Family Heirlooms?

[AmmunitionDepot]

I agree the first thing that comes to mind that would fit all of your criteria is the 1911. There is a ton of history behind them. They are fun to shoot on the range and a popular carry gun. And you can find plenty that fit in the price range that you were looking for.

 

[Officers'Wife]

As others have said, book value isn't sentimental value. It is the memories that make a firearm a family talisman. Whether those memories are stories of how you got the gun handed down to you or even just some interesting story they enjoy having recounted around it, it is the memories that imbue it with value. Any "kid" that focuses on the book value of a family item isn't focused on the true value of an heirloom and isn't worthy of it compared to one that wants to preserve the memories and family lore.

My daughter doesn't care about the "blue and wood" firearms I have, but the AR and .22 Ruger I took special care buying for her represent much more of our shooting together to her.

My son is more interested in the 1911s and pump guns he associates with me. Different kids, different ages, different experiences...different memories.

At the risk of waxing poetic, the true heirloom is something that for one reason or another has meaning for you. In my case, it's a beat up 92 Winchester in a caliber too small for deer and too big for rabbits. But over the course of my childhood my dad patiently taught me the fundamentals and responsibility of rifle operation with that old carbine. My grandfather told me how his father brought it home from Montana a few years after World War I and how it was given a place on the wall next to the back door. He told me how in 1932 a man came to the farm asking for work which they didn't have and how his family was likely to go hungry without it. Great grandpa sent him home with venison shot with that carbine. When grandpa went to war in 1940 he claimed his experience with my little carbine made shooting an M1 child's play and that skill help bring them home from Germany in 1945.

My little carbine wouldn't be worth much on the open market. My grandfather had it "reblued" before he gave it to dad so any historical value is gone. But the service that is rendered to my family since 1920 something makes it an extremely valuable piece of hardware. If only for the lessons rifle operation my thirteen-year-old daughter is getting from me, her father and her grandfather with it. The lessons of morality, love of country, history and self-respect are just accidental byproducts. But the memories... the memories are well planned and design to make that rifle the reminder of them. And perhaps that is what an heirloom is supposed to be - where we weave an understanding of our values and our history into our heirs.

 

[ontarget]

Since he didn't show up for Christmas, he isn't getting the Win.94 i was going to give him.

Maybe for the better. He can't trade it off if he doesn't have it. Hope you still had a great Christmas though.

 

[Reeferman]

At 61 I have every gun I’ve ever bought except one that I sold many years ago and regret doing that. All my guns will go to my son who thankfully has the same attitude towards them that I have. I have several that I consider “family heirlooms” which belonged to my grandfather. The oldest is a 1873 Springfield trapdoor that he had since the late 1890’s.

 

[Praxidike]

I believe I would stop giving that boy guns.

I was thinking the same thing, but I didn't want to say it.

 

[Praxidike]

For me, I want to leave some stuff that both has monetary value AND sentimental value. I don't think the two have to be mutually exclusive although I see nothing wrong with passing down meaningful inexpensive firearms as well.

 

[Eddietruett]

I have 2 sons. One is slightly interested in shooting, mainly for self defense and the other is not interested at all. I also have 2 stepsons that are cops and they are only interested in Semi Autos. My son will probably get anything of mine he wants. We are just getting him started with shooting and he is still up in the air between an auto and a revolver. Once he chooses one, he probably won't be interested in owning my entire collection/accumulation. I've picked out a revolver for each of my stepsons that they have said they like in the past. For the rest, I've worked a deal with a good friend who is a dealer to dispose of my guns in case I go unexpectedly. He will work with my girlfriend and sell what's left. I trust him to get a fair price for everything and keep an agreed upon commission and the rest will go to my sons. I wish they were more into shooting and would want the whole batch, but I think right now they would just wind up taking them to a Pawn Shop for quick cash and I'll do what I can to at least give them the most money I can get.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

In the context of this thread, I can't list them all without doing inventory. I have a collections of all my fathers rifles and shotguns, my father in laws rifles, shotguns and pistols, and all the ones I currently own. I have one child, my son, so he's getting all of them.
Heirlooms, two thirds of them are pre 64 production guns in really good shape and the rest are the one I have bought since I turned 21.
They are all heirlooms to us.

 

[PaFrank]

take your pick....
a quality 1911 (Colt, SIG, Kimber, etc)
Browning hi-Power
Smith&Wesson models 19, 27,28, 29,57,58, 60

And even a Beretta 84 or 92

 

[PzGren]

If you had to choose a pistol to start passing down as a family heirloom to your children, their children, so on and so forth, what would you choose?

The caveat is that it has to be something you enjoy shooting and/or carrying, moderately priced ($400-$800), and something you assume should hold it's value over time....

