Gun Dilemma

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avs11054

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So my dad died about 8 years ago. When he died, I inherited all of his guns. Some of them I use, but there are about 5 or 6 that I have never shot, and I don't plan to/have any need to shoot them. I have thought about selling them to buy some guns that I would like to shoot, but then there is always that sentimental value to them, which cannot be replaced.

For those of you that have been in the same situation before, what did you do, and what do you think of your decision looking back on it?
 
dont sell them.......


if you sell them......it might not be the next day...or even the next month.........but one day you are going to wake up and wish you still had them........and you are going to regret selling them.....
 
What did your dad use the guns for? If it was something he used a lot I wouldn't sell it, but if it was something he bought and tossed in the safe after realizing how much he hated it I might consider selling it.
 
If you have a son or family, My opinion would be to keep them for them. Of course if you could use the money and it will make a difference in your life then sell them. I would leave them to my kids if I had kids. As it stands they go to my wifes kids, they can do what they want with them at that point.
 
No kids as of yet. I'm 26. No desire to have kids any time soon, if ever, either. As far as my dad's uses for them, one was a 20 gauge that he hunted pheasants with. He bought me a MUCH nicer 20 gauge than the one he used, so no real need to keep that one. One was a 30-30 that was actually my dad's uncle's. He gave it to my dad when he died. My dad never had any use for it because he used other guns for elk, and now i use those other guns for elk. One is a 12 gauge that I don't know where my dad got it from. I never saw him use it, and I have never used it. Another is a .243 that my dad actually bought for me. Not that the .243 isn't a great gun, but I use my dad's .270 now though. The last is a .38 special, which I actually have shot the heck out of, but now it is just a safe queen as my main interests are in rifles now.
 
dont sell them.......


if you sell them......it might not be the next day...or even the next month.........but one day you are going to wake up and wish you still had them........and you are going to regret selling them.....
This is one of my main concerns. If I ever did have kids, I might one day want to pass them down. But on the other hand, I would want to pass something to my kids that I enjoyed using so that they could enjoy using it. If I pass them guns that sat in the safe for 50 years, they might be meaningless to the kids.
 
Di-Lemma. Double Proposition.

The Greek prefix "di-" means "double" or "two."

It took a while to figure out what the title of this meant.

Anyway, don't sell the guns.
 
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Personally, I would not sell a gun that my father or grandfather gave me. As several have said before, you might wake up one morning and regret it. That has a piece of history that you may never get back.

With that in mind, if I were to sell one or two sell the 20 gauge that you do not use and the 30-30. You might consider selling the 243; however, that is the perfect caliber to start a young hunter off with.
 
As far as my dad's uses for them, one was a 20 gauge that he hunted pheasants with. He bought me a MUCH nicer 20 gauge than the one he used, so no real need to keep that one. One was a 30-30 that was actually my dad's uncle's. He gave it to my dad when he died. My dad never had any use for it because he used other guns for elk, and now i use those other guns for elk. One is a 12 gauge that I don't know where my dad got it from. I never saw him use it, and I have never used it. Another is a .243 that my dad actually bought for me. Not that the .243 isn't a great gun, but I use my dad's .270 now though. The last is a .38 special, which I actually have shot the heck out of, but now it is just a safe queen as my main interests are in rifles now.

There are a couple of ways to look at this, though with either, I'd keep the .243 he bought for you. I can pretty much guarantee you'd regret letting that one go.

As for the others, if they're not worth much money, I say keep them. On the other hand, if there's nothing special about them and you can sell them and get something you really want, then the spirit of the inheritance can live on in that and you'll be that much more appreciative.

BUT..............don't sell them to buy some junk thing that'll be gone in a few years or to pay bills (unless you've no other choice). I think you'll feel fine about selling them for something else you'll keep forever, but you'll have regrets if the mementos are gone and you've nothing to show for it.

Most things are just things, and I'd have no issue selling a passed family member's washing machine, blender, etc. But there are certain items that really are more than that when received from a deceased loved one. Firearms, pocket watches, or anything else that can be passed down with memories that follow.
 
When my father died he left me his guns. It was all I got from him but it was about all he had. There were 13 guns ranging from an old pistol to pre 64 Winchesters and LC Smith. Because of financial problems, lost my job, I had to sell those guns. It is and will be the most regretable event in my life. You will make a decsision based on your relationship with your father and your family and your plans for the future and your personal family situation.
 
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What about keeping 1 or a few of the ones you might use to pass on to your kids and selling the ones you don't want or give them to other family members who may enjoy them?

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I have all of my late Dad's and Granddads. I haven't fired any of them and probably won't. Those are the "keepers" that brings back great memories.
 
Personally, unless in dire financial or medical need, I would never sell a family firearm.
Sometimes economics overrides sentiment. My brother and I sold some of my Dad's guns, because we had to. Actually we sold a bunch of ours too. But we kept Dad's guns that meant something.
 
I just bought a bigger gun safe. Never ever will I sell them. I have firearms from my great grandfather, grandfather and father. All of which I have shot at one time, but no more. And as with most things like this the value is mostly sentimental.
 
