Here's mine, well one of them anyway.

It is a vintage Winchester Model 1890 in .22 WRF.



What makes it important is that it was given to my Grandfather when he was a young boy in the 1920s. It was the first gun in what would become our family collection that I currently own half of, my brother owns the other half, not counting the rifles my father currently retains in his possession. The entire collection amounting to around 600+ firearms.

The gun had a tack star pattern my grandfather put in the stock, as was the style then because Indians were popular with kids. And it was later put to work shooting cows for the family meat market my Great Grandfather started as a business not long after he emigrated from Germany.

The story of how a few guns (the above Winchester and an original Model 97 shotgun in my brothers collection) became a 3rd generation collection of huge proportions is an interesting one that some original board arfcommers may remember.

Growing up in the 1920-30s as a boy my Grandfather dreamed of one day owning a Tommy gun just like the ones in the gangster movies and radio shows he loved so much. Later the Robert Stack show "The Untouchables" would become one of his favorite shows. Every time he was sent to the hardware store by his father to buy nails or whatever errand he was on he would marvel at the few Thompsons for sale on the wall behind the counter. This was back when hardware stores sold submachine guns and dynamite along with hammers and nails.

Thompsons weren't cheap back then and in the middle of the depression they were pretty unrealistic for a kid who delivered meat for his family business to even think of buying. But he wanted one pretty bad so he worked hard, saved his money and did without many things. Finally one day he had saved up enough money and went down to claim his prize in 1935.

Imagine his surprise when he learned of a $200 tax that was as much as the rifle was being sold for.

After being brought up to speed on the NFA laws he became convinced the government was trying to do away with the private ownership of firearms. Sound familiar?

So we went to the local store (Montgomery Ward, Sears or both - the story varied over the years) and bought several firearms including 1903 Springfields for about $20 (one of which is also in my collection) a few 1911s and a couple cases of ammo.

Over the years he would continue to acquire firearms from time to time.

My father was born and would regularly recieve firearms as gifts when he grew older.

1968 and the GCA caused further concern and a surge of gun buying followed that added several more firearms to the growing collection and reinforced the fear of government restrictions of firearm ownership.

My father would significantly add to the collection in the late 1970s and early 80s and as a young child I could strip a HK91 when other kids were trying to figure out a Rubiks Cube. My father had some SF acquantances and I was pretty familiar with a MP5 by the time I started High School.

I received firearms as gifts from the time I was 7 (first one was a 1917 Erfurt Luger which I still have) and had more guns than most adults when I was in Middle School.

Even during my "broke as shit" early 20s I somehow managed to get a new gun here and there. The first guns "I" paid for were my HK91 and HK93 which were $400 each in 1983.

And as soon as I started making decent money I added several more to the collection, including some serious NFA stuff. Sadly this was mostly in the 1990s and before I became a FFL so I paid some pretty premium prices.

And that is how it all got started.

My red Ryder!

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.

The firing pin broke over the years as my Dad and his brothers played with the rifle.

My grandmother passed away some years ago, when I was 17 and I had the fortune of grabbing the rifle before someone else did.

I had never owned a gun till then, but I went and got a firing pin from an obsolescent part store here in Dallas.

I took it to the range, and man what a rush!  My brother and I both had fun shooting that sucker off.  Even though the RO was upset with how loud it was.

From there my collection now includes ARs and other rifles, but this was the one that started it all.

Kimber TLE II
or
Bushmaster XM15

An old Winchester Model '94.  Been in the family for generations.

My S&W Model 66. My first duty gun. I hope to make it a family heirloom some day. A very close second is a 1943 Remingtom Rand M1911A1. It was a gift from a great friend. It will be with me for life.

My Norinco SKS. It was the first gun that I ever bought.

Holland & Holland Double Rifle, made in 1909, in .375 H&H.  

My Great-Grandfather bought that rifle new, in the "new" cartridge of the time, .375 H&H, to use on his hunting trip in Africa.  The rifle was passed down from my great-grandfather to my grandfather, and then to me.

The rifle itself is in pristine and like-new condition, it wasnt really shot all that much.  I have shot it once myself, and my grandfather said he shot it a couple of times.  Along with however many rounds my great-grandfather put through the rifle (probably less than 100), it hasnt been shot hardly at all.

