Hand me down guns . . .

P

Prof Young

New member
I have an a Stevens bolt action 22 that is so old it doesn't have a serial number. I inherited it from my wife's father. It was kind of beat up with old scope mount holes on the barrel and missing wood in that same area. Nonetheless it was a real shooter. Very accurate. Couple years back I sent it to a gunsmith to have a real scope mount put on and as an added bonus he repaired the barrel and the wood. Very nice. Hadn't shot it for a while, took it out to the farm and at 70 yards off a bench-rest/sandbag I could still get half inch groups. When I got home, seven year old grandson was there. He helped me return the gun to the safe and I told him all about it, concluding with " . . . and someday I'll probably give this gun to you." Without missing a beat he said, "I'd rather have the AR-15."

Gotta love it.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
And when he gets it he will be uberhappy. My godson got to use all of his fathers, a friend's, and my arsenal growing up. But he was uber happy on one desert trip when he was gifted my Remington 514 22 single shot for an early birthday present. That weekend that was all he shot and he had access to over 40 different guns.
 
If you put 20 AR-15s on a rack, he could never pick out the one his Grand Dad gave him.
Put that Stevens on a rack with 20 other .22s and he can walk straight to it.
 
Prof Young said:
When I got home, seven year old grandson was there. He helped me return the gun to the safe and I told him all about it, concluding with " . . . and someday I'll probably give this gun to you." Without missing a beat he said, "I'd rather have the AR-15."
Click to expand...
He's only seven. One hopes that by the time he reaches 18 he will come to understand the error of his ways.
 
I have two grandsons that are or will be 7 this year. I learned to shoot at 7 and was given a Remington 41-P single shot with a peep sight.

A kid could shoot for hours with a single shot and a 50rd box of ammo.

I still have that rifle and it shoots as well now as it did when new in 1937.

My sons all took a turn with that rifle that has lasted... now thru 4 generations!

Love the kid trying to get the AR-15!
 
I tell all these old geezers (hmmm, I'm almost an old geezer myself) that come in with their Remington 581s and 513s, Savage 99s and 87s, Winchester 94s, 54s and 70s to have them reblued for the grandkids. The grandkids don't want your old worn out hand-me-downs, they want new ARs and 10-22s.
 
i have a safe full of guns I would gift to my grandson in several years and my son in law.....but they live in communist Massachusetts and can’t have them. Getting a license to carry, what you need to posses handguns in Mass, is next to impossible to obtain in their town.
 
I suspect he will love the guns regardless of the make/model because they were yours. Remember the AR will be "Granddad's AR" and that means something. I have my Grandfather's old Winchester shotgun and my Father's old Marlin 336 neither of which I ever intend to let go.
 
I only have one grandchild, a girl age 2-1/2. She's too young to know about it now, but I hope to give her my dad's Winchester 69A. It's older than I am, and still in beautiful condition. And like yours, it was made before serial numbers were required, and thus bears none.
 
"And when he gets it he will be uberhappy."

I hope so but it's not always the case.

I've personally seen some boys/young men snub gifts of single-shots and bolt guns,,,
Because they didn't want some "old junk gun" that fired slow.

I've taken the children of friends to the range,,,
Only to have the kids be pissed off that I didn't bring a semi-auto.

Those kids weren't interested in learning to shoot,,,
They just wanted to have fun turning ammo into noise.

A friend bought his kid a very nice Savage .22 bolt rifle,,,
The kid pitched a fit so the dad traded it in on a S&W AR style .22 rifle.

After the kid burnt through a 550 round bulk pack,,,
The Dad told him the replacement ammo was his to buy,,,
All of a sudden that slow shooting bolt gun looked a lot better.

Personally, I would have just sold/returned the bolt rifle,,,
And let the kid do without any gun for at least another year.

I guess I'm just an old curmudgeon.

Aarond

.
 
Just forbid the playing of "Call of Duty", and they'll learn to like the classics.
I grew up in a No-Guns Massachusetts house-hold, but I somehow became a gun-nut. Both my kids like to shoot, as long as it's above 50 degrees. Hoping for some grandkids to share my passion with, but waiting is tough.
 
My uncle and father taught me how to shoot on a Mossberg 46B. It's a .22 LR and it too is old enough it doesn't have a serial number. I was told the Army used them for training in the 1940's. My uncle either bought it as military surplus or just took it home with him at the end of his WWII service. I heard both stories. I still have the rifle, and it's still a fine shooter. My daughter doesn't have much interest in guns, although she does go to the range with me now and then. She does understand the historic and heirloom value of this and other guns I own, and it and others will be hers some day.
 
