Not *quite* your favorite

[Modified]

What gun (or a few guns) do you find that you consistently love, but that aren't quite as good as gun(s) you would consider favorites?

I'll start it off with some of my "runners up" when it comes to favorites.



From the top:

A "Virtual" Pre-War Kit Gun (looks to be a post war modification based on the finish). Sporting a set of rosewood Kearsarge stocks.

A Colt New Service with a bit of a story, and quite a lot of work by King. Sporting a fine set of Jigged Bone stocks.

A Non-Registered magnum. Sporting a set of walnut Kearsarge stocks.

A Springfield 1911 with a bit of a story, and quite a lot of work by King, Frank Pachmayr, and lord only knows who all else. Sporting some whimsical pachyderm tusk panels.


So I'm sure you guys have some guns that are runners up for one reason or another. Maybe the gun has a story that you like. Maybe you like it but feel like you shouldn't (I have a few of those). Maybe it's not your favorite because you have happened to own another (or other) guns which are just so danged good that a favorites list is just automatically populated with them, leaving other fantastic guns to languish, not unloved, but certainly under celebrated.

The unsung hero guns of your collection.

Lets see them!

 

[deyomatic]

WOW. I'd like to see your real favorites!

 

[Wildwest22]

Sixgunstrumpet, awesome guns. The non-reg magnum is beautiful( they all are). I'm really loving the new service. Looks like it has tons of cool history

 

[Modified]

WOW. I'd like to see your real favorites!

I made that post the other day: What is your Favorite Gun?

I couldn't pick just one.

Hell, I couldn't pick just 10. Anyway, I limited myself to 5 there. I had a couple minutes to take a picture (grandma is blessedly watching the baby). So I thought I would silence these 4 above guns, haranguing me for leaving them out of the other post.

Which garnered a whole lot of awesome guns, so I thought this one will too, just maybe guns of a slightly different type. The guns that maybe don't get shown off as much, but which are very frequently the most interesting guns to me.

 

[Kansasgunner]

I traded into this 3rd Model 44 at Tulsa in 2016. It shipped Jan. 1940 and I'm finally getting a letter request mailed out tomorrow. I believe it started out nickel and was roughly buffed and blued at some point. Maybe when Bubba put the post war Target trigger in it? It shoots great, so it always makes its way into the range bag. I keep thinking I'll put matched hammer and trigger back in it, but then?

 

[paplinker]

This Transitional OD has been tricked out with a very high angled King Cockeyed hammer.

One of my kind of favorites.

I like the larger post war rear sight and its funny King converted it to short action.

If the owner just waited a few more months they could have bought a factory short action.

 

[LEO918]

My old bumper chromed Triple Lock. I watched this one bounce around shows for about nine years before trading for it at the Reno Symposium...

 

[Modified]

Sixgunstrumpet, awesome guns. The non-reg magnum is beautiful( they all are). I'm really loving the new service. Looks like it has tons of cool history

It does: Colt New Service - With Charles Askins History Letter

Or at least it was awarded to a dude for a particularly movie-worthy act.

I feel insanely fortunate that it came with a copy of the letter from Askins. It's a super cool gun, but with Askins actually writing down the story of how the gun came to be awarded... well it really does elevate the gun. I absolutely love how guns can preserve little bits of history by reminding us of people stories that would be lost without the guns kicking around.


One thing too that I think may be noteworthy about my list above is that a "plain" Smith & Wesson, with almost no history I have been able to discover, is right up there with a very historical Colt. I like my Colts, but no Colt I have ever owned has intrinsically met the standard that S&W set to me.

 

[Burnston]

Compliments to the OP's exquisite taste in sixguns. Love of history and heritage are all a part of handguns, which you have so aptly demonstrated.

My secondary ranch gun, (especially on rainy days) is a LH 624 .44spl. I scrapped the original grips, and used a file to modify a set of Ahrends. It is a user, certainly no longer of collector status. Not a favorite, but an undeniable shooter.

