Safe queens ?? Never ever ever fired??

[Hairtrigger]

What is not to like

 

[sigp220.45]

I shoot em all, and I have a bunch. The fact is - somebody is going to shoot them. It might as well be me. I appreciate the guys who keep their pristine guns unfired so when they get pawned I can break them in.

I bought this raggedy Remington .41 derringer a while ago because I’ve always wanted one. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to shoot it, but I convinced a buddy to sell me some of his small stash of Navy Arms .41 rimfire. It was fun to light the old boy up again!

I have two gun nut sons and a gun nut nephew who will get whatever guns I die with. I’ll probably sell most before I croak though and waste the money on a cruise or nice trip with my bride.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Shooting Guns is just like catching fish.
How many do you want to clean?
When your gun selection (collection) passes the point that you have more than you want to clean, you start to have Safe Queens.
And some you just don’t want to shoot.
Like my 1926 Target.
I own several 44 Specials , I can always shoot some of the them.
Lately I’ve been mostly shooting 22s , 9MM and a 380.
380? Afraid so.
But recently I did shoot my 1950s Sears 20 Ga.
It’s tight as a tick and ready to go!

 

[Rudi]

To quote Group Capt. Mandrake, "Shoot, with the gun, that's what the bullets are for!"

 

[RKmesa]

All of my guns WILL shoot. Many of them have been shot. Some of them have been shot a lot, and some of them have been shot very little. I do not need to shoot each of them to enjoy them thoroughly. The shooters, I enjoy for their history and function. The engraved ones, I enjoy for their artistry and beauty. The safe queens, I enjoy for the craftsmanship of a time gone by and the smile that they put on my face as I un-box them, and think of the excitement felt by the many owners of the same model opening a similar box (decades ago) for the first time and smiling at the functional beauty that is Smith & Wesson. I LOVE THEM ALL!!! Once again, I feel no compelling NEED to shoot each of them in order to enjoy them for what they are.

Shooters:




Engraved:





Safe Queen:





My $0.02,

 

[boykinlp]

What is not to like

Hairtrigger, that’s an AWESOME display you have there! Do I spy a bottle of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon in your selection?
Larry

 

[mauser9]

Sometimes depends what it is. Only closet queen I got is a 98k brought back from father. Never fired myself. Hate to risk cracking the stock on a matching example. Have seen what they sell for these days in good shape. Kinda shocked me.

 

[AJ]

Won't own a safe queen. If I can't/don't shoot it then I won't have it.

 

[TheHobbyist]

If you are doing this for a while, you will likely develop very specific tastes. Perhaps Lew Horton interests you, 5 screws, rare or uncommon variants; something, after seeing a million model 15's, model 14's, 29's, etc., again, something will stand out and be of specific interest to you.

When this happens, you may wish to buy multiples of the same variant, regardless of cost (ouch!) or the time it takes to find them--as a collector and shooter.

My current school of thought on the NIB: I will keep them this way until I retire....then shoot them and enjoy them. I'll want a LNIB or NIB variant and won't be able to find it. No worries, I got a new one and could care less if it goes down in value a bit as a result.

 

[lkabug]

I have some I shoot, some I don't and most likely never will.
As many here have noted to others, it my gun, my money. I'll do it my way.
C'est la vie.

 

[Oldsalt66]

Since none of them are historical pieces, I enjoy shooting each and every one of my firearms regardless of their rarity, cost, or collectable status.

I don't consider them to be financial investments, they're only investments for my shooting pleasure.

 

[madmikeb]

I've got a bunch of guns in my safe that haven't been fired, so I guess they would be considered safe queens. But it isn't because they won't be fired, I just haven't gotten around to it. Most of my shooting these days is in various action pistol competitions, I shoot several different guns for matches so those guns get shot a lot. I haven't hunted for years so my hunting guns are never shot anymore. The rest I'll get around to someday.

If you want to talk about guns that have only been to the range once, that's a whole 'nother story. There are more of those than any of the rest!

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Won't own a safe queen. If I can't/don't shoot it then I won't have it.

Yeah, no, there are guns that I own that I would never shoot but I like them because they're cool, like the two above, and here's two more:

I've shot derringers. Unpleasant little things.

But they're fun to show people.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

My problem is too many toys and not enough time.

There is that!!!!

But none of them are “safe queens,” because I never felt the need to buy a safe.

If I didn't have a safe (1) I'd be tripping all over guns all around my house and (2) I would have lost dozens of guns in my 2018 fire but the safe protected them.

YMMV, as always.

 

[notsofast]

I have a small S&W collection, they all came to me used some “tens” some not. I enjoy shooting them all.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Who are they being saved for?
It’s be a shame for them to rust away in 300 years having never been fired.

The Dalai Lama has the best answer since we are taking the S&W Forum into an area of Philosophy.

Each one of us has the correct answer and we all have to respect that.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

But none of them are “safe queens,” because I never felt the need to buy a safe.

My cop opinion is you need a safe.

One night we caught a car thief and that bad guy also burglarize homes and was packing a $3000 1911 pistol. The other firearms he stole was never found but was likely used in others crimes nd tossed in the ocean.

Children and grandchildren are still killed or wounded with their parents and grandparents unsecured firearms.

 

[welldoya]

I’ve got several guns that I’ve never shot mostly because I’ve got similar guns that I shoot often. But I believe they were shot by previous owners.
I’ve got two NIB guns that I never got around to shooting.
First one is a Browning A5 magnum simply because I only bought it because it was a good deal and I don’t hunt anything that requires a magnum.
The 2nd is a Browning High Power from the ‘80s, the last year they were were made (and assembled) in Belgium.
I’ve never fired it because I bought two and fire the other one.

 

[Model29-26.5]

I get it from both perspectives.
I realized, it’s not that they’ll necessarily never be shot, but just not while they’re in your custody.

 

[raljr1]

I bought this years ago because it has my home county history engraved on it. I have never even opened the action on it. I may never. Everything else I own may get shot from time to time. If I remember to do so.