Anyone loan out their guns?

Status
Not open for further replies.
My mother-in-law has a couple of .38 snubbies of mine and a .357 Model 65. Unless family, I do not loan out my firearms.
 
doubleh said:
When I was lots younger and less experienced I would loan them to friends. Then one "friend" borrowed my Single Six to go "rabbit hunting". What he actually did was go to his girlfriend that had moved back in with her parents and had broken up with him and held them hostage for a time before breaking down and giving the gun to her father who called the police. I knew nothing of this of course and it was long before the days of instant social media. When my gun didn't come home and I couldn't contact him I finally called his father and he told me the story. The police wouldn't return my gun although I had proof of ownership. They would only give to his father. Why I have no idea and could not get an explanation. His father was a good guy and picked up my gun and returned it to me. I've never seen or heard from the so called friend again.

That experience wasn't enough for me. I'm just a dummy I suppose. A few years later I had built up a very nice little 22 WRM rifle and I loaned it to my wife's younger brother to go rabbit hunting. He actually went rabbit hunting but after several weeks I asked him to return it and after several more weeks I went after it. It was full of sand and my mother-in-law told me he had shot a hole in the floor board of their pickup with it.

Fast forward several years and I had built my wife a nice 30/06 rifle for deer hunting. This brother asked her if he could borrow it to go elk hunting and she loaned it to him. I was not happy but kept my mouth shut. Same deal as before. We finally had to go after it. The stock I had built had a huge gouge on one side. He used his horse for a rest to take a shot from. In the ensuing stampede the rifle got stomped on and horseshoes are not kind to wood. He offered to make it good. Good for him. He told me he had bought an identical rifle and he would buy me a new stock blank for the wife's rifle and he would keep the stomped one and put it on his rifle. I didn't even answer him. I just walked off.

Now I have one grandson that I will loan any of my guns to and another that I will loan a certain few to but that's it. They have accumulated enough of their own now that they never ask for a loan anymore. We do manage to go shooting together now and then and shoot each others guns.
Click to expand...
doubleh said:
When I was lots younger and less experienced I would loan them to friends. Then one "friend" borrowed my Single Six to go "rabbit hunting". What he actually did was go to his girlfriend that had moved back in with her parents and had broken up with him and held them hostage for a time before breaking down and giving the gun to her father who called the police. I knew nothing of this of course and it was long before the days of instant social media. When my gun didn't come home and I couldn't contact him I finally called his father and he told me the story. The police wouldn't return my gun although I had proof of ownership. They would only give to his father. Why I have no idea and could not get an explanation. His father was a good guy and picked up my gun and returned it to me. I've never seen or heard from the so called friend again.

That experience wasn't enough for me. I'm just a dummy I suppose. A few years later I had built up a very nice little 22 WRM rifle and I loaned it to my wife's younger brother to go rabbit hunting. He actually went rabbit hunting but after several weeks I asked him to return it and after several more weeks I went after it. It was full of sand and my mother-in-law told me he had shot a hole in the floor board of their pickup with it.

Fast forward several years and I had built my wife a nice 30/06 rifle for deer hunting. This brother asked her if he could borrow it to go elk hunting and she loaned it to him. I was not happy but kept my mouth shut. Same deal as before. We finally had to go after it. The stock I had built had a huge gouge on one side. He used his horse for a rest to take a shot from. In the ensuing stampede the rifle got stomped on and horseshoes are not kind to wood. He offered to make it good. Good for him. He told me he had bought an identical rifle and he would buy me a new stock blank for the wife's rifle and he would keep the stomped one and put it on his rifle. I didn't even answer him. I just walked off.

Now I have one grandson that I will loan any of my guns to and another that I will loan a certain few to but that's it. They have accumulated enough of their own now that they never ask for a loan anymore. We do manage to go shooting together now and then and shoot each others guns.
Click to expand...
 
My mature Grandson's who are well schooled in firearms use are the only ones allowed to borrow my guns.
Other than that I DO NOT lend guns or power tools!
 