 

[bruce5781]

Definitely my favorite "off" brand. Colt Super 38 Lightweight Commander from 1951. Sterling & 10K grips. Very badly pitted slide and someone had their initials "engraved" on both sides of the slide.
I was given this gun by a retired Texas DPS officer named Ben Hutchinson in the early 80's. Ben must have been in his late 70's of early 80's then. He had spent his early career working around Beaumont and in the Valley. Ben said he when he transitioned to autos, he was taught to shoot by Lone Wolf Gonzalez. I never doubted him.

Regards,
Bruce

 

[arjay]

A few used shooters I've picked up over the last ten years or so
that are just fun to plink with
Early 70s model 15,early 50s CM 22 and a mid 60s Colt GM

 

[shrade]

A few of my "not quite favorites". First two, a 1951 vintage K 22 and a 57 vintage 357. Second two, a 51 or 52 K 22 and a 54 Outdoorsman. Set number one have the gold boxes and matching numbers. The Elk grips are fabricated by myself, the Outdooorsman came to me with the non relieved targets, these two are excellent shooters and I do not shoot them enough.

 

[runscott]

That's a really great question. When I have a gun that I don't love, I get rid of it and use the money to buy something I like more. Such strategy is required because I'm limited by a gun safe that only holds ten pistols, and if another gun safe showed up in the house I would be toast.

Having said that, My Highway Patrolman and 60-15 are probably the next to go. I really like both of them, but hey, only ten allowed...

Wait a sec...what if I buried another gun safe in the basement and covered it with carefully-camouflaged floor tiling?

 

[Modified]

A few of my "not quite favorites". First two, a 1951 vintage K 22 and a 57 vintage 357. Second two, a 51 or 52 K 22 and a 54 Outdoorsman. Set number one have the gold boxes and matching numbers. The Elk grips are fabricated by myself, the Outdooorsman came to me with the non relieved targets, these two are excellent shooters and I do not shoot them enough.

Those elks are great. Have you posted them in another thread anywhere? I'd love to see what you did with the shape.

Also these are exactly the kinds of guns I was hoping would come out of the woodwork. I've found that while I love my early post-war guns, acquiring some of the finer examples of pre-war work just make them...not lesser exactly because they aren't, but they are tainted with a sort of commonness which means I think about them a lot less.

I somehow feel guilty about that because they are still fantastic guns, which they remind me of when I get them out to the range.

That's a really great question. When I have a gun that I don't love, I get rid of it and use the money to buy something I like more. Such strategy is required because I'm limited by a gun safe that only holds ten pistols, and if another gun safe showed up in the house I would be toast.

Having said that, My Highway Patrolman and 60-15 are probably the next to go. I really like both of them, but hey, only ten allowed...

Wait a sec...what if I buried another gun safe in the basement and covered it with carefully-camouflaged floor tiling?

Do it! Artificially constraining a gun collection in such a way is making me deeply sad!

 

[rubiranch]

A little different here, I'll start with my favorite. My 1960 6.5" Model 27.





1st runner up, my brother's duty revolver, 1980 6" Model 66-1.





2nd runner up. 1980 Model 58.





My 3rd runner up. Model 520.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Mine would be the Model 39......

I always have one in the safe or am looking to replace the last one I traded away.
But when I do have one it just sits in the safe in favor of a Model. 39xx or 69xx

 

[oysterer]

wow..that Springfield looks super cool, it could be my favorite if not yours. I second that I can't wait to see your real favorites.

 

[jmace57]

Mine would have to be these 3. They are all "restored", so they have lost their collector value. They've all had their actions reworked and feel like new. (all of these done before I bought them)

Top to bottom:

2nd Model HE British .455 converted to 45 AR
2nd Model HE .44 Special
M&P Model of 1905 - Circa 1927

Whoops, left off my Model of 1917

 

[LPD256]

The last gun I bought is usually my favorite. That would be a 1952 Pre-18 Combat Masterpiece. Unfortunately, that means the gun before that, a 1954 Kansas Highway Patrol 38/44 Heavy Duty is no longer my favorite. But she's still a sweetheart.

 

[StrawHat]

My old bumper chromed Triple Lock. I watched this one bounce around shows for about nine years before trading for it at the Reno Symposium...

