Musing on why/what we collect

[45NUTT]

For me it starts with my childhood watching westerns with my Dad. Naturally I wanted a Colt Single Action Army because of The Duke and a Winchester SRC because of The Rifleman. Oh what a wicked web we weave....but I digress!

I never did obtain an 1892 SRC, but I do have an 1894 SRC c. 1911 and I have 6 or 7 Colt SAA's (2 - 1 gens, 1 - 2 gen & the rest 3 gens) and some very good clones, 3 - EMF Hartford models. Plus a new 1873 73 Winchester in .357 mag.

Then along comes the S&W bug. My DA revolvers were always S&W types, push latch FORWARD to release the cylinder. Finally I bought my first S&W, a 19-4 6" nickel with 4T's. RUINED I say!!!. Now I have 4 - 19's, 3 - 36's, a K38 14-2, K38 CM, K22 pre 17, 48, 66 and I think that's it for post WWII revolvers.

This is where the pre WWII HE starts making inroads into the hoard. Reading this forum and then looking around. Thinking "These HE's look pretty good" Oh I like the nickel & pearl a lot. So, I bought a 32 Long HE circa 1912 (115XXX) 2nd change I think. Now, I'm looking at a 32-20 HE, nickel & pearl since I found a good supply of 32-20 cowboy ammo at a decent price. Does this mean I will need a carbine in 32-20 also? Those have gotten pricy lately. I remember when a 32-20 Winchester was cheap. No Mas amigo!

I have some other pre WWII revolvers a break top S&W DA in 32 S&W and a couple of Iver Johnson break tops. I was thinking that was the direction I was moving to, but the HE bug might prove to be stronger.

So what causes one revolver or configuration to tickle our fancy? I like the 32 Long cartridge and the revolvers are well made. Ammo is available and they're fun to shoot. I think about speakeasies and gangsters and the Roaring 20's and wonder what stories they could tell. But my wife and nieces will just see some old guns they have to sell or take home to think of their gun nut Uncle. Since I'll be gone, I won't care too much anyway!

Thanks for letting me ramble about my obsession and try to rationalize it.

 

[TheTinMan]

I bought my first Smith & Wesson new as a firearm, not a collectible. My daughter has that 3” Model 66-4 now, but I replaced it fairly quickly. I thought that .44 Magnums were my first collectible S&W revolvers. However, checking my register the first was a Model 25-2 with a mislabeled barrel I just thought was neat. Next was a 3” Model 624 that spoke to me from the display case, followed by a 4” Model 625-3 that I bought to shoot. Then I bought a 29-3 Classic Hunter, mostly because I thought the I fluted cylinder looked really cool and the 4-position front sight is unusual.

I could go on, but my conclusion is that my “collecting” has been haphazard and more than a bit random. Whatever cartridge I’m currently focused on tends to influence my choices (.45 Colt has resulted in rifles and revolvers), but often a gun just “speaks to me”. I bought a Colt Camp Perry single shot .22 just because it just looks so weird and intrigued me. A Roy Vail sporterized Mauser 98 showed up because the ram’s head inlay on the stock grabbed my eye.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I don’t consider myself a collector but more an accumulator. It goes back to my dad and I watching war, western and detective movies. My first serious entry into accumulating was 1870’s through 1950’s military artifacts and arms. I got into it at a good time when very few were collecting them and the supply was plentiful at good prices.

I wasn’t looking to acquire every variation of a specific gun but rather accumulated a wide representative collection of arms from that period. I was fortunate to find really nice specamins at excellent prices. In addition to arms I collected a good number of recruiting posters, trench art and various items from a field Victoria to helmets, photographs and even aircraft propellers My office looked like it was out of a army recruiting office with a 1940’s oscillating fan on the wall, iron radiator and art deco 1930’s penny weight machine that told fortunes. Eventually I sold the collection and moved on.

Now I’m into snub nose revolvers and think I have either 17 or 19. I’ll continue collecting and will probably expand into pre 50’s longer barrel service type revolvers. Then who knows.

 

[quinn]

I am a serial monogamist. My first real "collection" of firearms was single shot rifles-any American brand. And, I was very successful at that over a number of years. When life required that I part with that collection... I started over with something entirely different: numbered Walther pistol models. Then, I parted with those and stared on the Browning designed Winchester rifles. Those were replaced wtih transferagle sub machine guns which eventually become S&Ws. My son was the one who interested me in this last collection which, over the years has become focused on pre war N frames plus a few other model with history.

