Has anyone every done anything INCREDIBLY nice/generous for you with regards to firearms?

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Some years ago, a long time member of my gun club passed away. His wife contacted me through a mutual friend and told me that Bernie's reloading equipment was mine if I wanted it. I did.
Two Dillon Square Deal presses and one 550B. Six hundred loaded .44 magnum cartridges and another 600 of .44 Spl. About 20,000 primers, mostly LP. Ten unopened boxes of Speer .44 caliber JHPs. Two thousand Keith type .44 LSWCs. Somewhere near two thousand .30 cal Sierra Match Kings...168s, 180s, 190s.
A factory case of .45-70 brass. A factory case of 9mm heads.
She would take no money. "just want to see that someone uses it who knew Bernie."
I am still working my way through this very generous bequest. Everytime I shoot my .44, or my Garand, I think about Bernie.
 
One of my older cousins gave me his 98 Mauser in high school when he found out I wanted to start deer hunting.

Only tangential, but I used to work for a newspaper. Some guys bought the cabinets that used to contain the old metal type. When they were moving them (I didn't even know they existed) I asked about the metal inside and they ended up giving me about 300 pounds of Linotype. That's what started me down the road of bullet casting.
 
Traded my buddy a N82 Holster (G17) for his Blackhawk OWB Serpa. He felt he was getting too good of a deal so he threw in a Lightning Strike Titanium safety plunger and in 10 minutes at kitchen table installed it for me! That safety plunger really made a difference in the smoothness of my G17 trigger.
 
I'm all ways on the giving side.
Gave my Daughter my S&W 637 Airweight with Crimson Trace grips.
Gave my son a LNIB 686 no dash, also gave him a 1911.
My Granddaughter a Henry .22 and her long time boyfriend a .22/.22mag revolver.
 
I've got a couple that were left to me by my dad, but sentimental value way out weigh the actual value, but my wife bought me a CMP H&R 512 for Christmas the first year we were married, an HK Match on our 5 year anniversary, a first year production SiG556 with the SN# under 100 for our 10 year anniversary. A the most expensive, a she got me a fully engraved 1957 NM Colt 1911 because it was my 57th birthday and I was born in 1957.
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Jokingly told a sibling that I wanted a new pistol for Christmas - never believing they'd give it to me. Sure enough - on Christmas morning, I opened up a Smith & Wesson Model 620. I just looked at it dumbfounded - couldn't believe it was real.
 
Last November, my uncle passed away. We got along just fine, but were never what i'd call close. In late December, i got a letter in the mail from a local attorney. I'd never even been shooting with my uncle, but he knew I loved guns. The letter was informing me that he had left his firearms, ammunition, and reloading gear to me. included were a bushmaster carbon-15, an Enfield .303, a 1915 Swedish Mauser, a .300 win mag Savage 110, a benelli nova 12 gauge pump, a remington 48 semi-auto 12 gauge, a Marlin model 60 .22, a norinco 213, a Tanfoglio TA-90, and a cobray d derringer. I've only recently taken possession of them, and have throghly enjoyed shooting the Enfield and Tanfoglio fairly extensively. Thanks Uncle Barry, i'll do my best to put them to good use......
 
I received a Benelli Super Black Eagle for my 20th birthday, from my parents. About a month before my birthday I was talking to my dad about my plans to buy a Stoeger autoloader. He kept telling me it was a bad idea but he'd just give me a blank stare evert me I asked him why. It took me about 20mi of questioning him before it dawned on me that my parents planned to buy me a new shotgun. I thought they were just going to buy me a Steger but a few days later they took me up to Cabelas and there was a Benelli already reserved for me. It's one of 2 guns that I'll never sell. The other is a Colt Python that my dad inherited and that I've inherited from him while he's still alive.
 
I've had a few acts of generosity come my way.

Most notable was a Colt Lightweight Commander the original owner took to Korea as a drafted 2nd Lt. in an arty battalion. He had spent WW2 as an NCO in MacArthur's occupation army. He spent his time in japan playing go, learning judo and Japanese. When Korea erupted he was called out of law school, his knowledge of Japanese made him in demand (Many Koreans spoke Japanese thanks to the previous war) as a possible interpreter. But the army being the army.. he ended up in artillery. He bought the Colt because he wanted his own, personal weapon for his combat tour.

I was dating his daughter in college and while we were cleaning their basement one day she came across a box that contained a gun that looked like it was made of beeswax. Felt too light to be real until I looked at the end of the box that ID'ed it as a Colt, albeit one dipped in cosmoline. I asked if I could clean it up and shoot it, he gave me a box of WW2 era steel cased 45 ball and told me to have fun. The army had sent his gun home with his name rank and service number on a tag through the hammer, but confiscated the magazine. So I had to borrow one.

I shot a box of shells and managed to crack one of the "Coltwood" grips. The gun was a lot for me at the time, I had limited experience with centerfire handguns, mostly revolvers. It was probably too much gun for me.

I replaced the grips with walnut ones from a local smith, admitted (sheepishly) my fault in cracking the grips and offered (hopefully) to buy the old piece that had been hidden away since 1954 or so. He declined but asked me to keep it locked up for him as it was now a working weapon.

To my surprise, upon my graduation from college in 1991, he told me to keep it and enjoy it.

That's one I will never sell.

 
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In 2014 right before we moved to Texas my buddy Art, RIP buddy, sold me a new Dillon 650 set up for .45 ACP with a complete conversion setup for .44 Mag for $200.
 
