Confession time. Finding a gun you forgot you had

[LVSteve]

I'll go first, seeing as it happened to me this week.

I was tidying a closet and there was a load of loose gunsocks on a shelf. I got a box and was gathering them up when I found that one of them wasn't empty. Peeling back the gunsock revealed a Romanian contract VZ 24 rifle. Sadly, the royal crest has been ground off and the wood has been refinished to some degree, but it has a nice color. I'll have to look again to see if the bolt matches, but it has one of the slickest actions of any of my Mausers, and the bore is pretty good for a WWII vintage rifle.

So, what have y'all turned up in your dark corners leading to a "whoops!" moment.

 

[dsf]

Found this one -



Looking for this one -



Still looking.

 

[max503]

A Davis 22 derringer in the back of a loading bench drawer. But I'm trying to forget about it.

 

[rockquarry]

Never exerienced it with regard to guns. I think you'd have to have an incredibly large assortment of guns for that to happen. I have had such an occurence with reloading equipment.

 

[22lrfan]

Over three years ago we decided to downsize and move since all the kids were gone from home. All my guns, ammo and reloading stuff was packed up and moved to storage. All the one I bought during that time went straight to storage. We finally finished our new home last Jan so I was able to move everything to the new house. While unpacking I found four that I had not added to my inventory. I had to dig through my receipts to figure out when and where I got them.

 

[Alpo]

Once I was looking through the safe and found a blue plastic box. Springfield 1911. Oh yeah, I remember buying that. Another time found a black plastic box. AWA Peacekeeper. Oh yeah, I remember buying that too. Both of them, brought them home, put them in the safe, promptly forgot about them.


I'm more often find ammunition that I forgot about. Usually I remember guns.

 

[swagmeister]

Never had that problem and never will. The most handguns that I have ever had at one time was several years ago with around 20-25. Getting older and have thinned the herd to 8 handguns and one shotgun. And most of these are older, collectible guns that one would have a very hard time going to a store to purchase or to order at anything close to a reasonable price. Now, talking about knives is a totally different subject. Have way too many of those to remember exactly what I have.

 

[Krogen]

I "found" a Ruger No. 1 in 25-06 lurking in the back of the safe. It still had the hang tag from when I was trying to sell it at gunshows. Clearly it didn't sell and clearly it didn't interest me. So I forgot all about it. I'm kinda glad it didn't sell, my renewed interest in single-shots will likely take me back to it . . . one of these days. Hope I don't forget about it all over again.

 

[Drm50]

I've owned a gun or two and never forgot about one. I do forget what I did with some, traded or sold- to whom, but never " found" a gun that I forgot I had.
I did have experience of pistol I thought was stolen. Months later it showed up in a boot. Was just coming in when called for supper, was racking rifle and dropped pistol in a boot, to be unloaded and wiped off after supper. Pistol stayed in boot till first snow, only time I wore the Sorrels. Presto,
found my shooter when I mashed my toes into it.

 

[DeplorabusUnum]

Never misplaced a gun but once I was on a cruise wearing my tux and playing craps in the casino. At the end of the trip, I stowed the tux back in the closet. About 5 years later I pulled out the tux to wear for one of my son's wedding. Reached into my coat pocket and found 6 crisp Benjamins. Completely forgot about my winnings that night. Doh!

 

[desi2358]

I have lost a gun (or two) simply because I forgot where I put them. And they weren't where I thought they were.......... Turned up later in another location that I had forgot moving them to. One of the hazards of starting out with too small a safe and expanding by buying two more safes that were also too small (Hey, they were on sale, okay LOL).

I have found a couple guns that I had hidden. When I only had that one safe I would occasionally stash a gun or two in certain hard to reach spots just to have it out of sight and a little more secure from theft. Two were quite secure, I forgot all about them until I went looking for something else and found them instead...........

 

[LVSteve]

Never exerienced it with regard to guns. I think you'd have to have an incredibly large assortment of guns for that to happen. I have had such an occurence with reloading equipment.

My milsurp collection probably qualifies as an assortment. Once I saw this Mauser I remembered how I came buy it. Guy on the other side of the valley advertised a "Czech Model 24 rifle" along with a Mannlicher 1895 rebuilt as a carbine in the paper. Drove 20 miles over there to find it was a scrubbed contract gun, which dents the value considerably. When I explained what it was he named a price for both rifles I couldn't refuse. The Mannlicher is a typical rebuild with a very sticky straight pull action. It has to do with fitting the bolt parts, especially the tail of the extractor IIRC.

 

[Bald1]

I've forgotten about a few guns. But never lost or misplaced one. The ones I've forgotten about were locked away in safe. And by forgotten I simply mean i hadn't handled them in years. Out of sight out of mind.

 

[petepeterson]

The last time I moved, after everything was put away, I realized I couldn't find my 442 snub. I remember it being in the nightstand drawer, but nothing after that.
I searched high and low, but no luck. Even snuck back to the previous place (I rented a townhouse for 6 months in between houses) to look around.
After a week, I was stumped- until I went to clean a gun for the first time after the move. It was wrapped in a rag, and stuffed in the cleaning bag, probably as I was rushing to get packed.

Quite a relief.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Sitting in the deer stand the other evening........I remembered I have a blue 2 in 36.......Haven't saw it in quite awhile. But I know where it is.

 

[walnutred]

At one time I collected American made sxs 16ga shotguns. We were getting new carpet in the bedroom and had to move all of the furniture out. Behind my dresser I found a 16ga Ithaca that I have no idea when I purchased. I decided it was time to liquidate the collection and I went from 26 to 1.

 

[375hh1973]

Was missing a 22A with a red dot for about 6 months, never knew it was gone.

Buddy called up one day and asked if I was missing something.

Hell, Im always missing something, can you be more specific?

He sent a pic of it balanced on a birdfeeder in his back yard.

I said hey, thats mine!

Seems like he ended up with it after a range day. Was in his safe for 6 months, he was seeing how long it took.

 

[Ματθιας]

I put an in the box 91/30 in the closet right after I picked it up from Big5. Remember 91/30s for $59.99?
Anyway, I put it in the closet because company was coming and I didn't want to leave it out.
Forgot all about it.
It's a seldom used closet, so when I went looking for dress clothes (very seldom do I dress up) there it was!

The 91/30 was nothing special, 1943 Ishevsk - but it had a matching bayonet!

 

[lihpster]

Dad leaned a little single shot .22 in the corner next to the bookcase. Then he put some fishing rods in front of it. 30 years later we found it. It's still there.

 

[kaaskop49]

The Colt DS I stashed under the bed (why?). Every several months, I look for it but it is not there... and then it is! Parallel universes. I really want to find this gun... and then I wake up. I'll just have to wait for the next dream.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103