Cool old stuff that might have no actual value

[bob609891]

Yesterday afternoon I did a little research on an old 32-20 my dad gave me a while back. Its just an old toy i wouldnt trust to put a round through but I consider it one of my cooler guns. Maybe its because there's some sentimental value to it or because its 106 years old or because he had an interesting story to go with it... but it really got me thinking. If my 1907 spanish knockoff of a smith and wesson hand ejector that my dad picked up over 30 years ago (which is worth about $30 nowadays) holds just as much value to me as my glock23 or smith mp15 or any of my other everyday shooters... what do you guys out there have that may not be worth a lot of money or be practical but is as high on your list as my 32-20 is on mine?

 

[schafe]

Yesterday afternoon I did a little research on an old 32-20 my dad gave me a while back. Its just an old toy i wouldnt trust to put a round through but I consider it one of my cooler guns. Maybe its because there's some sentimental value to it or because its 106 years old or because he had an interesting story to go with it... but it really got me thinking. If my 1907 spanish knockoff of a smith and wesson hand ejector that my dad picked up over 30 years ago (which is worth about $30 nowadays) holds just as much value to me as my glock23 or smith mp15 or any of my other everyday shooters... what do you guys out there have that may not be worth a lot of money or be practical but is as high on your list as my 32-20 is on mine?

My wife probably falls in that category. She is in debt, so not worth a lot of money, but she's at the top of my list. But I doubt that's what you meant.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I have 3 old shotguns that my grandmother gave me after my grandfather died.

One is actually worth "something" - but the other two, including the most usable of the 3, aren't worth much at all.

But I still like them and I dearly hope I'm never forced into parting with them.

-J-

 

[Stang51d]

I have two like that. Both were my grandpa's, one I never heard the story on, but an old, maybe 1894, Iver Johnson .32 short revolver. The other is a last ditch 7.7mm jap rifle that he brought home after the war. It seems to be from not the last batch, but the second to last batch of the last ditch guns and from the Tokyo arsenal. These were "toys" as we were growing up, and both have been dry fired more then most guns ever got shot. Well, I checked the pistol out a while back, it had been at my cousin's house, and it seemed ok. Cleaned everything up and it shoots fine. The old jap rifle is a little different. I don't know the story of how he got it, but he was a MOMM1 in the navy on the USS Palawan, a reciprocating engine repair ship. After the surrender, he was in sasibo (sp?) Japan before coming home. I assume that is where it came from. Anyway, he always told us that it had never been fired. I cleaned it up, looked it over good and after the grease came out of the barrel, it looked brand new down the bore, and it fired the first time yesterday.

 

[DanVoils]

A Marlin 49DL .22 rifle and a Mossberg 183K .410 shotgun. I can't remember not having them as I've had them so long. I would love to know how many squirrels and rabbits met the dinner table due to these guns. Each of my kids learned to shoot on these guns and they are ages 27-31. Cool thing is they are both still very functional. My elder brother has the Mossberg right now as we kind of shared it growing up.

 

[bob609891]

Reminds me of my great grandfather's 20 gauge - not sure how long its been in the family but its a hardware store gun from the 20s or 30s... I've had it since I was 8 or 9 and was firing it before I had my first BB gun. I'm sure its cash value is next to nothing but its by far my favorite shotgun.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

My dad has an old single shot no name 12 guage that his father gave to him. It was a wedding present from my grandfather's uncle, if I remember correctly. It WILL blow a squirrel sideways six feet from roughly 80 yards with plain jane 7 1/2 shot. Love that old gun. We very seldom shoot it.
Also, my uncle gave me a K98 before he moved to Texas. My aunt had found it for him at a garage sale for 35 bucks. I spent a whole weekend scrubbing the mud out of the barrel, so when he moved he gave it to me. Useless, but I love it.

 

[Stschil]

My Great Grandpa (Opah) Eberhardt's single shot youth Stevens. Its not functional (firing mech is broken). His name is carved on the stock. It has had a place of honor on my Folks' mantel for as long as I can remember. I have been told that it comes to me eventually. Needless to say, since both my parents are still very much in good health, I'm more than happy to wait.

 

[Claddagh]

Mine's the old Iver Johnson Champion single-shot .410 that my father got for his 12th birthday and passed on to me on my 11th. Lord knows just how many hours my Dad and I spent and miles we walked with it hunting rabbits, squirrels and Bobwhites as boys.

It's got very little finish left, the hinge lock-up is loose and the wood has quite a few dings and scratches, but it's one thing that I'll never part with.