My Grandad willed me his Fox double barrel 16 gauge shotgun. Its worth a great deal to collectors but its my favorite for upland game and not for sale.

Jack
 
I’ve gotten lucky. My oldest has grown up playing Call of Duty, but he’s interested in mechanics. He likes to fire modern guns, but he really likes the old S&W Model 10 that I inherited from my uncle and his grandfather’s 1911. My youngest actually prefers revolvers. I’m not sure if they will grow out of it, but I’m hoping they will still appreciate the classics when it’s time to pass them on.
 
.22

Great stories to read as I recalled my first rifle a Marlin 22 single shot that had to be cocked before each shot.

As others have said, one box of .22's lasted all day. The single-shot (still have it) did teach me accurate shooting and conservation of ammo.
 
The other side of the coin,,,

I work in a student computer lab at a state university,,,
I often take the student workers I know to my rifle-pistol club.

On several occasions now I have gifted a firearm to a graduating student,,,
Sometimes it is a pistol and sometimes a rifle,,,
Almost always used.

One young man really took to shooting one of my pawn shop rescues,,,
It was a 60's vintage Marlin (?) bolt action single-shot .22 rifle.

The rifle was in sad cosmetic shape when I rescued it,,,
But it had a good bore and crown.

After I cleaned the metal and cold blued it,,,
I did a quick refinish of the stock.
It came out very nicely.

It did have a dovetail so I mounted an inexpensive 4X scope on it,,,
No problem hitting a 2" spinner at 100 yards.

Anyways, the kid liked shooting the gun so I made him a package,,,
Plano rifle case, cleaning kit, glasses, and muffs,,,
I gave it to him on our last shooting trip,,,
He was ecstatic and was very grateful.

Several months later I hit a pawn shop in the next town over,,,
Lo and behold there was the cased rifle and accessories for sale.

I asked the owner about it and he said a young man came in,,,
And used it as a trade-in for an AR-style .22 rifle.

I really thought the kid would keep that old rifle,,,
At least as a memento of our range trips,,,
But it didn't work out that way.

It did make me sad but not sad enough to quit gifting guns,,,
One young lady who I gave a used Ruger 22/45 to,,,
Wrote me an e-mail last year to say hello.

She graduated back around 2011 and is now married with a step-kid,,,
Her hubby is a farmer so she has her own backyard range,,,
She's teaching her step-daughter to shoot.

So sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't,,,
But as long as I can find good guns at an affordable price,,,
I'll keep on taking kids to the range and every now and then gift them a gun.

Aarond

.
 
You can never tell what people will want as a hand-me-down. When my uncle's health started failing and he could no longer work, I moved him into a vacant rent home that I had available. Unfortunately, his health continued to fail and he passed shortly after moving in. When I was cleaning the house, I found a beautiful S&W Model 10 that was probably made in the late 1950's or early 1960's. I offered it to both of his sons. I was amazed when neither of them wanted it because they did not want to keep guns in the home with small children. I keep it in the safe and am holding out hope that one day at least one of them will come to their senses and decide to claim it. I can't picture either of my boys passing up on the guns in my collection, but it can apparently happen.
 
My father-in-law, Tom, gave me his hunting sidearm, a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 mag and a half box of ammo back in 1983. I loaded it with six rounds and when I shot the first round, with the stock wooden grips, the gun promptly spun around in my hands and stopped when the trigger hit the web of my hand between my thumb and first finger. So I gripped it tighter and fired the second shot, same result as the first round, ouch! I already owned a Dan Wesson .357 mag, so I was familiar with shooting magnum guns, or so I thought. By the time I shot all six rounds, I was over shooting that gun. I had a sore hand and a pissed off attitude, I took that gun home and told myself that I didn’t want to ever…never…ever, shoot that gun again. I put it away out of sight, out of mind, then 35 years later, in 2018, I started reloading again and happened to see on youtube another Blackhawk owner install a Hogue grip on his gun. I thought that might work for me, so I installed that same grip on my gun, now I can hold onto it and now it’s one of my favorite handguns to shoot and reload for. It’s an unmolested three screw model, of which I now have an appreciation of what a well made firearm it is. Now I’m kicking myself for letting it sit for so long….but glad I didn’t sell it along the way. Thanks, Tom.
 
I have an old Colt Pocket Hammerless in .38ACP that belonged to my great-grandfather. He likely bought it new based on its date of manufacture and when we know he owned it. It was passed to my grandfather and then to my dad.

Neat old pistol. I don't know who will get it after me.
 
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