Customs, commemoratives, and keepsakes.

Holy cow. I've never seen such a cool rifle. I love the stock. Did your boys have it done like that? Is that your barn?!!

Ok, now I see the box says "farmer edition" so maybe it came that way. Still, very very cool.

It looks to be a perfect fit sir!

Very nice!

And congrats on the good year!Maybe it's time to come the dark side.....errrr I mean green side

Edit: you sir have good taste in beer,guns and music!

Armored farmer

What a wonderful Christmas present; you've got some great kids there! Love the carved relief stock, definitely gives it a unique, One-of-a-Kind sort look to it.

My one "custom" gun (well it did actually come from Colt's Custom Shop), was a spur of the moment purchase nearly 40 years ago. It was Saturday and I was at a nearby mall with $300 in my wallet and was looking for a nice self-winding watch. Tried three or four jewelry stores but didn't find anything that I really liked. Then I remembered seeing an ad for this custom Colt Combat Commander in "Shotgun News". It was finished in bright nickel, had a Gold Cup trigger, an MMC rear sight, and was tuned and accurized by Colt's Custom Shop.

Neat thing was it was priced right around $289; not so neat thing was that the gun shop that had it was like 70 miles away, closed at 4:00 and it was already like 2:30 when I decided to go for it. Hopped in the car and must have picked up a bit of a tailwind as I got there about a little over an hour later, saw the gun in the display case, looked it over (really fast), and bought it, all with maybe 10 minutes to spare before they closed! Great thing about it is that while it handles and balances like a Combat Commander it shoots like a Gold Cup (still does too)!

Since Photobucket screwed us all....I have lost 99% of all my digitals. So NO photo.

I have two that I treasure....A 1911a1 that my Dad bought me MANY moons ago.

And a SIG 229 in .357 sig that I carried on the Hwy Patrol job for my last few years. I retired and the Troops all donated towards my sidearm, badge as well as my DI hat and cap piece. So the SIG as well as the rest of the gear...Very dear to me.

My dad's old pheasant gun. A 16 gaugeStevens 5100, what it was called before the 311.
Commemorative only in his case.
Custom in that the only original things on it at likely to be the receiver and triggers, by this point.
Keepsake? Oh yeah. He bought it used sometime between '77 and '87, and it was old then. Between Google and a couple helpful members here and (old posts from) other forums, the closest I could track down the manufacture date is between 1931 and 1941.
And he put squirrel, rabbit, and pheasant on the table from when he bought it until the family moved south.



I helped him unload his truck of the last stuff from his storage unit just after Thanksgiving, and found the receiver and stock rolling around in the bed. A decade of Florida storage didn't do the barrel or finish any good. As in, they were both gone. So the barrel, trigger guard, many pins and screws, and the finish on the wood is all new. Or at least less old. I even put in the effort of smoothing out the woodwork he did to the inside of the forearm, sanding out chips and gouges, and countersinking a couple holes just to make them that much nicer.
Just finished it last night. It will be getting a coat of Renaissance Wax and offered back to him.

Stock reminds me of the swamp people 10/22 atrocity, but this one is not an atrocity. It’s much more tastefully done.

This one has some special meaning, signed by the hand of "Moses", Chuck Heston. Had the opportunity to work with him on a couple of events and treasure the conversations we had. A most eloquent gentleman who I have fond memories of while he was here.

Rembrandt

Definitely a keeper, for sure! Thanks for sharing!

Here' is my absolute favorite keepsake. A Second Generation 'C' Series Colt 51 Navy pictured with a replica box of cartridges it would have used. I shoot it every once in a while.

No photo because I have a sleeping newborn on my chest, but around 1920 my great-grandfather was given a Winchester Model 94 saddle ring carbine in .32 Winchester Special as a Christmas/birthday gift (his birthday was within a few days of Christmas). That rifle took a lot of Pennsylvania whitetail and at least one bear over the years; his only child, my grandmother, used it, and her only child, my father, did too. When my great-grandfather passed away I was a small child, so the rifle was put away for me to have when I was old enough, and some day I'll pass it down to one of my descendants, maybe the one using me for a pillow or maybe one of her siblings, who knows?

Don't own any customs or commemoratives but got some real keepsake, heirloom type stuff. In keeping with Deus Machina 's " Dad's old pheasant gun" topic my dad's old pheasant gun is an old 16 ga. Iver Johnson Champion that he got new about 1940 and been in the family ever since. Passed on to a couple older cousins before I got it at age 17 and had it re-blued and case hardened when I was 27. My son will get it someday. It's a keepsake for sure. Plus the German Luger that one of my uncles "liberated" from Germany's V-2 rocket factory in May of 1945 when Uncle Sam went in there and packed everything up to ship it all here. Unfortunately he never got capture papers on it because he said nobody worried about that because Germany had just surrendered and the war was over. So there's no proof but that's OK because it's not gonna be for sale because that one's a genuine heirloom that'll stay in the family. Got a few other keepsake guns but these are what I consider the most significant.

