Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters New old guns?

Bored I guess, anyone buy any new old guns lately just to use something different? A guy I work with brought in a couple for me to sell/buy that his dad wanted to get rid of. His dad is moving to an assisted living deal and no guns allowed plus he just don't care about them anyway and neither do his sons. The rifle is a 30-06 M1917 Eddystone which was bubba'd into a sporter and the 12 ga is a Spiegel model 31-c with adj (grenade launcher type choke device). Don't care how much I get for them just wants them gone. What in the hell is wrong with the people in this country?

Actually, I have been seeing more and more old guns for sale at gun shows, pawn shops, etc. and they aren't flying off the shelves. Other guys are mentioning that the older gentlemen that collected them are passing away and the newer generation are only interested in the latest tactical guns that hit the market.

When I was home for R&R in Jan., I made the usual rounds at LGS and pawn shops. I didn’t notice a lot of older guns on the racks, but there were lots of ARs, AKs, and even the majority of shotguns were tactical styles. Maybe AK is a little different. Yes one of the gun stores had traditional old guns, but many were very pricey, and Athens guns usually were pretty beat. up.

Times change and tastes change. The younger (and a lot of not so younger) crowd is indeed becoming more enamored of tactical stuff and plastic/stainless steel tools- all in the name of efficiency over aesthetics. That's ok, as long as we/they keep shooting. Whether we like it or not, change is inevitable. I bet a lot of old whiskery guys bitched and moaned when flint locks were phased out in favor of percussion guns 180 years ago. No difference when compared to now.

There's a line in The Big Sky (the book) where one of the characters laughs at the caplocks, saying as long as he has powder, he can still shoot.

One LGS had a nice 99 and also a Marlin on consignment at nice prices for quite a while. They sell mostly Glocky stuff and ARs. I'm afraid to go in there for fear I'll weaken and scarf one up.

I guess I'm an old fart. When I walk into any gun shop and see predominately tactical, or tupperware with stainless, my eyes go to half mast, and I head for the door. I can never figure out those who head to the woods looking more like a soldier than a hunter.

A phenomenon I often ponder.
Model 12's brought as much money here in 1980 as now.
Same with 88's.

I'm 50. The only thing pre-64 means to me is hearing the older
folk talk about what writers wrote, and what I read. Knowing the gas issues,
I can do better for similar money.

I have a few pre-Garcia Sako's, most dont care anymore.

I laugh at the restored muscle car trend, which i think, is already cooling.

Cool cars, I love them. But if a young guy bought a restored car for $50k
5 years ago as an investment because the prices were going crazy. And he holds it
long enough, he may well be disappointed.

I remember how 55-57 Chevy crazy people were. Still cool, still a demand, but attention
gets refocused.

They all want to be Chris Kyle unless the deer have mortars and shoot back.

They might any day now. I can hear them drilling in the woods behind my house at night.

I actually bought a (almost) new old gun recently.....I really like my Browning model 65 in .218 Bee. I have manufactured 350 rounds of ammo for it and sighted it to hit where it aims.

It's a piece of yesteryear that only old farts like me can appreciate.

I am always finding some new/old. Just recently a couple oddities, a Winchester low wall in 22 long and a Remington 14 1/2 in 38-40. Both are quite rare...

Didn't think you could even spell Remington.

Nice ones.

+1

Those two are very nice Shrapnel. Especially like the low wall.

We have a LGS that has mostly traditional style firearms and lately a lot of things like Ruger Americans. There are a lot of old guns that come up for sale at auctions and estate sales around here.

Our local gun shop owners tell me that virtually nothing is selling except plastic and ultra long range tactical stuff. Most won't even take a pump shotgun on consignment.

I was in one of the larger ones a week ago and there were two 1000 yard bench rest rifles there. I mentioned the .300 Holland & Holland and the guy behind the counter (in his early 30s) had never heard of it. Nor had he heard of the WImbleton matches from the era between the world wars. I really have become a dinosaur.

Was asked this past week if I could tell a friend of mine whether it was worth his effort to stop at the Holland & Holland shop in Dallas. SMDH

I still pick up a few 'old' guns or 'old' cartridges now and then. Everyone is all raving about the 6.5 PRC pushing bullets to 2900 or so. Heck, my 256 Newton does that. (But, but, but...it's not 'new' or 'efficient' or whatever term you want to use) Old stuff still works.

New / old? Anything but the cheap , good shooters like we see these days- they double as a jack handle. I will pick an older one and then use my limited skills to improved it. Not interested in a 1 moa jack handle at all, rather have a 1.5 moa model 70, 1960 vintage.

Recently bought a very old Remington #4 Rolling Block in 45-70. It is so virgin that I don’t like handling it.

Not real old, but I picked up 3 old(yet like new) in January of this year.

A 1965 vintage Remington 760 ADL pump in 30-06, a 1971 vintage Remington 760 BDL Deluxe in .270, and a 1968 vintage Remington 700 BDL in .270 with a 2x7 Denver Redfield sitting on it.

In each case, it appears each gun sat in a closet for years, seeing virtually no use. There was so much dust in the muzzle of one of them, you couldn't even see the rifling.

I know in 2 instances, the owner died, no one in the family either hunted or wanted them, just wanted them gone, and they were priced accordingly to the fact that the family just wanted them gone.

Thanks for the replies, At 64 I was thinking that I was the only one out there that likes old guns. Got to stop buying them I guess, the younger generation doesn't see the value in the classics or old working guns either. The M1917 had the stock butchered to a sporter, even bobbed off the butt then put on a slip on recoil pad. They made a y shaped bracket for the forend to hold the original sling swivel, ground off the rear sight ,drilled and tapped the receiver rings and put on Weaver bases( even got them at 12 o'clock), I cleaned it up and ran a solvent soaked patch thru the barrel, I kid you not it looked new. Couldn't resist it so I put some med height Millette rings on the weaver bases with an old Series 60 K-4 Weaver scope. It bore sighted ok. At sundown last nite the first shot hit 3" high and 1.5"R at 50 yds spun the vert dial down and windage to the left a little and shot another. elev good and a little more windage to the left. 3 shots went into the bull in 3/4" 5 shots total start to finish, load was some old handloads I made 20 years back with 4064 ,125 Sierras and GI brass. Sometimes good sh*t happens, I put everything away had a shot of Jack D and Honey then chased it with a PBR and ate left overs. The owner told me that 06 shot around corners and was junk. I take all the junk like that I can get. I think it will make a good truck gun and a guy can't have to many of those ,can he? MB