A gun to which you are "sentimentally attached"

[bigmtnman]

As the OP, I'm giving the "Howitzer" my hearty endorsement for the thread .... I didn't ask "that you have". The "Howitzer" is an "out of the box - spit take" reply

 

[Bald1]

This is a timely thread for me. The S&W that started my fascination was my dads model 10. It was the only handgun he ever owned. When he passed I inherited all his guns. His favorite was his old Winchester model 12. A semi truck couldn’t haul the game he killed with that gun. My dad bought a used 10-4 4” when he became an armed guard at Trico Corp (windshield wipers and parts) in 1973. They had 3 plants in Buffalo. The guards all had “Special Police” designation which is similar to police auxiliary. My dad worked his way up to supervisor as the #2 in charge. While he was a great shot he wasn’t really a handgun guy. To him it was just a tool. I doubt he’d have even owned a handgun if not for his job. But I was fascinated with that gun. He taught me safety and how to shoot when I was very young. I got a .22 before my 5th birthday….. This past Saturday I sent that model 10 to my son in TN along with dads belt, holster, cuffs, and badge and name pin. My son is a Federal LEO. While my dad was not a LEO it was still a duty gun and I thought my son would appreciate it. He never got to know his grandfather as he passed away when my son was 3 months old. This pic is from 1973. I was 4 yrs old. I wish dad had been wearing the model 10 in the pic.

 

[Richard Simmons]

I inherited my father’s Remington 870 Wingmaster upon his passing earlier this year. He purchased it new in 1959. No idea how many pheasant and quail we took with it over the years but it has to be many hundreds. I’ve had my own 870 for close to 40 years but there just something special about dad’s.

 

[Llance]

Fairly simple task for me to choose.
#1. My first rifle, a Marlin Model 57M. I bought it used for $45.00 in "72". It shoots where I point it, so if I do my part, it does what it is supposed too.

#2. A badgered together 1911-A1 with an Essex frame, USMC parts and a barrel and bushing fit like two peas. A Corporal in the Marine Corps sold it to me in "72" for $115.00. I've carried it on two overseas tours.

#3. My grandfathers Marlin 336-A .30-30. It was his hunting rifle and likely will be my youngest grandsons. I need to get a proper Marlin stock for it.

 

[BAM-BAM]

My Dad's three "duty guns" 1950s Detective Special, 1946 4" M&P but first and foremost Dad's 1939 6" Colt New Service in .357 with King's of Calf adjustable sights and action job! Also, a 640 Dad asked me to get him after seeing mine!

My guns probably my 3913NL that was my "suit gun", 3" 66 w/ Spegel Boot grips and my first year 686 no dash which I round butted and shot PPC with until Dad "Borrowed it"

 

[Redirish]

I have a Colt Army Officers Special in 38 WCF that was carried by my wife's great Uncle as a Texas Ranger in West Texas between 1885 and 1905. There is no finish on the firearm and there are 4 small notches filed under the barrel in front of the ejector rod. The grip are worn smooth as well. It has a history- I called the Texas DPS and asked them if I could get a history on him and they said they would love to have the weapon in their museum. They confirmed his employment by records.

 

[JRB416]

A lot of neat guns and interesting stories in this thread. Although I have many firearms with some sentiment attached to them, this 1954, 20 gauge Ithaca 37 ranks at the top.

My dad supplied our table with deer, pheasant, quail, rabbit, etc with this little shotgun and we hunted countless days together with our dogs until he passed when I was 19.

This shotgun was present in some of the most dear and memorable times of my life. So for sentimentality this one is very special to me.

Here are a few photos with my fathers dog tags included in the first pic.

 

[Smoke]

LOL,
I kinda' think this thread is more oriented towards guns we currently OWN that have some kind of sentimental value.
Is that one currently in your possession?
If not, while it may be "interesting", it seems kinda' out-of-place in this context.
Or did I miss the point?

Good thing you're not a Moderator then isn't it.

 

[Smoke]

As the OP, I'm giving the "Howitzer" my hearty endorsement for the thread .... I didn't ask "that you have". The "Howitzer" is an "out of the box - spit take" reply

FWIW "Howitzer" doesn't need to be in quotes. That is an M110A2 SP Howitzer. The largest and most accurate land based Howitzer ever in the US inventory.

