Special gun

ridleyman

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Although this has probably done in the past, like virtually every topic known to mankind, do you have a gun that has special meaning that you could never part with? Just one.

Although I have a 1918 Colt 1911 with all original parts that I am very fond of, partly because it would have been the kind my grandfather used in WW1 in France, the winner is a 1943 Colt 1911A1 with matching serial #s on receiver and slide. It's all original, but somebody refinished it at some point long ago. It also has other features I like, such as the checkered back strap and wide hammer.

20200415_174736.jpg
 
That's a tough one. I have the first gun I ever fired as a wee lad of 7yo or so. It belonged to a neighbor (a Pacific theater vet of the island hopping campaigns). When he passed his family gave it to me. It's a 1954 Winchester 94 in 32 win spl.

Another one at the top of the list is an M1 my friend Mitch (Brookfield Precision Tool) built. Chambered in 7.62 NATO with a Barnett med weight barrel and T37 flash hider along with the usual trigger work.
M1 & Winny.jpg
 
My custom built Caspian Government Model. S/N 45ACP
I won the Caspian slide and a Shuemann Ulti-match barrel that was donated to a larch IPSC match by Caspian many years ago. I knew that Caspian would provide special serial numbers upon request so I ordered a Government bar-stock frame.
S&W arched main-spring housing, Bo-Mar rear and Dawson fiber front sights. Wilson internals. Hand-checkered and blued by a smith in TX. No expense was sparred on this build and it is truly and
"Heirloom" gun. It has plenty of honest holster wear from the many matches it has performed in.

I'll post some pics as soon as I find them.
 
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Right now, it would be my Browning Citori and my Colt Competition Stainless. The Citori was the first gun I ever purchased and I just love the Colt. I’d get rid of my Beretta 92FS (2nd pistol ever purchased) before the Colt.
 
One of these days when I can afford it I will have a WW1 German navy luger to honor my Grandfather. He taught me more about life and being an honorable man than anyone else.
 
My Beretta 92FS Vertec Inox. I bought it right before I finished my undergrad. That thing has so much holster wear I love how it looks.
And my new to me Springfield TRP 10mm that I bought to commemorate my wedding and 30th.
 
Although this has probably done in the past, like virtually every topic known to mankind, do you have a gun that has special meaning that you could never part with? Just one.

Although I have a 1918 Colt 1911 with all original parts that I am very fond of, partly because it would have been the kind my grandfather used in WW1 in France, the winner is a 1943 Colt 1911A1 with matching serial #s on receiver and slide. It's all original, but somebody refinished it at some point long ago. It also has other features I like, such as the checkered back strap and wide hammer.

Thats a beautiful piece.

For me ... not a gun. I inherited my grandfather’s issued army knife. Victorinox, with wood side pieces. My grandfather was just old enough to be called up for service in the last years of WWI and that was when he was issued the knife.

He was conscripted, not an officer, so no corkscrew in the knife (only an officer is stupid enough to forget to bring a corkscrew)
 
They're all special.

But I've got a warm place in my heart for the No. 5 mk 1 I found in Los Angeles back in The Day, my very first proper matching milsurp. That, and my Randall 1911. I like the fact it was made like five miles from where I was living at the time, and that almost nobody has one.
 
Mine is a Walther P-38 that my father in law took away from a German soldier. One of his daughters took it to school for show and tell without his knowledge. Imagine if that happened today? He gave it to me about 30 years ago. I was a revolver shooter and that gun opened my eyes to both auto loaders and the 9mm cartridge.
 
My uncle on my mother’s side gifted me a Japanese Arisaka with the bayonet. A few times a year I’d ask my dad if I could handle/dry fire it. When I finally came of age I took possession and at one point I stupidly sold it (I kept and still have the bayonet). I never actually fired it.

I felt bad and life went on. Then I started the hunt to replace it as he passed (I had not seen him since I was a kid). Looked at a ton of crappy examples and passed. One well known member here was selling one and I reached out. Was an incredible one with everything still on it (unground mum, bolt cover, sling, mono pod, muzzle cover and the fold out airplane wings).

Bought it in the spot. Took a few year until I had the chance to shoot it.

Sorry uncle Joe. Thanks tor the gift and the least I could do is get another and while it’s not the same one, it’s a reminder. RIP.
 
I have a gen2 19 that a friend of mine sold me around 2009. He died in 2011. He was a good dude and I liked hanging with him and going to the range with him. I never knew of his health issues or his financial problems after his wife died. His sister told me before his funeral how heart broken he was after his wife passed and he didn't take care of himself very well for a while. I always felt bad that I wasn't in tuned with a friend of mine and the issues he was going through. To everybody else its just an old gen2 19 to me it was from my buddy Bob.
 
Wow. Just wow. There has to be a story behind this.
Yes, a deeply moving tale of family and heritage. There I was sipping a scotch looking at gunbroker On the iPad with my visa in hand. And 1 week later UPS shows Up with my colt 1860. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.
 
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My Marlin Model 25 22lr bolt action rifle that I bought as a wee lad of 14 fifty years ago. I still have it and as near as I can estimate, more than a half million rounds have been through that gun and it still shoots and hits whatever I point it at.

My other one I will keep until I die is my 86 Python 6” nickel. Bequeathed to me by a dear friend that I used to shoot with and taught most of what I know about guns, reloading and shooting.
 
Mine is a S&W mod 19-2 6 inch, which my father gave me as a high school graduation present back in 74. The second one is a Colt 1903 or 08 .25 acp pocket pistol that my father carried in his pocket when he was in grammer school back in the late 20's early 30's......It was tough times back then in the depression days........
 
Winchester 67A, boy's gun. Given to me by my father when I turned 10, given to him by his father when he turned 10. 22LR, bolt action, and doesn't cock when you cycle the bolt, you've got to pull the firing pin back to cock it. I could barely cock it when it was given to me, now I can do it with one finger.

The other is long gone, a Winchester 1897 30-30 that my father gave me when I turned 16. He bailed on my mom and I when I was 18, and sold the gun to a pawn shop in God knows where WV.
 
For me, it would have to be a S&W Model 52 that I got from my father many years ago before he passed. It was a gun that he had a difficult time finding, but was able to finally obtain, with the help of the then president of S&W who my dad got to meet when he was there on a tour of the S&W facility. The gun subsequently became his favorite target pistol, and after shooting it myself, I can see why. Here's a letter my dad received from S&W's president, prior to receiving the gun itself (note the typo in the letter, obviously drafted by the president's secretary, referring to the gun as a "revolver"):

full


And here's the gun, accompanied by its younger sibling, a Model 952-2. I picked up the 952 more recently from a member here, because I loved the 52 so much:

full



Frank
 
For me, it would have to be a S&W Model 52 that I got from my father many years ago before he passed. It was a gun that he had a difficult time finding, but was able to finally obtain, with the help of the then president of S&W who my dad got to meet when he was there on a tour of the S&W facility. The gun subsequently became his favorite target pistol, and after shooting it myself, I can see why. Here's a letter my dad received from S&W's president, prior to receiving the gun itself (note the typo in the letter, obviously drafted by the president's secretary, referring to the gun as a "revolver"):

full


And here's the gun, accompanied by its younger sibling, a Model 952-2. I picked up the 952 more recently from a member here, because I loved the 52 so much:

full



Frank
I like how the president of S&W was named Gunn!
 
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