In a drawer for about 45 years(ish)

[MSG Glenn]

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

[JH1951]

Welcome aboard from Pennsylvania!

 

[Dave IL]

Welcome to the family Dave nice hardware man ! !
As you can see from my tag, I'm a new guy too ! Only I'm from way up north in Carleton Place, Ontario Canada. I recently bought a 1988 Model 41...my first Smith and Wesson. No pics yet because I'm still waiting for the paperwork to come through. Then the seller will ship it to me.

So how are those new/old pistols holding up? Be sure to put in lots of range time now that the weather is getting warmer.

Say, how did those guns manage to just stay in a drawer untouched for over 50 years ? It sounds like an interesting story. I'd love to hear it if you want to tell it.

Well, Grandad was born in 1910, when he was like 25 or 26 he bought the .22 Colt, probably had some fun and put it away with the box.

He was a Dentist in Chicago, I knew when i was under 10 he had Parkinson's and it was not very often but it was weird going to his house, "don't touch anything" was the theme.

by that time grandmother had passed shortly after i was born, so it was around then the Parkinson's started up too.

I believe he died somewhere around 1992, but a short time before that we were there, and he told my Dad to "Take the guns in the drawer."

Being a curious teenager i eventually looked in the bag and saw "guns". As before at granddads house "Don't touch them!" was again the theme. So for many years they were forgotten again.

My grandmother had even knitted gun booties out of old curtains for each one of them outside polyester inside cotton. and they sat in those inside a Double paper Grocery bag.

At some point while being a teen, I remember grabbing a snub nose and a bullet.. ran across the street which was an old farm field, and discovered that .38 Spl DOES NOT fit in a .38, and walked home with bullet and hearing intact. (kind of one of those life moments of personal discovery to look back on and laugh at myself.

In 2006, my Father passed away from cancer. I knew there were pistols in there, but I moved them to my Father-in-Laws house in Wisconsin, because i didnt want them to get sold or go missing. FOID card etc, i didnt have one.

They were kept in a gun safe in the paper bag with the pistol mittens until november of 2016, i had them returned to me, and was prepared by having the FOID.

I am about to take my CCL class for IL, and I believe its perfect, lots of instruction will help me be a responsible gun owner.

Still looking for a small safe since i have kids, so i keep the pistols in the house hidden and the ammo in the detached garage, i trust my kid, but better safe than stupid.

I have been having decent luck so far 10 yards with the 4" 15-2 and 10 yards with the model 36. 19 rounds only missed the silhouette 2 times. I'm off to a decent start

 

[C Islander]

Welcome from Ohio!!

 

[ParadiseRoad]

thinking of using the model 36 as CC but its from 1964 and literally like new? thoughts?

...I have one from 1970...it's too nice to carry every day...

...shoot it yes...carry it is not in the plans for now...

 

[Muss Muggins]

Welcome from the bootheel of Missouri . . .

 

[tekarra]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Ranger514]

Welcome from the Flathead Valley, MT. Your Grand Dad had good taste in handguns. Enjoy!

 

[wingriderz]

Welcome A Board from the Sunshine State

 

[Oldgunner49]

Nice group of Smith's,welcome from Alberta,Canada