 

[rct269]

I really hate to admit this, but I collected S&W target guns---which I defined as "anything with target sights"----the first was okay, a NM #3 --.44 Russian. I continued with this for 30 some odd years and 135 "target" guns until it dawned on me that the likes of Chiefs Special Targets and such like weren't REAL target guns! At that point, I sold damn near all of them, and started over-----this time with REAL target guns that REAL target shooters might choose to use. Even then I cheated some because I ended up with at least one each of all the pre-war N frame targets----mostly because I liked pre-war N frame targets, and not because I could recall seeing hardly any N frames being used in competition----65 REAL target guns this time---from the NM #3's to the end of the 5 screws. That took another 30 years, and then I was overcome by a wave of totally uncharacteristic common sense, and decided it'd be best if I left behind a pile of money instead of a pile of guns. At that point, I called David Carroll, and told him to "Come get this stuff, and dump it!". He did, and he did----and did a truly FINE job of creating a pile of money!!

Now that I's done got edumacated, what I should've done is kept the pile of guns, maybe even added to it, and told my survivors what to do with the pile of guns----call David!

Ralph Tremaine

 

[Frailer]

The first handgun I ever fired was a Chiefs Special, and that experience ignited an obsession with 2”-barreled S&W revolvers that has continued for over half a century.

My first love was, and remains, the J-frame, but there is a sprinkling of I- and K-frames to be found in my humble collection as well.

 

[DARE]

My first gun was a Hamilton No. 27 .22 caliber. Belonged to my grandfather and father before me. Given to me when I was four years old and still have it. My second gun was a Ruger Bearcat. Given to me on my ninth birthday and still have it.
My first S&W was a Model 65 4-inch I carried on duty as a Deputy Constable. It went down the road many moons ago.
My dad was a Smith & Wesson collector. When he died in 1992 I got a number of guns from his collection.
Elmer Keith Commemorative #EMK0013.
1st year 9mm Automatic Pistol #1313
1st year .357 Magnum #47138, REG 657.
Triple-Lock .44 Special #3463
First year Model 1902 #22842
First year .357 Combat Magnum #K261590
A pair of early .22/32 Airweight Kit Guns #5601 and #6211.
.38 M&P Target #210874
K-22 Outdoorsman #661640
.44 Magnum 4-screw 4-inch #S179052 with case and tools.
1st year Model 57 #S299369
There was a time when I lost interest in my guns. Was not shooting them, was not even looking at them. I sold the Keith Model 29, the Triple-Lock, the Model of 1902, one of the kit guns, the Combat Magnum, the .44 Magnum and the Model 57.
I replaced the Triple-Lock with #12090. The Model 1902 resides with Gary Lowe. Replaced it with a Model 1899 Target #3554. The Combat Magnum I was able to buy back. Replaced the .44 Magnum with a 1st year, 5-screw, 4-inch #S153063.
Regret the guns I sold, but feel fortunate to have the guns I kept and replaced.
My focus is definitely on Hand Ejectors 1896-1961.
Have one top break and one autoloader, but think any new acquisitions will be hand ejectors. The last gun I bought is a K-22 Masterpiece from 1949.

 

[younggun22]

As others have stated I’m not much of a collector, at least in my eyes. I really just buy what I find if it catches my eye and the price is right.

I grew up working in a gun store, then a manufacturer and then did a stint at the NRA and I guess all of those experiences kind of peaked an interest in a wide variety of firearms.

I will say I have more S&W’s than any other manufacturer but there’s really no rhyme or reason to what makes up that “collection”

I guess when I buy something it needs to fit into at least one of 3 categories: nice guns, old guns, and nice old guns.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

This one dredged up fond memories, and luckily, no regrets.

My first S&W purchase was a 4" five-screw .44 Magnum.

Less than a decade later it had to be any N-frame with three Ts.

Those are all long gone, and a few decades passed. Then it became
.32s, M&Ps, and Chiefs. All but the Chiefs found new homes, and
for a good reason the Chiefs began to multiply--I retired from the
Air Force as a Chief Master Sergeant.

The herd spans 1951 (the model's second year) through 2000,
and I'm still looking for ones to fill empty stalls in the barn. Last
year was good for the herd in that respect.

My order for a 2025 Model 36 should arrive soon, then I'll start
wrangling which ever other new "No Internal Lock" Chiefs S&W
makes into the herd. Hoping for a Model 60 next.

 

[JH1951]

The first handgun I shot was a 1911 Ithaca my father brought back when discharged after WWII. He was offered a ton of stuff from a buddy in QM, and brought back enough boots and kaki pants to last him into the 1970's. Among the loot was a 1911, and we would take it on outings many times. That started me as a teenager collecting 1911's. I had most of the variations, but then along came a wife, and that ended that. Then about 35 years ago along came another wife that is to this day quite more understanding. Within the last several years I have collected a stable full of the Chiefs Special, with which I am very happy, but running out of 'needs' in that area. A few years ago I picked up a Terrier as an example of what preceded the CS. Well, that turned into an obsession of sorts and now I have a pile of them. I will say that The CS and Terrier have given me purpose and direction, something that I lacked for quite a while. It is fun trying to pick up specimens in excellent condition. I've been called a condition snob, but those calling me that have missed great opportunities to call me worse....

