Inherited Weapons

Sell?

  • Yes

    Votes: 29 46.8%

  • No

    Votes: 33 53.2%
  • Total voters
    62
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S

Speaker

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Mar 11, 2014
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So I have this German byf44 P-38 in very good condition, everything matches. Has two original matching magazines and an original holster with a brass swastika on it. It's been in my family since the 50's. My dad bought it off a WWII vet he worked with. My father passed a couple years ago and it was in with all his stuff. It got me to thinking about my stuff and who would get what. As far as firearms go, half of my kids won't touch them and the others are just not interested and their kids run away if they see one so there's nobody I would leave it to. Also, it's not a type of pistol I would have ever bought. At my age I just don't see any practical reason to keep it but there is that sentimental thing gnawing on the back of my head but then it's not like my dad is the one who took it off the battlefield but it is kinda cool to imagine it's history but then if I sold it I could get this scope for my .308 but, but, but.........

Anyone been on the fence about an inheritance before?
 
If you're not interested in it then sell it. Only reason I would hold it would be to wait for the value go up. The value could also go down in the future. Use the money for something you want, like a scope for your .308.
 
Me? Not really.

It's always been black & white for me which is to say that anything NOT black, is white.

Or, I don't talk myself into one point of view or the other.

You sound like you're well on your way to selling it and then, look at it this way: If you sell it and buy another somethin'.... It's still from your Dad.

Todd.
 
If there's no family interested in it then I would sell it were it mine. Just weigh the sentimental aspect of it vs. the money. I'm retired and downsizing my collection one at a time. Some of the proceeds from gun sales has gone to my son to put into his IRA , as he would have eventually inherited the guns that my wife doesn't want, and he would sell them and get the money from them. But now I can sell some of them, the money goes into his IRA and will hopefully appreciate to a lot bigger amount by the time he would have inherited them, had them appraised, and sold them.
 
I sold a bunch of my dads stuff and it bothered me a bit at the time. I kept a few of my favorites, tools that him and I used together on a job once. That’s all I need, the favorites and the memories. There’s too much stuff in the world to hang on to everything. If you don’t also really like the gun...... sell it. :)
 
Your dad bought it from a WW-2 vet. If your dad had actually brought it back as a war trophy it would be much different. I'd let it go, but I'd be careful who got it. It sounds like this might be something a serious collector would want. It may not be worth a fortune, but I'd want someone who could appreciate the history to end up with it.
 
Tough for me to say. Being raised by a huge anti gun mother and a dad that had just one revolver that he had to sell for financial reasons when I was young, I have no chance of inheriting any guns - or anything at all really when my mother passes. I would love to have a gun from a grand parent or a gun from my family history. My kids won't have this problem.
 
Speaker

Given that your Dad bought it off a WWII vet and wasn't something your Dad brought back from Europe, I would say unless it has some strong sentimental value I would sell it and get something you really want or need.

Your P38 was made by Mauser and though while it is all matching the fact that it was made so late in the war, you might want to have the gun checked out by a qualified gunsmith if you decide to shoot it. By 1944 the quality of metal reaching the German factories had really fallen off quite a bit and along with questionable heat treatment, and poor build quality (also the possibility of sabotage by the slave laborers who assembled the guns), made many of these late war weapons somewhat dangerous to shoot.
 
Sell it. It sounds like the kids will take the first $100 for it from someone that will just flip it for a profit. If you sell it you can get a proper price for it and let it go to someone that will appreciate it.

My Ex actually held on to her grand fathers Winchester 25-20 for a while and let it rust to practically worthless until she hawked it for $150 when she needed cash.
 
Obturation said:
Tough for me to say. Being raised by a huge anti gun mother and a dad that had just one revolver that he had to sell for financial reasons when I was young, I have no chance of inheriting any guns - or anything at all really when my mother passes. I would love to have a gun from a grand parent or a gun from my family history. My kids won't have this problem.
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Obturation....A HUGE RIGHT ON........I feel for you brother......the blood of our father's and our grandfather's flows through our veins , it's our heritage and our birthright to inherit our heritage and be the guardian's and pass it on down to those, that will cherish and safe gaurd it.......I'm very proud of you when you say, my kids won't have this problem.......I STAND AND SAY NEITHER Will MINE .......Take care , Take care.....B.B.....
 
