Safe Queen Story Time

[Riomouse911]

To me, the definition of a “safe queen” is a gun that was bought and placed in the safe as an investment rather than to be shot.

I only have one safe queen that I personally bought, a pristine 3” nickel S&W Model 37 airweight .38. But I was given two DU banquet guns my Dad bought many, many years ago, along with his 1980’s left-handed Rem 700 BDL 7mm Rem Mag, that all remain unfired to this day.

I do have other guns that rarely get shot, but they will come out once in a blue moon.

Stay safe.

 

[JTHunter]

Like others, no true "safe queen" partly because I don't have a safe and partly as I have shot every firearm I own. One is "retired" as the cylinder doesn't lock anymore (a .38 Colt ~1920 vintage {Long Colt?}) and a .32-20 that is just too hard to find affordable ammo for and the gun's condition and value. I also don't have access to an "affordable" outdoor range so I don't get to shoot as much as I would like. Then there is the Colt "Hammerless" of 1903 in .32 ACP. It's from about 1911 and the barrel is worn to the point it isn't accurate beyond 30-40'. It still makes a good close-up defense gun.

 

[teerex.otw]

Here’s another…I don’t know if you could call it a safe queen or not, because although gun-related, it’s not a gun.
When Dad passed his stuff to me, one of the things he gave me was a couple of old Stevens .32 rimfire single shot rifles that belonged to his dad. Now the rifles are shot-out and in pretty ratty shape, wall-hangers at best (wouldn’t shoot one on a bet)…but this also included 2 full boxes of .32 rimfire ammo. One is the old Super-X yellow, red, and blue box, the other is Kleenbore in the old green and red box. I have been told that both are pretty rare…seems odd, but the guns (with some critical parts removed) hang on the shop wall, while the ammo resides in the safe.

 

[CapnMac]

View attachment 1160028

Is it just me, or do all of "us" have that same $10 dagger somewhere in the house?

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't feel that I have safe queens as such. I do have several guns that I seldom if ever shoot any more, but it is just because I don't do that style of shooting any more or that I have something better now for that style of shooting. But I don't have anything bought as a showpiece or something I consider "too pretty to shoot."

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Is it just me, or do all of "us" have that same $10 dagger somewhere in the house?

Haha, actually that has a story too. Pakistan's finest, got it from a flea market as a kid. Lost it in the snow one winter and didn't recover it until after the thaw. Cleaned it up and actually carried it in my boot when I was working a tree farm in high school.

It doesn't have any real connection to the Remington except I imagine they are both the sorta of thing a Chicagoland gangster might have carried during Prohibition.

 

[mavracer]

I have my FIL's Spanish vest pocket Colt 25 acp copy

 

[Armybrat]

View attachment 1160028
Haven't shot my minty Remington 51 in quite a few years. It could be because wear parts are unobtainium. Or because other guns I have are more accurate. It could be because .380 was so expensive and hard to find during COVID......
But the real reason is I usually go with friends or family and I dont trust any of them to handle it properly. By properly, I mean with rubber gloves on.

Well, my 1920s vintage Model 51 is pretty well worn, as it was carried frequently by my wife’s grandpa who was a prominent builder in Central Texas up until the 1950s.
But it has sat in my safe for 3 decades (in a silicone gun sock).

 

[Armybrat]

Anyway.. this Colt Texas Sesquicentennial .45 from 1986 hasn’t been fired since the factory and probably will stay that way until one of my kids inherits it.

 

[pharmer]

This NY-1 marked DAO S&W is one of maybe 500. I never shot it for no reason at all. I have a 2" 10-5, almost the same except sq butt 2". I don't shoot it much either. Joe

 

[tark]

.and will agree that this may be two rare cases where not shooting guns can be justified. Possibly.

I have a second broomie that I shoot. Shooting the Nambu is pretty much impossible anyway, because nobody has ammo.

 

[Old Dog]

Down to one safe queen. Had two unfired Model 15s (a dash 3 and a dash 4), took one out to the range (it shot as well as expected, of course). No interesting story, other than I have the receipt from when the revolver was sold.

When I first took a quick glance at the thread titles in the sub-forum, I thought I'd read "drag queen story time" (maybe as there'd been an article about that on my news feed screen when I booted up the 'puter yesterday).

Anyway, as Roseann Rosanneadanna would say, "Never mind."

 

[Armybrat]

$135.95 was a good bit of change back then.
That’s equal to about $1,128 in today’s dollars.

 

[JWF III]

Is it just me, or do all of "us" have that same $10 dagger somewhere in the house?

