We have the "What is the oldest gun you own?" thread, and then the "What is the oldest gun you carry?" thread, both of which are interesting. But I've got another take on this. Anyone with enough money or luck or just being in the right place at the right time can buy, or inherit from grandpa, a really old gun, and/or carry it. It's all interesting, but doesn't really indicate how old shooting and gun owning really is to you. So my question is "What is the oldest "new" gun that you own?" It basically means just that, what is the very first ever new, factory fresh, firearm you acquired?

My dad gave me an old beater .22 single-shot rifle that had been his when he was a kid, when I was 8. That doesn't count. He gave me my first handgun, a Model 27 which he'd owned for several years, for Christmas in 1966, but again, that does not count. In 1972 I bought a brand new Model 67, my first ever "new" gun. I've been buying them off-and-on ever since. How about you, what was your first "new" gun?

That I still have with me? A Sigma 40VE that I purchased from a Gander Mountain in early 2007. Ever? A Chinese AK clone (back when such were still commonly imported) that I purchsed for myself when I turned 18 back in 1992. Shortly thereafter I purchased a Winchester 1300 Defender from a Walmart for around 200 dollars, I think my mother still has that laying around somewhere.

I never had a new gun until a few months ago when I picked up a Mossberg 702 Plinkster .22LR rifle at Walmart for $107.

It goes against everything I am about- it's new, it's synthetic, and it's semi auto.

I just happened to be in Walmart and said...."Hey, that looks like a good price. I'll take one."

My wife had told me to stay away from the $5 DVD bin. She said nothing about rifles.

Oldest gun on the place purchased new would be a pair of K-Masterpieces, both with 8 3/8-inch barrels, one in .38 and one in .22. Purchased in January of 1980.

Just keep in mind that today's "new gun" is tomorrow's antique/vintage gun! I have several that I bought in the 80s that still seem new to me, but are now considered collectibles. Weird.

I had other guns that are gone, but this winchester 94 in 30-30 I bought new when I was about 15 years old back in 1956 or 1957. I immediately had the williams foolproof sight and a recoil pad put on for LOP (length of pull) as I was a big kid. I have shot a number of deer with it. I used many rifles in between, but a year or two ago thought I would check the zero. It was still spot on and accurate. I once shot a buck at over 220 yards with it.

My "oldest new gun" is the same as my "first gun". Remington 572 pump 22 rifle. Birthday present in 1973.

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I always take precautions

My first was a Remington bolt action 22 rifle I bought in the mid 70s.Put a lot of rabbits in the pot.Still have that one.

1980, a Mod. 41, 5.5"Heavy Barrel. Unfortunately, traded off on a High Standard Victor (used) that I still have and still use.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

...and the one that started me down the 44 magnum path. I bought this one brand new in 1985. Many have seen it before. It started life as a 6" gun, but I wanted something like Skeeter Skelton would have, so I wacked the barrel to 5", installed the patridge front sight and did a few other mods. The gun has had probably 36 lbs. of 700X shot through it over the years.

It's the one in the center of the pic.

This 17-3 which I bought new in 1977:

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

I bought a new Chief's Special in 1952 and it presently resides in a place of honor on the top shelf of my safe. Other than the thin line around the cylinder, it looks like the day I bought it.

Got my 1st "New" gun when I was 12. Saved money from odd jobs and had my dad use the money (for reasons that escaped me at the time, the local hardware store would not sell it to me) for a new H&R .410 single shot.
Would have been early 1970.
Used it as a bunny popper until I got out of high school when I bought a 12ga. It was retired for several years until I sold it to a friend that wanted a starter gun for his kid.

My very first gun was a 1949 Winchester model 62 pump 22 hammer gun. I was 12 and I almost rubbed the blue off of it wiping, cleaning, fiddling and of course shooting...rabbits and squirrels were not safe in my area. I'd looked for a long time to find one that was dead original, no touch ups or refinishing and within a year or two of the one I had.