A friend gave me a decrepit Iver Johnson revolver his stepdad had. He knew I would sell it. I didn't expect much, and it was in terrible shape, with major flaking of the nickel, rust inside the mechanism, and a pitted up barrel. A couple of gun value books gave it's value in poor condition as $95, so I put it up on GB with a buy it now for $100, thinking I would be lucky as most in similar shape were going for $80-85. I barely put the auction up and it was grabbed up with the buy it now. I don't know why he wanted it so badly, but he was very happy with it. A local guy who knows about IJ guns looked at the pics and he said, "You probably got $50-60, right?". He couldn't believe someone bought it in 30 seconds for $100. I took the friend who gave it to me to dinner.
 
my grandpa gave me his 32-40 winchester hiwall.it was his dads gun.he gave me many greater gifts.

but this one had history and many storys came with it.

i still tear up thinking about him and my gma when i handle it.
there is no greater gift than that.

my son knows the reverance i place on that rifle, it will go to him and i hope it shoots as straight for him as it does for me
 
I went to the IDPA Nationals when it was in Pennsylvania years back. Glock was there with a new
pocket 45. They let my friend and I shoot them at some steel. We didn't go to shoot the Nationals
just to watch our buddies shoot. The Glock guy said why don't you fill out a ticket you might win a
Glock. I said "yeah that will be the day". About a month went by and Glock called and said I had
won a pistol. I asked what kind and they named the little .45 we had shot. I said I have no use
for a little carry gun what's my chances of getting more of a target gun. They talked it over and
told me that for $50 I could have any Glock made. I sent them the $50 and picked a Glock 34 IDPA
pistol. I still have it and I still love Glock. I shot quite a bit with the 34 and love shooting it.
Zeke
 
My Grandma gave me a Savage over-under in .22/.410 from my Grandad that passed away before I met him.


Very gracious of her, and I'm mighty glad to have it.
 
40 years ago this month I have an uncle named Sam that let use his fully automatic M16 and all the ammo I could shoot for the next four years ! Heck he even gave me a place to live and fed me . What more could a 17 year old ever want !!!!
That's about it for cool gun stuff done for me LOL .
 
Mn Fats said:
Too many to list. I'm not even sure I can pay it all forward but I'll keep trying.
Click to expand...
...just Like MN Fats, I would be too embarrassed to list all the guns that I have been given.
20151213_165411.jpg
I must make mention of this original muzzleloader that has been passed down through my family for 5 generations.
I was able to take a buck with it in 2015.
I have been fortunate to have many highlights in my shooting life, but this was one of my most emotional.
 
Yes, on this very forum, member AZAndy sent me a pair of nice maple burl j-frame grips, absolutely free. I had posted a thread asking about the best shooting grips for my M36 and he offered to send his right over. I didn't even pay shipping. Thanks again for your generosity AZAndy.
 
My story is better than the firearm involved. I didn't grow up shooting. We lived in the city and my dad wasn't a hunter/shooter, so my exposure to firearms was limited to the very occasional opportunity to shoot someone else's .22 rifle. My first real experience with firearms was when, on a whim, I tried out for the rifle team in college and discovered that I was a pretty good shot -- at least with a nice match rifle at 50 feet. But after I graduated, I moved to another city, then graduate school, and my latent interest in guns went dormant.

I fell in love with and married my wife while I was in grad school. Her dad, in contrast to mine, was the model of an outdoorsman: he hiked, camped, fished, and hunted. He had a working man's gun collection, and a great bookshelf populated with titles by Hemingway, Rourke, and Capstick. Talking hunting with my new FIL really piqued my interest.

Observing this, my wife conspired with our gun-enthusiast pastor to purchase for me my first firearm: a 12 gauge Mossberg 500 with vent rib and rifled slug barrels. I used that gun hunting with my father-in-law in the fields and woods of PA and NY until he died a little over a year ago. My deep friendship with my father-in-law was founded on his mentoring me in the field; my wider interests in shooting developed from there. I have far finer firearms in the safe today, and they are there with and because of that first Mossberg, the love of my wife, and the friendship of my father-in-law.
 
Y'all have some great experiences. :cool:

Let's see . . .

I got to go hunting (deer, quail, or dove) for free on other folks land for 20 years off and on. I really appreciate those times as I'm essentially a suburbanite and I don't have land to use for hunting or shooting. Except for when the suburbs were on the edge of undeveloped land, those days were great too.

Firearms gifts range from a Swiss K31 for Christmas from my brother over a decade ago, to some rusty leftovers from Hurricane Ike from my dad whose home flooded. One rusty leftover was a Winchester pump shotgun that I immediately turned over to a younger friend of mine who was just out of the USMC. He salvaged it and made it usable again. I think he still has it.

EDIT: I forgot that for Christmas of 2013 (?) that a good friend of mine gave me eight AR15 magazines with a magazine pouch that held four of those mags.
 
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Armored farmer said:
...just Like MN Fats, I would be too embarrassed to list all the guns that I have been given.
View attachment 234021
I must make mention of this original muzzleloader that has been passed down through my family for 5 generations.
I was able to take a buck with it in 2015.
I have been fortunate to have many highlights in my shooting life, but this was one of my most emotional.
Click to expand...

Five generations... That's truly amazing...
 
20160307_091025.jpg my dad had bought this Y model 12 in Tucson AZ after his trapgun was stolen from the rack outside of the clubhouse. He also bought a used gun that he started shooting. This new one has remained unfired all these years. He decided to give it to me on my birthday . It is beautiful. He told me that he thought it was "too purty to turn down".
It fits me perfectly too.
 
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