Actually I have a $10 NCO Samurai sword that my dad bought at a yard sale.

My safe queen is a P08 Luger that my dad bought. The story is second hand, but almost his actual words… Long before I was born, he worked at C&S Bank. Left there in ‘81 fairly high ranking at the branch level. I digress… He was wanting to buy a Luger, and somehow (left out of the story) he made a deal with a customer to buy 1 he had for $50, sight unseen. Several days later the customer showed up at the bank with the pistol and they went in his office. When the customer pulled it out, it was a mint condition. All numbers matching. Including the magazine, which is almost unheard of. The guy had a matching holster, magazine/takedown tool, and a mismatched spare magazine. So the matching spare magazine was the only thing missing. (Holster was called matched being the same production year.)

The story the customer gave was that his brother went ashore on D-Day and basically followed the German army as they were retreating. As they were retreating, they were burying small arms rather than transporting them. This pistol was dug up as part of that. And the CO allowed the soldiers to all grab 1 for a souvenir. The customer’s brother sent the gun back to him to keep it until he returned home. He survived the War, but didn’t survive the trip home. He died in a car wreck. My dad’s customer held on to the pistol for 20 plus years and finally decided to shoot it. He shot 1 magazine from it. He sold it to my dad with a box of 41 rounds left.

My dad wanted the pistol, but he knew that $50 wasn’t a fair price, even in the 60s. He tried to give him $100, but the guy said the deal was $50. And he would refuse the sale at anything other than $50.

I had a local dealer, that specialized in collector grade milsurps. (German arms in particular.) He said that, by shear visual inspection, if it had ever been shot, he couldn’t tell it. Which leads credibility to the story.

Wyman

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Actually I have a $10 NCO Samurai sword that my dad bought at a yard sale.

My safe queen is a P08 Luger that my dad bought. The story is second hand, but almost his actual words… Long before I was born, he worked at C&S Bank. Left there in ‘81 fairly high ranking at the branch level. I digress… He was wanting to buy a Luger, and somehow (left out of the story) he made a deal with a customer to buy 1 he had for $50, sight unseen. Several days later the customer showed up at the bank with the pistol and they went in his office. When the customer pulled it out, it was a mint condition. All numbers matching. Including the magazine, which is almost unheard of. The guy had a matching holster, magazine/takedown tool, and a mismatched spare magazine. So the matching spare magazine was the only thing missing. (Holster was called matched being the same production year.)

The story the customer gave was that his brother went ashore on D-Day and basically followed the German army as they were retreating. As they were retreating, they were burying small arms rather than transporting them. This pistol was dug up as part of that. And the CO allowed the soldiers to all grab 1 for a souvenir. The customer’s brother sent the gun back to him to keep it until he returned home. He survived the War, but didn’t survive the trip home. He died in a car wreck. My dad’s customer held on to the pistol for 20 plus years and finally decided to shoot it. He shot 1 magazine from it. He sold it to my dad with a box of 41 rounds left.

My dad wanted the pistol, but he knew that $50 wasn’t a fair price, even in the 60s. He tried to give him $100, but the guy said the deal was $50. And he would refuse the sale at anything other than $50.

I had a local dealer, that specialized in collector grade milsurps. (German arms in particular.) He said that, by shear visual inspection, if it had ever been shot, he couldn’t tell it. Which leads credibility to the story.

Wyman

Great story, but........without pics it's just torture!

 

[AMraider]

I shoot all my firearms that I buy. They are no good to me just sitting in the safe. That being said I have one Finn M39, a 1943 SkY that was purchased many years ago that I have not fired. I have taken it with me many times to the range but just haven't loaded her up. There is nothing wrong with her outside of being well worn. Stock is dinged up, not much rifling left and practically zero metal finish but headspace is good. No way of telling what the rifle went through. There is no creepy aura or feeling. She just reminds me of an old hunting dog who's best years are long behind. Perfectly content to just sit by the fire as opposed to running around the woods and fields. I will still pack her up and head to the range now and then but chances are she'll just watch the others in action.

 

[Simple Shooter]

Here you go, NIGHTLORD40K. It is not in the pristine condition of JFW III's ( I want pics, too!), but it is all matching numbers including the magazine.

My grandfather brought this back from WWII, where he served as a medic in a unit that helped liberate France.

He also brought back one of the Nazi banners they had cut down from buildings as they chased the Germans out. The fabric is fine with beautiful stitching in full contrast to the evil the banner represented. I say represented in past tense; this war trophy now stands for the bravery, sacrifice, and victory of the Greatest Generation.