Great stories; I have two. First story: My bro-n-law borrowed my very nice 541S to get rid of some pests at his home. A few weeks later I retrieved it just in time. It was filthy and stored in a damp closet. I cleaned it thoroughly and had no damage...phew! Next time he wanted to borrow it I suggested helping him find a nice gun to buy for himself. Problem solved. Never again.
Second story: A friend of mine "Joe" loaned his single shot .22 to a friend who never returned it. Joe asked the friend to return it and the guy said he wasn't sure where it was, but would look for it. Joe says "OK, but while I'm here can I borrow your table saw." He further tells the guy to let him know when he finds the rifle. That was several years ago and Joe still has the table saw, which he figures is worth 3 X as much as the rifle. He's never heard from the guy. Human nature at it's best.
 
I have before but I’ve been broke of sucking that egg. Between a nick in the front sight of my colt, my marlin sling getting broken and mossberg being sold I’m good now. The latter two was my kid. One day he will repay me for the mossberg or all he is getting when I die is a nerf gun.
 
I've loaned out guns to friends and family. Most expensive piece was $300. Currently have 6 out on loan. One has been on loan to a buddy since 2012 lol. One of these days I'll ask for it back. Only paid $200 for it. I have keys to most of their houses, so not concerned at all. And I would only loan lower dollar guns to non family or non close friends. Guns are inanimate objects, so I'm not responsible for their use while in someone else's possession anyways.
 
Never have. To some family members or to a few very close friends, I would.

I did offer to with one of my best friends once, because she was divorcing her husband, and he was a rage-aholic. My friend declined.

I absolutely never would to a coworker, a friend of a friend, a significant other's friend or sibling...... If I don't have a direct close relationship with a person AND live in the same town as the person, no way, no how.
 
Last edited:
If you do happen to scrape, dent, or nick one of your own guns how do you handle it?
Click to expand...

I have some guns that I haven’t ever shot, they are works of art to me and neat to look at. I have a lot more though that I treat as tools, they have to be able to do their job but cosmetically a blemish is about as important to me as keeping a hammers head looking like new, (not important at all).
 
The legality of doing something like this is questionable in my state today, but in the past I have loaned a gun on a couple of occasions:

1) I loaned a pistol to a girl I was friends with when she was going through a police academy and didn't have a gun of her own. We've now been together ten years now, and we're married, so I guess that worked out alright!

2) I loaned a gun to a close friend on a couple of occasions. He has a CCW permit, but no money for a gun. On one occasion this guy was worried about a threat for harm against his family. On another occasion he was taking his family camping, and wanted to have a gun for self defense/defense against animals. This is a guy who has a key to my house, and watches my dogs for me if I'm out of town on vacation; I trust him.
 
I have and would again. Loaned my beater Winchester 94 30-30 to some friends (husband & wife) for Deer Season in MO. Even gave them some ammo to use. They fired a couple rounds to check the sights and returned the gun and ammo to me after the season was over. They really wanted to buy it from me but I bought the gun so cheap - $125 it would be difficult to replace.

Friend of mine and I did a long term trade / loan. I traded him my Glock 21 for his Sig 220. At the time the guns were equal value. We did paperwork (privately) on that one and traded back later on.



When I was younger and working at a gun shop, I was having issues with my Colt Series 70 1911. Co-worker at a gun shop range I was working at offered to swap slide stops with me. I handed him my Colt and watched him put an idiot scratch of the fame installing his Colt slide stop... Ouch!!!

Was shooting with another friend and had just gotten a Kirst Conversion Cylinder for my Pietta 1858. My friend wanted to try it. I showed him how to load the cylinder and install it in the gun. He proceeds to have issues loading the cylinder into the gun and puts a HUGE scratch on the cylinder.
 
Loaned my Marlin 336 to a fellow faculty member in 1968 so he could go deer hunting in the Texas Hill Country. He bagged a nice one, returned the rifle to me without cleaning it, and then didn't give me even one single sausage link.

So never again.
 
I don’t loan motorized equipment, power tools, guns, wives or girlfriends. You never know what another guy is going to do with your stuff.
 
Not anymore.

It's illegal in this state unless you are with the person when they are in possession of the firearm. We just went over that at the last members meeting of the private range I belong to. The NRA rep was looking for loaner rifles and shotguns to do a safety course and he was told that was illegal by state statute, which it is.

