Poll: Did you Inherit Firearms? Read this thread first!!!

[bionic knees]

I don't trust reloads as it seems they're in use often when a firearm blows up in someone's hand.

I have been reloading for o0ver 40 years and have had one primer pop out in all that time. thousands of rounds over the years.

 

[bionic knees]

I inherited a handful from my dad, neither of my grandads had guns. there are just 2 that have any real sentimental value. the others may be sublect to sale somewhere down the line.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I have inherited / gifted firearms.
I treasure them for what they are and where / who they came from.

Speaking only for myself here....

Money is just money....and soon spent / gone.
The memories of the gifted / inherited firearm are forever.

Firearms mean more to me , than just tools or things.
Each one that I own speaks to me , is part of me...has a deep meaning or connection.

Money just does not have or do that.

Andy

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Hard work and saving money was what made me able to buy this rifle....

3 shots fired off hand at 50 yards from my Hawken Rifle

• Andy54Hawken
• Oct 5, 2024

The rifle was made by Loren "Doc" Brown...
Who I was honored to be friends with.

Doc Brown with medal.jpg

• Andy54Hawken
• Dec 27, 2018
• 1

Doc later gifted me his personal longrifle one Veteran's day

Doc Brown Longrifle.

• Andy54Hawken
• May 5, 2024
• 1

The above rifles are far more than tools...or wood and steel to me.
And worth more then any dollar amount for the memories that reside in each nick or wear mark on them.
Andy

 

[boattail]

I have three of my dad's guns. He left over two dozen in his will. My two brothers and a nephew got the bulk of them. My older brother died and I'm sure my younger brother gathered up his guns. I won't sell them but I also may not have anyone to will them too as my family does not speak to me. I'll have to figure out a way to keep them in the family before I die.

 

[gmerkt]

My situation is a bit different. Last year, Dave, a former coworker of mine who was a gun buddy died. He left me all his guns. 176 pieces, mostly handguns. Plus boxes and a cabinet of spare parts, ammo, accessories, etc. He was single and spent all his spare money on guns. None of the guns had "sentimental" value. They were all just stuff. To date, I've sold 148 of them with some left to go. I will keep maybe 20 or fewer. But I already had "my own" guns and didn't need nor want anywhere near as many as I suddenly had. In the meantime, I've sold several of "my own" guns simply to unload stuff I knew I wouldn't use with the influx of Dave's stuff. So it's a work in progress but I'm mostly where I want to be now.

Something else to consider is that they almost never go down in value and always increase with very little exceptions.

There are collecting trends that find some guns losing value over time. In relation to the time value of money. For example, if you paid $600 for a gun 20 years ago, and you sell it today for the same $600, you've lost money. Because money is worth a lot less today than it was 20 years ago. In the case of Dave's guns, some of the things that he bought many years ago have in the meantime gone colder in the marketplace. Like J frame revolvers. He left lots of those; I wish he'd been more interested in N frame guns.

Dave kept a card file with records on all his guns. Including price paid. Most of his guns I've sold at auction, not like I took them down to a pawn shop and took low ball offers. It almost makes me weep to see what he paid for some of these things. Others were nicely remunerative. He didn't have many that were made after the early 2000's and most were at least 25 years old. Many Colts from 1940's to 1980's.

My dad was not a gun person. He grew up on a farm; they had a shotgun for strictly bidness but when my grandfather moved to the city, it was sold in the farm auction. So I don't have any family heirloom guns from previous generations.

I have one grandson who is keen on guns and shooting so he may wind up with some of my stuff when the time comes. Which will be in the hands of Mrs. Merkt who will likely outlive me but who knows. But it's my plan not to leave a big mess on her hands to deal with. Just this week, I sold my .45-70 and my last .38 Super (of Dave's stuff), eliminating extraneous calibers and gaining shelf space.

I do have one gun that I inherited from another friend. It's a Smith & Wesson Model 28. I bought this gun new in the 1980's. My friend John liked it and finally talked me out of it. When he died in 2007, his partner gave it back to me. It's a keeper.

 

[Medic!]

People have funny ideas about what they should do with their stuff.

People have funny ideas about what you should do with your stuff.


Me? I just have funny ideas.

 

[Oxygen Mask]

Hard work and saving money was what made me able to buy this rifle....

3 shots fired off hand at 50 yards from my Hawken Rifle

• Andy54Hawken
• Oct 5, 2024

The rifle was made by Loren "Doc" Brown...
Who I was honored to be friends with.

Doc Brown with medal.jpg

• Andy54Hawken
• Dec 27, 2018
• 1

Doc later gifted me his personal longrifle one Veteran's day

Doc Brown Longrifle.

• Andy54Hawken
• May 5, 2024
• 1

The above rifles are far more than tools...or wood and steel to me.
And worth more then any dollar amount for the memories that reside in each nick or wear mark on them.
Andy

I read your post to my wife and showed her the pictures. We talked about it during dinner.
I always wondered why your "newish" Hawken was so dear to you. Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy your posts.

