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

My latest used-rifle purchase is an 1866 Springfield "trapdoor" .50-70. Picked it off the consignment rack at a Capital Sports & Western Wear in Helena, Montana, a first-year rifle, actually made in 1866.

Every rimfire and centerfire firearm I own is old and wore out.

I resemble that remark!

Me too, as well their owner!

My sole concession to modernity is the AR .223 I built up 3 years ago, and then mainly to be Politically Incorrect.

I chase my tail trying to acquire the stuff I couldn't afford when I was a kid in the 60's (and still can't afford in a lot of cases). Given the choice between exploring the accuracy potential of a pre-war factory rifle or custom wildcat versus a brand new stainless/plastic Wonder Rifle, well, there is no choice. Give me the old one, please- not because it is "better" or more accurate or better suited to the rigors of hunting, but because it holds a certain undefinable mystique to me.

last fall i purchased new to me a real clean Savage 99 - 284 win. with a clip and a Sako 7 mag. wood stock made in 1963 and this rifle was also very clean, also a Remington 870 trap that`s 99 % .

Being a child of the 50's I count everything made then and since as not being "old, vintage, antique", rather as modern guns. I know, I know...

Extremely jealous. Great pick up John. My feelings are if it isn’t ancient, what good is it? Last couple weeks I’ve picked up a 99 in 300 sav. Early 50s vintage. A Remington 121 in decent shape. Unknown age til I get in hands. I can resist many things but a nice 22rf is getting harder and harder. Middle son and I went pig hunting the other day. He had to take the 140yr old trapdoor I gave him. Not all the younger ones have to be tacticool.

+10 that just about explains me too.MB

Should have added in my previous comment that I have firearms made in; 1906, 1914, 1915, 1923, 1942, 1953, 1958 and then some newer one's. I do enjoy the look on some folk's face when I pull out one of the old one's at the range or when hunting and they ask 'What is that rifle?'.

My most recent gun purchase was a brand new gun that reminds me of old guns. Made of steel with a wood stock & forearm and it can only hold one round at a time. A Henry single shot in .308. Couldn't resist it. I have a soft spot for single shot break opens; as the first working gun I ever owned was a single shot break open 16 ga. shotgun that I still own. I've talked to other guys in my age bracket ( I just turned 69) and there seems to be a consensus among us old farts towards more traditional type stuff versus the latest and greatest techno - tactical wonder toys that are coming out.

+1 i also just turn and walk away from the new tactical stuff gun shops i'm not their target customer

Well last weekend i picked up a "new" to me winchester 1894 rifle. The rifle is a 20" short rifle half octagon,half round barrel ,half magazine takedown made in sept.1898 in 30 wcf caliber. A 20" short rifle is very rare 22" and 24" were standard short rifle lengths. A fax from Cody verified all the options heres a few pictures.

VERY nice!

Very nice indeed......

I used to collect Winchester take-downs, but sold all of the collector pieces to finance a business. Long and short of is I was a better Winchester collector than businessmen.. Should have stuck to collecting, it would have been cheaper and far more enjoyable.
A few months back I picked up a "94" full rifle, half round, half octagon with a smokeless site, button mag in 32 Special. Just a straight brown gun, good rifling and wood.

This ^^^^^^

Yeah, Blue steel and lumber for me. I tried some of the black rifle stuff during the shortages along with some semi-auto pistols. I finely figured out it's just not for me. I cleaned house on that style. I'm also a wheel gun guy, so add that to the list: Blue steel, lumber and six shooters.

Guess I can join the crowd. An old guy in Alex City died and a LGS was handling his collection for the estate. I picked up a Model 1903 Mannlicher-Schoenauer (built in 1939) with a 4X Hensoldt scope attached with some slick and stout claw mounts. It is a real jewel and in immaculate shape except the scope is a little foggy. No way to tell, but I swear I think I have fired more rounds through it since I bought it than was fired in the 79 years before!

Then, about 3 months ago, I finally found my second Brno 22F. It was a necessity! Two of my kids were claiming my first one as inheritance. I just HAD to get a second one to prevent a fist fight at my funeral. They will each have one now AFTER I kick the bucket!

I have noticed that young folks like old guns if they are used in video games. The Call of Duty type games set in WWI or II apparently use a lot of different period guns and your folks will spend money on them.

Until there is a hit video game using the Savage 99 I hold little hope....

KnightHawk,

One of my favorite "collecting" stories came from the late Jim Bashline, the well-known outdoor writer (or at least he was a few decades ago). Jim collected several kinds of rifles, as I found out when visiting him and his wife Sylvia (another writer, for years the game-cooking writers for Field & Stream) over 30 years ago at their home on the outskirts of State College, Pennsylvania.

Jim had a collection of every model/chambering variation of Ruger No. 1 made up to that time, but he also had a few very nice old Winchester lever-actions. He said he used to have more, and in fact collected them so avidly back that while on a trip one time, he phoned Sylvia to to telegraph him enough money for a bus ticket home. He'd traded the family car for four Winchester lever-actions, as I recall all 1886's in good condition. They later sold them and paid for their kid's college education....

Dunno what happened to the No. 1's after Jim passed away, way too young, at 63, but suspect they were part of Sylvia's retirement.

I've read a lot of Jim Bashline's articles. He was a good writer.

I've noticed a lot of interesting older guns on the market lately. Their prices are definitely softening compared to before the recession.


Okie John