What's a Safe Queen??

Redcoat3340

Redcoat3340

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Like many here I got a bunch of guns.

Some are for carry.

Some are for "collecting."

And some are just because they are good guns like my M&Ps, Berettas, and Sigs.

I keep up with my carry guns and try to rotate the others.

But here's my question: What's a definition of a "safe queen?" How long do folks keep a gun in the safe without really shooting it before it goes up for sale or trade? (I rarely shoot my P08 but won't be selling that one.)

Just wondering....as I'd like to sell a spare 1911, a Sig 320, or maybe even an M&P 2.0 in 9 and there's some others. I don't really care about the 1911, but the Sig is a really good gun, that I don't shoot, and the M&P is even better, but is gathering dust. And I hate selling good guns.

I know this is a personal thing...and I can afford what I own. And maybe the answer is simply more range time! But I figured I'd ask 'round.
 
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The only safe queen I have is a hi-point 9mm pistol.... she only comes out for a mag or two once a year. Hope that clears it up for ya!:D

Just kidding, I don't own a safe queen..... not one.
 
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Redcoat3340 said:
But here's my question: What's a definition of a "safe queen?" How long do folks keep a gun in the safe without really shooting it before it goes up for sale or trade?
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I have never felt any need to justify ownership of my safe queens, which... depending on one's definition... could constitute as much as 90% or more of my collection. As long as the guns are holding their value or appreciating in value... or unless you need the money or want something different or it's finally time to liquidate... why sell them? :confused:

All I am selling are the plastic guns that I never should have bought in the first place. The rest I'm going to try to take with me into the afterlife. :D
 
Safe Queens for me are perfect examples of a manufacturer’s abilities to produce a gun.Not all guns are made 100% the same regardless of era.They must be unfired or close to being.They are kept for personal enjoyment without the intention of investment.Your other guns will be your shooters and defensive guns.
 
With very, very few exceptions, if I have not shot the gun in the last year, it goes up for sale. IMO safe queens should be passed on to those that can enjoy USING them. If not used, they are just fancy paper weights. Now, that philosophy obviously would not work for true collectors...you know, like some of the members of this forum that are intent on collecting every variation of some model of S&W revolver. But except for those few "extremists" I think my formula applies.
 
My safe queens are the guns I,ve shot and enjoyed for many years and "retired" them for newer ones to shoot. also the ones that would be hard to replace or repair...
 
My safe queens are guns I bought 40-50 years brand new and when I sold them a few years ago, they were still brand new.
 
All of my guns are really shooters. A Safe Queen - in my world - is a gun that is seldom, if ever, fired. More admired for looks or value than performance, and seldom leaves the safe. The closest that I have to a "safe queen" is this stainless Remington R-1 that I like the appearance of. I shoot it, but bought two other 1911's so that I would shoot it less.
 

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That would my Model 25.
Bought it from Q C, my Crazy Arkansas Buddy.
He absolutely insisted that I buy it.
Keep pouring and lowering until I said yes.
Everybody should have at least one 45.
I got one!
 

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Laketime said:
Safe Queens for me are perfect examples of a manufacturer’s abilities to produce a gun.Not all guns are made 100% the same regardless of era.They must be unfired or close to being.They are kept for personal enjoyment without the intention of investment.Your other guns will be your shooters and defensive guns.
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Yeah, I guess my E-series 1911 could fall into that class. I have a Para P-14 that is one of my grunts for the 45 ACP.
 
My only safe queen is a LNIB Sig P232. (I have another that's dinged up that's one of my carry weapons) so it's a "spare". I'm not planning on selling it and I have no need to shoot it.

The second category is a bought new by me Beretta Cheetah. And the reason I don't shoot it is it isn't a good fit for my hand and is, for me, unpleasant to shoot. Had it up for sale , which subsequently fell through, and it's going up for sale again.

Intellectually, I understand the collecting "NIB" examples, but that's not where I get my pleasure. I like fooling around with my guns too much, so I concentrate on "nice shooters" which I , well, shoot. :D

That said, I shoot some of my guns a lot more than others, mostly based on ammo price, which of my kids wants to shoot what, and how much of a pain they are to clean.
 
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TTSH said:
........As long as the guns are holding their value or appreciating in value... or unless you need the money or want something different or it's finally time to liquidate... why sell them? :confused:......
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A good reason is not to burden your wife with getting rid of guns, ammo and accessories by herself, assuming she has no one else to guide her.
This happened to a friend of mine who worked in the Kimber custom shop. He had close to a hundred guns(he downsized from close to 200), 10’s if not 100’s of thousands of rounds of ammo, a couple reloading presses, lead, powder, primers, etc etc
He died unexpectedly.
That was in 2012 or so, his wife is still dealing with the mess.Of course, one could always rent a dumpster.
Then again if one doesn’t care for the mess they leave behind that’s fine as well, I know many folks who feel that way.

Everyone, without exception, comes into this world with nothing, and leaves the same way.
TIFWIW.
 
A safe queen is the gun you treat like royalty. You'd roll out the royal red carpet on which to display it and only handle it while wearing white cotton gloves so as not to to touch it with your less than royal hands.
 
IMO A safe queen is a gun I will keep but to afraid to shoot it for fear I might scratch or ding it or I just don't care to shoot them. I actually don't have any safe queens and the dozen or so that could have become queens got sold or shot. IE Wilson Combat, which was expensive, was not going to be kept in the safe just to say I have an WC. I sold it for a bit more than I bought it for. It can sit in someone else's safe taking up shelf space.
To each his own desires. One thing about gun collections is it is hard to show them off without someone possibly getting an idea that they could make some money if they had them.
 
ladder13 said:
TTSH said:
........As long as the guns are holding their value or appreciating in value... or unless you need the money or want something different or it's finally time to liquidate... why sell them :confused:? ......
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A good reason is not to burden your wife with getting rid of guns, ammo and accessories by herself, assuming she has no one else to guide her.
Click to expand...
... and hence the last part of what you highlighted: "... or it's finally time to liquidate..."

Please don't try to put poor old TTSH in his grave just yet! :) That's the job of my large assortment of doctors. :D ... or so it seems lately! :p

The good wife is as well-prepared as any wife can be to dispose of the collection after I kick the bucket... and I'm already trimming it down of the undesirable stuff as we speak. We are actually fairly fortunate that we have family members that can and will pick up the ball and run with it. :) I'm confident that whatever I can't take with me will be distributed or otherwise disposed of in accordance with my wishes. :cool:
 
THE PILGRIM said:
That would my Model 25.
Bought it from Q C, my Crazy Arkansas Buddy.
He absolutely insisted that I buy it.
Keep pouring and lowering until I said yes.
Everybody should have at least one 45.
I got one!
Click to expand...

How does it shoot?
 
THE PILGRIM said:
Never shot it.
Hey - it’s a safe Queen!
Click to expand...

Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrgggghhhh!

Sorry. I'm alright now.:D

No, I lied.:rolleyes:

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhh!




:D

It's your gun you do what you please with it.;)

But I don't have to like it.:rolleyes:
 
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