The oldest gun you use

[august1410]

Not as old as some of the guns in the thread, but my everyday carry gun is a 1965 Model 27.

 

[CW Spook]

I regularly use my wife's grandfather's Remington Model 10 on the trap range.

 

[GatorFarmer]

The old Krag sporters probably still take more deer than most people realize. I'm on my second one after missing the first one I'd traded enough that I decided that I needed one again. The first one had been used by a gentleman in Wisconsin to shoot his yearly deer well into his 80s. Oddly enough I traded it to a forum member in Wisconsin where it once again is a (back up) deer rifle. I sometimes think that it must have wanted to go home.

I suspect that a lot of elderly Mosin Nagants see use too, some dating back to the Czar's days.

 

[smitty_bs]

This year I used my made in 1950 Winchester Model 94 in 32 Special to back my buck in Wisconsin.

I also have a made in 1951 S&W Combat Masterpiece (pre-15) that I shoot on occasion.

 

[chief38]

I've got a S&W M 1905 H/E and a Colt Pocket Model M - 1903 in .32 ACP from around 1915. They both work FLAWLESSLY which is more than I can say about some of the new stuff my shootin' buddies bring down to the Range.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

For regular use:

1. Original Pennsylvania caplock rifle, made about 1850 to 1860, .41 caliber. Fiddleback walnut stock with raised cheekrest, German silver buttplate, patchbox, trigger guard, escutcheons and thimbles. All original and in very nice condition. Patched .395 ball over 40-45 grains FFFg for about 1400 FPS. Very nice for snowshoe hares, blue grouse, turkeys, and ptarmigans. Any meal eaten that was taken with a 150-year old rifle tastes better than any meal bought at the store or restaurant.

2. Sharps 1874 rifle in .45-3-1/4" Express chambering (shoots .45-90 Winchester just fine). Seems to like the 405-grain RNFP cast bullet at about 1300 FPS, with which it will shoot nearly clean through an elk from end to end. A little heavy to carry all day.

3. Springfield trapdoor rifles including 1873, 1874, 1882, and 1884 variations. The oldest was found in the attic of a house I was renovating in the 1970's and spurred my interest. Lots of these old classics still around, and they are much fun to shoot with appropriate loads. Took a bull elk with the 1884 rifle about 25 years ago, uphill shot at the bull angling away from me, entrance wound just behind the left side ribcage, exit wound through the right front shoulder (about 4 feet of penetration). Mr. Elk dropped like a sack of rocks. 500-grain RNFP-GC bullet at about 1100 FPS.

4. Once a year or so I like to take two old pistols out for a few rounds. First is a US 1860 Colt Army .44, manufactured in 1862 and still working like new. Second is a Remington Navy model .36 caliber that will do anything today that it could do in 1861 when it was new.

5. Winchester 1886 Takedown in .45-90. Lovely old rifle that I enjoy very much, but it is just too dearly valued anymore to take out into the woods.

6. Winchester Model 55 Deluxe Takedown model, made around 1932, caliber .30WCF. Also very enjoyable, but too valuable to drag around the woods these days.

7. Winchester Model 62A, made 1940 and obtained in original condition with box and papers from the original owner. Perfect little .22 rifle for just about any use.

8. Winchester Model 1892 carbine, originally chambered in .32-20 but rebored and chambered for .357 Magnum about 1970 or so. Won it in a poker game about 40 years ago and still have fun with it from time to time.

9. Colt Model 1911 US Army, commercial model manufactured in 1914. Once per year it gets a couple of magazines run through it and has never malfunctioned in any way.

10. US Model 1911A-1 manufactured by Union Switch & Signal Corporation in 1943 (the year that company went bankrupt and stopped delivery on the War Department contract). This one was obtained from the son of the original owner, an employee of US&S during the bankruptcy and was taken in lieu of unpaid wages. I also have the payroll record showing the pistol given for wages due. Incredible bit of history there! (Yes, it still shoots just fine).

Some of us old guys like old guns.

 

[Muley Gil]

I have a 1842 Harpers Ferry .69 musket, built in 1845. I use it in North-South Skirmish Association smoothbore matches.

