" of 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. - meaning I had to close in the pitch dark.
All the other stores close at 5:00pm - so - I was pretty much the only place with the lights on.<<<--easy target since it was easy to see I was alone.
Company policy forbid firearms and/or any other type of weapon.
I bought a cheap FIE .380. I'd wanted a .38 special but - the guy in the gun store told me the .380 was the same thing, only a semi auto & not a revolver.
Anyhow - I kept it loaded with one in the chamber on top of a stack of paint in the warehouse. I figured if someone wanted the cash drawer they were welcome to it - but - if they marched me towards the back room - it was me or them.
Sure enough - one day it's about 10 min to close and this scruffy looking drunk or high or both - individual comes in and mumbles. "First your close, then the money". I'm 99% sure that what he said - I asked him to repeat it since I didn't think I heard it correctly. Just as I said to repeat it - someone came in the front door and the bell rang. The guy turned around and beat feet out the front door and took off running.
That cheap gun has a great deal of sentimental value. I'll never part with it as long as I live.
test drive
Member
Dead man's gun... sort of
Remember back in the late 90s a short lived TV show "The dead man's gun" it was centered around a S&W Schofield revolver that brought good or bad
luck to whoever ended up with it each episode.
Fast forward to last October I was working out of town and stopped at a gun store to kill some time.
I was looking for at the single actions when the owner said he had something in the back I may be interested in.
He produced a new uberti Schofield Wells Fargo model in .45 Colt. He said a guy had put it on layaway several months ago and had since then passed and after waiting for months with no one inquiring about it it was up for sale at a reduced price. Don't know if that was true or a sales pitch but I now have a nice Uberti Schofield.
Remember back in the late 90s a short lived TV show "The dead man's gun" it was centered around a S&W Schofield revolver that brought good or bad
luck to whoever ended up with it each episode.
Fast forward to last October I was working out of town and stopped at a gun store to kill some time.
I was looking for at the single actions when the owner said he had something in the back I may be interested in.
He produced a new uberti Schofield Wells Fargo model in .45 Colt. He said a guy had put it on layaway several months ago and had since then passed and after waiting for months with no one inquiring about it it was up for sale at a reduced price. Don't know if that was true or a sales pitch but I now have a nice Uberti Schofield.
Project355
Member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2020
- Messages
- 672
When I worked at a local gun range, for about a decade, I did everything from sweep the range to sell targets, range time and ammo to customers, sell guns, fix guns, keep the reloading machines running right... pretty much everything. One day, a regular customer came in, traded in a seemingly unfired "Lew Horton" Model 29 dash something, with 2-1/2" barrel and round butt. Had nice factory goncalo finger groove grips on it too. I snatched it up. Well that was the beginning of a very long journey for that little beast. I kept it maybe two months, and got really tired of the middle finger on my right hand taking a knuckle beating every time I shot it. It went back in the display. Another employee had wanted it, but I didn't know that, so he paid what I paid... and I was done with that wretched hunk of steel. He had it about two weeks. Back in the case. Yet another employee stepped up... kept it for a few weeks, back in the case. And finally the last employee stepped up.... you got it.... back in the case. Another customer bought it. Shot it, same day, back in the case. Finally, one day I noticed it was gone, and went and looked up who got it, some cop who used to come in from time to time. We never saw it, or him again!
This is the revolver section of THR, and while I see a rifle story... I think I'll hold off on how I got my Serbu Super Shorty from Mark, one very cold day in January.
This is the revolver section of THR, and while I see a rifle story... I think I'll hold off on how I got my Serbu Super Shorty from Mark, one very cold day in January.
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Gordon
Member
The gun has characteristics of Metalife hard Chrome . I be lieve this man pioneered the process and I had never seen bead blasted nickle finish much earlier. He has been doing it 48 years or slightly more so maybe gun was done later in it's life (70s) by the cop. The finish is well nigh indestrucable. It slicks the gun up too and he is a gunsmith , maybe he was in midwest earlier as I remember. http://www.mahovskysmetalife.com/
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My granddad's (~1897-1954) EDC, 32S&W. I was 6 when he passed away, so while he did take me fishing, he never got the chance to teach me about hunting and shooting. The gun other than the nickel finish is in good shape and I put a could rounds through it every couple of years.
Granddad (Alfred Dorman, Statesboro, GA) founded the National Wholesale Grocers Association. They had national meetings in various "convention" cities around the country. Back in the day, in many large cities, only the politically connected could carry concealed. But mayors, to encourage the convention business, of course wanted to accommodate visitors, and would give out "courtesy cards." These cards meant that the local LEOs were to ignore certain minor infractions, like double parking, public drunkenness, prostitution and concealed carry. Not that Mr. D. would do any of those, except the later. Surviving among his effects, I discovered after Mrs. D. passed away, was one of those Curtsey Cards. No date, but Turk was mayor '49-'51.
Granddad (Alfred Dorman, Statesboro, GA) founded the National Wholesale Grocers Association. They had national meetings in various "convention" cities around the country. Back in the day, in many large cities, only the politically connected could carry concealed. But mayors, to encourage the convention business, of course wanted to accommodate visitors, and would give out "courtesy cards." These cards meant that the local LEOs were to ignore certain minor infractions, like double parking, public drunkenness, prostitution and concealed carry. Not that Mr. D. would do any of those, except the later. Surviving among his effects, I discovered after Mrs. D. passed away, was one of those Curtsey Cards. No date, but Turk was mayor '49-'51.
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