Sadly, he passed when I was young and I never got to ask him about any of these things. My grandmother lived to be 94 but never spoke of the war. She married my grandfather days before he shipped out and waited patiently for his return. When we cleaned out the farmhouse after she passed, we found boxes and boxes of the letters he wrote her from the European theater as well as the aforementioned banner and my grandfathers medals.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Nice!
My DWM probably started life as an Artillery Model and likely saw action in WW1, but was converted at Erfurt for Weimar Police service between wars with a 100mm barrel and sideplate safety. It's s double dated and the numbers match (except the Nazi-era magazine)- but were probably force matched during the rebuild.

It was polished and hot blued sometime later, but they did a good job. Shoots great too.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

M 1898 Krag rifle-made in 1902-that I bought in 1972. I have yet to fire it.

 

[Jeff olson]

I have a few I refuse to shoot. Ever. Either because they belonged to my dad and I will forever respect his deep appreciation for a beautiful, well preserved firearm, or because it's value/condition far exceeds any enjoyment I may get from shooting it and possibly scratching/ breaking something. Like you NIGHTLORD40K, the .32 model 51, the PPS in .32 NP, the 1924 PPS, and the detective special are only touched with gloves.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I have a few I refuse to shoot. Ever. Either because they belonged to my dad and I will forever respect his deep appreciation for a beautiful, well preserved firearm, or because it's value/condition far exceeds any enjoyment I may get from shooting it and possibly scratching/ breaking something. Like you NIGHTLORD40K, the .32 model 51, the PPS in .32 NP, the 1924 PPS, and the detective special are only touched with gloves.View attachment 1161067 View attachment 1161068 View attachment 1161069 View attachment 1161070

Holy smokes, those are gorgeous!

 

[DustyGmt]

Maybe I shoot it better because I shot this gun for 3 decades.
View attachment 1160021

This. I have been wanting a P226 for quite a while. I am pretty content to own and carry Glocks, and am very accustomed to that trigger and set up because I've shot a 9mm glock more than any other handgun but I just really like the P226 and always said if I found one for a deal I'd buy one. I saw few P227 PTI's for $350 and was SOOO wishing they were P226's.

I know that there are newer more user friendly handguns for less money and the P226 is a big bulky service/duty gun but always thought they were a nice looking handgun....

As for Safe Queens, I don't have anything that's really super special or valuable. Everything I own I pretty much am not afraid to shoot, scuff, carry or whatever. I do have some that I treat better than others, I treat my Wingmaster TB very nicely compared to my other shotguns. I would say my Wingmaster TB is the closest thing I have to a safe queen, but I use it regularly so maybe it don't count.

 

[Remington1911]

To me, the definition of a “safe queen” is a gun that was bought and placed in the safe as an investment rather than to be shot.

I only have one safe queen that I personally bought, a pristine 3” nickel S&W Model 37 airweight .38. But I was given two DU banquet guns my Dad bought many, many years ago, along with his 1980’s left-handed Rem 700 BDL 7mm Rem Mag, that all remain unfired to this day.

I do have other guns that rarely get shot, but they will come out once in a blue moon.

Stay safe.

I agree with this def. A gun you bought that you plan to never shoot.

I have one. Not expensive, but something I had been on the look out for quite some time.

Ain't it a Daisy?

I have never liked the term NiB, or unfired. Really, how do you know it has never been fired. I just hate that term. This I think was bought and tossed in a closet then forgotten. It showed up at a gun store and I was eyeing down the row, and I said......IS THAT A DAISY?!?!?! Yea. Can I see it. Sure here. Ah is this what you are asking for it. Yup. I will take it. I have seen these go for much more, but I did not buy it for that. I bought it because I think it is just cool. It is so darn small. All paperwork, the only "blemish" on it is the button to make the LoP longer, someone thought it was a screw and not a button. Idiots.

 

[Theinkman]

I have a Begian made Browning 12 ga. Auto 5 that I have fired a number of times but really don't think I will ever use again. I bought from my FIL whose dad bought that gun new in the early sixties. Always wanted an Auto 5 but turned out I like hunting with my over/unders more. I may sell the Auto 5 someday; the gun is in great condition and I put a Browning invector plus barrel on it to be compatible with modern steel shot. Still have the old barrel for authenticity.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I've got a few firearms that are packed away because they aren't really safe to fire or are waiting for some repairs.
I have some others that are pristine duplicates of classic guns that are regular shooters or Bubba/sporter jobs.
Still others, I just haven't gotten around to... .