Guns with Soul

[turbonatr]

Every now and then we see threads pop up where someone mentions a particular gun has no "soul". Usually, it's a polymer-frame pistol of some sort. Some polymer fanatics at first take offense to this, some don't. Personally, I didn't buy my "plastic" guns because of soul, but I must say, they're ARE some guns I buy because they DO have "soul".

I would like to know what guns you guys think posses soul. In my mind, I think "soul" when I pick up a fine, wood-stocked, hammer-mounted firing pin revolver (love my old Smith wheelies), a 1903 Springfield, a Garand (love my surplus rifles, too!) or a deeply blued "no frills" 1911. No exotic optics/sights, frame-mounted accessory rails and 50 round magazines. In case you didn't pick up on the pattern, wood and blue steel seem to make a firearm seem warm and have soul.

What guns "do it" for you guys?

 

[Stickjockey]

My 1915-vintage SMLE has soul. If that rifle could talk, what stories it'd tell.

 

[psyopspec]

1911's that were new when my grandfather was a kid.

I was in a colorguard yesterday at a military banquet, got to carry out the duty with a 1903 Springfield. Very soulful rifle!

 

[dev_null]

The '98 Krag Carbine, most def. I'm curious about the '31 Persian Mauser, too.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

My guns with "soul" include:

Colt M1849 cap and ball.

Colt Officer's Model Target .22 revolver

M1911A1s -- including my M1927 Argentine with a Colt Service Ace kit mounted.

Colt M357 (carried this one in Viet Nam and used it.)

Colt SAA -- mine is in .357.

Colt New Service in .45 Colt

Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .30-06

M1903A3 Springfields (one by Smith-Corona, one by Remington.)

M1 Garand (mine is an H&R)

Bigfoot Wallace (custom '03 Springfield in .35 Brown-Whelen)

The Gae Bolga -- Kimber M82 in .22 LR

Kimber M82 in .22 Hornet

 

[gazpacho]

Anything with Blued Steel and .45 Colt

 

[EllisWyatt]

Me: "Just this ammo here....Is that a Garand over there in the corner?"
Clerk: "Yep, just came in yesterday, haven't even put a price tag on it yet. Fellah's granddad left it to him, real WWII Springfield."
Me: (Stare.)
Clerk: (Grin.) "Okay, sure." (Chuckles, hands it to me.)
Me: (Silently fondling the beatiful banged-up stock.)
Guy next to me: "Magnificent rifle. I slept with one o' them every night for many a year . . . . Sound o' that clip poppin' out got lots o' boys killed, though. Magnificent rifle."

We made eye contact for a moment. I handed back the rifle, paid for my ammo, and left before I started to weep.

Garand.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Quote:
---------------------------------
Sound o' that clip poppin' out got lots o' boys killed, though. Magnificent rifle."
---------------------------------

The man who jumps up to charge an American when he hears the ping! of a Garand clip will never hear anything else.

 

[P95Carry]

I find most ''soul'' in my early type Smith wheelies.... that deep luster blue, pinned and recessed .... another word would be ''classic''.

 

[NHSoldier]

soul exists many places

I find my old Winchester 70 has some soul,, early 70's production, walnut and blued steel. I also love my 1943 8mm mauser,, was still in cosmolene when i got it, hasnt had 5 rounds threw it, sat in storage in Germany for years.

 

[yorec]

My guns with soul include:

Herter's .401 Powermag
Rossi Gallerygun .22lr
Browning BLR .22lr
My grandfather's Steven's singleshot 12 ga
Any of the custom stocked high power rifles we have
And of course, my Sigma SW40F

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

hmmm...interesting....

the ones in my hands that have the most soul are the Winchester 42 that my grandfather bought after seeing squirrels at the farm and developing a hankering for fried squirrel...he drove into town, went to the hardware store and bought it and a box of .410's then went back out and got himself a mess of them...in 1932. Next to it is the Model 12 in 16 gauage, a set of barrels in the leather leg-o-mutton case which he bought in 1929. A similar story exists about the H&R Handi-Gun which has come through the family along with the Minchester 92 in 25-20 that I used on my first 'real' deer hunt when I was 9.

My 1937 vintage Walther Sportmodell V also has stories I wish I knew, as does the 1900 vintage Colt 1877 in .41LC.

As for the Garand...most of what I know of it is that it was serialed in April of '43 but spent a lot of time in Anniston before it came to my hands.

Regards,
Rabbit.

 

[Walt Rauch]

Any N frame S&W pre WWII, Any commercial Colt 1911 pre WWII. DItto for Model 70 Super Grade rifles.

Post " the Big One", any pre model number N frame .357 Magnum with first honors to the S&W Pre Model 27 with 3.5" barrel.

 

[shermacman]

My Dad's Winchester .22 bolt action rifle (1937)
M1 Garand
Colt .45

What is a gun with soul? dead accurate, absolutely reliable, beautiful, redolent with history. There are plenty of wood clad guns that were pieces of junk when they were "NIB". Not many guns have soul.

