Why would you sell grandpa's revolver?

[scoobysnacker]

I recently posted on a local forum to sell or trade a Glock of some description just to move it from the safe. I offered it for a small sale price but really wanted to trade for a Smith revolver.
I got a response from a young guy who said he had some interest if we could get together. We met at a local burger joint had a small lunch and went to the car where he showed me his revolver and I showed him my Glock.
He told me his grandfather had passed away and left him this beautiful Model 19-4 Nickel plated with target hammer and trigger.
I asked if we could deal he said yes he really wanted the Glock and then supprised me by saying that he wasn't a revolver guy and didn't know his grandfather that well.
I walked away with this beautiful Smith & Wesson Model 19 and a sad feeling about the poor grandad!
Took it home cleaned it up and removed the grips to find grandpa's name inscribed on the inside of the frame.
I will keep it just to remember him and perhaps pass it along to a great grand child of mine with the sad story of how i came to have it.

Really, that's not a sad story, it's a happy ending for all parties involved.

He isn't a revolver fan and didn't know his grandfather that well, and he was left with a gun he wasn't very enthused with. He was able to convert that for free into a Glock (low maintenance, high capacity, cheaper rounds likely), which is what he wanted. If he likes the Glock, he will remember that it came his way for free via grandad's revolver, and might have an appreciation that way.

You moved a gun you weren't excited over, in return for a gun you value highly.

Both parties think they win, which means they both did.

 

[Laketime]

I use to spend most of my free time on several International watch forums.Many members around the world would check eBay in the states to find inherited Swiss watches for sale by our youths for redicously low prices,not knowing what they had been left.They know the Rolex name,but not any of the high end watch brand names and let them go for a song.I don't know why anyone would let an heirloom go,especially without research it.Gun or watch.

 

[rburg]

Hope she doesn't offer them for sale at half that price when I die.

Well they are used.

Its been my observation that non-gun women split into two classes. The one thinks their hubby could do no wrong and anything he bought and abused is now worth more, or the other thinks his stuff really cost what he said and will take any "reasonable" offer for it.

 

[686-380]

Geez, what a downer

Well in 4 billion years the sun will supernova and incinerate the Earth and every last S&W along with it. Gramps gun won't matter much then.

Thank you, Mary Sunshine, for THAT ray of hope!

 

[Rosco Shooter]

This thread really hit home as I'll be 73 shortly, have a number of pistols, rifles, and shotguns, and two boys. I'm still pretty active: I shoot USPSA in LGC matches, and bagged a 10 point whitetail deer in Kansas last December.

I have told the boys to start thinking about what guns in which they have the most interest. I plan on having them choose one at a time until they are distributed. I hope they will keep some to honor the "old man's memory," but if they don't, I won't know a thing about it.

 

[gman51]

Well like he said he didn't know his granpa that well and he wasn't a revolver type. I can see that happening.
Myself I would never trade that revolver for a Glock. I am guessing the kid might someday wish he hadn't traded it off.

 

[cmansguns]

Maybe......just maybe......over on the Glock Forum (if there is one) this morning there might be a post from some member that goes " dang........check out this real sweet Glock I got in return for some ancient old wheel gun that the whole world knows are not worth **** anymore."

Then the replies " boy...you did good", "that's sure enough a sweet deal", "those wheel gun nuts never did come into the modern age", "you did right getting rid of that old thing"

Sound familiar? I say to each his own and all those Colt treasures that I could not possibly live without, that have now been sold or traded to accumulate more S&W (my current big time interest)...I don't miss em a bit.

Funny thing too, there are a few Colts left in the safe, marked for the kids that really wanted them, but the real thing is the look in any of the kids, or now the grandkids when they show up and WANT to learn gun safety, walk in the woods, with a pistol, revolver, rifle in their hands.....unheard of in some parts of our country....so value what you have in your "stuff", in your kids/relatives/grandkids while you can.

