Raider said:...Both are valued keepsakes that I shoot once a year at Christmas.
RIKA
Rika - regardless of what some may say about "pointless" guns, that's like having your grandfather's pocket watch or whittling knife. Very nice and personal.
To answer the question, mine are all fairly new. Came out of the army in 1982 and found that when my parents divorced and sold the farm, when I got "home" to my mother's new house in town, I found none of my guns. Naturally, nobody knew what happened to them.
Had:
Marlin Golden 39A, (that was a real tackdriver)
Marlin 25,
Ruger "Standard Model" 6-inch .22 autopistol,
12-gauge shotgun,
.36 1851 (copy) "Navy" revolver
.44 1860 (copy) "Army" revolver
.45 "Kentucky" rifle
(The blackpowder guns were all kit-built.)
Never saw any of them again; no word on what happened to them. Just "gone". Hadn't thought about them in a long time now; kind of sad.
:sobstory:
So all mine now were bought in the last 20 years or so.
I have an 1884 Sringfiled Trapdoor that somebody Bubba'd up by cutting the forend off to make it look like a carbine. It still shoots good. My next in line would be a Martini-Henry from 1888. It gets progressive from there with a lot of WWII types. I love old guns.41mag said:Mine is a 1884 Model Springfield..45-70 cal.
From there I go all the way up to 1958 for my eldest handgun.A Ruger 357.
Any old people around here with something ancient?
Keepsakes don't have to be things that tie you down, just memorabilia that brings back good memories. Your videotape of your daughters dance team performance, or how about that 7MM Spanish carbine your son bought you for your birthday with pay from his first job? No memories like that at all? I pity you.223 fan said:I never had any such, and don't want any. Guns, or otherwise. There's too much crap to keep track of the way it is. You don't own things. They own YOU. You have to secure, maintain,practice with them, learn lots about them, etc. working stiffs have to keep such crap to a minimum, or never get a thing done.