At some point, all the guns get sold.

[mikepriwer]

Over time, we have had many discussions and comments relating to
the good intentions of passing a gun on to ones heirs. Typically, I
have responded with comments to the effect that, like it or not,
somewhere along the line the gun(s) will get sold.

The up-coming Kull-Supica auction is a great example of exactly what I
have been writing about. This auction contains the Alden West McDaniel
collection. On its own, it is a very interesting collection of civil
war pocket revolvers, made by a variety of long-gone small manufacturers.
Many of these guns would appear to infringe on Colts patents, that
may have been one of the reasons for building this unique collection.
Furthermore, there is at least one known Revolutionary War musket
attributed to General Sullivan; this gun also found its way into the
McDaniel collection.

The Sullivan gun came into the possession of the current owner by
way of his great-grandfather, who acquired it from the heirs of General
Sullivan's estate. Rev. McDaniels son, Allen Boyer McDaniel, 1880 to
1960, was an MIT graduate engineer who founded the Dept of Engineering
at Univ. of South Dakota. His son, Alden West McDaniel, 1913 - 1998,
was a mechanical engineer with an illustrious career, and was the one
who apparently put together the collection of unique pocket pistols.
The current owner is a physician on the faculty of Univ of Louisville.

In the words of the current owner, talking about his father,
"He had an engineers appreciation for solutions to mechanical problems
and saw in these revolvers an intriguing record of the evolution of
these solutions. He also appreciated the significance of the various
infringments on Colts patents, and the legal consequences that kept
Colt so busy in those years. He wanted to collect the entire sequence,
and missed only one --- . "

So - what we have here is a very unique, and well-thought-out, collection
of very early guns, parts of which date back four generations for this
family.

And yet, at some point, the guns get sold.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[mikepriwer]

Over time, we have had many discussions and comments relating to
the good intentions of passing a gun on to ones heirs. Typically, I
have responded with comments to the effect that, like it or not,
somewhere along the line the gun(s) will get sold.

The up-coming Kull-Supica auction is a great example of exactly what I
have been writing about. This auction contains the Alden West McDaniel
collection. On its own, it is a very interesting collection of civil
war pocket revolvers, made by a variety of long-gone small manufacturers.
Many of these guns would appear to infringe on Colts patents, that
may have been one of the reasons for building this unique collection.
Furthermore, there is at least one known Revolutionary War musket
attributed to General Sullivan; this gun also found its way into the
McDaniel collection.

The Sullivan gun came into the possession of the current owner by
way of his great-grandfather, who acquired it from the heirs of General
Sullivan's estate. Rev. McDaniels son, Allen Boyer McDaniel, 1880 to
1960, was an MIT graduate engineer who founded the Dept of Engineering
at Univ. of South Dakota. His son, Alden West McDaniel, 1913 - 1998,
was a mechanical engineer with an illustrious career, and was the one
who apparently put together the collection of unique pocket pistols.
The current owner is a physician on the faculty of Univ of Louisville.

In the words of the current owner, talking about his father,
"He had an engineers appreciation for solutions to mechanical problems
and saw in these revolvers an intriguing record of the evolution of
these solutions. He also appreciated the significance of the various
infringments on Colts patents, and the legal consequences that kept
Colt so busy in those years. He wanted to collect the entire sequence,
and missed only one --- . "

So - what we have here is a very unique, and well-thought-out, collection
of very early guns, parts of which date back four generations for this
family.

And yet, at some point, the guns get sold.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[DHENRY]

Mike,
As usual, a thoughtful and factual commentary.
A bit sobering, too.
As I believe, we're all just stewards, doing (hopefully) the best we can to preserve these old guns and their 'stories'.
But yes...they WILL be sold.
Don

 

[Onomea]

Very true, Mike.

But, I think I would rather have someone who really loved my guns owning them in the future rather than my children or theirs if they didn't care for them.

Just about everything about our lives is fleeting, so it makes sense that the ownership of guns is the same way. Just the way it is.

 

[mikepriwer]

Arlo

Yes - fleeting it is ! But, more than that, its also differing
preferences. We tend to think that what is good for us, is good for
our heirs. And that is the fallacy in our thinking.