By the looks of it, it would have been that times version of the more modern Holland & Holland "Royal Deluxe", though it has no markings with that name on it.  Very beautiful rifle though, and I will never get rid of it.

The thing is probably more valuable than my house and my truck combined.  I still dont care if I am impoverished, that rifle is not getting outisde of the family.


I will post pics later, when I feel like getting into the safe.   Gonna go play some BF2 for a while.

The most important gun I have will be the one that saves my life...I'm just glad I don't own a Lorcin...

Probably my AR competition service rifle.

It's the one I use and enjoy the most.

Quoted: The entire collection amounting to around 600+ firearms.

Holy fuck.

Remington Targetmaster Model 41 .22cal was my dad's.

Or my Sig SHR970  25.06REM

My FN Five Seven!!! Because all the law making scumbags want to ban it, and everytime it's mentioned here, it seems to piss people off.

Quoted: My FN Five Seven!!! Because all the law making scumbags want to ban it, and everytime it's mentioned here, it seems to piss people off.

If you shot me with that thing, and if I ever found out about it, I would be pissed.

Garand.

Nov. '42 manufacture date, when the Shit was really Hitting The Fan.

Now THIS, THIS is a rifle with a SOUL!

Quoted: Quoted: The entire collection amounting to around 600+ firearms. Holy fuck.

Yes!  Only 596+ to catch Steyr!

Quoted: img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/gmtmaster/Picture297.jpg

Somebody has a happy switch.

Browning A5 20ga
My dad ordered it in pre 68 days from the JC pennys catalog
he gave it to me to start hunting with
Not a bad first  gun I don't think
second my grandfather bought me a ruger single six for my 16th birthday
got alot cooler stuff but those are the ones i like most

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The entire collection amounting to around 600+ firearms. Holy fuck. Yes!  Only 596+ to catch Steyr!

My personal collection is only about 250+ firearms.

My brother has about 200+ and my father has about 150+ firearms.

Quoted: An old Winchester Model '94.  Been in the family for generations.

Same here. One my Grandad gave me.

Quoted: Garand. Nov. '42 manufacture date, when the Shit was really Hitting The Fan. Now THIS, THIS is a rifle with a SOUL! nhorianopoulos.home.comcast.net/m1.jpg

One of mine.



Gotta love Garands.

My SW mp5 clone
Jk just wanted to be a prick

My very first Rifle, a Model 67 Winchester, stock has the finger grooves in it, which  from what I am told it is a pre-34

I shot the piss out that rifle as a kid, killed many chipmonks, gophers, snakes and  glass telephone insulators

Most sentimental:  my Dad's Remington 521T that I carried when I was a kid, and my first gun, a Stevens Model 37 20 gauge given to me by my Grandpa.

As far as guns I have aquired for myself, there 4 that rank equally - a near new Steyr P69 SSG, a Winchester 53 takedown manufactured in 1926, a NIB Winchester Model 70 Interational Army Match, and a pre WWII Model 70 chambered in 300 Mashburn Short Magnum (built by Art Mashburn).

Best memories:  the Stevens 20 gauge.

9mm Luger that Gramps brought back from dubya dubya deuce, with bringback papers.  

Just heard that he left it to me when he passed (my brother got his "govt property" marked 1911, which, ahem, does not have papers!).

I'm speechless, and it will NEVER be sold.  

An old stephens .22 lever action single shot given to me when I was 5 by my fathers friend.
A Browning buckmark bought by me 2 weeks after I turned 21.

old winchester bolt action 22
not in my collction yet my grandpa still has it but he said its mine when he leaves this world.

3 generations of my family and counltless other kids have learned to shoot on that rifle.

It was a gift to my grandfather on his 10th bithday irc.

Quoted: Quoted: My FN Five Seven!!! Because all the law making scumbags want to ban it, and everytime it's mentioned here, it seems to piss people off. If you shot me with that thing, and if I ever found out about it, I would be pissed.

See!?!?!?! I knew it!