That caveat completely discarded for personal reasons, I prefer giving guns as presents and see my sons enjoying them. It helps me also to unclutter my safes though my sons both keep a revolver that was their graduation gift in my safe, because their safes are only better steel cabinets.I have given them some fine guns, among them my Python and one of my Korth Combats but the gun that my sons cherish for memories, is a simple S&W 22A that they shot in their early teenage years and that we put over 110,000 rounds through.

They consider it the family gun.

 

[mavracer]

The caveat is that it has to be something you enjoy shooting and/or carrying,

This is all that's really important, what makes my heirlooms special is my family member's use.

 

[lightman]

I have several pairs of handguns that will be passed down. Some of them belonged to my Grandfather or my Dad. Some of them I acquired. A pair of original 1911's, a pair of 2nd generation SAA's, a pair of Colt Woodsman Match Target, a pair of Colt Pythons, a pair of S&W M-28's, a pair of Sig's (228 & 229), a pair of Seecamp 32's. Maybe a few others. None of these pairs are identical except for the Seecamps. They are consecutive numbers.

 

[.308 Norma]

the true heirloom is something that for one reason or another has meaning for you.

Absolutely!

 

[Rockrivr1]

Back in 1963 my uncle became a local LE in the town I grew up in and he was issued a S&W M15 as his sidearm. I remember him telling me the only time he ever took it out of the holster was when he had to qualify with it. Otherwise it never left the holster and luckily he never had to use it while on the job. When he passed he willed it to me and I've kept it in the perfect condition it was given to me in. It's the only gun i own that I'll make sure to pass down to someone else in the family.

 

[roval]

they don't fit the price category but i told my son when i kick the bucket he can do what he wants with the guns but to keep the 2 Les Baer 1911s and also maybe the 44 mag ruger srh.

 

[herrwalther]

Hopefully all my firearms will go to my son. With any luck my engraved 1911 (with his namesake) passes on down the farthest.

 

[PWC]

Years ago, on another forum site, I commented to the other members (collectors of safe queens) that all my guns had to be shooters and that I wasn't a collector but a user. I had an M1 with stock repaired by the armory with brass screws/pins; it was a beater, a shooter; which it did very well. I believed the repair was a part of the rifle's story. I was berated for not rebuilding it period correctly. If you didn't enhance the $$ value it wasn't any good. They only worshiped the $$ value of collecting and ignored the intrinsic value of time spent with kids and bonding over old firearms.

 

[Officers'Wife]

Years ago, on another forum site, I commented to the other members (collectors of safe queens) that all my guns had to be shooters and that I wasn't a collector but a user. I had an M1 with stock repaired by the armory with brass screws/pins; it was a beater, a shooter; which it did very well. I believed the repair was a part of the rifle's story. I was berated for not rebuilding it period correctly. If you didn't enhance the $$ value it wasn't any good. They only worshiped the $$ value of collecting and ignored the intrinsic value of time spent with kids and bonding over old firearms.

While I'm tempted to start on one of my romantic paragraphs I'll simply say this is proof of the proverb that love of money is the root of all evil.

 

[Birdhunter1]

My kids, aged 10 and 8, have never known me to not carry my Springfield XD 9 mm service model. They think it has some sort of mythical magic cause dad (me) has shot alot of stuff with it... groundhogs, racoons, coyotes, dogs, etc that were threatening the life and safety of chickens, horses, embankments and me.
I cannot get my son to shoot it, maybe because he's been told his whole life DO NOT EVER TOUCH THIS GUN or maybe he thinks it is so much more powerful than it is.
Either way I told my wife if anything ever happens to me give it to our daughter, the 8 year old when she is old enough. My thought on it is it is my way to ensure she always has a way of maintaining her personal safety when dad is dead and gone and therefore unable. My son's jaw dropped when I told him it was to be his sisters someday, I did tell him which ones were to be his and he knows which ones are his.
I'm sure that someday the legend of me and some of my firearms will grow with my kids, they've followed me around the woods for years and we shoot often. I'm sure they have at least one memory with every firearm I own.
As for me I have a 30-30 rifle that was my grandpas trusty thing, turns out it is my trusty thing and often accompanies me in farm duties, in the saddle or in the truck. Nothing any more than any other 30-30 but Grandpa carried it doing the same for years and so do I, makes me think of him often and I would hope if he could still speak he'd say things look good and you're doing well.

There are a few firearms my dad has tagged to my nephew and my son. Sadly the Remington 1100 20 gauge that he has had since '65 and the only gun he ever hunted with up till 2002 he is giving to my nephew, I was hoping that one would be mine as it was the first one I ever hunted with and we've spent thousands of hours in the field together. But when dad made his desires known I didn't argue, grandpas are supposed to leave shotguns to their grandsons.

