My Brother's M1 Garand Story

[Steve N]

My younger brother is an LEO in a small town. Last summer he was dispatched to a welfare check on a resident. He met the homeowner's nephew at the home, where the nephew could not contact his uncle, or get into the house. My brother gained entry and found the man dead in his bed upstairs (natural causes).

While getting information from the nephew, he noted the uncle had 4 gun safes. My brother asked what was in them. The nephew said one had M1's from each mfgr in WWII, another had Mausers from each mfgr in WWII, a third had Japanese rifles from each mfgr in WWII, and the fourth had Russian rifles from each mfgr in WWII, except he was only 1/2 way thru that collection.

The nephew asked what he should do with them as no one in the family was interested in guns. My brother told him the guns could be valuable, and gave some suggestions as to how to determine value and dispose of the guns at the best price. My brother also said he would like to have one of the M1's if the nephew decided to sell.

Fast forward to November of last year. My brother gets a call to visit the nephew. My brother remembers them, and they make small talk. Then the nephew says that he would like to thank my brother for his advice on the collection, and that the nephew would like to thank my brother. The nephew said he gotten a minimum of $750 for every other M1. He had kept one of the M1's for my brother, and sold him a sweet M1 for $350.

 

[El Barto]

Great story. I'm glad to hear that your brother was decent enough to give the nephew sound advice on what he had. And it sounds like he was rewarded in kind.

A better story would be the nephew saying he hates guns and offering them all to your brother for $50.

 

[arthurcw]

It's kinda sad that such a nice well thought out collection could not have been passed down in the family.

I guess we have to remember these shootzenboomers aren't going with us so we need to make sure we train then next gen to look after them.

 

[Molon Labe]

I've heard a lot of stories about cops who do the residents a "favor" by "taking the guns off their hands," or the cop offers to "store the guns for them." And then the cops steal them. If the residents inquire about the status of the guns, the cops will say they were destroyed.

Sounds like your brother is one of the better ones.

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

A story like that makes a person think. I am only 33 but at the rate my collection is growing it will be substantial by the time I am senior citizen. I need to think about what will happen to them when I am gone.

 

[Bart Noir]

I need to start thinking just how I'll sneak them all into the retirement home.

And then which ones I'll sell to pay to stay in the R.H.

Bart Noir
Who will put off that worry.
Will the smell of Hoppe's bother them?

 

[The Rifleman]

If he got $750 each - the least he could have done was give him the last one.

Most auctioneers would have given them $125 each and told them it was a lot of money.

Sold them for what ever they could have gotten out of them.

The only ones worth $750 would be the National Match Grade ones to me.

I could have bought one from the Civilian Marksman Program 20 years ago for $250! I don't even think that Apple Computer Stock would be worth that much today. 3 X your money in 20 years.

 

[Kaylee]

Wow! Good on your brother for his help, and good on the gentleman in question for cutting him such a nice deal.

On the open market, a $750 M1 sounds fair.

 

[TX_Shooter]