Quoted: Holland & Holland Double Rifle, made in 1909, in .375 H&H.   My Great-Grandfather bought that rifle new, in the "new" cartridge of the time, .375 H&H, to use on his hunting trip in Africa.  The rifle was passed down from my great-grandfather to my grandfather, and then to me. The rifle itself is in pristine and like-new condition, it wasnt really shot all that much.  I have shot it once myself, and my grandfather said he shot it a couple of times.  Along with however many rounds my great-grandfather put through the rifle (probably less than 100), it hasnt been shot hardly at all. By the looks of it, it would have been that times version of the more modern Holland & Holland "Royal Deluxe", though it has no markings with that name on it.  Very beautiful rifle though, and I will never get rid of it. The thing is probably more valuable than my house and my truck combined.  I still dont care if I am impoverished, that rifle is not getting outisde of the family. I will post pics later, when I feel like getting into the safe.   Gonna go play some BF2 for a while.

PLease do post pics of that rifle. YOu are veyr lucky to be in possesion of such a fine firearm. Those were made back when quality was the only option. I would gladley choose a rifle like that over any other, on any day.
CH
CH

Argie M1927 - the gun the cops almost cut up because they didn't know it was stolen from me (even though they had the police report, they forgot to put it in the stolen gun computer)....

A2 AR - 'cause it's the one gun I have that I shoot for more than just 'fun'.... Got... to... get... qual... score... up...


Don't have any family guns... But I think my grandmother may still have my grandfather's gun(s) somewhere in her attic (Mom tells me he had some sort of shotgun, and these guys are the ultimate packrats)... Will have to wait on those though, since if I brought the subject up she'd probably find them and take them to the PD (lives in Wilmette, IL)

My dad's 4506



It's the first gun of his I can remember asking to shoot.  I was round 6 at the time.

Hard call, I love 'em all!! But I'd have to say my M1 Garand.

My suppressed ruger 77/22

'43 Inland M1
Beautiful internals, stock, etc.
Belonged to my grand dad -he used to let me take it out and field strip it when I was younger.
His most prized possesion, next to his Winchester Model 67
He passed away Feb. 21st of last year - left his guns to me.
Kind of bittersweet - I always admired the rifle, but I don't want it under these circumstances.

Side note: Some people don't get what guns mean to people.
When I say "molon lobe" I am thinking of this rifle.
I will never, ever so long as I live give this rifle up.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The entire collection amounting to around 600+ firearms. Holy fuck. Yes!  Only 596+ to catch Steyr! My personal collection is only about 250+ firearms. My brother has about 200+ and my father has about 150+ firearms.

How do you find room for that many toys?

I having a bitch of a time fitting 10 in a safe

20" A2

The most important firearm in my marginal collection is my Dad's Smith & Wesson .38 Chief's Special (Mfg. - 1957). He bought it as new-old stock back in 1965 at a still operational local gun shop here in Illinois. Not only has the gun been in the family for over 40 years, but there was already some history behind it before I finally recieved it on my 21st birthday. He used it three times to defend himself without ever firing a shot.

The first time he used it was to fend off overzealous black civil rights supporters when they were burning down Chicago back in '68, after socialist agitator Martin Luther King was shot. He was carrying the gun, like most people did back then, when two racist thugs followed him in an elevator and shut off the lights. While ominously singing "We shall overcome" in an angry, threatening manner, my Father pulled out the gun, cocked the hammer back and gave the Ghetto Goblins three seconds to turn the lights back on. They beat the given time frame by over a second, and when he saw them again my Dad stated they both looked like a surprised Buckwheat with feigned apologies rolling off their lips as fast as they could articulate them.

On the second occassion, several years later, he was filling up at a gas station alone in Chicago when a car load of "the disadvantaged" tried to induce him to buy a black whore they had in the back seat. Of course, he politely declined. But, not taking "no" for an answer, they forcefully insisted on the money anyway. Sensing a violent shakedown in the works, my Dad pulled his coat open, exposing the gun in his waistband and again stated that he didn't have any money to give them. Suddenly, the Buckwheat look reamerged on this group with all the ensuing appropriate quick apologies.

