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Our Tucson home was burglarized in September and I lost 35 rifles and shotguns. Several of them were unique.

One was an unfired Ruger No. 1 in .270 Winchester. One side of the action commemorated the 100th anniversary of Wyoming's statehood; the other side told of the 50th anniversary of the Lander One Shot Antelope Hunt. I was president of the One Shot's past shooter's club that year, and we ordered only 50 of these rifles from Ruger.

Another was a Mannlicher-style .257 Roberts built on a Japanese Arisaka action by Frank Wells. It has his name stamped on the barrel. The stock was a light-colored walnut with a maple foretip.

Another was a Charles Daly (Miruku) 20 gauge that had a slightly bulged barrel and a chip missing at the toe of the rear stock. (Both thanks to my son-in-law).

Another was a very early .303 Savage Model 99 Savage. It had been drilled and tapped for a scope and its half-moon-shaped rear stock had been replaced with a later model with a flatter buttplate. I bought this rifle in 1947 with money I saved selling newspapers, and killed my first deer with it a year later.

Another was an unfired .357 H&H push feed Model 70 Winchester. The right side of the stock has my name and an inscription (professionally done by laser) commemorating my retirement after 17 years as director of Safari Cl;ub's publications.

Still another was a .45 caliber caplock Dixie Gun Works long rifle, one of the earliest rifles that Turner Kirkland sold. It was stained blood red. I've not seen another one of these in at least 30 years. This one was as new.

If you hear of these being advertised on the 'Net or see one of them at a local gun show, please PM me.

My others guns included Browning Belgian 0/Us, a vintage Marlin 20 gauge pump, and Remington, Winchester, Mauser and Rossi rifles in a variety of calibers from .22 to .458 -- all in great condition, but pretty much standard fare.

What really hurt was losing three Pennsylvania-style percussion and flintlock rifles I'd built more than 25 years ago for my daughter and grandkids. I had spent more than 300 hours building each of them from blanks.

Bill Quimby

Sorry to hear of this, hope you see 'em again.

any theft is tough, but you really took a hit. i do hope your stolen weapons are recovered soon. best of luck.

Wow man, I'm so sorry.

It BURNS me up for (?)people(?) to be so lazy and self centered that they WILL NOT work but will steal from those of who do.

BEST of LUCK getting YOUR property back.

Jerry

Hope they turn up. Feel for you, that's just so wrong.

I hope you recover your guns and I also hope they catch and hang the SOB that stole them.

I cannot abide a damned thief.

Have had 2 stolen so I feel just a little of your pain..hope you recover yours and if not, get compensation for some of their value. I never got a dime from NRA or my insurance. Hope you have better luck.

Ugh!!!!

I hate a thief! Sorry to hear it man. I'm far from Tuscon, but I'll keep my eye out for you.

took a terrible hit like that 20 years ago. Hope you have better luck than I did and you find out who did it..

Sorry to read about this.

Some years back I bought myself a Liberty safe, in part because of safe storage laws up here, but also to hopefully avoid such scenarios. Have to say, certainly cuts down on worry, especially when away for extended periods.

I hope that you recover your firearms. Especially the Pennsylvania-style rifles. I had three firearms stolen several years ago and know the weak feeling you get when your home is invaded.
I checked gun shops, gun shows, pawn shops, and the internet for a long time before I gave up looking, but I still carry the serial numbers in my wallet. I only had one that I really miss. It is a Merkel o/u that was given to me by my wife. Maybe one day it will show up.

Mr. Quimby,
You have always been a super guy. Gun thieves belong in the ninth circle of hell. If I see anything that looks like yours during the gunshow next week I will PM you.

Sincerely,
Thomas

The sad truth is most probably met their end in a melting pot after being turned in at a police buy back.

Which is heinous in and of itself. That police dont check the serial number in any attempt to make a victim whole is criminal. No questions asked gun buybacks promote gun theft, IMO.

I am very sorry for your loss.

Had a bunch of nice musical gear stolen a few years back. No help at all with recovery or investigation. Had a fair idea who did it and I said so to the locals. Incidents like that can sour you just a tad on the usefulness of local constables.

Sorry for your loss. There really are no other words that will give you peace unless the words are " Sir...we found and have all of your weapons, but unfortunately we had to use them and gut-shoot the scumbags that stole them.You can pick them up anytime and have a great day." If only.......again sorry for your loss.

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm genuinely curious from a security standpoint. Were the guns in a safe or locker? If so how did the thief defeat this security device? Thanks

One of my friends' uncle was killed in a hold up. During the funeral his house was broken into and all the contents stolen from his safe. They cut the top off the safe, opened it up like a can of ham was the comment. They knew what they were doing and had the time to do it.

The safe is just 1 layer of protection.

I, too, am sorry about your loss.

Were they in a safe?

I hate hearing stuff like this. It happened to me although it was only one revolver. I hope you get some of yours back. I never got mine back.