New guns...need help/advice

M

monkey95

New member
I hope this is in the right place.

A dear friends father was diagnosed with frontal lobe atrophy and now has dementia. Today he gave me 2 guns since his father can not "be trusted"(I hate saying that about a 70+yo man).

The guns are:
Hi standard sentinel deluxe 22lr revolver
baby browning .25 semi

my questions are:

Is the hi standard functional? It appears the hammer has been "cut" to render it inoperable (I will try and add a pic). If so, what would it cost to repair? From what I have researched it appears the gun is worth ~$2-300? I would like to keep this one.*

What would be a good trade for the baby browning? I have no use for this pistol and am looking for a .22lr rifle for my daughter. I was thinking of about a ruger or a marlin. I think this one is worth ~ $250?*

*I have no idea how to judge the % value of a gun.

Thank you for any help.

T
 
Pictures are necessary.
If the cocking spur of the H.S. has been cut off, the gun should still work in double action mode.

The Browning is a nice little gun but condition is very important. Again- pictures are necessary.
 
Mr DeShivs,

Thank you for your reply. I hope I have figured out posting pics...
 

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Sorry...

for yr friend's Dad, Monkey 95.

There is a prayer for older people: Dear God, please do not allow me to outlive my wits.

When/if it happens, it's great that family is there with comfort, help, and, if necessary, management of property. If Dad truly can't be trusted, yr friend stepped up and Did The Right Thing. I hope that Dad can understand.

There isn't any easy way out of this kind of situation. It just hurts.
 
Hard to tell from the photo, but I dont think anythink has been done to the hammer of the HS. Put in a cylinder of .22 empties and cycle the action both SA and DA and see if the hammer makes a dent in the cases.
 
Do some research on the Baby Browning. I would hate to see you trade a $450 + pistol for a buck and a half .22.

Condition and model of the Browning will tell you it's value.

No fast way to do it. Take your time and find it's value.
 
Smokey Joe, Thanks...my grandfather had Alzheimers, not fun. I sent a thread from this forum about guns and dementia/Alzheimers which helped my friend on his decision, he had to take the car keys also, that may be the worst.

glenncal1, I will try that when I get home, thank you.

dampoo666, pm sent

Joe the Redneck, appreciate the info. I only did a cursory search on both the guns and will do more to learn how to evaluate condition as well as possible price.

I hope to get to the range this weekend to try them out. That Baby Browning is intriguing.
 
Just a curious question.


Does your dear friend know that you plan to turn around and sell his father's gun for some cash?

Terrible about his dad, had a family with Alzheimer--worse thing there is, imo.
 
Good question, TheGoldenState. I tried to convince him to keep the guns in the family. He is an only child and not a fan of guns nor are any of his relatives.

I offered to sell the guns and give back the money but his response was ""You're very (gratefully) welcome!". His mother just broke her hip and he is knee deep in you know what and doesnt want any more distractions.

As I type this I think I may hold on to them until the stress level dials down a bit and revisit the subject. Thanks, TheGoldenState!!

FWIW, he considers me his little brother and I am 39!
 
FWIW, he considers me his little brother and I am 39!
Click to expand...
My best friend when I was growing up was a year younger than me.
We actually looked like brothers & we thought of ourselves as brothers.

During high school, we drifted apart for a while. He was held back a few times (Dyslixia) and things became akward between him and my "new" high school crowd.

Anyhow, after I graduated in 1970, I got married and went to work full time.
He eventually got wrapped up with drugs and quit school to hitchhike around the country, do drugs and whatever else was being done in those days.

In 1973/1974, he cleaned his act up - got a job working the ore boats in Lake Erie and did a coomplete turn around.

In 1975, while his boat was docked and being unloaded - he kinda fell off the wagon. He and another ship mate were invited to have a drink with the skipper of the boat, and he felt he couldn't say no.

From then on, he went back to doing some light drinking and when the ship was iced in for the Winter, he'd hit the drugs a bit.

On July 4th weekend in 1976, after spending a day bending his elbow in Huron Ohio, a woman ran a stop sign and he t-boned her with his motorcycle.
His passenger was thrown clear - he held onto the handlebars, the bike flipped over top of him and he was crushed.
He was DOA by the time they got him to the hospital.


Anyhow -sorry for the long history....

Whe we were kids, we used to dream about the days when we'd be old enough to shoot, hunt, get off into the wild etc.
When his dad died, he inherited his dad's Winchester model 12.

When he died, I offered to buy the Winchester from his mother, but, she declined to sell it.

I found out a few years later that the Winchester eventually ended up being turned in for $50.00 worth of grocerys during a """buy back""..


Anyhow - my advice - keep the Browning.
If for no other reason, it's something your "big brother" gave to you.
 
my book is a little old, but
the browning shows anywhere from 250 to 350 depending on condition.

the hi-standard shows high value of like 150. guess the old revolvers don't go for as much.
 
Perhaps you could sell the guns and give the proceeds to the family? Health care costs are sky high. I'm sure they'll appreciate your kindness.
 
Hal, thank you for sharing your story. I get your message and will consider it carefully before making any decision.

Andrewh, appreciate the info!

allenomics, I did offer to sell them and give the money back. He was pretty clear that these were a gift that he felt happy to give.

I did try glencal1's suggestion with the HS and there were dents in the case with double and single action. Good news. I dry fired the .25 but the trigger felt weird and there was no" click"...seemed strange, hope to get to shoot them this weekend.

Thanks for all the replys and suggestions.
 
As an aside, how available is .25 ammo(I only have a 9mm and 12ga)? The baby browning, and HS, both have ammo that came with them but it appears to be the ammo that was purchased with the guns ~ 45 years ago.

I do not know how it was stored, but feel it was indoors. Would this be safe to shoot or should I buy new ammo?
 
The ammunition should be fine. .25 ACP is readily available, but expensive.
The Browning .25 has more of a "tink" than a "click" as it is striker fired.
Both of these guns are good guns, and neither are available new. Both are keepers.
 
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