A mortar is only capable f indirect fire. A cannon (by definition) is only capable of direct fire.
A Howitzer can do both.

I also had the privilege of firing the last 8 inch round that ever went down range in the US Army.. at Fort Carson Colorado in May 1999.

I'm amazed I still remember this stuff 20+ years later.

 

[Muley Gil]

I have a Colt Army Officers Special in 38 WCF that was carried by my wife's great Uncle as a Texas Ranger in West Texas between 1885 and 1905. There is no finish on the firearm and there are 4 small notches filed under the barrel in front of the ejector rod. The grip are worn smooth as well. It has a history- I called the Texas DPS and asked them if I could get a history on him and they said they would love to have the weapon in their museum. They confirmed his employment by records.

Welcome to the Forum.

Is this a SAA (Single Action Army)? There is no "Army Officer's Special" model built by Colt.

Please post pictures.

 

[Muley Gil]

Several firearms come to mind. The flintlock musket that hung over the mantle in my grandparent’s Maine farmhouse when they bought the place in the 1930s. The Mauser C-96 that my father got in Southeast Asia in 1946 when he was on the Merchant Marine. A couple years after my hand loading mentor and good friend passed away, his son honored his request to give me right of first refusal on a 1930s Colt Officers Model 22. Of course I have it.

But this Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless has the most value to me. The same grandfather carried it during WWII on shore patrol, looking for submarines off the coast. He was a fine man.

Please post pictures of the musket.

 

[oink]

A mortar is only capable of indirect fire. A cannon (by definition) is only capable of direct fire.
A Howitzer can do both. ...

My father was the Reconaissance Officer (mainly a forward observer) in a U.S. Army Infantry Cannon Company in the ETO in WWII. 1st wounded in Normandy and later in Belgium near the German border. The Cannon Company was equipped with a 6 M3 105mm towed howitzers. They were used almost exclusively for indirect fire. I believe the Infantry Cannon Company was only a thing during WWII. Apparently being a Reconaissance Officer wasn't a very healthy occupation. Point being "Cannon" seems to have been a more fluid term at the time. He referred to himself as a "Cannoneer".

U.S. Army Infantry Cannon Company (1943-45)

 

[MetalMan]

Mine would be a Browning Silver Hunter, 12ga, 3” Magnum presented to me by my management team on Christmas, 2006 with an engraved silver plate affixed to the bottom of the pistol grip memorializing the event.

 

[Modified]

I miss DJ's it was a genuine gun shop.

I think you should share the story of that 1911 as well as that "incredibly expensive" RM in the next pic.

My guns? Dad's 6 1/2" Heavy Duty, as well as his WSP Commemorative and his 1936 Model 94. Also my uncles 1946 1911 he carried in Korea.

Hah, you mean the 1911 that was used to shoot a bunch of germans in ww1, was owned by a man who was assassinated on an elk hunting trip because he found something in the books and had to be silenced, and then Elmer Keith kept it for himself?

And that $150 reg mag is definitely something I have emotional attatchment to. I didn't even really understand what I had bought at the time, I just thought any .357 magnum that worked and had a good action was worth $150.

 

[AJ]

I have several that are favorites. I have a shotgun that I used to teach a combat shotgun course in the Corps. Not many can say they have a gun that they used on active duty. Most will have a gun like the one they used on active duty.

All that said, the gun with the most sentiment with it is an old Savage Model 7 in .22 LR. My Grandfather bought it new in 1938, and put lots of rabbit, squirrel and other small game on the table to help feed the family. He gave it to me when I was 10 years old in 1961. I gave it to my oldest Grandson when he turned 10. Since he has no gun safe yet, it stays at my house still. Means a lot to me!

 

[JohnRippert]

Bunch of them, but the foremost would probably be:





It's a Colt New Service with D.W. King work including those "speed holes" as part of a worked over action, a ramped red square post rear sight, with a "Super Police" rear sight.

The engraving is helpfully explained by a letter to (and response from) Mr. Askins way back when:





If any of you are familiar with a gunshop in Bothell Washington called DJ's then you are undoubtedly familiar with the wonderful man who is no longer with us; Bruce Jordan. He was instrumental in teaching me about guns and most importantly what quality in firearms means. I could never really reach the rarified air of what he loved collecting (just couldn't afford it), but the quality I learned led me to the intersection of affordability and extreme quality: The Smith & Wesson.

