A sad day at a friend house (1911 story)

[walnutred]

He invited me over to help sort through his late fathers firearm accumulation. One of his dads hobbies was buying storage buildings at auction before that became a popular TV show. Of the 70 +/- firearms most were old single shot shotguns and 22's. Not all though.

He pulled out a case and said "This is the pistol my dad thought was the most valuable." The firearm he showed me was was a disassembled Webley Mk VI. It had been disassembled because a cartridge had corroded into the chamber, and most of the cartridge was still there.

You Colt fans should stop reading at this point. "What about these two?" I asked. Also in the case were a pair of US marked Colt 1911's. Unfortunately they had sat in that foam lined case so long almost all of the finish was gone and they were beginning to rust. These showed no sign of having ever been through a rebuild and one still had the two toned magazine. I brought the Webley home to clean and reassemble and advised him to have the Colts looked at for conservation or restoration by someone who knew Colts. Not just a local gun refinisher.

We sorted everything else into three piles. One a flea market pile, one an online auction pile and one a "you should probably keep this" pile. Among the butchered military rifles was an octagon Winchester 73 in 38 WCF. Which unfortunately was chrome plated at some point. Among the cheap bolt action 22s was three Winchesters a couple 10/22s and a Browning semiautomatic. He showed me a RG 22 revolver and told me he was thinking of keeping it for his wife. I pulled a S&W 32-1 out of the pile and suggested that might be a better choice, and showed him why. The Beretta 92 he wisely kept for himself. The High Points will go to the flea market.

It was quite a mixed bag.

 

[CLASSIC12]

That's an interesting story, and a sad one indeed. You didn't take pics ?

 

[Bakebfr480]

What?.......No pics?

 

[walnutred]

Not mine to take pictures of. I wasn't going to say " Let's document how this stuff has been allowed to deteriorate."

 

[robertrwalsh]

Understandable under the circumstances.

 

[bigggbbruce]

I recently found a collection that the owner passed away and all his guns, several very desirable were left to rust as well.. Unfortunate for sure.

 

[squidsix]

I see this a lot. A guy who works for me walked in the other day and asked me about "this old rusty .22 revolver".
It was a Colt Diamondback .22 and was rusty on one side (you guessed it: foam case lining). He was going to sell it for $100.
To some people it's just not their thing, so it must be nobody's thing.

 

[Watchdog]

What will become of the Colt 1911s? Do you know yet?

 

[desi2358]

Sad but too common, I have bought guns that came out of abandoned storage lockers before and most were rough. Not prepared for storage, foam cases, old socks, etc.... combined with an often damp environment not good. Same thing often happens when older family passes too, guns left in cases, shoved into attics or closets until someone needs money. I have had to cut old soft cases that were rusted onto the gun to get it out. Some really nice, potentially valuable guns ruined this way. One that was really sad was an early 1911, left in a cardboard box on a basement floor. The top side was still beautiful the bottom side was a rough pitted mess. Sadly many people haven't a clue about caring for and storing a gun to keep it nice (and too often don't comprehend why it's not "worth as much as the one they saw on the internet!")

 

[walnutred]

What will become of the Colt 1911s? Do you know yet?

At this point we will start looking for someone who can properly bring them back to life. When he wondered if it was worth the effort I offered him $500 each for them. As I'm known to be cheap that got his attention. Once I finish with the Webley and two other revolvers I'm working on I'll clean the 1911s enough to stop any further deterioration and he can decide from there. Serial numbers are in the 300,000 range and both have the double diamond grips. One of my other purposes of visiting was to make sure all the firearms were empty. Not everything was empty, as should be expected.