At 50 years old (51 this month) my veiws and feelings are completely different than at 26 years old. Your attachment to your dad's guns may and probably will change over time. If you do nothing more than pull those firearms out of the safe from time to time and handle them and remember the good times with your father, they will be well worth keeping.
Last year I pulled my dad's 303 British out. He passed when I was 28. I cleaned it up and the bolt needed some oil and use. I touched off half a dozen shots with it. Was it accurate? Not really. But it is the one rifle they will have to pry out of my cold dead hands.
 
Don't sell them, you may regret it. Leaving them to family or just saving them for that possible eventuality (you may have kids someday, never say never!).
 
I inherited three guns from my father-in-law when he died -- two S&W Model 10's and one Browning Auto 5. I wouldn't trade or sell the guns you received from your dad. If they become safe queens, then so be it, but you could possibly hand them down to your kids or other family members at a later date. My Model 10's are going to my two sons when they leave the house in a few years. It's a good way for them to remember their grandfather.
 
...But we kept Dad's guns that meant something.

I have my dad's guns and understand what this means. There are some that, when I pick them up, tell me a story. I'll never sell these stories. There are others though that held no real meaning to him, so I'm not attached to them. Rather than sell them these are available to any of my relatives that may have an interest or need.
 
When my father passed about five years ago I took as many of his posessions as I could, but I am slowly starting to part with some of them.
I'd keep the 30-30 because it has a lot of sentimentality behind it, it'll make a good heirloom. I'd also keep the .270 since he bought it for you, more sentimentality there. Regret is a heck of a thing, as others have pointed out, your not too likely get them back if you do sell them, but you don't "need" them. Best of luck that is a tough decision.

-kyle
 
Here's my story. My greatgrandfather worked in the gold fields of the west in the late 1800s and participated in the Alaskan gold rush in Nome. He had a pair of revolvers that I know about and a 22 single shot rifle that he gave to my grandfather. During WWII my widowed grandmother sold those revolvers (her father-in-laws) because times were hard. She kept my late grandfathers other two revolvers (he was part of the sheriff's reserve) and the rifle. My father ended up with the rifle and one revolver, but he was not a "gun guy" and he gave the revolver to a friend when I was very young. The rifle came to me and the other revolver is in the hands of a cousin. There are 14 greatgrandchildren and who knows how many ggc and gggc (and those generations are not done yet). Most of my relatives are not particularly gun people, but a few of us are and there are only two family guns for all the generations from here forward. Do you or will you have nieces or nephews? It may not seem like it now, but in just a few years you may be a grandfather. Document you guns. Tell their story. Take pictures of you shooting them. Save any picturse you have of you and your dad with the guns. Write your greatgreatgrandchildren a letter to go with each gun. Your posterity will love you for it.
-BothellBob
 
I wish I had gotten guns from my dad. I'm starting the tradition with my son. I hope he never sells those that I pass on, but I would understand if he had to. If he did it to get something else, I'd probably be sad.
 
I might change my tune if I'm ever in this exact situation, but to me "stuff" is not that sentimental. My memories of people departed are just that; memories.

I guess it would depend on the size of the collection, and how much I personally related a given firearm to someone. I had a great uncle, who unfortunately I barely knew (and never once shot with him), who I understand was into guns and reloading, and may therefore have had a non-negligible collection; honestly I don't know. But I could very well end up with it one day because I am the only shooter in my generation of the family. If 50 guns showed up on my doorstep, for which I have no personal memories especially, I can't say I would likely keep most or even a majority of them.

If I got a hold of one or two specific guns that I know my grandfather carried in Korea, or the one rifle my dad owned the whole time I was growing up, I would not likely ever sell those.
 
... I would want to pass something to my kids that I enjoyed using so that they could enjoy using it. If I pass them guns that sat in the safe for 50 years, they might be meaningless to the kids.

I wouldn't be to sure of that. If your father lives on in shared memories and the stories you tell your kids, something that belonged to Grandpa would have a lot of sentimental value. When my wife's father died, his hunting guns went to nephews that still hunted. Grammy gave me a buck knife that her husband had used as a hunting knife, almost as an after thought. I had recently married into the family, and we had no kids at the time. That knife, with a shelf value of less than $20, was oiled and put away when I got home. I figured if I didn't have kids to hand it down to I would feed it back into my wife's family -- the nephew's already had toddlers at this time.

Fast forward many years, and I now have a 12 year old boy who is really into pocket knives. He's heard stories of Grandpa Jack, looked at maps of where Grandpa served in WWII, looked at beautiful home-made furniture that Grandpa had made (and has started to realize how difficult such carpentry is). As soon as I think he is unlikely to lose that knife I'm going to give it to him, and he will consider it priceless. (In fact, this post has me thinking I'll do that when I get home tonight).

That's a long way of saying "don't sell" and if you must, try to keep them in the family. If your father's uncle has any relatives, you could offer the 30-30 to them, for example. I'd definitely hang onto the 20 gauge that he used to hunt, and the .243 the he bought for you, maybe even selling my own shotgun first.
 
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