 

[blamecharles]

I have a break action pellet gun that me and my best friend shot the daylights out of. The stock is broken, its covered in rust and probably doesn't work, hasn't been shot in 20 years probably. He committed suicide in 2002 and i ended up with it about 7 years ago or so. I just can bring myself to let it go as it is one of the few things i have, besides pictures and a tattoo, that remind me of him. It was worth maybe 30 dollars new but has so much more in sentimental value.

 

[Gunaria]

I say your 32-20 is worth at least 50 bucks. I see them at shops from time to time and the asking prices are rather comical.

 

[Bapak2ja]

I have two Stevens .22s I inherited, one from my grandfather and one from my father-in-law. Both from the 1930s. One looks like it will still fire safely, but I am not about to test either one.

Also have a no-name single-shot .22 my dad gave to my brother and so we could put dents in an old milk can on the far side of the pasture when we visited the farm back in Tennessee. We had a good time until a neighbor came up complaining that the ricochets were scaring his womenfolk. It dates back to the 1950s. Never been cleaned as far as I know, and the finish is worn off leaving bare wood, but still sits up there on the gun gun rack between those old Stevens and the Arikasa dad brought back from Nagoya—he was in the occupation force that did not have to invade the islands after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Finally, I have a no-name six-shot top-opening .38 revolver that dad bought for my mom to use when he was working late back in Tennessee. They were living in a small town, trying to get started as a young family. Dad was learning to lay brick and I was still cute a a button to everyone except my three-year old brother. Some folks decide it was cool to rattle the front door at night after dark, before dad got home. You know, the old rattle and beat on the door and run stuff. Apparently it scared the bejesus out of my mom, so dad decided to fix things. Dad was not amused.

He bought this pistol for $15 , including six rounds of ammo. One afternoon he went out on the front porch and noticed some folks standing around, so he fired a round in the air. ( What can I say, it was Tennessee in the early 1950s.) Apparently a couple neighbors came over to ask what was going on. He explained about someone "trying to break in and bother my wife." He then added that he told her that if the door rattles again, just "empty the gun through the door and go wait in the kitchen. When I get home I will see what you got." As the story goes, no one ever rattled that door again.

Year later, dad moved the family to Fort Wayne looking for work. Seems a brick mason who is afraid of heights does not do too well. My brother, a lifer in the Air Force (Minuteman silos) and National Guard (tanks, mortar, recon) looked at that gun a couple years ago and warned that it should never be fired. Something about seeing daylight between the end of the chamber and the beginning of the barrel . I still have that old thing locked up with my EDCs. Won't fire it, but someday I will probably hand off to mk2ja as a family heirloom.

 

[LionWeight]

Got a glenfield model 60 that I grew up with. Was my brothers, he gave it to me. We had to have put a hundred thousand rounds through it. Most of the shooting was target shooting since grandma and mom wouldn't think of messing with small game.

Got a couple old remington, higgins, and savages that aren't worth alot, but they belonged to my grandfathers. They get passed on to my son.

 

[RandallX]

hopkins and allen dbl barrel 12g i received after my great grandpa and father passed away. Does not work currently but i am in the process of fixing that. Used to be a farm gun that sat behind the kitchen door at my great grandparents farm.

 

[RandomName]

Two, actually.

A Stevens 12g pump shotgun. I carried it from the time I was 12 when I went squirrel hunting. It was my granddad's gun on my dad's side, but quickly became "my gun". I inherited it upon his death.

A Marlin .22 that belonged to my grandpa on my mom's side. It was the first rifle I ever shot, and after his death my grandma gave it to me as a birthday present.

The Stevens was the reason I bought a gun safe. Its the first material thing I had that I would be devestated if I were to lose. It still racks up the squirrels, as well.

 

[45fan]

I have a few rifles that hold sentimental value, but not much else. One is an old stevens .22 that was my grandpas, dont even know if it is functional any more, but it was one of only two firearms I ever knew him to own. I also have an old Arisaka with a busted receiver that someone did a hack job of sporterizing it many years ago that was my uncles. My favorite sentimental gun though is an old .22 single shot that was one of the first guns I ever shot. It is ugly, been rusted up, and doesnt always eject the case when its fired, but there are many great memories in that little rifle.

 

[paddling_man]

Yeah. An old Spanish 7mm mauser. It was Bubba-ized back in the fifties by some kid. They were purchased out of a barrel in the local hardware store for <$10. The kid used to buy 'em and cut down the stocks to a more western hunting profile and resell them. The kid was my dad.

A Stevens single shot .22 used to win many turkey / meat shoots back in the thirties - forties by this little guy that owned the local general store. That little guy was my grandpa.