That’s how I feel now. If I consider selling a gun my dad had for decades yet it doesn’t really have the sentimental value like some other ones, I don’t feel guilty about selling it anymore. Some stuff are cherished and full of memories, others are just dead weight to pack around through your life. A couple years ago I sold the Weatherby Mark V I bought my dad. He loved it but it just sat in the gun rack looking pretty. But now a guy with young sons in L.A. has it, shoots it, and it’s their family heirloom. Look at it like dog rescue. A dog is now loved, appreciated, and part of a new family. I know that Weatherby feels the same way. It took me a while, but I’m free of guilt trips. Lots of our guns and other stuff are recycled heirlooms that travel from one family to another. And sometimes there’s nothing wrong with that.

Dang, Wyatt. That’s profound.

Well said.

I look at it the same way. You are only the temporary custodian of the item. You acquire the item, use and enjoy that item and then it becomes your job to pass that item along to another who will be come its temporary custodian to use and enjoy for a while.

You may pass along information about the item to the new custodian but it up to the new custodian to determine if that information is relevant or even worth keeping. Remember the item can't talk so what ever has happen in the past, says in the past.

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Bill

Is there any way I can give you two likes?

Well said.

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John 3:16 .

All the stuff that we own has to go at some point, yes I agree that we are caretakers of the items that will out last us.

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Life NRA, Life TSRA, C&R FFL

"All the stuff that we own has to go at some point"

Not all of it.

Some things are going with me. Like this dumb gun I built when I was a just a nipper (11-ish) Nobody would appreciate it anyways,so may as well take it with me..

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"From the sweet grass to the packing house, birth till death, we travell between the eternities"

I would never sell and heirloom gun but there is a huge difference between such and merely a gun that a family member had but it was nothing important to them. Grandpa's prized lever action that he may have inherited from his father or grandfather and might be the rifle you got your first deer with should never be sold but something he picked up and only possessed not so much. We have a Taurus .45 LC snub nose. Nice little revolver that I picked up years ago as something to keep in the car, tacklebox, etc. and now resides in a kitchen cabinet so that even in that room there is a firearm within reach just in case, but nothing I would want my nephew to view as a Holy Grail gun simply because I owned it.

You’re right. Almost everything in this world is “temporary.” When we’re younger we don’t realize that, or at least we look at things a bit differently. I’m happy your Dad’s Mark V found its way to a new, good home.

Good, bad or indifferent, there’s somebody, somewhere that deserves it more than me. My job is to make sure they get it.

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Halfway and one more step

Well said, Wyatt.

Sometimes, a new member will be asking for how much he can expect to sell some modified refinished ex-Victory clunker he inherited from his mother‘s cousin once removed, and a number of folks here will implore him not to sell it and instead cherish the “family heirloom” and pass it on to his children and whatnot.

I don’t get that at all. Most guns are just use items. A few may be special, and you’ll know, but some gun a family member picked up at a show because the price was right, or a revolver that spent its life on a closet shelf as insurance against an intruder that never came, doesn’t become an “heirloom” just because the family member died.

My dad was not into handguns; when he passed several years ago, he left several rifles and shotguns, but there wasn’t anything I could really use, as it all duplicated what I already had, other family members weren’t interested, so we sold them to a friend of my dad who had teenagers getting into hunting and got my mom a good price. Much better than having any gather dust in my safe.

I appreciate it. Especially if it is an actual firing gun - which it appears to possibly be.

My dad bought this 1871 Mauser with a pristine bore in the late 50s. It was always in the gun rack growing up. But it's one of those family guns I'm talking about. It just sat in my safe for ten years since my dad died so I thought it was time to pass it on to a Mauser collector/shooter so I recently sold it. I'm 61 and all sentimental feelings about this particular gun ends with me since it hasn't connected with my kids. I not only feel completely guilt free, it's nice knowing someone who wanted it real bad now has a new heirloom of his own to pass on.

I once heard Billy Graham say he never did see a hearse pulling
a U-Haul trailer.