On the final occassion, I witnessed my Dad in action with that old Chief's Special. It was my Grandmother's last month before retirement when she was walking home alone late at night after work. Seems like there was a younger White trash women that didn't like her none-too-much and she proceeded to follow her home with her boyfriend. I was watching "The Honeymooners" on TV when a fight between her and the women began outside the front of the house. A loud catfight. Clothes were torn. There was scratching, punching, cussing, a very colorful affair. Now, my Grandmother was an old Mississippi Southern scrapper, who once beat the hell out of Elvis Presley's Dad during a high school basketball game in the late 1920's, so even in old age she was ready for a fight. As she was whooping some ass I decided to wake up my Dad and inform him that she was fighting outside the house and he better get up quick before her boyfriend decided to jump in and save her from my Grandmother's headlock. My Dad went outside with that .38 in hand, standing on the porch scantily dressed only in his white Fruit of the Looms. I then saw her frustrated boyfriend was about to hop my old Grandmother when my Dad cocked the S&W hammer back and informed him that if he made one move towards his Mother he would, "blow his fucking head off on the spot."

It was rather amusing, in retrospect, because as the commotion unfolded, all the neighbor's indoor house lights began to turn on all over the street as they watched the show with a surprised curiosity. And there was my Mom, crouched aside and in front him, attempting to cover up his partial nudity while my Dad had his gun leveled at this "macho" moron's head. Needless the say, he then muttered incomprehensible apologies to my Dad and Mom as he was pulling this women away for a hasty exit down the street and eventually out of our sight.

Sometimes, I honestly miss growing up in Cicero, Illinois, during those turbulent times of the 60's and early 1970's. We had it all back then.  

I apologize for the poor grammar and writing style, but it is late and I felt the urge to write about my Dad and his simple, yet historic .38 Smith & Wesson. I hope some of you enjoyed my short stories.          

My my Big-5 Sale 1946 Ishevsk M44 because I a) Love russian Guns, and b) it's my first centerfire.

For me it's this one:



This is a very accurate match rifle built at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1947 for my father. He was the captain of the APG rifle team, as well as being the Small Arms Branch Chief at TECOM. There are exactly three of these in the world. It started out as a pre-WWII training rifle, Springfield 1922 M2 - a .22 LR trainer for the 1903 Springfields. It was fitted with an Eric Johnson barrel (not the guitar player, the best match barrel maker of the day). This particular one is the very last barrel made by Johnson before he died. It has a modified Tymney trigger, and the hand made stock, trigger guard, sling perch, and single shot floor plate were made by my dad in our basement. The gunsmithing on the action and re-barreling was done by a guy named Dave Perrin, who was the head gunsmith at APG's small arms fabrication shop. This is the same Dave Perrin that built the .22 Gustafson Carbine shown on page 12 of "The Black Rifle". My dad had two of the rifles, and the third went home with Larry Moore, whose name is also all over the previously mentioned book. After Larry died, that rifle came back to my dad and is now in my brother's possesion in Tucson, Az. I have this one, and #3 is still with my dad.
This was just before the end of my dad's competitive shooting days (due to rules changes which pissed him off and made his team less competitive). It was also just before the SCHV experiments that led to the developement of the M16.

Remington 870 magnum express

12 ga. pump shotgun.

I am a little partial to a K98 that I have.  It's marked 41 DUV and all markings are present, but it is not matching.  The reason it is special to me  it that I got it with the war trophy registration papers showing it to be a 1966 Vietnam capture.  Imagine the story of that rifle:  German WWII produced, probably captured by Russia and sent to SE Asia, later to be captured by a US serviceman and brought back to the USA.

adair_usmc

I'm still jealous.........


Gus,

You're on my jealous list now.

Its not in my collection, but right now its the Hero Rifle awaiting my buddy's return from Afghanistan.

Thanx to all the Arfcommers for making it happen.

The most valuable weapon to me in my personal collection is Winchester Model 94 .25-35 that my Grandfather took away from a drunk Irishman.....

The story goes that the man showed up drunk at my Grandpa's house in Camp Verde, TX looking for another guy threatening to kill the man and shooting the gun indescriminatly at random.  Well my Grandpa basically beat his ass and took the gun as a memento of the occasion.  I wouldn't trade that rifle for anything.........we had the serial checked to see when it was manufactured and it turned out that it was manufacted before 1910......

Anyway I love the old thing and it still shoots just as good as ever!

Hmmm. Whatever it is, it shoots .30 caliber.

Hard to answer....important? for what?

the one I'm carrying/ccw at any given time

Quoted: Hard to answer....important? for what?

Important to you.

Important would be the one at hand or the next one.!

I've only got two at the moment, so I guess my XD40 that I carry.

I hope to one day inherit my grandfathers P38 from WW2.