When I was in high school my dad loaned a rifle to a family who he knew who lived down the road. The rifle was stolen by one of their relatives who took it into Mexico never to be seen again.

I don't "loan" firearms to anyone. I might sell you one if you can pass a BC but short of that they stay within my eyesight, and that isn't real good anymore.:D
 
I let my brother borrow my Ithaca 37 twice.

The first time, he brought it back and told me about shooting steel shot and slugs through the FIXED FULL CHOKE.

The second time, he brought it back dirty, with blueing wear, and full of sand. ****.

I have two friends who I'd trust to borrow a gun, a guy and a girl. The guy I am sure would treat my firearms with respect and would probably bring them back cleaner than when I lent them. These days, he might even touch up the blueing. Except, he is better armed than me and it would be below his dignity to ask. The girl, I'm not sure how it would go, but I suspect my feelings are compromised on the matter.
 
No. If I am shooting at the range with a friend I will let them shoot my whatever. I have gotten in the habit of taking an extra rifle deer hunting, and after 20 years a friend used it a couple years ago when his rifle went down. We were hunting together though. My firearms do not leave my house unless I am with them. My tools only get loaned to a special few people as well.

-Jeff
 
I had an engraved S&W 1000 shotgun, just beautiful. Loaned to a guy at work to take pheasant hunting with the strict admonition to bring it inside, dry it off, wipe it down. He (or maybe I) changed shifts, and we didn't see each other until well into winter. Asked about my shotgun...Oh it's at home, I'll run it over. He called a couple times, yup I'm home, he'd call back, something came up. Called and the wife answered, no he's not here...here comes the gun. Unzipped it and the rust had glued it to the inside of the case. Pretty evident he didn't dry it off or wipe it down. I suspected it hadn't left his trunk since the pheasant hunt. While he did the stand up thing and pay me something for it, I gave it back to him then, and told him to keep it around and look at it before he asked to borrow anything from me again. Must have taken the hint. He never asked.
 
this thread reminds me of why I stopped loaning anything. I loaned someone a car, and they blew the motor doing something I told them not to do very clearly, but their boyfriend said I 'didn't know what I was talking about', and I was never payed for that. Loaned another car, and they tore it up using 87 octain gas (high compression motor, tuned for early ignition), and justified it with "but it was from the expensive station", and never once have they had as much gas as I left. Onc time -last time- a car was left on the side of Interstate 5 just north of Seattle, because they ran it out of gas, and didn't think it was their problem. At least they called me before it was towed, though they did wait until they got off work, 8 hours after they left it. This is gun related. You loan a shotgun, and they run a bunch of steel through it, or a rifle that doesn't like steel case, but its cheaper so they use it anyway. I have been with people who borrowed a gun, and they beat them hard. Smoking barrels, rained on without oiling, running them dry until they jam. Many, many, many spin the cylinder and slam it closed, taking it apart for no reason, leaning a rifle poorly and watching it fall. When Im out with all but a few, I have to put everything in a bag instead of setting it down, and instruct anyone using mine to do the same (they never do), because someone will run out of ammunition for the shotgun they borrowed, and toss, no kidding, toss it on top of the other rifles. Seen this about 20 times. Never seen it with someones own firearm. I further let a friend of a friend borrow one while I was there with both of them. There was a stoppage due to a brass catcher, and the two of them began bickering about how to fix it, rather than giving it to me. They end up wrestling the loaded, safety off rifle back and forth with one of them having their hand at the trigger rambling 'let me fix it', at each other when it was just about 1/8" out of battery, I don't shoot with them anymore BTW. Pretty easy for that one to get dropped, or seized by police, but who cares, its not their money.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

W
  • Locked
  • Poll
Do You Loan Out Guns?
2 3 4 5
Replies
115
Views
4K
Gamera
G
J
  • Locked
  • Poll
Guns in repayment of a loan
2
Replies
46
Views
2K
rbernie
rbernie
L
  • Locked
What to do - loaned best friend money for a gun....
2 3
Replies
60
Views
3K
Bazooka Joe71
B
H
  • Locked
My neighbor is going to Mississippi and wants to borrow my SKS
2 3
Replies
50
Views
2K
gripper
G
E
  • Locked
Private Sale Missing?
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
Amish_Bill
A
Back
Top