 

[wbraswell]

For most of my gun buying adulthood, I had no direction, although the S&W revolvers attracted me the most. I would see older guns in stores and shows that I liked, but I was ignorant of what they were. I needed information and around 2007 or 8, I found this place. I joined in 2009 and learned to buy guns online. Nothing like hanging out with a bunch of enablers. I can relate to a pile of Terriers, the little buggers just show up everywhere.

 

[Truckman]

I can relate to a pile of Terriers, the little buggers just show up everywhere.

I know the feeling, Wayne...There's days when you practically trip over them at every turn......Ben

 

[Gun Relics]

We all like to think we are not all that impressionable, but honestly there are iconic moments in our culture that inspire us. Just as Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason ignited the game of pool in "The Hustler" and Tiger Woods turned golf from an old man's game into the "cool" thing to do for a generation, what got it started for me was Dirty Harry.

The .44 magnum was just too much of a macho-man draw to ignore as a young man, so I bought one in the 1970's and sold it a few years later. After raising a family and generally finishing a somewhat respectable adulthood, I figured it was OK to get my FFL and be a kid in a toy store again and have a little fun.

I think back to the old soft shoe detectives of the 40's and 50's, and the Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford, and of course, movies like High Noon. We were raised in a gun culture with heroes, villians and anti-heroes. It's all very nostalgic. That may have got me started but what keeps me going is the historic nature and nostalgia of gun collecting. I love it and whether it's a 1905 Target or a Model 57, I'm in.

 

[Gun Relics]

The first handgun I ever fired was a Chiefs Special, and that experience ignited an obsession with 2”-barreled S&W revolvers that has continued for over half a century.

My first love was, and remains, the J-frame, but there is a sprinkling of I- and K-frames to be found in my humble collection as well.

I finally picked up a case for mine. It's so tiny!

 

[pasound]

I joined seven years ago, looking for info on my new M&P15. Learned a lot since then. Started looking for Smiths older than me. I now own 5, a 1950, 1948, 1947, 1923, and 1913. Love the search and the capture, as it were. All the rest of mine are nearly older than most of my work friends, all 80's J frames. Only two from this century, and that is enough for now.

 

[Valmet]

I’m another one who accumulates rather than “collects.” I have a handful of valuable safe queens that don’t get used but I have a bunch that are nice/collectible but I shoot, and then I have others that get used/shot a lot. As far as S&Ws go I don’t have one that I don’t shoot- my earliest is a S&W Victory Model that my grandad brought back from WWII that I’ll shoot on occasion. Most of my S&Ws are heirlooms or gifts from close friends I’ve come into over the years.

My first S&W was an early 17-3 that shipped in June 1968 that my dad gave to me for my 17th bday.

 

[YeshuaIsa53]

I was fishing once, easing slowly down river, when I came across about a foot square of driftwood caught in the bushes at water level. I like certain forms of driftwood, so it was easy to notice it. When I came closer, it became important to me, having 5 or 6 baby wood ducks resting on it. I was about four feet away from them, so I started whistling the "contented drake call" to them so they would not fear me. Wanted them to know I saw and liked them. After a few minutes, I eased down the bank fishing again.

About 150' down the bank, I realized they were swimming beside me about two feet from my boat. There was an about 7 to 8' alligator across the river. I put the trolling motor in reverse and tried to get them back to where they had found safety.

That kind of explains me back when I had extra funds. Some would follow me home, while most sat in their place. I guess some were calling to me.

 

[45NUTT]

Y'all have correctly called yourselves "accumulators" which is what I am too. The fun is hunting them, then shooting them. To me, collectors have pristine examples and don't shoot them. I have shot every gun I own except two. A minty Colt Frontier Scout 62 complete with original box, tool & papers and my 1901 Colt SAA. The scout just because and the 1901 because I remember cleaning BP revolvers from my youth. But I will shoot it this year with my hunting buddy and his 9 year old. Can't wait to see the boy's face when he touches off that canon and the smoke billows out!

 

[RM Vivas]

I know the feeling, Wayne...There's days when you practically trip over them at every turn......Ben

I just acquired a US Postal Service Terrier. they're great little guns.

It's not something I collect but I'll use it to help fund the stuff I do collect.

Best,
RM Vivas

 

[two-bit cowboy]

To me, collectors have pristine examples and don't shoot them.

That, sir, is a pigeon hole I don't believe I fit in.

My Chiefs Special collection has a few like you describe, but most
are shooters. I'm building the collection to tell the Chiefs' story.
Can't tell the whole story without pulling the trigger occasionally.