Beach Bum said:
Obturation....A HUGE RIGHT ON........I feel for you brother......the blood of our father's and our grandfather's flows through our veins , it's our heritage and our birthright to inherit our heritage and be the guardian's and pass it on down to those, that will cherish and safe gaurd it.......I'm very proud of you when you say, my kids won't have this problem.......I STAND AND SAY NEITHER Will MINE .......Take care , Take care.....B.B.....
Click to expand...
My daughter's had better grow up to be strong... I've got a severe case of magnumitis :cool:
 
Obturation said:
My daughter's had better grow up to be strong... I've got a severe case of magnumitis :cool:
Click to expand...
Something tells me if they are your daughter's they we're raised right , and my friend if they were raised right , their loyalty to daddy is fierce, ask me how I know, ......MAGNUM FAMILIES .......MAGNUMITIS , I have always wondered what I have been afflicted with now I know............and to think I have been paying my doctor all this money to figure it out.........B. B.......
 
Thanks for all the replies.
As the story goes, my grandmothers husband was somewhat of a Heerophile, if there is such a thing. Had never been to Germany, couldn't speak the language, fought in the Pacific but had this odd fascination with all things of the Wehrmacht. He and my dad worked at the same company and he came home one day and told my grandmother about a co-worker who had the P-38 and was going to buy it. My grandmother didn't want him to have it so told my dad about it and he bought it.

I have shot it, in fact about a year ago. Probably the first time it had been shot in about 40 years. Works fine, shoots straight. Just not a 9 that I'd carry or have a urge to collect so I think I'll sell it.
 
I'm pondering the same issue. My 1st model S&W Hand Ejector came to me from great-grandparents, along with some family lore that'd be of interest to no one not related. But with no kids of my own, and cousins' kids not interested, I've no one to leave it to.
 
Speaker said:
I have shot it, in fact about a year ago. Probably the first time it had been shot in about 40 years. Works fine, shoots straight. Just not a 9 that I'd carry or have a urge to collect so I think I'll sell it.
Click to expand...

One small request. Before you decide to sell it give it a try shooting as it was meant to be shot; one handed, point, squeeze, rock up, rock down, repeat. My P38 is the closest thing I've ever found to the sheer joy of shoot a Colt SAA.

Keep us posted please.
 
I think it all just comes down to how prone to nostalgia you are. The only firearm I have that came from one of my parents is a bolt action Mossberg 12 gauge that my dad gave me when I was a kid. I never shoot it and have no real use for it but i keep it cleaned and oiled and it would be one of the last guns I ever let go. My kids are still young enough that I don’t know how they’ll feel about guns so I don’t have that to worry about yet though.
 
I’ve never had this come up with a gun, but I have with other items that were gifted to me. I haven’t made a move yet but I’m thinking about selling some things at a pawn shop and putting the money towards a really nice knife, or a gun.

I think if you keep in mind who gave you the original item, or who owned it before you, and then transfer their memory to the new item, the sentiment remains. Same goes if you spend it to have fun with your family.

If you sell it for bar money or some other frivolous expense, well, personally I’d regret that.
 
I prefer to call a firearm what it is,,, a firearm. When referred to as a weapon it sounds like a firearm that was used in aggression or crime.Just my opinion yours may vary.

Definition of weapon
1 : something (such as a club, knife, or gun) used to injure, defeat, or destroy
 
I inherited a handful of guns from a much older cousin who had no children. I've sold one of them and will probably sell most of the there eventually. I am planning on keeping at least one of them. When I inherited my father's guns I sold all the ones I had bought for him but kept all the ones he had owned since I was a kid; there weren't many and they were all inexpensive single shots. If you don't have a sentimental attachment to it then there's no reason not to sell it IMO, and this is coming from someone who has kept WAY too much of my dad's stuff.
 
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