Of course this tutelage also led me to discover what fine work D.W. King was doing to guns, and of course I became a King and finely modified revolver fanatic.

This particular gun was one that Bruce knew about for years and eventually convinced the owner to part with it so that it could come to my hands.

I miss Bruce a lot. This would be the last gun I would ever part with.

And man, would it be painful parting with the 11 guns that are behind this one for favorites, with some kind of sentimental attachment to them all basically at this point;



Not *quite* your favorite



What is your Favorite Gun?

That list of top 10 is kind of wrong at this point. Two guns have entered my collection which belong in here, but I am not sure how to wedge them in. I think maybe I will need to make a top 15?

Bottom picture at 9 o'clock, the Bisley. That revolver always hits me so good whenever I see your pics of it. Just a perfect gun IMO.

 

[Modified]

Bottom picture at 9 o'clock, the Bisley. That revolver always hits me so good whenever I see your pics of it. Just a perfect gun IMO.

I will never not be upset that Colt had the perfect SAA design in 1920 and didn't bother to produce it.

As good as it looks its even *better* to shoot.

A couple things about it that aren't immediately obvious. In addition to the awesome upgraded grip, they also set the trigger forward. If you look at a regular bisley you will see the trigger is further back. The action is also worked over and the spring arrangement inside is different. The rear sight on it is a S&W target sight from the period, and the front sight is a copy of the D.W. King ramp.

That gun does not belong in my collection. It really should be in some very advanced rich guy's Colt collection. My emotional attachment to it isn't just because of the history, form, function, and aesthetics. It comes from the fact that I ended up with the gun at all (being as the factory work order receipt was lost by the auction house and only sent to me after I had already won and received the gun). No way that would be mine had it been properly advertised for what it actually is.

 

[Muley Gil]

Bottom picture at 9 o'clock, the Bisley. That revolver always hits me so good whenever I see your pics of it. Just a perfect gun IMO.

That looks like a copy of Elmer Keith's #5 SAA, which combines the Bisley top strap with a SAA front strap, plus using the Bisley hammer.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Ya know......After reading these post.......I can remember sitting in the woods with that old mdl 12 in my lap(made 1918).....Leaning back against a tree and closing my eyes.........In my mind a silent movie is playing....My Dad with his mdl 12 and me with my mdl 1200 on deer and dove hunts......Me and Dad squirrel hunting....Him with his mdl. 61 and me with my Browning SA-22........Makes me shed a silent tear and smile.

 

[Modified]

That looks like a copy of Elmer Keith's #5 SAA, which combines the Bisley top strap with a SAA front strap, plus using the Bisley hammer.

That's what I thought when I bought it, but nope the auction house had lost the factory receipt for the upgrades and sent it a while after I bought the gun. If anything Keith's #5 is a copy of *it*:



And the earliest iteration I can find of the "Keith No. 5" idea is a reference to one being done in 1907:

Outdoor Life 1907-11: Vol 20 Iss 5 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

I enclose a photograph of the revolver I built over. It has most of the shape of the old Colt Army grip and the smooth, easy action of the Bisley.

I took a Bisley model Colt and cut the trigger guard down and made it smaller; also cut off the end of the trigger. I bent the trigger guard and backstrap, or in other words, remodeled the stock as near the shape of the old Colt Army as I could. I cut off the end and made it about %” shorter than the Bisley, and made a new pair of grips or stocks, I ground off the flanges on each side of the hammer, also some of the top, making it much quicker than the original Bisley. The gun was originally a .32-20. I got a new .38 caliber 74%” barrel and rechambered the cylinder. I did not like the 7%” barrel, so cut it off to 5*/,,”. I first cut it to 6”, but a slight accident to the muzzle caused me to cut it off */,,"’ more. I made a bead front sight of german silver and I think I have as fine a gun as any man ever had. It is chambered for the .38 S. & W. Special cartridge, but it shoots well with the Colt .38 long. I load my shells with Ideal No. 358250 bullets and DuPont No.1 Smokeless powder, and it makes a fine combination.