 

[mpmax]

My dad gave me a handful of rifles and shotguns (savage 99, Swedish Mauser, Remington model 11, Winchester m64, weatherby pump) when I was in college. I sold them for the princely sum of $75 each down at B'awna Junction around 1984. My dad gave me his last gun-a new in box Winchester 1200 (from 1974) about 7 years. I may be old enough to appreciate it now and shoot it every chance I get and will give it to my kids when I'm done with it.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I read your post to my wife and showed her the pictures. We talked about it during dinner.
I always wondered why your "newish" Hawken was so dear to you. Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy your posts.

Thank you ...
Doc was a Hell of man....and my friendship with him means a lot to me.
I've owned that Hawken since 1997...it is my primary shooting and hunting rifle.
The walnut stock was made from a local tree that was hit by lightning.

While I do enjoy shooting some of my original rifles from time to time...
Shooting a firearm that is pushing 200 years old , or more , has it own unique set of challenges.
Doc's flintlock and my Hawken will give one a feel for those old firearms , without the worry of breaking a antique.
Andy

 

[McHowell85]

I actually just received my first inherited gun. Its an antique Iver Johnson American Bull Dog 32cal revolver.

 

[Skully]

I am a mix of all 3. I got rid of some and have no regrets on the ones I got rid of. Had a shotgun my grandpa gave me I got rid of. After how ShlTty he treated me the last time I talked to him years ago I have no regrets. Another I had was my uncle's 22 I got rid of that used to be my dads dads gun (not my grandpa different guy walked out on family). I had some attachment to my uncle, but it was a really old 22 with no online instructions to disassembled or youtube or any old ones on ebay after looking for a year. Had to clean it eventually after shooting it I couldn't fully assemble it back, my friend could and gave him a great deal as he can clean and maintain that old antique.
Every gun I traded or sold from family I have NO REGRET. That said, I have several I love I still keep. The grandfather I dont have a good relationship with, I love the .357 I got from him and it was the first 357 I ever shot and I love it and will never sell it. I got a few other firearms I will never get rid of from family.Anything I can use, was memorable to me or them shooting together, I kept and thats probably 70% of what I got luckily.

That said, I always got screwed on most guns from family that I actually wanted. My grandma gave all her husband's guns away to her church friends and left us one that was a cheap 100$ gun (he had good stuff but she nor he cared about us enough to give that stuff clearly or the stuff he actually liked.) When my great grandpa passed, she let's her sisters husband have all of those guns and it still pisses me off. I didnt want all of those 30 guns but I would have liked a few that were sentimental to me. Ill never inherit anything else that matters as they gave away all the stuff I cared about and the side of the family that got them will be sold by their kids (let the 50 to 70 year olds get it who had no kids who like guns vs the 20 year old who actually wanted a few due to memories shooting togeather or guns we bonded over and would be kept forever. My parents have nothing I care for (ironically I gave them some of what they have, they are not gun people just have a few though I would keep them out of memory, at least the ones they cared about not just the ones they had) and the rest have no guns or gave it away to their friends.
Just because its a family gun, if you can't maintain the gun because its old and needs someone who is an expert to clean it even get rid of it. If its a family member you didnt like go for it sell it. If its a family member you cared about or a close friends gun and it meant something to them keep it. If its a gun you like and use keep it. Im realistic enough to admit I only asked for stuff I wanted to keep. Some of the stuff no one else wanted I ended up with and some I kept because I used and liked the guns, others I got rid of it just depends. Maybe im a idiot but I think of the gun too like if I never will shoot it what's the point of keeping a gun for 15 years because I hate shooting it unless it was really special. I would rather let someone else enjoy it and give them a good deal in hopes they keep it.

 

[WapitiBob]

I got rid of half a safe full of them. Never touched them for 20 years, kids don't shoot, so away they went.

 

[foxmeadow]

When Dad passed, my younger, more entitled sister got to his place ahead of the rest of us. I wound up with a Topper Junior .410, which would have been contested if not for the plate in the stock that had my name on it. The rest, Ithaca 37 that Mom and I picked out for him, the S&W M10 that he promised me, WWII memorabilia, nobody knew where it went. I suspect, but whatever. I haven't spoken to that woman since Mom's funeral.
Sorry to unload...

 

[Joe13]

When Dad passed, my younger, more entitled sister got to his place ahead of the rest of us. I wound up with a Topper Junior .410, which would have been contested if not for the plate in the stock that had my name on it. The rest, Ithaca 37 that Mom and I picked out for him, the S&W M10 that he promised me, WWII memorabilia, nobody knew where it went. I suspect, but whatever. I haven't spoken to that woman since Mom's funeral.
Sorry to unload...

It seems nothing brings out the absolute worst in some people more so then someone passing.

 

[Alexx1401]

When Dad passed, my younger, more entitled sister got to his place ahead of the rest of us. I wound up with a Topper Junior .410, which would have been contested if not for the plate in the stock that had my name on it. The rest, Ithaca 37 that Mom and I picked out for him, the S&W M10 that he promised me, WWII memorabilia, nobody knew where it went. I suspect, but whatever. I haven't spoken to that woman since Mom's funeral.
Sorry to unload...

It is really sad how this so often goes. When my FIL passed Wife had 6 siblings. Some of them had not seen their Father in a long time and seemed to not care. They sure as hell all wanted to know how much money they were going to get though. When we asked who wanted to take his dog, little 10# cutie. NO ONE wanted him. So I told Wife what the hell, they don't live long anyway and we had 3 so what's one more.