 

[ROCK6]

Heirlooms should have value for their history and personal meaning...or should. From a firearms perspective, there are either good stories associated or as the OP mentioned, value mostly in the form or fun to shoot. I was gifted my grandfather's only handgun, a very inexpensive J.C. Higgins .22LR revolver. Numerous memories of plinking with that as a child and witnessing my first ND as my grandfather was cleaning his "empty" revolver (no injuries other than pride). This is one that will stay in the family for certain...



For other handguns, I have three that I would like to see my son retain:

First, is my first handgun I purchased when I graduated college and was commissioned a 2LT in 1993; my very first CCW. Although mine is a simple Sig P228, I was able to shoot one of the newly issued M11's and fell in love. This is one I will likely gift my son when he graduates and gets his commission in the next few years...



While I carry and train mostly with "plastic" guns, my two favorites are classic platforms that I love to take to the range and carry during the cooler seasons. Both were purchased right after two of my deployments...the Dan Wesson is a post Iraqi-deployment purchase, and my BHP is a post-Afghanistan deployment.





ROCK6

 

[GoPappy]

I think my son will consider these guns to be "heirlooms":

1. My 1958 Remington Wingmaster 870 that I inherited from my grandfather;
2. My Charter Arms Undercover that I bought in the early-to-mid 1970's; and
3. My Ruger Mark II with the 5.5" bull barrel.

For a long time, the Undercover was my only gun. He got to shoot it fairly regularly starting when he was just 10 or 11. So there will be lots of memories attached to that one.

I got the Mark II in the early 80's (probably 82 or 83, but can't remember exactly). He and I have had lots of fun shooting that one together.

 

[Stumper]

As others have said it is the memories that matter most. I have received one firearm that I treasure. When my father was 14 years old a family friend gave him a Remington M11 12 gauge Imp cyl. Dad tripped wading through a swamp and broke the butt stock at the wrist. He restocked it in High school shop with a piece of cherry (those were the days). When I was in grade school he had it professionally restocked butt and fore-end with a walnut tree that he cut. It was the first 12 gauge I ever shot. Dad bravely battled stomach cancer and went home to be with Jesus 3 years ago. He gifted his guns before he left this life. Most of them were actually guns I gave him. He let me choose one gun as he was doling them out to family. I chose the Mod 11. That is the most important gun in my home. -Not when things go bump-I'll reach for another. Not when I head out on a hunt. I'll reach for another. But when I open the safe she is there...and I remember.

 

[Stumper]

I didn't actually answer the original poster's question.............I love handguns and own a bunch but I don't know if many of them are memory loaded enough to mean anything to heirs. Maybe the Charter Bulldog .44 that I actually used in self defense...I faced a charging hog with it....and no it didn't stop the wounded boar and I got knocked down and cut. My nephew was there and got cut also so he probably would appreciate that one.
One of my father's guns is still with mom-a S&W 4 inch M&P 38 spl made in the 1940's that I gave dad...since they were the same age. If that one comes back to me it'll be an heirloom.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

If you had to choose a pistol to start passing down as a family heirloom to your children, their children, so on and so forth, what would you choose?

The caveat is that it has to be something you enjoy shooting and/or carrying, moderately priced ($400-$800), and something you assume should hold it's value over time....

In modern guns??? Nothing. I can't think of a single current production handgun that I would consider "heirloom" material. To me, heirlooms are from the past. They're a physical connections to loved ones long passed, ancestors only vaguely remembered or never known. You can't buy that at a gun store.

That said, every family heirloom I have started out on a gun store shelf where someone in my family, long before ai was born, bought it. So with that in mind, I'd say my Ruger Redhawk 44 magnum would meet your criteria, but only because I enjoy shooting it and I carry it a lot. (It doesn't fit your price criteria.) And even at that, I consider it nothing more than a gun I bought. My son may see it differently in 50 years, but I doubt it as he will likely sell it the day after I'm dead.

 

[stonebuster]

In modern guns??? Nothing. I can't think of a single current production handgun that I would consider "heirloom" material. To me, heirlooms are from the past. They're a physical connections to loved ones long passed, ancestors only vaguely remembered or never known. You can't buy that at a gun store.

That said, every family heirloom I have started out on a gun store shelf where someone in my family, long before ai was born, bought it. So with that in mind, I'd say my Ruger Redhawk 44 magnum would meet your criteria, but only because I enjoy shooting it and I carry it a lot. (It doesn't fit your price criteria.) And even at that, I consider it nothing more than a gun I bought. My son may see it differently in 50 years, but I doubt it as he will likely sell it the day after I'm dead.

Sometimes a true appreciation for such things doesn't come until much later in life. I wish I had some of the WW2 things my dad gave me at 7-8 years old. Luckily he didn't give me the Samurai until much later.