 

[Jack Flash]

This thread reminds me of a story told by a guy I worked with back in the 1980s. He was an older guy and had some really nice long guns he had accumulated in his hunting days, circa 1950ish.

He sat his sons down and told them how he didn't want to wait till he died before he gave them each something he cherished. One son got a bolt action Winchester rifle, the other, a high grade Browning O/U.

Both guns were sold within a week and the money was used to pay bills.

 

[Camster]

At the end of the...day, Its just STUFF!

Exactly...and as I get older,stuff means less and less.I used to be an avid collector of a variety of stuff.Now,I'm quite content to see a lot of it go.
Heresy to most of you,but my Smith collection now only consists of a 41 and a 17.I'm a rimfire guy-one auto,one revolver,who really needs more?and I'm not even shooting these.(and I don't subscribe to the investment thing.) I enjoyed all of the many others for a time,and that time passed.They didn't have to stay here forever.Just one of many interests and I guess that my upbringing wasn't so poor that I must permanently attach myself to every material thing that I can get my grubby mitts on.
I don't get the notion of a mass of stuff never going away or a relative's stuff going nowhere.My father told me to always use my own best judgment with what stays and what goes-to suit myself.He has no great emotional involvement in anything that he bought for himself or me. My only regret with moving stuff has been an occasional price that wasn't enough,but in the end,I achieved my goal,which was more important that the money.

 

[scoobysnacker]

My dad had guns, there was no specification in the will, and the estate is still being parceled out. Only gun I received was a Czech Mauser, and that's because I got my son interested in guns, and he has a a liking for old surplus rifles.
My oldest brother got a Colt 1911, but that was because he had bought it for Dad himself.
My brother in law was the only one stipulated to receive a gun, my dad's single shot 16 gauge High Standard shotgun, but THAT was because my dad and the other son in law didn't receive any guns from my maternal grandfather, and Dad wanted to make sure that didn't happen again.
My other brother has dibs on a S&W .38 Special snubbie, he isn't an avid gun collecter but he figured he would take that one, if we were all picking in rotation to get one. To him, it would be an heirloom, so that's fine with us.

We don't really know the other guy's full story, we don't know if he received another heirloom; or if he said what he did as a way of saying "no, it's ok, I will make the trade". If he's interested in a shooter, wants to sling a lot downrange, or use it as a truck or nightstand gun instead of in a safe, the Glock is a more practical choice.

We're facing a similar, but non-firearm related, situation with Mom's stuff now. She collected antique Fiesta plates, and since I was her ebay buyer, I know how much was paid for these dishes (we might have the equivalent of a couple custom Les Baer 1911's in that collection). Her only concern was that they wouldn't be boxed up and sold for $5 in a yard sale; luckily I was well-enough informed to keep from doing so.

 

[2152hq]

If the kids & grand kids didn't carry pop's old war & hunting guns off to the local gunshop or gunshow to sell, then we'd never have much chance to own some of these treasures ourselves.
That they don't want them or just don't have any appreciation for them is their business. Everyone is different and there's usually a back story in most familys anyway.

Once you're gone, you;ve lost any control over the situation and beer & pizza money may be all your prized pre-war safe queen becomes to the next custodian.

I admit I've wondered how someone could sell off some of the things I've been blessed with being in the right place at the right time w/ some cash in hand.
A Webley MkIV 455 w/ holster and belt and a few rounds of Kynoch ammo was one of my very first such buys. The young L/E officer was left it by his Great Grandfather, a WW1 vet of a Scotts Regiment. It meant $65 cash to him,,it means a whole lot more to me.
But where it goes after me,,who knows. Maybe someone cuts the bbl down, chrome plates it and shaves the cyl to 45cp. That old 1913 dated holster?,,piece of smelly old leather,,throw it away..

 

[jack the toad]

I'd be willing to bet, if mine are still around when my kids or grandkids get to cleaning up when I'm gone, they won't care two hoots in heck about them, and they'll be sold ASAP.

