Special place in my heart for "worn" guns?
- Thread starter oldcars
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Trigger Finger
New member
I like well worn guns if I was the one to break them in and caused the wear.
Otherwise I tend to think of them like someones else's worn hand me down.
I used to like well worn waitresses in my youth however, then I met my wife!
Otherwise I tend to think of them like someones else's worn hand me down.
I used to like well worn waitresses in my youth however, then I met my wife!
Leaving aside the comments about waitresses, I can appreciate that. It is nice to get something new and actually use it, literally consuming it, so that everything about it becomes a part of you. Yet the same thing can happen to something that wasn't new, too. In a way it's nice to not have to worry about getting something scratched or a little dented. Either new or used, it seems to take a while before it becomes "yours."
Anyone that has been through the army knows about having things "for display purposes" and then having everything else for actual use. Of course in the army, you only get one firearm. One British writer that went through the Royal Military Academy and was then posted to an Indian Army regiment remarked that the soldiers in India, who regularly served on active duty on the Northwest Frontier, would never dream of doing the things to their rifles that the RMA cadets did to make them more presentable for inspection and on parade. Sort of the equivalent of the safe queens that are mentioned here now and then. I had long since given up ever being a serious collector when I realized that somehow or other my especially nice specimans collected scratches and fingerprints as much as the ones that weren't so nice. Never did figure out why that happened.
While it is also nice to inherit something for free, like an old gun, in your own eyes it is always someone else's gun, although you may not feel the same about that. But things like that seem to come loaded with obligations.
Anyone that has been through the army knows about having things "for display purposes" and then having everything else for actual use. Of course in the army, you only get one firearm. One British writer that went through the Royal Military Academy and was then posted to an Indian Army regiment remarked that the soldiers in India, who regularly served on active duty on the Northwest Frontier, would never dream of doing the things to their rifles that the RMA cadets did to make them more presentable for inspection and on parade. Sort of the equivalent of the safe queens that are mentioned here now and then. I had long since given up ever being a serious collector when I realized that somehow or other my especially nice specimans collected scratches and fingerprints as much as the ones that weren't so nice. Never did figure out why that happened.
While it is also nice to inherit something for free, like an old gun, in your own eyes it is always someone else's gun, although you may not feel the same about that. But things like that seem to come loaded with obligations.
BlueTrain, I've inherited a couple firearms and can appreciate what you are saying. On the other hand, the guns were inherited from someone who really liked to shoot and usually shot everything he owned, including many quite valuable pieces. He just felt that they were meant to be shot.
So, when I shoot those arms, I feel somewhat closer to the giver, as I know he would want me to shoot them like he did. There is certainly a special attachment to them for that reason.
Any wear on my arms are there from use or at least carry, so there's the appreciation of that too, for me.
So, when I shoot those arms, I feel somewhat closer to the giver, as I know he would want me to shoot them like he did. There is certainly a special attachment to them for that reason.
Any wear on my arms are there from use or at least carry, so there's the appreciation of that too, for me.
Tactical Jackalope
New member
S&W Model 19 .357 anyone??
Here is my S&W Model 19 .357 that I have hidden in my home. Can't say where of course It too was a police officer's gun as is my Glock 22....(Which I sent to Glock to refinish the slide and they replaced the barrel and just about all the internals in the slide free along with my $45 for the slide refinishing) I have up a video on YouTube of me shooting it, if you'd go here you can see it 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3iCncWsZYg
EXTREMELY ACCURATE GUN!
Here is my S&W Model 19 .357 that I have hidden in my home. Can't say where of course
It too was a police officer's gun as is my Glock 22....(Which I sent to Glock to refinish the slide and they replaced the barrel and just about all the internals in the slide free along with my $45 for the slide refinishing) I have up a video on YouTube of me shooting it, if you'd go here you can see it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3iCncWsZYgEXTREMELY ACCURATE GUN!
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Blue Train,
This is indeed a very beautiful way of putting it. But I also have a bit of an alternative view. While agreeing and accepting what you've said about getting something and using it so that it becomes part of you, I respect that relationship as a 2-way road. Something about me is also embodied within my pistol. By using it to the point that it is an extension of myself, the giving of it, is in effect, breaking it away and giving a piece of myself.
My grandfather has a collection of his grandfather's old hunting rifles that I am to inherit. Every time he takes them out to show them, he always tells me, "These are my Grand-daddy's rifles." Present tense. Because part of him is still there to be passed along. I never met the man, but I sure can pass along some shooting stories about him from my grandfather who'll slide me a bear and guff for a few hours about his grandfather taking him hunting and him falling out of the tree stand.
I look at my most-worn pistols and know that they are worn that way because of how I've handled them. They show holster wear because of my particular draw-stroke. They show shooting wear because of the ammo I choose to run. They are as clean or as dirty as I keep them, and they absorbed as much damage as the environment called for at the time (as I did also). Grandpa used to avoid calling gun imperfections "nicks", "dings", and "scratches" in favor of referring to them as "scars" just as easily as those he bore on his arm.
Passing guns has been a very serious and honored thing in my family. And the wear that they display is a proud show of training and experience. A worn weapon, as long as it's honest wear, is nothing to look down upon in my home.
~LT
Tactical Jackalope
New member
I love that...Thank God, sorry you had to go through that. I love my Hi-Power more now...But I didn't post a pic like a did of the Model 19 cause it's not at all wore out. I keep it very secure in a safe withing a safe. lol LOVE IT!!!
To LordTio3, I agree and that's a nice way of putting it. As Filson says about some of their oil finish garments that you aren't supposed to wash, they gain character. Then, too, so does a human face.
Sometimes it's difficult to put you exact thoughts into words but just the same, I don't care to share all my thoughts anyway.
Sometimes it's difficult to put you exact thoughts into words but just the same, I don't care to share all my thoughts anyway.