What is, in your opinion, the coolest gun youve handled

Maybe not the coolest to some but...

When my however many great grandfathers came to the US to homestead from Germany, the locals gave him a gift. It is a Belgian Damascus barrell shot gun with two hammers.

The thing is fully engraved...I mean literally every screw on it too. It has the most unusual mechanism for opening, it is a long arm underneath that you move to the side, which opens the breach to then drop in the two shells. Supposedly, part of the stock is made with carved whale bone...i think this is not accurate and just made for a good story. My guess on its age is 1870-1880. It is still in the family. Believe it or not, it is still in operable condition, although with the barrell and age I obviously nor my family will shoot it.
 
Double-O-Dave said:
Hi Ed Fowler:

Thank you for your post about the Colt Conversion by Alonzo Crull. I did a quick internet search and found the following information on this gentleman that I thought was very interesting:

Shooting with Hobie

Regards,

Dave
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Thank you very much, learned a little more about him. I did know that Hamilton Bowen held him in high regard and that is a compliment.
 
Pedersen Device on a 1903. The owner was in town for a gun show, and a friend of mine knew him. We went through a couple hundred rounds, with a big blue tarp spread out to catch the precious brass.
Next up was a Springfield M14 modified to semi-auto. It was loaned to our club briefly before Uncle Sam repossessed it for duty in the sandbox.
Also went through a magazine of 9 mm. on a friend's S&W M76. It ran fine, but it's no Thompson.
 
So, a little story.....

I was at a Dallas Safari Club Expo about ten years ago (I go annually!). I was in Butch Searcy's booth B. Searcy & Co. The All-American Double Rifle looking at several guns that he made and a few others that he was selling. Those expensive double guns are always cool, I've handled guns at the DSC expos and in the Beretta shops in NYC and Dallas with price tags in the $150 to $200K range and Butch's were a mere $25K to $50K. So we're talking top of the line cool guns.

But I'm not that rich and a lot more practical so I start looking at some more normal African bolt guns, a Gibbs something, a .416 Rigby, you get the picture. None are what you would call inexpensive but, okay, I'm having fun. While he's letting me check his guns out one rifle catches my eye. It's kind of plain, not bedazzling, and has a price tag of around $3500. I'm not going to buy that that day, either, but at least it was reaching the realm of affordability. It's a REAL rifle, I mean it looks all business, top notch bolt action (which I love), looking like this gun will get it done and I mean boy howdy! The caliber is .500 Jeffrey.

You might not know Butch Searcy but he's a large, impressive man, not a little squirt like me. I don't know if he's 6 feet or not but he has massive shoulders, expansive chest, I mean you want him ON YOUR SIDE!

He watches me pick up this .500 Jeffrey and put it to my shoulder. He looks at me and his face loses all expression and he says, in a muted voice:

"Now that one will hurt ya...."

Coming from HIM, that was an impressive statement - and that's why that .500 Jeffrey is the coolest gun ever!
 
At a LGS at his gun club range I shot a FA M14. In his shop I shot a FA 1927a1 Thompson it was awesome.
 
In the Summer of 1984 I was with the 5th Combat Engineer Bn when we got to go out on a Saturday to shoot our 90mm recoilless rifles.

It was awesome. Loud as hell, huge back blast area, and you could actually watch the round go down range through the sight assembly. Did some serious damage too.
 
ICS Yoda - "Now that one will hurt ya...."

I've admired the art of those double rifles, but I'd never want to shoot one.
Reminds me of something I read or heard once:
A 160 lb. Englishman with a 16 lb. rifle fires at a 16,000 lb. elephant at 16 yards.
The Englishman goes down; the gun goes down, the elephant goes down.
Whoever gets up, owns the others' possessions.
If none get up, their possessions are divided according to the law of the jungle.
 
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I also have fond memories of the H & K MP5. But for pure coolness factor, a Thompson with a drum magazine.
 
Spookypeanut1 said:
Ernest Hemingway's double rifle. A friend bought it at auction in, I think Main a few years ago. He collects old English double rifles. At my last count he had 42. Really cool guns.
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I'm guessing that you mean the US state of Maine, not down on Main St. in some town. ;)

Seriously, do you recall the maker and the caliber?
 
HBVance said:
My brother-in-law's father is a retired 3-star US Army General. Steve now has his father's pistol. It is essentially unfired condition and is absolutely beautiful to see and hold.
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Well, what is it? A Colt .32 or .380? The later GO .45?
 
As a 30 year LEO/armorer/SWAT/sub gun instructor, I've shot just about everything with a go-fast switch. Zillionss of rounds out of an MP-5 but the two that stood out were the WWII grease gun and the Glock 18. Or maybe the STEYR TMP.

I brokered a deal for a buddy's H&K PSG-1 several years ago. It was up for sale again this last weekend at Wannamacher's in Tulsa.

And last, a hand me down Colt SAA that belonged to an Oklahoma Territorial Marshall. The gun was previously undiscovered until a descendant decided to sell it.
 
While visiting the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, I had the opportunity to hold General Patton's S&W Registered .357 Magnum. What a piece of history! It's certainly no "95%" revolver, and the ivory stocks weren't earlier cared for very well.
 
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GENERALY THE OLDER THE COOLER

Touching off a few 36 cal muzzleloader rounds with a beautifully crafted 300? year old flint lock/primer cap converted. The trigger was great, the wood & metal work amazing. No real way to date it. It did have a rifled bore. When younger I got to shoot Singer 1911, snuck back from WWll? & didn't realize what I had. The Germans made some way cool military rifles/pistols/sub machine guns/ tanks.... V2. I like the US stuff too.
 
An extremely rare bird, a Luger in 45ACP with US and an Eagle on the barrel as I recall.It was one of the several made for procurement testing,loosing to the wonderful Colt 1911.
 