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In Omnia Paratus

I have no children, but I have 2 real nephews and an "honorary" nephew who is really into guns (I got him his Life Membership in the NRA for his bar mitzvah) and is a premier firearms law attorney. I have a friend who is a retired Air Force colonel and she is a military historian since her retirement. My dad died 2 1/2 years ago with a nice collection of guns, but my brother and I are both at retirement age and our sister is not a shooter. There are some things that my brother and I can use now but there are other items that we don't feel we can take out and play with. The best thing we figured we could do is to cash out some of the premier collector pieces and give the proceeds to our sister so she gets her appropriate share of Pop's estate and the guns get a good home. I took a lot of time and set out in my will exactly who will get a lot of my guns based on the interests of the beneficiary so that I know they will get a good home with people who cared about me and will appreciate the guns.

Strange Times!

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Between us, my brother and I inherited from our father the following, with some tradeoffs in the other guns to even things out in our minds: An Arisaka rifle in perfect condition, with the linen gun sock bearing the owner's name and address in Japan, brought back from the Pacific by a great uncle, and a Nambu pistol, samurai sword, and battle flag brought back from the Pacific by our grandfather. Dad spent some time and money back in the late 70's and found the family of the sword bearer, and they wouldn't take it back, due to the disgrace of surrender.

Those are heirlooms. Everything else from Dad has a sale price (admittedly, some stuff will be more expensive than other stuff) . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Guns were just tools to my dad and he had no sentimental value for any of them and I didn't really either so when I inherited them I kept them for a few years but later sold them. He DID however have a Navy Ka-Bar knife that he purchased when he got out of the Navy in WWII and he bought it at an Army Surplus store for one dollar and that was his self defense weapon he always kept under the front seat of the car. I remember him using it quite a bit as a kid and thought there was nothing that big knife couldn't cut and one time he even made me a pair of stilts with it. When he passed that was the only thing I really wanted and I told everyone that, but one of my little nephews snuck off with it.

When it comes to heirloom guns i am on the opposite of the fence i feel that they should be kept and cherished but then again that is just my opinion of course.

It has been said that you can't take it with you.
Maybe you can.

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In Omnia Paratus

Relatives WANT the "family treasures" ...

I have no wife or children.
My sister and her offspring THINK that THEY are ENTITLED to "family treasures".
I inherited a boy's target rifle and 25 acres through my grandparents estate.
The 25 acres was bought from government by a son of a Great Great Great Grandfather back in 1839. (yes 1839)
Sister also received some acreage.

She has suggested that I leave the land to her offspring and keep it in the family.
I would not recognize her offspring if ran into them without an introduction, but they EXPECT an inheritance.
I have told her that it can be bought any time at fair market price.
It will likely be donated to some charitable cause.

Bekeat

Everything is not a heirloom..........Dad had accumulated a number of guns over the years...... the only family heirlooms are the three 'duty" guns he carried from 1939 till he retired in 1978, and his Model 41 from as long as I can remember (early 60s)

I used to come across a lot of estates when I was examining titles to real property. I came away with the premise that Pop didn't owe me a dime. That kept me working hard to be a success on my own merit and helped me get into a position to be able to retire when I felt I had to retire earlier than I expected. When Pop stated that he wanted to give my brother an additional bequest off the top of his estate, I told Pop absolutely to do it, because my brother put his life on hold to take care of Pop and literally kept our dad alive for an additional 10 months.

My heirloom gun is an original Red Ryder BB gun, It does not take up much room in the safe and is far more valuable in memories than money.

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EXACTLY....me too!
Maybe I'll have enough sense to know when to sell... heirlooms and all!

MY Dad had a Percussion cap and ball revolver and a old 6mm rifle. Meant nothing to me, traded it for 9/11, BO Gear. I kept his Gold plated 45-70 lever and chrome Sig220.


Btw, I thought this was a Antique guns for sale....lol

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USMC Life-GOA IDPA A10051

Stop and think how amazing this is. How many things are so well made and so useful that this problem will come up generation after generation?

Excellent post and well stated. For me this issue has one more consideration to to deal with; All of my friends and family members that would have even the most remote interest in a gun are deceased or they are of the age/poor health w/no need or desire for another gun and have sold or are selling theirs.

I have 4 guns with sentimental value.

In order of their age they are:
1. My grandpa's S&W top break .38 circa 1885 (not in shape to be fired)
2. Webley MkI top break .455 circa 1941 Given to me by a dear friend. It shoots just fine.
3. My dad's Colt 1903 circa 1943 He carried in WWII. It's a shooter.
4. Ruger Blackhawk .38/.357mag. 1973. Given to me by my best friend in life. Another good shooter.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with them. Miss Pam doesn't want to fool with them.