Armored farmer said:

This reminds me of one of my keepsakes: the first shotgun I ever fired.
LC Smith 20ga sxs field grade.
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Nice. Can't beat a side-by-side for what it is, and I'm a little surprised they made so many types. Not much to improve on.

I have my Grandpa's Western Field .22, basically a Mossberg M42. I also have his old pheasant gun, an H&R 16 ga. single shot. I took it out a couple weeks ago and got a nice rooster with it, but the trigger is dangerous, so I took the firing pin out.

My son shooting the .22 for 4-H:

Deus Machina said:

Nice. Can't beat a side-by-side for what it is, and I'm a little surprised they made so many types. Not much to improve on.

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The history of the LC Smith is incredible. During the early years it was the LC Smith and Parker that American shooters used to compete against the world's best in the early years of international trap competitions.

Im the only one in our family thats heavily into firearms.
My dads rifle and pistol were both stolen before i was born and he never replaced them, my grandfathers shotgun was stolen when he died. I also dont attach a great deal of sentimentality to objects, tho i have no issue with people who do and can understand it.
I like having stuff that is different tho, and I dont think a single firearm i own is "bone stock".
ill pass along what ive put together to the kids when and if they decide they want them.

My .250AI is, while not complicated since its a savage, special to me because this is the first gun ive built specifically for ME. I enjoy the caliber, its fit to me, and its finished in a way that I like.



The 6.5-284 Arisaka is another favorite just because its a combination of action, cartridge, and purpose thats not all that common and all fits together in a way that really appeals to me.

Thanks!
Not nearly as cool as that stock on yours! I dig that!

Hah, my wifes sisters used to pig hunt in their bikini tops from time to time.

Ive actually noticed the same thing about shotguns, id guess that its mostly the fact that they are more versatile than highpower rifles, and pistols were generally for social situations.
I do wish we still had my grandfather's shotgun in the family. My uncle hunts from time to time but not offten.
Dad dosent miss his guns, and ive built him a nice AR and customized an EAA Witness for him. He rarely shoots, but he takes them out and plays with from time to time.

I don't have any pictures of it right now; but I just received a Winchester .22 bolt action rifle that my father got when he turned 15 in 1947.

My Grandfather's Model 94. Butt-stock replaced in 1912 with a 'high-dollar' stock directly from Winchester. Replacement stock cost $12.50. Rifle made in 1906 and marked as a 30 WIN (30-30).





First year production Model 700 ADL. 25-06. Re-stocked in 1982 w/ maple. Rifle was my cousin's who was a Remington Rep back then. Between him and myself, more than 3500 rounds down the pipe. Loading rounds to 3.25" (factory length) leaves 110 AB's at .12" from lands. Factory stuff is around .1 - .15 from the lands, so chasing it a bit.

My fathers guns were stolen when I was a teenager so no old family heirlooms for me to inherit. But I've been buying for myself for a long time now and have a number of custom handguns, some older ones I purchased already done, some I commissioned. These are some of my favorites.

Colt ORM 1991A1 Gov't .38 Super / 9mm / 9x23W - This is the first full custom build I had done. Robin Dietrich is a gunsmith here in Maine, he did everything on it except the finish, which is Ionbond DLC. It is the perfect "do everything" 1911.



Colt 1991 Commander .45 - I had this gun built for my son to commemorate an important accomplishment in his military career. Part of the work was done by Robin Dietrich, part was done by the Colt Custom Shop.



1948 Colt Commercial Gov't Model - This gun was customized by King's Gun Works back in the '70s. It's one of my favorites because it's such a terrific example of how custom 1911s were being built 'back in the day'. I sent it to John Harrison and he repaired a sear issue, tuned it, and gave it a clean bill of health. Now it's ready for another 70 years of use.



S&W M28-2 'Crowbar' .45acp and Colt ORM 1991A1 Commander .45 - Both of these customs were built by Marc Krebs, who is best known these days for his AK-47 and variants, but before he made that switch he was one of the top 1911 builders around. He mostly built race guns and his carry pistols are extremely difficult to find, he built this Colt back in the mid-'90s. He did the S&W around 1987, it's the only full custom revolver he built. Both of these guns are outstanding shooters and excellent examples of Marc's style and attention to detail.