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I was just over visiting my Dad and we started talking guns. He got his guns out, and I hadn't seen them in years. Not being a gun expert, I wasn't sure what all I was seeing. Any info appreciated. I suppose I could go back and take pics, but just off the top of your head, what do you think?

He has:

A 10/22 Ruger that he bought new in the mid '70's. It has a few small closet dings on the wood but no marks on the bluing. I didn't even know he had it. He said he bought it one day on a whim.

A beautiful Colt single action western style 22lr pistol, blued. It has black grips with a lot of pattern including small colts molded into them. The frame is blued with what reminds me of bone charcoal case bluing (very mottled in various colors) and the rest of the gun including the barrel is just blue. I would guess the barrel to be 4" or so. The gun looks brand new, maybe never fired. I'm sure it isn't newer than the 70's.

An old Winchester shotgun in pretty rough shape including wire wrapped around the cracked stock. Most bluing gone but metal otherwise nice. It's a 12 ga pump marked 1894.

A Marlin 30-30 lever that he says he bought new in about 1947. This gun I remember well. The bluing is very nice and the wood has a few small marks. Overall the gun is very nice. He never hunted much.

A S&W airweight that I gave him brand new in the mid 70's. He's never taken it out of the holster although it's loaded. It's absolutely brand new. It looks exactly like an exposed hammer model 36 with the small squared butt but the barrel is marked airweight and it is airweight. It's blue and perfect, both metal and grips, probably never fired. No ring on cylinder of course.

He offered to give them all to me except the airweight (for his protection) but I declined. I don't want them until he's gone and I want him to live forever. He's 93 and a vet of Normandy, made it to Belgium, was wounded and has a purple heart and bronze star. The cotton picker still drives!

Any thoughts on the guns, especially that Colt pistol?
 
An old Winchester shotgun in pretty rough shape including wire wrapped around the cracked stock. Most bluing gone but metal otherwise nice. It's a 12 ga pump marked 1894.
Could that have been a Winchester 1897??? They sported an obvious exposed hammer....I am no expert but have no experience with a '94 shotgun...except the '9.410 or whatever the lever action .410 was called...
 
I don't have any opinions on the guns, but thank your Dad for being part of one of the two greatest generations of Americans (the other is WW1 vets), who actually willingly fought for our freedoms.

Without Men like your Dad, we could not enjoy our hobby, and communicate on a forum like this.

God Bless the WW1, WW2, and all military veterans, and active personal.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I do not think I have a problem. I'm told that the first step to recovery is to admit your problem..... Screw them. I have NO problem
 
A beautiful Colt single action western style 22lr pistol, blued. It has black grips with a lot of pattern including small colts molded into them. The frame is blued with what reminds me of bone charcoal case bluing (very mottled in various colors) and the rest of the gun including the barrel is just blue. I would guess the barrel to be 4" or so. The gun looks brand new, maybe never fired. I'm sure it isn't newer than the 70's.

Frontier scout
 
I don't have any opinions on the guns, but thank your Dad for being part of one of the two greatest generations of Americans (the other is WW1 vets), who actually willingly fought for our freedoms.

Without Men like your Dad, we could not enjoy our hobby, and communicate on a forum like this.

God Bless the WW1, WW2, and all military veterans, and active personal.

Thank you. I'll relay that to him for sure. Here's a pic of Mom and Dad from last year. Mom stayed home and worried while Dad went to war. Mom is now in a rest home and won't be with us for long now.


DadMom2007Resized.jpg
 
A beautiful Colt single action western style 22lr pistol, blued. It has black grips with a lot of pattern including small colts molded into them. The frame is blued with what reminds me of bone charcoal case bluing (very mottled in various colors) and the rest of the gun including the barrel is just blue. I would guess the barrel to be 4" or so. The gun looks brand new, maybe never fired. I'm sure it isn't newer than the 70's.

Frontier scout

Any idea what era? The gun is 99.9%.
 
An old Winchester shotgun in pretty rough shape including wire wrapped around the cracked stock. Most bluing gone but metal otherwise nice. It's a 12 ga pump marked 1894.

Winchester made a model 1893 pump for a few years, discontinued it when the 1897 came out. They look similar---exposed hammer pumps. Not too
many of them around, Winchester would trade a new 97 straight across
for your old 93. First hammerless Winchester pump that I'm aware of is
the model 12.
 
Winchester made a model 1893 pump for a few years, discontinued it when the 1897 came out. They look similar---exposed hammer pumps. Not too
many of them around, Winchester would trade a new 97 straight across
for your old 93. First hammerless Winchester pump that I'm aware of is
the model 12.

I really didn't look at that shotgun much. I'll look again and see if maybe it does have a hammer, and verify the # on it. I'll take a camera this time.
 
I'm going to offer up that you might consider taking them now. I realize that you want your parents with you as long as you can. Perhaps your perspective is that they are your Dad's guns and should remain his as long as he is alive. I think it would give your Dad peace of mind to know that he was able to pass along his guns to the person he wanted them to go to and they have them. Given the description of what he has and his age, I don't think he'll have opportunity to use them. At this point, there is more value in giving them to you. It's where they will go anyway. When would you like to say thank you, when he can still say, "Your welcome." or after he is gone?