 

[Frank46]

I missed out on a very nice 1898 Krag even with the D&T of the left receiver wall for a scope. Was my uncles. And when my cousin passed awayhe had an old Marlin 1893 in 30-30. Kept reminding myself to inquire if either were for sale after their owners passed and to wait an appropriate time. An as usual forgot about the both of them. Took a long time before I found a 1898 Krag with a very nice bore and didn't hesitate to plunk down the $$$ even though it had been cut down. This was about the time the movie "The Rough Riders" came out and there was a lot of renewed interest in the Krag. Barrel was cut down to 25", sporting ramp front sight, military rear and chopped stock. My cousin's 1893 marlin got a replacement Marlin 336 also in 30-30. Shot it quite often. Neither will be sold in my lifetime. Though my 2 year old grandson may find a wooden box under the Christmas tree one of these years when he gets older. Funny thing, every so often a member posts a "when you are gone what happens to your firearms" thread. I asked one of my SIL if he would be interested in some of my guns. He's never shown an interest and I was quite suprised when he said yes. The other SIL is a corrections officer and asked his wife to call me about the same topic. Never heard from him. Don't hold your breath buddy. Frank

 

[Rick_A]

My wife had told me recently (quite emphatically) that it wasn't fair that she'd be left with all my "junk" when I die. She's currently my pending ex wife.

 

[moralem]

Is that Winchester only chrome plated or had other undignified things been done to it.......it only takes money.

 

[Frank46]

How about a WWI Colt 1911 being parkerized and left under the front seat of the owners truck? Most of the finish gone and looked to have been there for many years. Truck was a beater so only God knows what also under the seat. Frank

 

[biku324]

I'll offer a non-gun cautionary tale.

My late FIL had little trust in banks; he set up most of his life savings in 3 'survivor' accounts for his two daughters and son. Maybe 10 years before he died, he told me privately that he wanted me to know that he had some money (to him that meant a few thousand dollars) in a slit in his mattress, near where he kept his pistol. I listened, and thought nothing more of it.

He died; we were all very saddened, as he was very much a father to we in-laws as well as his children. It wasn't until years later that I remembered what he had told me; I called his son, who kept the (always vacant) old house and told him he should go look in the mattress - he started laughing grimly, and said, "Too late for that - I burned that old mattress years ago."

 

[walnutred]

Is that Winchester only chrome plated or had other undignified things been done to it.......it only takes money.

No, from what I could tell on the initial handling the 73 had not been modified in any other way. With the possible exception that I believe it had a tang sight at some point and the last screw in the tang was not an original.

In the 70s I saw way too many old firearms that had been pimped out this way because the owners thought it was an improvement. Everything from nice half stock percussion target rifles to pinto Mausers.

 

[Art Doc]

Seen this several times. Guys grow old and the guns are forgotten and neglected. Or worse, bored in retirement they become amateur gun smiths and ruin them performing ham handed modifications.

 

[kaaskop49]

Late friend of mine worked for the NYPD property clerk's section. They would receive calls from folks whose family member had passed away or was incapable of handling/dealing with their firearms. They asked PD to remove them.

My friend went on such 'errands' more than once. It was shocking and sad, he said. Sporting longarms, from clunkers to higher end guns such as Weatherbys would be literally thrown in the back of a van like so much trash. Of course in NYC, they would at some point be loaded on a barge and taken out to sea for dumping/disposal...

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[CajunBass]

About 40 years or so ago, a young woman I worked with asked me to take a look at a couple of her late fathers guns she'd had for a while. One was a nice double Ithaca 12 ga. No idea what model or grade. It had been stored in a fleece lined case, and was starting to show fine rust. I cleaned it and wiped the rust off with a rag and some oil, and had it looking pretty decent. I also advised her not to keep it in that case.

The other was a Colt SAA, which as best I can recall the S/N put as being from the late 1800's, with genuine ivory grips that had turned that delightful yellow color. She had stored it in a Herters holster, and kept it under the bed. It was still in good condition at the time. I wiped that one down with an oily rag, and advised her to keep it out of the holster for storage. She mentioned there was a Luger somewhere, but she'd forgotten where it was.

I never saw those guns again and she passed away a couple of years ago. I wonder what happened to them.

 

[walnutred]

Here is a Mk VI from the batch that I am working on. You see it just as we found it. There is a 45 ACP shell, or whats left of one, corroded into one chamber. I've had the cylinder soaking in penetrating oil for two weeks now.