 

[Stu Honea]

I still shoot my great grandmother's .32 hand ejector.
Use it mostly for dog training. It's the first handgun I ever fired when I was 8 years old. Circa 1917. (The gun,not me)

 

[tom turner]

Ditto here on my own Model 1903 hand ejector, made in 1916. It is one sweet shooting .32 S&W Long.

Since it is underpowered for centerfire revolver class, I shot it in an area steel match back in the fall, in the .22 rimfire class where you just have to hit the steel plates and such.

No objections, since the recoil of my .32 is more than the folks shooting .22s. I handily won the match too, with that sweet thirty-two!

Tom

 

[Stu Honea]

Ah,I see you also still have the original Gutta Percha grips.
Very nice.Mine is nickel also but has a few more dings.

 

[rburg]

Use doesn't necessarily mean much firing. I gave away the family Trapdoor, as others here have mentioned theirs. Its now residing in a shallow grave in my son's basement. He won't shoot it, but maybe my grandson will some day. Family history had it purchased surplus in about 1904 and used on the family farm. They often used .410 shot shells in it because the surplus ball ammo was expensive and kicked like a mule. It was the only family gun until 1925, when my dad purchased a Regulation Police from the chief of Police in the near town. Today they'd both be buried under the jail for that transaction. He needed a gun on his trapline. You can still see the trees behind a local Toyota plant where he did his work.

I regularly use two 44 Specials in the sense I've fired them to prove reliability. These days I carry them just for fun. One is a triple lock the other a 3rd model target. Both have 4" barrels and I carry them in a lined H H Heiser holster I bought from Dewey here. They're kind of a low key BBQ rig. So I use them to the extent they're loaded and carried as my CCW gun. But only on specific occasions when others in attendance will recognize what they are. Show and tell pieces for sure. But then 44 Specials are nothing to laugh at.

I've also got a pair of early M70 Winchesters. One first year, the other first month of production. They're as suitable for shooting as anything made today. Just because they're 75 or 76 years old doesn't detract from their ability to shoot. They were built as the Rifleman's rifle and still are. One is scoped, the other isn't.

My K22 of choice is K155 for shooting. It shows some minor wear. Its got a star on the butt, but it doesn't appear to be refinished. Its one of those guns that apparently needed some major parts replacement about a year into its working life. Still a darn good revolver. Wish I could find a shooter grade 2nd model. I let a 1st model with HBH go a while back. Should have made it my shooter. I make mistakes sometimes.

I wish I had the nerve to shoot K20011, an engraved 1948 K22. Then I could retire all the lesser guns and concentrate on it. Besides, its got pearly grips, carved ones at that! I need to go collect all that junk and haul it home. Been a while since I've seen some of it. Might cheer me up! I still like viewing Drew's K117 when he posts photos.

 

[Bert Man]

Still hunt and plink with my Winchester M69 bolt-action .22 rifle from 1937. Was my dad's first firearm.

 

[bushmaster1313]

My regular trap gun is the 1929 Ithaca 4E (bottom)
I sometimes use the 1919 Baker Elite

 

[Maximumbob54]

Passed down from my Grand Dad...

A 3 1/4" barreled nickled .32 Hand Ejector Model of 1903 1st change made in 1905.

With those razor thin half dime front sights and equally narrow rear sights they must to have had some "great eyes" back in the day....

I have thought that same thing when shooting my 1905... The nickel on mine is far from original, but I know they came that way and I have no idea how they saw that front sight in the sunlight....

 

[tork'd]

love to go plinking with FIL's Ruger Mark 1
i think i shoot it more than anything i have other than our 15-22

 

[DGT]

This TL routinely accompanies me to the range. Shipped in 1917.

 

[feldspar13]

1956 sks
1967 Win 94
1975 colt 1911
1975 charter arms bulldog

 

[BUFF]

S&W 1937 Brazilian. It's gone to the range and been shot the last few recreational visits. I have much older guns but this is the oldest I shoot regularly.

I generally only carry fairly new guns for serious.

 

[steamloco76]

Sporterized US Rifle Model of 1917 .30-06 caliber. AKA P17 Enfield. 2/1918 date. Reihart Fajen stock, high polish blue however it still has a full 26 inch barrel. Looks to have been sporterized in the 1960s. I need to get the trigger done one of these days!

My 1954 K-22 is the olded handgun I shoot.

 

[Black_Sheep]

1950 M&P