 

[SMLE]

My 1777 French musket that was converted to percussion, then brought over by Caleb Huse for the Civil War.

All of my Enfields, but particularly my 1909 ShtLE MkIII.

My Garand.

My 1937 vintage Colt Official Police 38 Spec. revolver.

 

[armoredman]

My 1942 Mosin M38, and Mosin 91/30....old warriors. If they could only speak......I'd have to learn Russian!
My 1920 91/30 was built the year my stepfather was born.....

 

[Black Snowman]

I recently saw an all origional WWII era Remington Rand 1911 with no bluing and a blood stain on the slide. Doesn't get much more soulful than that, let me tell ya.

 

[trubluedog]

1895 Nagant revolver. If it doesn't have it's own soul, there is one attached to it.
Steel and wood have a personality.

 

[Gunnutz13]

Any weapon...

that saw action in an armed conflict would have "soul"...the soul of the brave soldier that carried it in defense of his country...that put his life on the line so that others could enjoy freedom. My M1 Garand...

 

[sfhogman]

My Smith & Wesson 38/44 Super Police. First sold in 1935 to a hardware store and gunshop in Joplin, Missouri. Sold to a gunshop in Arkansas in 1968. From there to the older gentleman I bought it from a few years ago. Some holster wear, bright as-new barrel, shoots wonderfully. I like the thought of a Joplin cop carrying it all those years...

It now lives a life of quiet semi-retirement in my gunsafe guarding my 1911, Rugers and other "younger" guns...

 

[orangeninja]

For me it is a 1912 Model 12 Winchester 20 ga. in nickel. I have it in my closet now. Still fires, all origional, it has seen more hunting trips than days I've been alive. Was my great grandads, then my grandmothers, then my dads, now mine and will be my kids. It was even used to chase off a few retard KKK guys who wanted to burn down a crop to flush someone out of my granddads field...not that night. Soul.

I just bought this M48A mauser, I'm thinking if everything works out with it, I may put a couple of stories into this one. Starting with a boar hunt.

My dads old Model 66 .357 Magnum he carried as a cop.

My Sig 229 that I have carried to various law enforcement activities. (Will give to my kids someday)

A Yugo SKS, looks and feels like history.

Any Makarov, Russian, Bulgy or German you can feel the oppresion from here.

Grandma's old WW1 Smith and Wesson .45 revolver. She still has it in her dresser.

My uncles Springy 1903.

My Grandfathers Security Six, that he still carries, was used to capture 3criminally insane escapees. Of course they were tired and starved, but it's still a neat story.

Soul is what is put into a gun...not so much the gun itself.

 

[another okie]

My Ithaca 37, a faithful companion on many a duck and goose hunt, with a few scars to show for it.

My father's .22 rifle, marked "Ward's Field and Stream," purchased by him through the mail in the 1930s and used to put a lot of rabbit and squirrel on the table back then.

 

[Dionysusigma]

My 1919 Swede Mauser? Maybe...

My SAR-1? Nope.

I do have a bayonet, though; and even though there's no story behind how I got it (picked it up in the Bayo Bin at Brigadoon on a whim) there're all kinds o' little signs that it has a story to tell. Nothin' too much, but just enough to make me wonder... It's a Czech Mauser bayo, in decent condition. Oxidation is unusually low, but nonetheless there are pockmarks all over the handle.

The tip is the most interesting part (I'm sure all on the receiving end would agree ), however. There is some permanent discoloration on the end 2 1/2 to 3", enough to make me wonder if food or the like was speared on the tip and cooked over a fire. Toward the last 1", the metal looks like it's been scraped over other metal, just as it would if someone used it to open a tin can. It's just a tad brighter, but noticeable nonetheless.

I personally have no question as to whether it has seen combat--the wear lets me know well enough. The quality of the steel is quite high, and quite strong. The locking mechanism is in perfect condition, but the handle is beat to high heaven (but not missing any chunks). It's perfect, ya know? Perfect in the way that it was heavily used, but kept in flawless working order...

Instead of waiting for the rifle to talk (unless it already has--you know what I mean), why not try writing your version of its story, keeping it as factual as possible (and, of course, embellishing a tad for the benefit of the reader)

 

[Beetle Bailey]

I mostly own milsurp rifles, so I have a few guns with "history" but the one that comes to mind when I read the word "soul" is my M1 Garand. Even though the Parkerizing is worn a bit, and even though it's a mix-master of parts (I got it from the CMP), it's still something special to me. When I sling up and shoot it, it's like the thing has a personality. I like the lines on the rifle and the smell of the orange-wax I put on the stock . BTW, the reciever is a 1943 Springfield Armory.

 

[GaryP]

For me my Colt 1911 circa 1918 and Colt 1903 PM circa 1913.

If they could only tell their stories!