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how did they get there.

2K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  oldcoltheart75 
#1 ·
as a collector of old stuff like our colts, winchesters, mausers etc. if the guns could talk, thinking the round about way these things came into our possession? Some of us have guns over 100 years old or more, the original buyers been gone from this world for generations, its passed to someone else then someone else.
I guess just sitting here looking at a bold derringer made me start to think... jim
 
#2 ·
I have one gun I can pretty much document from day 1 to today and it is 102 years old. It has traveled the world and wound up here. I have some guns that I have an idea of where they came from but most have just passed through many hands on their way to me. Some I have a partial history on from the previous owners. The sad thing is that one day they will all be scattered to the wind and go their separate ways. I should take the time and write down the known history of the more important ones at least.
 
#3 ·
I think some have just a regular story where someone bought it, sold it and so on. Others like the WW1 luger I have may have been a bring back from europe. I picked up a 1942 official police frame, collected the parts to put it back together. Someday in the future, someone will look at that gun and try to figure out why the mismatched parts. Jim
 
#4 ·
I've said this so many times!!! A Captain's log of sorts...... for other good purposes, I'd like one to be included with every house, so future owners can understand, figure out and get a grip on the "why?" with respect to modifications, alterations and more. I've got a well taken care of 1849 Pocket Model that I often wonder about. Wouldn't it truly be fascinating to read the journal with the gun, as to who owned it when, where and what all it's been through. Even stored in an underwear drawer of a farm house in Kansas for 43 years would be interesting, simply because you'd know.

I don't have many guns that I know much of the history about...only one really, that didn't start with my family when new. I agree on us all starting now with this. I've got a few family guns passed along that I know much about and a few that started new with me that have interesting tales. Maybe in the future, the new "us" can buy the "gun and the story" more often!;)
 
#5 · (Edited)
A gun can be in the family for a hundred years and it takes just one dumbazz crack head heir to pawn it or sell it and the known history is instantly separated from it forever. My 1911 shipped Winchester '92 that my dad traded a Luger for in the 50s has a cattle brand in the stock. I found that ranch to still exist and is about three hours south of me. Was that the original owner who custom ordered it or someone later? Beats me. but that little clue told me something about the gun's history and past life.
 
#7 ·
If you did, you would want to wear surgical gloves 24/7.

When I took a course in forensics a block of instruction was held at an ATF lab. We were told that the vast majority of currency has passed through so many hands that most will have traces of illegal substances due to the drug trade. Think about that when a drug dog checks you out in an airport or other site that uses drug detection for security.
 
#9 ·
My old iron is pretty much anonymous.
That bein' said, it still is a pleasure to sit quietly and use a little imagination to give 'em all a listen once & a while.
There is no way to know exactly what the purpose and use of 'em really was, but if the gun guys of the past are anything like us, we can be certain that some were simply stowed away safely or carried in anticipation of potential security issues, some saw action, some saw more than others, and others will see it again. There are not too many different possibilities for firearms in the possession of free American citizens. Maybe some are in the evidence locker somewhere. I reckon that covers 'em all, with the exception of those preserved as museum/ display/ collector pieces.
 
#11 ·
I have a Winchester 1890, 1894, and Remington 1889 that I have the full story from day one.

The 1894 turned out to be quite the unicorn, it has a Winchester '95 barrel but is still roll stamped 94... It was made in 1927, the barrel came from a .30-06 1895 NRA musket that was re-chambered for .30-30, roll stamped Winchester 94 and sold like any normal 94. My grandfather and his brother both bought brand new '94's in Oklahoma City in 1928. This rifle has been in the family since that day.

My M1 Carbine is an Inland that was made in 1942. It served stateside in WWII and was sent to Israel just after the war. Israel used it in their War of Independence, and any number of other skirmishes until they surplused it in 1982. I was working for the small arms importer when we imported 4,000 M1 Carbines from Israel. I got my pick of the litter.

Gun Trigger Shotgun Wood Gun barrel


Gun Firearm Rifle Trigger Air gun
 
#12 ·
Since you worked there and hand picked the Carbine...were you able to grab it before the import mark was placed on it?
 
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#13 ·
I have several wartime production firearms (WW1) - Webley, S&W and Colt.
I know the Webley saw service and the Colt (M1917) also.
Supposedly an S&W 1917 M&P 5" .38, (private purchase) went to Europe with an officer but no proof.

Some of my S&Ws are gangster era (mid 1920s) a few others made later are LEO firearms.
I do wish they could tell their tales.
 
#18 ·
Many of mine have a long history of which I know little Civil War Carbines, an 1874 Colt SAA that most likely spent it's entire life in Mexico until 1968. An 1873 Carbine and 1892 Short rifle also from Mexico. The Custer range colt in my avatar and is just a few of them. I do have a Chinese Tokarev with capture papers brought back from Vietnam in 1968 with papers by young man who was awarded the Silver Star. An SKS that also came out of Vietnam but with no papers. It looks like it spent a good while in a jungle. Lots have a partial history but no real details.
 
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#19 ·
I have one of the Russian capture Kar98 rifles that hit the market 10 or so years back. It was made in Luebeck, before the war and was captured by the Russians. It has the original barrel and somehow it has maintained a mirror bright bore. I assume the Germans used corrosive ammunition, and cleaning in wartime was probably haphazard. Another one of those little mysteries to which I'll never know the answer.
 
#20 ·
Another one of those little mysteries to which I'll never know the answer.
As the old joke about many French and Italian rifles (also Egyptian after the 1967 6-day war)..."Only dropped once."
 
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