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Real men love cats!

Or any heirloom !!

I gave my daughter the topper covered with pins of my best friend when he past suddenly .. His sister gave it to me for something to remember him by .. He was like a second father to my kids .. It will mean a great deal to her while I still have all my memories of the motorcycle trips we had been on !!! It would have set in a drawer but my daughter had a shadow box made and its now on a wall where she can see it daily !!

My gun accumulation will become heirlooms only if my kids deem them to heirlooms.

I agree Wyatt. When my grandmother died, she left me a solid gold pocket watch that belonged to one of her extended family members.

I had no use for it, didn't know the man, but appreciated the sentiment.

My nephew, her son's kid, didn't inherit anything and was good to her in life. A couple of years ago, I gave the watch to my uncle to give to my cousin to remember her by.

When she passed, shortly thereafter, as they were clearing the estate, they asked me if there was anything I wanted. I said yes, the potato spoon. Everyone looked at me like I was nuts...

I said, "all the good memories I have as a child growing up with grandma and grandpa and the holiday meals we all shared as a big family, Grandma would always serve potatoes with this spoon, which didn't fit her silverware/utensils because it was old, probably 1890s". It was silver plated...but the silver wore off from use. "I want this spoon as something to remember all the good times and memories we had together as a family during the holidays".

My uncle got up and said, that's mighty smart of you. I personally do not think even Goodwill would charge more than $ 1.00 for it, but it's memories are priceless to me and brings back simpler times.

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Rather be outdoors

When my Mom turned 90 she asked each of us 7 kids what we wanted from the old house .. We all went with our 2 request and believe it or not none of us asked for the same thing .. and then we chipped in to have Mom bring each of us our cherished prizes .. She got to travel the country from Florida to California to Michigan and Illinois .. stay with each of us several weeks that summer .. She loved it and talked about her trip until the day she died ..

I have an old 1900's or before kerosene lamp turned into an electric globe lamp that was a wedding present to my Mom and Dad.. and a pull toy that is a dog I had given to me by my Aunt when I was just starting to walk some 66 years ago .. still has the red wooden ball on the end of the string .. to hold on to .. makes a irritating barking noise !!

The lamp might be worth something but it will be my daughters when Me and my wife pass .. the dog may be gotten out and played with by my great grand children .. If I live long enough and my grand kids have any kids ..

I inherited my Dad's collection most of which were high quality firearms. There is one gun I just "hate" but have not come to grips about selling it yet. It's a Marlin bolt action Goose Gun in 12 Ga. Kicks like hell, cheap Birch wood stock, only holds two in the Box Mag, and is slow as hell. Truthfully I hate the damned thing and wouldn't mind selling it even though it's still in great shape and functions well. I just haven't gotten around to listing it - because it was my Dad's. Silly too, because I have plenty of great others to remember him with.

Probably the best thing to do is to locate a good firearms auctioneer now while there is no urgency, and leave instructions for your estate to turn those guns over to that auction house for sale. Your estate will probably realize the best return for a minimal amount of effort and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that they will go to people who will really want them.

Where there's a will, there's a relative! There always seems to be plenty of vultures in a family that are ready to grab anything they can from the estate.

I finally figured out what I'm going to do. It's quite simple, really. If I can't take it with me - I'm not going!

I have the 20ga version of that same gun!
Its not for sale - because Dad bought it for me to replace my Stevens 22/410 O/U that got stolen when our home was burglarized in 1976.
BTW, from what I've read, they make a great slug gun if you're in a state that doesn't allow rifles for deer hunting.

Thank you sir. That sounds like a very good idea. Better than anything I can come up with.

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Real men love cats!

I think this is a scam post. The OP is just trying to get the rest of us to give up our heirloom pieces so he can snatch em up!

OK, I sold an heirloom firearm once. Please pm me with what you have available.

During the last 10 years of my dads life he gave us four boys guns, knives etc as gifts. Things that meant something to him and to us. When dad died none of us wanted any of the remaining guns so we sold them for mom. Dad knew which guns meant something to us boys and each of us cherish them. And when the time comes we will do the same for our kids.

