Quoted: The Japanese Type 99 rifle that sat above my Grandmothers door way for over 40 years. My grandfather was on Okinawa and Saipan (that we know of, he never would speak of it, and died before I was born). He brought it home, most likely one given to GIs with the mum struck.

Funny, kind of the same story here. My Arisaka Type 99 rifle still has the Mum but unfortunately Grandpa had it rechambered for 30-06. I guess 7.7mm was hard to find back in the day. He died when I was 7 so I never got a chance to talk to him about it.

Would definitely be my deceased father's Ruger Single Six .22 cal. revolver.  It was made back in the early 1960's and he let me shoot it on many occasions when I was a kid.  Mom gave it to me when he passed away.  It is definitely a shooter but it holds a special place in my heart.

Lawdog

My Dad had a Colt 9mm Commander he carried around for a while back in the 70s and 80s when he ran a couple of pool halls.  He also owned a string of those bingo pinball and video poker machines in about a dozen bars around town -- none of them in particularly safe areas -- and he liked to have the Colt with him every week when he went to "rob" his machines.  



I don't believe he ever had to use it, but I do recall he came home with the rear window of his car shot out one night.  

When not riding with him the Colt occupied a dresser drawer, and I would watch him on a couple occasions as he cleaned it.  He wasn't much of a gun aficionado, and though he had about a dozen pistols and long guns he tended to prefer his revolvers most of the time.  For many years during my youth he had a couple of automatic shotguns hanging in a gun rack in the den, along with a Walther P38 and a Ruger Blackhawk in display boxes on the wall.

Though he never took me shooting that I ever recall, I asked him for the Colt when I turned 21, since it had always fascinated me.  He's given several of his guns to friends since, and I wish I had gotten interested in guns sooner than I did because he had some fairly nice pieces.

My AR15. My first gun.

Two of my WWII German rifles.

A K43 AC44 and a G43 DUV44:









The shots of the G43 DUV44 were before it was fully restored.

As I looked over this topic I tried to figure out what mine was, then those G43 pics were posted and it all came together. My father is a militaria collector witha  rather large collection of firearms that put most of what you guys call your "safe queens" to shame. His first rifle was a G43, all original that he picked up at a guns tore when he was at UCONN in the 70's. Well he was at his friends farm firing it and he let his buddy shoot it. His friend rode the bolt forward and had a double feed which mananged to have one round hit the primer just right on the round already chambered resulting ina  rather nice kaboom. Blew the stock in half, blew out the mag, bent the reciever etc..  

My father kept that rifle, even blown up and it was held together with an OD canvas strap and was hung up in my room back in our old house from when i was about 5-13. That one splintered bulged out rifle was a reminder to me what can happen if you don't respect your firearms. Taught me alot and if I ever find a woman stupid enough to have kids with me, that rifle will go in their room as well, hopefully it will have the same impression on them as it did me.

Steve

Three-way tie between a S&W M19-2, IHC Garand, and Remington 121 Fieldmaster, all my late grandfather's.  I have the receipt somewhere from when he bought the S&W new in 1960.

Runner-up is the Cav AR that I built up myself.

The M19 is top right in the pic.