What Guns Mean the Most to You?

Old & worn finish is good as long as they still work & shoot right.
They got that way through many years of hard work & proper gun care.

I still have my fathers 1906 Winchester .22 pump.
It looks like heck, but still shoots & functions as good as the day they made it.
Years of residing behind the door on the screened back porch, or barn, many miles on a tractor, or pick-up farm truck, etc.

I'd take a beating before I'd refinish it to look like new again.

rc

Ruger Standard which my dad purchased in 1964.

The S&W Model 63 which I purchased for my daughter.

And my HK P7M8 which was the first gun I ever purchased, in 1985.

Remington Model 11 Military trainer with Cutts compensator, its an early one with the sporting engraving. Like the one my Grandfather trained with before WWII, might even be the same one.

Remington 870 Wingmaster 12ga, 28" VR,,,gift from my parents in 1976.

Keystone breakaction single shot 12ga.
A gift from a friend after I told him my Great grandfather had one for rabbits and squirrels, his went to my Uncle who had 4 boys.
I'd never even think to ask for it, they love it too.

What about you David E,,,going to answer your own thread??

Beat to snot and still functioning. Perfect example is my grandmas 2 guns. One is an RG 32swl that rode around in her purse. It's rough, even for an RG but it was hers and I treat it like she did...a cylinder through it once a year just to stay familiar with it. The other is a Montgomery wards single shot 22 that was her gun as a child. From a family of 13 she was the youngest, and only girl at home though she had a sister(first child) that ran off with a guy at 15 and ended up in Indiana. All the boys had chores both at home and at neighbors houses to pull their weight and put food on the table in the form of vegetables, flour, sugar etc. My grandmas job was to take this rifle and bring home meat to go in the stew. She said she "et ever damned thing round these parts cept a polecat or buzzard" and the marks on the stock of the rifle show it. Gouges from drops, scrapes, and in general the finish is GONE but I know a few stories on the gun and where those marks came from including the crack in the buttplate from beating a rattlesnake to death with it when she fell in the creek and got her bullets wet. This rifle means as much as the rest of the sentimental guns combined.

And yes, that was the first time they ate snake, but not the last.

I got ya,,,, I missed the worn or not.

Rem. model 11 very worn and love it, each mark possibly helped win the war!
Rem.870 even though it has been my dove/skeet shotgun since 76' shows little wear but has lots of memories.

Keystone in great shape but not a family gun, no memories just appreciated as a fine gift.

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You might consider passing on one with wear and one in good shape to each person on your list, they would have the pleasure of knowing each side of you.

Good to think about these things early, you are right and have given me something to think about, ty.

Depends on the person and the wear.

My father had a S&W 29 he bought new in the early '60s. He ran thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of handloads through it over the years. He carried it in the woods. He used it.

He was also borderline compulsive when it came to handling. As in before he would touch a firearm he owned he would wash his hands, and make sure he had a rag and oil. When he set it on a hard surface he would put a rag down first. So his 50+ year old revolver had holster polish at the muzzle, but was otherwise pristine.

If you inherited a gun from him that was visibly worn or had more than one scratch/ding per decade of existence, it was a gun he was given (maybe he inherited it), not "his". More, it was a gun he was given and didn't care enough about to refinish. Well, unless it was a (retired) military weapon. He held those to a different standard, and while he wasn't in the habit of slamming rifles buttplate-first into the ground when I knew him, he didn't see that as abuse the way gently setting a revolver down on a glass surface was.

I know other people who can't look at something without a ding appearing. From them a gun could look like someone had used it for target practice with a BB gun, and maybe used the barrel to dig holes in their garden, and still have sentimental value.

No emotional involvement. Firearms are tools no more or less. If I were to make two exceptions they would be an M14 manufactured by Winchester and a Ithaca manufactured 1911A1. They both belonged to the government and I was just a temporary custodian.

Arisaka type 38, PTO bring back and a Remington model 10 belonging to my great grandfather, sadly ruined by an incompetent fool of a gunsmith.

S&W 469, my first quality handgun purchase.

Honest wear is a plus on a heirloom but not required, I love my grandpas pristine Colt Huntsman too.

I have two: the Savage single shot .22 dad taught me to shoot with, and a Nazi Hi-Power grandpa got from a German who no longer had use of it at the Battle of the Bulge. Heirlooms with provenance.

I still have my father's Winchester Model 70 .270 made in 1951. It shows a lot of wear. I carry it a few days each fall and kill a few deer with it every year. Sometimes when I am in the deep woods with this old rifle in my hands time kind of rolls back and it feels like I am very young again and with my father.

I understand the feelings about passing guns on and maybe wondering whether they will be appreciated. A few days ago I was showing my old single action Colt 45 to my niece's boyfriend. I'm out of touch with young people, and it stunned me when I realized that he didn't know how to load and unload it. I thought that was just part of being an American man. I should know better. I suppose I do really if I would admit it. Before he realized it he blurted out after I showed him the ejector rod and how to reload the old gun, "I'd hate to have to defend myself with that." Maybe he's right. Maybe the old Colt is obsolete, and maybe I am too, but when I was his age the Colt single action was the best I had, and the only kind of gun I knew how to use. When he tried to shoot it, never having been instructed in handguns, he couldn't hit anything. I felt better when my niece picked it up, and put three shots touching fairly rapid fire at ten yards. Maybe an appreciation of an old worn gun is a thing of the blood. Maybe that's why some of us love the old worn guns so, it connects us with those who came before, and maybe gives us something to leave with our mark on it to those who are yet to have their time.

My dad and I have matching 4E Ithaca trapguns.
Good memories of competition over many years and locations with friends.

My Ruger Police Service six that the dept let me buy when I retired.

An old Model 37 Winchester my grandmother gave me.

I think I have four.

1) Taurus Model 66, my first handgun, purchased the day I turned 21, in 1987.

2) Charter Arms Undercover 38, purchased the day I was sworn in as a LEO, later that same year.

3) Ruger Police Service Six, inherited from my dad, who did some time as a deputy during a period in which he and I did not know each other. It's heavily-holster-worn, and I like it that way.

4) A second (and much older) Charter Arms Undercover; same conditions as item 3.

THE ONES that shoot straight and tight. ALL the rest is mostly meaningless.

My Dad only had one gun; a single shot .22 rifle that was made in Germany sometime between the World Wars. The rifle was actually on loan from someone else and was used to put meat on the table during the Depression. A friend of my Dad ended up with it for a number of years and gave it to me about 20 years ago. Some wear and tear on the stock and the bluing is thin in a number of places but still in good shape and perfect working order.

Remington 514 .22 given to me by my grandfather. Walther PP my Dad captured in WW2. Winchester Model 12 from my other grandfather.

Marlin 60 handed down by my grandpa. I doubt it ever saw much field use (he wasnt really a hunter), just some target/range use, but overall its in pretty good condition. I have modified it a little bit (tech-sights, mcarbo trigger springs, and swivel studs), but it would be the last gun I got rid of (God willing it never comes to that and I'll be able to enjoy it with my son - maybe grandpa will even get to if he hangs around long enough).

I have a 101 year old Steven's 12 ga. that belonged to my grandfather's brother (my great uncle). He died about 60 years ago and it was passed to me 30+ years ago and has been fired twice since.
It helped feed his family and shows wear, but that is what gives it character.
My grandfather died (was murdered) in 1929. Who knows, maybe he even used it to help feed his 7 kids. Of the guns I have, it's probably worth the least money. But it's the most valuable to me.

The 2nd series Colt Matchtarget from my dad has some wear but probably more from me, I started carrying it in the mid-seventies as a teenager.