Nice Mexican Eagle on the stocks. Hard to tell but is that a silver (or chrome) ribbon outline on the stocks?

Kevin

 

[StrawHat]

I still have a couple of non favorite N frames.

First would be a 25-5, 6 or 6 1/2" barrel, blue finish. Got it for Ohio white tailed deer season but always took a SAA clone instead. Then found out I prefer the ACP, N frame.

Next would be a post war HD with a 5" barrel.

They will make good trading stock for an ACP!

Kevin

 

[Bill Bates]

My 28-2 is not quite a favorite. Its fun to shoot and accurate but I still think N frames should be chambered in calibers that begin with.4

 

[mk70ss]

These two are almost favorites. They get shot a lot. The 559 also serves nightstand duty at our ranch, so you bet your azz you can trust that one.

 

[Old Corp]

Kinda hard to nail down.....
And my whims on what I enjoy seem to change with the seasons.
What I enjoy using/carrying in the Fall, scouting or hunting will not be the same as range time in the Summer.

But - this is nothing special, just a Brazilian 1937 .45 I got from a friend. It was parkerized long before I ever got it.
It also serves as a stand-in beater/shooter for a pristine M1917 I have.
A local saddlemaker cobbled up a good field holster for it.
I find myself grabbing it often for woods bumming as well as range fun.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Probably some like these.
Love 22s, like Autos.
But I'm really a Revolver Centerfire Guy!

 

[shrade]

not Quite Favorites

Those elks are great. Have you posted them in another thread anywhere? I'd love to see what you did with the shape.

Also these are exactly the kinds of guns I was hoping would come out of the woodwork. I've found that while I love my early post-war guns, acquiring some of the finer examples of pre-war work just make them...not lesser exactly because they aren't, but they are tainted with a sort of commonness which means I think about them a lot less.

I somehow feel guilty about that because they are still fantastic guns, which they remind me of when I get them out to the range.



Do it! Artificially constraining a gun collection in such a way is making me deeply sad!

Sixgun: Here are some pics of the Elk Antler grips I made for the K-22. first attempt at S&W grips. A friend of mine who makes knives gave me a small set of "road kill" antler to use. Were a bit small but was able to squeeze out a set of K frames. Used some medallions salvaged from an old set of damaged grips. Aged them to a softer "used" look with strong solution of tea. Feel great, but hasn't improved my shooting!!

 

[Rammer Jammer]

I've got favorite carry guns that I view more like tools than toys which would be guns like my LCR.

In terms of just favorite guns for fun I'd have to put my Mod 67-1 at the top of the list for double actions followed closely by my flamethrower errrr Ruger 44 Alaskan. I recently got my first single actions and my Flattop 44 has got to top the range toy category.

 

[Buford57]

Probably this 6" 28-2. I carried a 4" version in and out of uniform and always regretted parting with it. I bought another 4" many years later and let a friend talk me out of that, which left me with this 6". I enjoy shooting it, but I just can't warm to that long a barrel on an N frame. I am stuck on 4 or 5 inch barrels. With the way N-frame prices have escalated, I will hang onto this rather than look for another 4" 28.

 

[Modified]

Sixgun: Here are some pics of the Elk Antler grips I made for the K-22. first attempt at S&W grips. A friend of mine who makes knives gave me a small set of "road kill" antler to use. Were a bit small but was able to squeeze out a set of K frames. Used some medallions salvaged from an old set of damaged grips. Aged them to a softer "used" look with strong solution of tea. Feel great, but hasn't improved my shooting!!

I love them. The tea solution really did gussy them up nice!

Regarding the better shooting, and feel, I find Magnas too small for me without a grip adapter like a Tyler T. I've been waiting to see someone make one out of some elk antler. You considered trying to improve your shot by doing such a thing? If you find adapters useful that is.

 

[StrawHat]

I love them. The tea solution really did gussy them up nice!

Regarding the better shooting, and feel, I find Magnas too small for me without a grip adapter like a Tyler T. I've been waiting to see someone make one out of some elk antler. You considered trying to improve your shot by doing such a thing? If you find adapters useful that is.

For me, magnas and a grip adapter are the penultimate solution. It just feels natural and works.

Kevin