My Dad was not a gun guy. For whatever reason I think he had an inordinate fear of guns. Maybe he didn't know how operated. Anyway my first was an Argentine 1891 mauser in 7.65 caliber. first words to my Mom was "He's going to shoot the neighbors". So from our side of the family no gun people except he's from NYS and only has a couple. What is very important to me is the 1943 Ithaca 1911A1 I horse traded with my general foreman. Dave was a WWII and served in tanks. We were good friends and that old pistol means a bunch to me. So if it fits the definition of a heirloom gun so be it. Not one I'd be selling anytime soon. No emotional attachment to any I own except a couple, those would be the last to go. I'll be 72 this year and giving thoughts to thinning the herd. Mostly mil surps and in nice shape, no corrosive ammo shot in them. And one in particular has not seen a jacketed bullet in close to 30 years. Cast my bullets for that one. Frank

I inherited an ungodly amount of P'08 Lugers, most commercials and a few that were army, navy marked some 'Black Widow' reworks. No feeling for them so they went to collectors that appreciated them, way more than I ever would.
The cash came in way more handy than dozens of guns to keep up.

Nice thread, and since there seem to be a bunch of folks on this forum who are starting to get a bit "long in the tooth", it's something we all need to think a little about. My kids are moderately interested in guns, but probably not as many as I have. There are a few guns that I have that are "heirlooms", but not a lot.

Food for thought here....thanks for posting.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

I too have started to think about this. My son is into guns, but perhaps not as much as I am. Many of the guns I have accumulated have been gathered in the last 4 or 5 years. No real sentimental value to him, or to me for that matter. There are about 8 or 10 that I would hope he'd keep, because they were his uncle's or grandfather's, and a few of mine.

Those with higher value and no sentimental value he should do with as he wishes. Now if my grandson shows an interest, that plan might change a little.



Robert

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

I hear both sides of this discussion. There are many guns in my collection that I acquired and have no idea of their history.

There are however, guns that came down through my family that were owned and acquired by grandfathers new and therefore have never been outside the family. There are also the two that my father shipped back from Germany during WWII so again not original to the family but hold a special spot in my heart.

I have two daughters that so far they have provided 4 grandsons. No real indications that they will be interested in these family heirlooms and since they live in NJ and CA respectively, the chances that they could even take them are slim.

So, I know that you can't take them with you but I would like a few to stay in the family.

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James Redfield
LM #497

Truth to tell, as I think about what has been said here, the only real heirlooms I have are my two sons, their wives, and their children. My wife and I have been so blessed by these people. They are responsible, upright and trustworthy, and very good citizens. They bring us joy and happiness. We are very well paid (overpaid in fact)!!! And they are not for sale! They are ours only because they choose to be, and they have that choice always.

The rest of my stuff, or our stuff as is the case, is just stuff, and that includes my firearms, much of which I treasure. But I'm just their present caretaker, and they will mostly become the responsibility of my children and grandchildren. They can do what they want to do with them, and at this point in time, I know that they have been properly instructed about the responsibility that goes along with that. I have given some of my firearms and knives to my sons and their children if they express an interest or desire for a specific one. Each of my grandchildren who has graduated from high school now owns one "special" handgun that was also special to me. I plan to continue making that possible. My second oldest granddaughter and two oldest grandsons have killed their first deer, and all the kids have helped their family eat the venison meat that has been harvested by someone in their families. They know where meat, eggs, and milk comes from and that's high praise from me. All these kids are my legacy and my only "possession" (by their own choice) that matters to me. Everything else is just stuff!

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So long ... Ken

You're kind of in the boat I was before I felt it was time to let go of a few of my dad's less or non sentimental guns. There might be a time when you decide it's time to sell it, but you'lll wonder if you'll regret it afterward. I took that chance but then felt liberated later. I can't emphasize more the importance, though, of selling them to someone who wants it real bad and the guns will be getting use and more appreciation.

Define "heirloom." If you have no real sentiment for the person, and it's not something you really want or can use....

So, if you changed your mind, I think Mike from American Pickers would probably pay handsomely for it, especially if you could put some Raccoon excrement on it before you showed it to him, and put it in a place that would require him to crawl through mud in the dark. Just a thought.

Then there is the question of what if you have no one to leave them to, and don't want to sell them?