Another reason to take them now is that I have seen family estates and relations go South after the passage of a loved one. It might gnaw on you to no end to know that what your Dad intended for you went to someone else or got "lost".

I enjoy family history. My parents are gone. Almost all of that generation is gone on both sides. Ask your Dad about the guns and how he came to possess them and whether they belong to any other family members or friends. Someday, you might want to pass them along and they will be treasured more by the next recipient if there is some family history to go with it. In fact, ask them any other questions about family history before it's too late. Write it all down. Enjoy any time you can spare with them. They look like really nice folks. I hope he shared his experiences at Normandy with you.
 
I'm going to offer up that you might consider taking them now. I realize that you want your parents with you as long as you can. Perhaps your perspective is that they are your Dad's guns and should remain his as long as he is alive. I think it would give your Dad peace of mind to know that he was able to pass along his guns to the person he wanted them to go to and they have them. Given the description of what he has and his age, I don't think he'll have opportunity to use them. At this point, there is more value in giving them to you. It's where they will go anyway. When would you like to say thank you, when he can still say, "Your welcome." or after he is gone?

Another reason to take them now is that I have seen family estates and relations go South after the passage of a loved one. It might gnaw on you to no end to know that what your Dad intended for you went to someone else or got "lost".

I enjoy family history. My parents are gone. Almost all of that generation is gone on both sides. Ask your Dad about the guns and how he came to possess them and whether they belong to any other family members or friends. Someday, you might want to pass them along and they will be treasured more by the next recipient if there is some family history to go with it. In fact, ask them any other questions about family history before it's too late. Write it all down. Enjoy any time you can spare with them. They look like really nice folks. I hope he shared his experiences at Normandy with you.

Thanks for the advice. Dad wasn't hurt that I didn't take them. He's just very generous and realizes that he won't use them again. Still "our" guns are part of our manhood somehow, and I don't want to take that part of him.

As for family feuds, there won't be one. I have one sister who lives in N. Washington and she has no interest in them, and her husband passed a couple of years ago so she's alone and doesn't even like guns. She wants some of Mom's things like the butter churn and many such items. Besides, I'm the trustee of the estate and the instant both parents are gone, I'm the boss, LOL.

Yes, I actually recorded Dad telling about his war experiences and his Great Depression experiences and I'm having them transcribed. To escape hunger during the depression, Dad joined the army at age 14, lying about his age. He got out when his time was up, and then got drafted for WWII, so he was in twice.

They are wonderful people. Mom is leaving us, most likely in the next couple of weeks. I spent much of today with Dad talking to hospice, and visiting the nursing home, and then taking Dad home and visiting with him and that's when the guns came out - something to distract us a bit I guess.
 
Whenever I think of the WWII generation, I have to admit it makes our generation seem pretty small. They weathered a Depression, then defeated fascism on two fronts, and established Social Security that has kept the elderly out of poverty (for the most part, anyway). They solved the big problems of their Generation. What are we doing?

Tell your Father a sincere Thank You for everyone from this forum.
 
Whenever I think of the WWII generation, I have to admit it makes our generation seem pretty small. They weathered a Depression, then defeated fascism on two fronts, and established Social Security that has kept the elderly out of poverty (for the most part, anyway). They solved the big problems of their Generation. What are we doing?

Tell your Father a sincere Thank You for everyone from this forum.

I sure will tell him. Thanks.
 
And a thank you from me too. They will not be around much longer. To bad as I can never get enough stories from them. We have a young man (89) that comes in and still gets tears when we get a story from him. A great generation they are. Oh yeh, nice guns.


Jack, It's hard to get most of them to talk about it. They saw a lot of horrible, horrible things. I have to pry stories out of Dad, and then only when I'm lucky.

I had to ask for his medals a few years ago to have them framed (his purple heart and bronze star and a few other things) and he was reluctant to let me do it. I hung them in the dining room of their house and he moved them down the hall after I left. His discharge papers show the medals and the mustering out pay and his disability pay and he won't let me frame that.

I really think they don't want to remember.
 
While the esperience isnt universal, those of that generation tend to look back and realize how they were kids and the horrible things they saw. They don't like to share or remember how the kid next to them went down, ending a life of promise. The sacrifices they made preserved freedom around the world. As their descendants, we benefit from the freedoms they preserved for us and don't really, can't really dwell on the horrors of a virtuous war. They really do deserve the title Greatest Generation.
 
Mom went to be with the Lord at 2:00 this afternoon.

We have lots of family here which is surrounding Dad with love. We (8 of us) just took him out to eat and my grown daughter is spending the night at his house. My sister will be here tomorrow to spend a couple of weeks with him.

Mom and Dad were married for 68 years.

Neither Dad nor I are as sad as one might think. We cried for a while but Mom was in so much pain and her mind was gone so there's relief for her that's overriding our own pain. It was time.

My son is really "into" digital video recording and editing and we're going to interview Dad about WWII and also do another about the Great Depression after all of this issue with Mom calms down for him.


DadMom2007Resized.jpg
 
I did tell Dad about this forum and how many people had said kind things and had asked me to thank him for his service. He was really touched.

Thank you. :)
 

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