Regards, Mike

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My best friend volentieered at the Ohio historical village in the 80's. Once he told me that he had owned many Cival War firearms and worked on many 1812, Revolutionary, and 1 French & Indian War guns, the comment was "How many men thought they owned these guns, and were dust: but the guns were still here". The question is, Are we the caretakers or the collection of these fine old guns? I know that I am totally dedicated to the protiction (from idiots) of all my "Old Soldiers", but again, am I just their pet watch dog? Besides, either way I am doing what I love, or what I was created to do...I win!!!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Back in the 80's, my best friend did volentieer work at the Ohio Historical Village, at that point in his life he had owned many Cival War, and worked on Many 1812, Revo;utionary, 1 french & Indian War guns. His comment to me was'"How many men thought they owned those guns, and were now dust?" I know that I am very careful to protect my "Old Soldiers" from idiots. Did we aquire them, or did they aquire a watch dog? Either way I'm doing what I was created to do!! So maybe we can't keep them from being sold, but we can see to it that they end up in the right hands (or paws).

 

[Sgt 127]

I was chatting with my 14 year old son the other day. We were talking about some old gun I had. I mentioned that amongst the odd stuff laying around, I had it planned that, at the very least, each of my two sons would get one RM, a Walther PPK (German heritage and all) and one good carry gun. My 14 year olds favorite shooting gun right now is a Sig P225..he has good taste)

Or, I might just wait until I'm a little older and retired and empty the safe and sell everything off, take the money and spend a year wandering around Europe leaving them nothing but great stories.

He looked thoughtful...And, with a wry grin said "Dad, I hope you don't take this wrong and, I don't want to see you go, but, if it happens, I hope you don't see the end coming."

 

[Art Doc]

You're right, Mike. Guns are objects and there's no guarantee that our heirs will share our appreciation for the guns we have collected. Look at how many times you see brand new members asking how much the gun their father/grandfather left them is worth. Why do you suppose they want to know this information? It ain't to make the gun prettier.

I would love to have even one of my dad's guns. He died when I was young with no insurance and mom had to sell them so we could eat. All I know is that there's a photo in the family album of him standing beside a 1949 Ford next to a Kansas wheat field drawing a bead with a 7.5" Colt Single Action Army. Photo is dated 1951 so it had to be a 1st generation Colt SAA and since the army cut all the guns to 5.5" the long barrel is rare. Another photo shows him wearing a police officer's uniform complete with cross-draw rig carrying a DA revolver in a full-flap holster. No idea what type of pistol but I wish I had it. Mom says there was also a Colt 45 auto he brought back from the war and his hunting rifles and shotguns. I can't imagine selling an heirloom gun but you know many if not most people apparently don't share my feelings.

In my case I don't wonder if my heirs will keep my collection together or appreciate it as I do. I have no children. My widow will sell all of my guns post haste.

Given my ever increasingly rapid physical deterioration you may want to keep an eye on the obituaries. Will be a pretty good gun sale. Too bad I'll have to miss it.

The car got cropped out in Photoshop but here's dad with his Colt.

 

[rec0546]

Mike,

As I approach early Social Security age, I have been attempting to 'document' my gun collection, but not by only recording the stats about each gun, but what each one means to me and why I bought it in the first place. I call the document I am creating 'My Gunoirs'.

For ones that I have more recently purchased, a brief description of why it fits into my collection 'scheme' and anything that I saw in it that made it special to me is recorded. But for ones that have been with me all my life, there are always many stories and memories that each invokes. Hunting trips, lucky shots, friends past and present come to mind when I look at some of my favorites, and I try to record as much as I can.

When I am done, I intend to print it and put it in the safety deposit box, so that after I'm gone, and my heirs are trying to decide what to do with 'all these guns', they at least will know why I bought them, and which ones were really special to me. Perhaps that will make it easier for them to decide what to keep and what to sell.

Who knows, they may find the document to be more valuable than the guns.

Regards, Ralph

 

[mikepriwer]

The notions about being stewards, or caretakers, of the guns is
interesting, because its true of a far wider class of assets than
just guns. In fact, it applies to everything that we ever come into
contact with - money, homes, automobiles, everything. We come into
the world with nothing, and we leave the same way.

Furthermore, if we think back several decades, we find that what we
valued, or thought about, back then is very different from what we value
or think about today. Before we were married, I wonder how many of us
would have thought about what we might want to leave to our heirs ?!