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Didn't get to shoot it, but I wasn't too far from a 5"/54 during a NGFS exercise. The bang of the gun going off was a very flat WHAM. Hooray for hearing protection, because I then heard the shell departing. Hard to describe, it was almost like a rising tone. But unmistakable.
 
My favorite was the M60 Machine gun when I served in the US Army...or my 155SP & 8" Howitzers.
Really the M60 MG... When i as in W Germany we were doing training in Graf. 4 of us were the last to shoot the M60 course that day and the LT did not want to return any rounds so he let the 4 of us, in 2 teams, shoot about 5000 rounds. Maybe more, I am really not sure. We fired continuously for about 25-30 minutes. Changing barrels with the Nomex mitten (I think it was Nomex) that was provided with the 2 barrels. I was 21 years old and we were actually tired of shooting. The belt had the tracer rounds and it was dusk so it was even more fun to see the rounds following each other. This was in 1977 and I still think about that day occasionally.
It was also alot of fun firing the Howitzers too! Especially at night with that awesome muzzle blast.
 
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The coolest thing I've handled was a Gyrojet pistol. Interesting and unique.

Close runner up is a H&R T-48.

Coolest thing I've shot is my Father's M1941 Johnson rifle.

The coolest gun I've owned was a Thompson SMG. At MG shoots I have tried out many other full-auto. Personally, the MP-40 was the neatest SMG.

Ten years in the Army gave me the opportunity to shoot most of what was in the inventory at the time, and several things from other countries (FAL, G-3, AK/RPK, etc.).

The coolest though was the Gyrojet.
 
Reading this thread made me come to the sad realization that I don't have a coolest gun ever. :o Perhaps I should go out and try to find one? :D

But first let me say that just seeing or touching or holding a "cool" gun shouldn't count IMHO. ;) It should be one that you've at least shot for a time or been assigned responsibility for or actually owned in order to count. :)

Quite the trouble maker, aren't I. :D

The fact is that while I own quite a few interesting guns, there isn't a single one that I'd call uniquely "cool." :o And I've never shot a fully automatic weapon (unless you count the occasional malfunctioning semi-auto :eek:) so I can't draw on that sort of experience. :(

Does anyone have any suggestions for a legal, non-full-auto gun that's available today that is truly "cool"? :confused: Maybe that's what I need to add to the collection next... for once, a truly "cool" gun! :D
 
TTSH said:
Reading this thread made me come to the sad realization that I don't have a coolest gun ever. :o Perhaps I should go out and try to find one? :D
.....

Does anyone have any suggestions for a legal, non-full-auto gun that's available today that is truly "cool"? :confused: Maybe that's what I need to add to the collection next... for once, a truly "cool" gun! :D
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I'm afraid I don't have much sense of what's "cool" anymore, but the new manufacture semi-auto FG42s are interesting enough that I had to have one:

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DSC03259_zpsyjrhvgrz.jpg

About the same size and weight as the 18" barreled SAGE stocked M1a but rather less "bulky".

DSC03271_zpsmbt9kygs.jpg

Side loading magazines. (Would be particularly useful in it's original open-bolt full-auto role, along with an assistant to swap mags for the gunner. It functioned as a closed bolt semi-auto rifle as well, but emphasis in design was on burst fire.)

Not exactly the easiest thing to cycle (!!!), but otherwise fairly sophisticated for it's time. For example:

1) Folding iron sights
2) QD scope rail built integral to receiver
3) QD and recoil absorbing stock
4) Excellent muzzle brake
5) Integral bipod
6) Integral magazine well dust covers

Downsides:
1) No bolt hold open in semi-auto
2) No match trigger!
3) Hard to cycle bolt (on the semi-auto rifles at least)
 
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Sig P210, swiss made.

The owner of my LGS shows me all the cool guns that pass through his shop, and he let me handle a Sig P210 and experience the trigger. Very nice gun.
 
Quite a few years ago I was working the chronograph stage at a USPSA Area 5 match where I had the opportunity to handle the race guns of a good number of the top shooters in the country at the time, including Rob Leatham, Jerry Barnhart, and eventual match winner Todd Jarrett.

Pretty cool I suppose, but it doesn't hold a candle to handling and shooting my father's Remington Rand 1911 he carried during WWII.

006-2.jpg


Roe
 
Texas Star said:
I'm guessing that you mean the US state of Maine, not down on Main St. in some town. ;)

Seriously, do you recall the maker and the caliber?
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Yes, I did mean the state of Maine. The caliber is a .577 nitro express. I do not remember who it was made by, except it was made in England. My wife has a bullet collection, and wanted one of his, do not remember the caliber but when she found out it was custom made and cost around $100.00 she thought better than to ask for one.
 
1. My 1943 1911A1 vet bring back from Iwo Jima.
2, An 1876 Winchester with British proof marks in 50-110 (?)
3. Thompson
4. My 1900's Bisley in 41 LC, engraved in a tribal motif, carved ivory grips with ruby eyes
 
Earliest- the Broomhandle my father brought back from occupied Japan after WW II.
Most poignant- the damaged revolver- model 60 maybe ? that a first responder carried into the World Trade Center, later found in the rubble and preserved at the NRA museum.
Most historic- a revolver, I think it was a Remington, attributed to Jesse James, also from the NRA museum. It had an original holster with it !
Various- a Singer .45 that a pharmacist invited me to see in his safe in the back of his store.
All the machine guns I've had the good fortune to shoot- Thompsons, Reisings, M60, Uzi, Mac-10 & 11, MG-42, S&W model 76.
And this one-
My first Smith and Wesson, a birthday present when I was 16 from a mentor and friend.

Regards,
turnerriver
 
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