Not to rush and no ill will intended but can I go ahead and leave my contact info with them??? (just kidding)
Congrats to the OP on a fine trade... both dollar wise and a better place for the gun to be IMO.

 

[GWW]

On the flip side, that grandfather might be just as happy to know it will be kept well and with the respect he gave it.

 

[VinnieL59]

An Auctioneer's Take

I work part time as an auctioneer. We do mostly Estate sales. It's amazing the stuff we see and sell that no member of the family wanted I guess. Times have changed. While some of us would make room for family heirlooms, today's generation doesn't seem to care about such things. Makes me wonder if they cared about the person who owned it. We sell an old rifle or shotgun once in a while which usually brings 2-3 times what you or I would pay for it, but just last weekend there was a box of pictures from a friend's estate. He had no relatives who cared enough to take the photos and keep them for their kids?

 

[tops]

Besides there may be a reason he doesn't know his grandpa too well. Bad and unsavory people become grandpas too!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Same with grandkids! Larry

 

[Arik]

Same with grandkids! Larry

He said he didn't know his grandpa that well. Grandkids typically start driving around 16 - 18. Before that it requires parents to drive you. If he didn't know grandpa that well he didn't interact with him most of his life. Can't just hop in a car when your 12

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[olskool]

I will never run across a deal like that because I have never owned or ever will onw a plastic brick to trade...

 

[adams484]

Yeah... It kind of breaks your heart doesn't it. But on the up side you got a deal I hope. I am betting he traded you straight across didn't he? Or did you make him throw in some cash to go with it...LOL If one of my grandsons pulled a stunt like that he would be disowned by the rest of the family or at least ignored at Christmas dinner. Like trading grandpa's zippo for a bic lighter...Sad.

 

[les_garten]

I recently posted on a local forum to sell or trade a Glock of some description just to move it from the safe. I offered it for a small sale price but really wanted to trade for a Smith revolver.
I got a response from a young guy who said he had some interest if we could get together. We met at a local burger joint had a small lunch and went to the car where he showed me his revolver and I showed him my Glock.
He told me his grandfather had passed away and left him this beautiful Model 19-4 Nickel plated with target hammer and trigger.
I asked if we could deal he said yes he really wanted the Glock and then supprised me by saying that he wasn't a revolver guy and didn't know his grandfather that well.
I walked away with this beautiful Smith & Wesson Model 19 and a sad feeling about the poor grandad!
Took it home cleaned it up and removed the grips to find grandpa's name inscribed on the inside of the frame.
I will keep it just to remember him and perhaps pass it along to a great grand child of mine with the sad story of how i came to have it.

I was in a similar situation.

I inherited a first year 3 digit SN Ruger Single Six from my Dad.

I held onto it for a lot of years, but I didn't like the gun, just not my thing. My Father was not a sentimentalist.

When asked what he wanted us to do when he died, he said, "Shake the Hearth"

So after mulling it over for years, I decided if I wanted to remember my Dad with that gun, I would sell it and use the cash to get something that I would always use and thank him everyday.

I got about $750 for the Ruger, bought a NIB un-shot S&W 342PD. Which cost me $750, how about that!

I got that piece because it weighs under 11oz and it is in my pocket everyday, even in shorts.

Everyday I slip that sweet thing in my pocket and say thanx Dad!

I know my Dad would be pleased with this solution.

... if the Ruger had been a Model 19, I would have kept it though...

 

[adams484]

He said he didn't know his grandpa that well.

Yeah but you have to wonder how he ended up with the revolver if he didn't know him that well. Did he just get it in the big grab fest that happens when people die without a will or did his grandfather leave it to him in a will? Typically grandchildren don't automatically get things from an estate unless it is willed to them as they are seldom the closest living relative in a will-less estate.

So if the old dude liked him enough to leave it to him he expected him to remember him by it or at least remember that he cared enough to leave it to him.

I imagine he is quite happy now with all the cool factor of strutting around with his cool looking Glock. I am betting he didn't want it for competition but maybe he did.