Shooting Them

[imarangemaster]

In the late 1990s I had an acquaintance that had a Marlin lever gun that was a family heirloom supposedly used by his great grandfather in the "Modoc Indian Wars" (NE California, circa 1872-73). There were several problems with that.... The first Marlin lever gun produced was the Model 1888 in .44 WCF. Secondly, the model he showed me was a Marlin Model 1893 chambered in the 30-30 cartridge, which was first introduced in 1895, though I believe Marlin did not chamber the 1893 in 30-30 until 1896 or 1897! I too smiled and expressed appropriate awe at the fine heirloom. In the great cosmic scheme of things, I felt it was more important for the family to believe in their link to the past than to crush their family legend with cold, hard facts.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

AWESOME Johnny!!!

And I feel exactly the same as you do. I only have a couple of guns in 'as new' condition but I don't shoot them for the same reason -
I figure if they made it 70 years and they're still in new condition I sure wasn't going to put wear on them by dragging them out and shooting them when I have others. In cases like these I really do feel the gun belongs to history and it's just temporarily in my custody.

Wrong forum, but this is my non-shooter. The 1903A3 isn't a well sought after gun and even looked down on sometimes but when they're like this I think they deserve some special care -

Remington 1903A3 (displaying original configuration and finish)

[stickhauler]

I hear that Dave,
Around here thats why we call it a 'Gun Show'
Can't help but feel like we just pay our way in to look at their prized pieces. Same ole same ole over and over.
When you do run across some body with extra carbine parts they just cringe when you look thru a box of extractors looking for a special marking or one with out the edges worn off. Those Friiigggeeen carbine guys you'll hear them say
A customer of ours over this last year was told by one of the other trades that I had a interest and some knowledge about M1 carbines. Guy came running with it the first time he seen me. Seen right away that he had a Universal but had to listen to his what felt like a 1 hr tutorial about the wars it had seen and its value. I just ended up agreeing and told him to keep it well oiled since he'd said he didn't shoot it and would keep it a family heirloom. He borrowed some WD-40 from a gang box stored in one of our tool trailers and last I seen was soaking it down, walking away with WD-40 pouring off of it down on to his freshly poured driveway.
Like Johhny said............ Life is too short............

Cheers,
Charlie

Man, that's cruel, even if he was a tool.

[DaveHH]

I see it with watches. Every pocket watch is a "Railroad watch" when in reality only about 5% are really railroad grade. You know watches. They cost a lot of money regardless and every family cherished Grampa's old watch and put it away for the future. I usually tell them the truth but point out that they still were an arm and a leg when they were purchased.

Gun Show aptly describes them now. Nobody sells much of anything because of the stupid laws. The only people making money are the ammo sellers. In the old days you could really score. I once traded a Ruger Blackhawk 41 mag straight across for a Win '95 saddle ring carbine. I had $80 in that Ruger, granted it was a scarce model in a rare caliber, but the Win was a great old gun. We wouldn't even look at GI 45s, there wasn't the demand that there is now, we bought 60s commercials for $275. I'd pass on a great GI gun for $200. Funny how things change. We would see a fair number of US&S and such but beyond that they were just GI to us. Smart money like JP were looking and buying then.

[Johnny Peppers]

I probably have as many guns that I shoot as the next guy, but I also have some that I have never shot and never will. They were not bought as a shooter, and I won't turn them into a shooter. Only a tiny percentage of the 10,000 Transition Colts survived in the condition of the one I pictured previously. I just don't see turning these rare pieces into shooters just to say I had shot it. If it had been through rebuild or refinished I wouldn't have a problem at all shooting it, but then I don't really see any enjoyment in that. It wouldn't have the trigger pull or shoot nearly as good as the Series 70 Gold Cup that I shoot.

It all boils down to the fact that not everyone buys a gun for the same reason. If you are not a collector owning something that is in almost the same condition it was when built almost 90 years ago wouldn't mean anything, but to a collector it just doesn't get any better than that.

[SPAD 124]

I guess I tend to buy shooters because I enjoy finding out the differences between calibers, actions, stocks, etc. Part of that also means I shoot them. If I had a transitional 1911 like the one pictured earlier that would be rare for me, that one I probably would not fire. But I do shoot my 43 Inland and others.

[c east]

I have 67,000 acres next to my place....Empty...Every morning I shoot at least 90 round thru my carbines...been doing this since 1989...Three blue sky imports.....90 percent reloads...All three are still in fine shape...No change in accuracy...There are coyotes every where here
and the little m-1 is deadly on them...Shoot them, they are not pictures to look at...Have fun, they are designed to Shoot.........Charlie

[gew8805]

Harlan, that is a beautiful 03A3, it doesn't get any better. Thanks for taking good care of it.

[Johnny Peppers]

...Shoot them, they are not pictures to look at...Have fun, they are designed to Shoot.........Charlie

Actually they are a picture of the past as those that have been preserved in the condition they were when they first came off the assembly line give us a picture of what they looked like when first built. There are plenty of examples that have been sandblasted, sanded, refinished, reworked, and stamped that can be shot, but original examples are scarce. Nothing lasts forever, but by preserving the best examples we can extend the courtesy of saving a few original examples for our grandkids and their grandkids.

[kraigwy]

I shoot my Carbine, as well as all my other surplus rifles. I don't care about the collector value, not like I'm going to sell them. Sure my kids like guns and want mine. But I don't think they value the history of these surplus military rifles like I do.

First off, shooting them doesn't hurt them if you take normal care of the rifles.

I'm a CMP GSM MI and enjoy the GSM games, so I keep my rifles "as issued" per CMP rules. I'm old, retired, and I plan on enjoying (shooting) my rifles as long as I'm able.

I have little doubt any one will get the enjoyment of my surplus rifles and pistols as I do. I even have bayonets for most of my surplus rifles, who knows, for old time sake I might take my M7 bayonet (for the M16a1 I used in Vientam) out in the back yard and dig a fox hole.