I was at my local "pawn shop/gun store" about 6 months ago picking up my latest handgun purchase when I looked in the showcase where they keep some antiques and there it was. It's easilly a 90% gun (got a buddy that's a Winchester collector and guru) and he gave me a price in today's market that would be ok...wouldn't have mattered much because when I picked it up and relived my youth in a flash...it was going to be mine. The owner of the pawn shop is a friend and I told him about "first gun itis" hitting me he said I could have it for what he had in it plus $100 (I've bought quite a few guns from him in the past)....couldn't get the money out quick enough.

Got it sitting in a nice snug sock in the safe in a very special place..about once a month I get it out, wipe it down and just think about it...I'm going to be 74 in a month or so and the feelings and memories are things that completely take me out of the present hubub about economy, politics, and the like...all at once I'm back in Colorado walking along Cherry Creek near Denver with my trusty 22 and I was Daniel Boone, Kit Carson and all the shooting hero's of the olden days.

Man it's nice to hold and enjoy a small piece of history that reminds me so much of a very simple and pleasant time. Simple pleasures.

A Winchester 190 in .22 LR that I got in Georgia in 1972.

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VIVERE MILITARE EST

A Browning BL-22 that I bought in 1976 when I turned 18.

That would be this Sears-Roebuck 12 ga. pump. A rebadged Mossberg 500, I got it in 1977 I believe (I had a fairly new 1976 Ford Bronco at the time anyway). It came with two barrels, a 28" modifed, and a 24" open choke, rifle sight, slug barrel.

They were tagged at $129.00 IIRC new. I paid $99.00 for mine because someone had returned it because he didn't like the way the open choke slug barrel shot buckshot... . He apparently never fired the other barrel.



I on the other hand have never fired the slug barrel. The choked barrel shoots No 1 buckshot very well. Every deer it's ever been pointed at has hit the ground and never gotten up.


I did the cammo job myself.

My oldest handgun I bought myself that I still have is a Hi-Point C-9, 9mm. I got it to see if they were as bad as everyone says they are. Mine isn't. It works like a champ. I used to trade guns, especially handguns a lot, but the HP was never worth enough to bother, so I've still got it.

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John 3:16 .

My Browning High Power bought NIB in 1968.

The old beat-up finished challenged Chiefs Special I post the picture of from time to time, and a Savage Model 99A rifle in 250-3000 are the oldest guns I still have that I purchased new. I believe I bought both of them in 1973.

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Georgia On My Mind

The first new gun I bought was an Ithaca 12 gauge single shot I bought with money I earned cleaning up a huge garbage pile behind a Buick dealership my older brother worked for. I think I was about 11 or 12. I made the money and my dad purchased it for me at the Navy Exchange in Norfolk. I especially remember those green hulled Remmington shells that I got with it. It sits in my safe as I write this.

The first I actually bought in person was a Ruger stainless Security Six .357 4" that I bought in 1976 while working at my first job after getting out of the Navy. I still have it with original grips and box.

My first was a Hi Standard Supermatic; the kind with the two muzzle brake ports on either side of the front sight. I worked as a surveryor's assistant (not technical, I was the pack mule for the outfit) most of the summer of 1954. Got it for $75.

It taught me how to shoot a pistol. I shot it in competition at college and in the army for a few years, and then traded it for a S&W 41 around 1961 (list price $110). It has a 4 digit SN and I still have it, complete with box, weights and a few other goodies. My scores went up with the Smith, but I still wanted one of those Hi Standards. They're not easy to find, but a couple of years ago I ran across one at the little gun show in El Paso, complete with box, 2 weights and spare magazine. That one isn't going anywhere.

My "oldest", "new" gun was a Mossberg Model 146B purchased in 1955.

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G.P. Charlie

Sir, the first new gun I bought was a Ruger Mini-14 in 1983. It cost right about $200, and I got it with part of the proceeds from selling a motorcycle. The Mini, as was typical in those days, was very reliable, but not the least bit accurate. Finally sold it just a few years ago.

The oldest gun that I bought new and still have is a 4-inch Smith 25-9. Bought that one in 1990.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Wishin' don't make it so.

Colt Scout single action 22. Still have it, the box and the receipt, 1962.

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Jim
S&WCA #819