I find this discussion interesting, and I found the comments in the
auction catalog interesting, because they indicate that, from time to
time, we do think about the fleeting reality of our earthly possessions.

One of the things that has survived the test of time is the written
word. Its doubtful that many hard assets, belonging to famous writers,
have been passed from heir to heir, but their writings are certainly
available for everyone and anyone. So Yes - it probably is a good idea
to document the guns. That may be the most intereresting part of what
survives !

Regards, Mike

 

[jjones33]

I feel the worst thing you can do is donate to a museum. They will become dust collectors in the basement or sold wholesale to raise operating capital.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

or worse, banned and cut up

 

[50 target]

Originally posted by mikepriwer:
The notions about being stewards, or caretakers, of the guns is
interesting, because its true of a far wider class of assets than
just guns. In fact, it applies to everything that we ever come into
contact with - money, homes, automobiles, everything. We come into
the world with nothing, and we leave the same way.Regards, Mike

Mike, the greatest thing that we are stewards of is people & relationships. As to the tangibles, what we have had someone elses name on it before we got it and alas will have someone elses name on it after we are gone. King Soloman said " time and chance happen to us all". I always look forward to your clear and concise observations. Take care, everone and remember to be good stewards of all that we are entrusted with, for the time we have it, which is as a vapor.

 

[Gary]

The only way that I can place a value on any of the "stuff" that I have accumulated during my life is by the amount of pleasure that it has brought me. By that measure some of my guns are extremely valuable. By the same measure a lot of things that I have accummulated that have a much high monetary value mean little. We can't take anything with us when we leave this world but we can leave a few good memories if we live well.

 

[depicts]

I have a Brown Bess from a Great, Great Grandfather, that I have already passed on to my Nephew to keep it in the family.

As for my Fathers guns, two other nephews will get them.

My sister will get a few of my S&W revolvers that she shoots so well.

Most of the rest of my accumulation will be sold when I'm gone I'm pretty sure. My son doesn't seem interested, though he owns a few guns. I don't think he really cares for the wheel guns I crave so much.

Hopefully my wife will find Jim Supica when I go, or someone as trustworthy as him when my time comes. She'll need the money more than the guns.

I got many of my guns from an old family friend. As he got older, I'd go hunting and shooting with him, help in in the Maine woods and do the heavy lifting.

Now I'm getting near Social Security age myself, and have a couple of young friends who carry MY heavy stuff. They'll probably end up with several guns too.

 

[Thuer]

Next week I turn to the age of 49.
I feel very young aldo there where two attempts to get my with a garden on my belly. Do nice sickness like cancer.

But I survived and hope to collect my beloved revolvers for a while.

My intention is to sell of my stuff when i turn to 70.
My sons dont like my collection so I do sell it.

I do know that there are revolvers in my collection who has only intrest by other revolver collectors. There arnt many in the Netherlands.
Never the less my collection is worth enough to see a few parts of this world.

That is where the money goes. My sons are then old enough to take care off there self.

Time is running fast. Faster than you can imagine. for now I tressure my collection and love every revolver of it.

 

[Onomea]

Originally posted by SaxonPig:
..my dad's guns. He died when I was young...

Wanted to say, SaxonPig, that your father was certainly a fine figure of a man, and that I am sorry he died when he was yet so young...

 

[Buford57]

My Father owned a total of 4 guns when he died.
I have 3 of them (the fourth was literal junk, the result of a misbegotten trade and meant nothing to him or me - it was parted out and never missed). His only handgun, a Colt Frontier Scout, is promised to my younger son. His .22 rifle is unsafe to shoot at this point, but I will restore it and shoot it once in a while. His shotgun, a Sears pump, will stay with me and maybe take a pheasant once or twice between now and when I check out. Both are oozing memories of my father and my youth.

There is much in my accumulation (now well over 10 times the size of his) that neither of my sons will associate with me and that ooze nothing but gun oil. I will rest easy in my grave if my sons take the stuff that I bought to use (and they never will) and turn it over to someone who will appreciate it, in return for something they want and will use. I suspect that, as I did with my Dad's guns, they will keep one or two each of mine that bring back memories.

"Dad's guns" means something different to them than it did to me.

 

[David Lee Valdina]

I have had many of these thoughts, happens as we age. I wonder if I should get my last remains cremated, ground fine, mixed with smokeless powder, loaded with trap & skeet loads and shot off over several weekends at the club ?