With so many collectors and shooters on this forum, I'd love to know: What's your most prized firearm?
Overall, mine is the S&W Mod 36 that my father used to shoot an armed robber in their Balto City clothing store in 1982. The robber had a gun to my Mom's head w/ the hammer cocked. My father shot him when he tried to choke my mom w/her necklace. It broke, the robber started to bring his gun up to aim at my father. My father shot him. He dropped immediately. He died a couple of days later. I would have been orphaned that day had my father not had the gun and, more importantly, the mindset and tactics to win. That gun is my most prized possession period. Of course, that's my most prized gun for sentimental reasons.
Otherwise, my most prized firearm is my Gen 1 Glock 19 followed closely by my 100% factory original HK MP5 K. There are 20 or less of these iconic guns which are pre-samples in the US.
My dad's Remington 870 Wingmaster that he inherited from his father, My factory Nickel finish S&W 586 no dash. I'd be ok with parting with the S&W But you'd have to pry the 870 from my dead hands.
870 Wingmaster for me too. My first firearm purchase at 22, I bought it well used for $100. It's been with me for 16 years. It is old (maybe as old as I am) and looks like hell, but it works.
Probably the old single shot H&R 12 gauge that belonged to my grandfather, put a lot of food on the table over several decades. I took out the firing pin just in case, after the barrel broke open and the ejected shell hit me in the forehead. It doesn't have an ejector.
At some point I'd like to make a wall hanger out of it, but am somewhat leery of displaying any firearm.
Not sure I really have one to me they're mostly just things. My correct answer should be a Eric Johnson barreled Ballard my dad won Camp Perry with and set a NRA National Record with.
Difficult to choose one, but I can't think of any firearm I have that I prize more than this old beat up M1 Garand.
When I was growing up in the 1950's, all my friends had Dads that were WW2 veterans......and, these men were a special part of my growing up experience......especially my own Dad:
My father died in 2013, I ended up getting his last police revolver Smith Model 19 from the late 80's. Will never get rid of it. But boy I wish I had his 3" Python he carried in the 60's but that was long gone. Only photos remain.
I don't have any too special by other's standards. I have several that I prize for various reasons. I do like them not only as shooters but as things, themselves. I don't know if I collect or if I accumulate.
The guns I don't prize, and could potentially let go is a much shorter list.
This Dan Wesson .44 mag is a nice keeper for me. I've successfully deer hunted with it. Have an 8" ported barrel, and a 4" unported barrel for it. It was my first handgun purchase (along with a .22 at the same time). It is very accurate and much more comfortable than the S&W and Ruger .44 mags I've shot. It is not made anymore.
Likewise, a Dan Wesson 15-2VH for me. I had one when I was a kid and my FIL and I shot the dickens out of it while I was dating his daughter who I later (obviously) married. Unfortunately I pawned it to put food on the table and he was just sick about me losing it. I was there at the hospital the night he died. His daughter and I have been married 40 years.
The day after he passed away my MIL told me to go look upstairs and check under his bed as I was clearing loaded firearms in the house in advance of all the likely visitors that would be paying their respects and found a boxed DW 15-2VH with 4" and 6" barrels just like the one I had pawned decades ago. The only thing on it was a sticky note with my name in his hand writing.
I have several of his personal firearms now in my custody. I'd never part with that gun under any circumstances.
I left home at 17, and my older sister made certain that I got nothing from my boyhood home. There were several firearms that were very special to me.
It was a clean break, however, so I can only consider what was accumulated since then. The best would be the first 1911 that came my way in 1968. It was the first of a bushel basket of 1911's that came and went. It has a Singer lower frame and a Colt slide. Many thousands of .45acp passed through that barrel since 1968!
That 1911 was a terrific bullseye gun, it scored perfect scores for the CHL/LTC tests, killed lots of rabbits, squirrels and rats, and was in my hand during the "Hell Week" when the Feds were going to search every employee home in Tulsa.
I told the friend who leased part of my house, that "If you hear the slide of that .45 being racked back, get out the back door and keep running!"
Difficult to choose one, but I can't think of any firearm I have that I prize more than this old beat up M1 Garand.
When I was growing up in the 1950's, all my friends had Dads that were WW2 veterans......and, these men were a special part of my growing up experience......especially my own Dad:
While I have inherited guns that I've been shooting for 50 years surprisingly my most prized is a Blackhawk .45 convertible that I bought in 2012 with inheritance money.
I've got guns that are more valuable or more practical but I just have a connection to this gun because I modified and shoot it better than anything else.
My prized gun is an 1891 argentine Mauser. In itself it's nothing special but my grandfather won it in a poker game and then started customizing it with tiger wood, carving the scene on the stock and mother of pearl enlay.
She's mostly a safe queen but every now and then she will make thunder and it shoots like it's brand new.
This is the gun I will never part with because it's like grandpa is still here when I handle it. Every time I shoot it I am taken back to the vary first time I fired it. I was about 10 years old and 80 lbs soaking wet. It knocked me on my butt but it taught me an instant lesson to always respect such power.
My dad's guns are sentimental but the most prized ones I purchased are a pair of CMP restored Garands I bought. The CMP & Military issued them as a prize for a military marksmanship contest. The stock has an emblem about the award. They are in beautiful condition.
Mine is my 1958 Browning A5 12ga. . My Dad gave it to me when I first started hunting when I was about 13 years old . It was his gun , but he didn't hunt much when I was growing up , he was always working ( his own business ) . It is still my favorite shotgun .
I can't wait to rabbit hunt with it on my own land and my first pack of beagles this season , wish dad was still alive to see it . He died last December from dementia at the age of 80 .
I also got his S&W 36 and Stevens 311 double barrel shotgun a few months before he died . My nephew saw his Stevens and wants to use it this year rabbit hunting . I think that will make my dad happy . I would let him have it , but he doesn't take care of things very good like my dad and I do , so he will not get to keep it until I am dead .
The 36 is not sentimental to me , he got that from a customer at work .
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