Safe Queens

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Lindy7443

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I'm always seeing in the For Sale forums things like, "...I never use it, it's a safe queen" or "It's too pretty to shoot, it's a safe queen...." I see other threads in other forums referencing the same. I do not have any safe queens. I own a few handguns and a few long guns and none of them are immune from service. I have my favorites that get more shots down range but all of them get used.

I haven't paid more than $600 for a handgun, but I'm pretty sure if I spend $1000 or $2000 on a really nice gun I'm going to use it like any other gun I have. In fact at that price I better use it a lot.

Anyone else immune to safe queens?
 
Like yourself, all of my guns get shot a lot and were purchased at reasonable costs. I used to not understand the concept of safe queens as well. That being said, I'm kinda hankering for pretty guns to fuss over and baby at this point in my life. I think it's just a case of me getting old and getting more in touch with my collector/admirer of craftsmanship side of gun enthusiasm to go along with my love of shooting.
 
I am not immune - I have several rifles & a few shotguns that rarely get fired anymore. I only get out to shoot a couple of times a month, and with 4 handguns, 4 or 5 rifles, and a couple of shotguns that I use regularly and like to keep tuned up with and sighted in, that leaves a number of guns do not get out much.

Some are special purpose (magnums for elk hunting, long range goose/duck guns, etc.) some are guns I used to hunt with, but don't use much anymore, and some are just guns I thought would be cool to have that have never gotten used much.
 
As your collection grows you will eventually own some guns that you no longer enjoy shooting or just don't have the time to shoot. Unless money is a problem then those guns wind up becoming "safe queens".

When I had 10-20 firearms I didn't have any safe queens. Now I probably have 25 or so that NEVER get fired and a few that I fire maybe one time a year. Duplication, spur of the moment purchases, inherited guns, etc lead to owning guns that just don't really have a place in your arsenal and I can't bring myself to sell my guns.
 
Nothing I have is an "official" safe queen, and I've shot everything I own at least a few times, but I do have guns in the safe that get shot very, very rarely. Not so much because they're pretty or anything but because I just have guns that I like better.
 
WaywardAce said:
Like yourself, all of my guns get shot a lot and were purchased at reasonable costs. I used to not understand the concept of safe queens as well. That being said, I'm kinda hankering for pretty guns to fuss over and baby at this point in my life. I think it's just a case of me getting old and getting more in touch with my collector/admirer of craftsmanship side of gun enthusiasm to go along with my love of shooting.
Click to expand...

That is a good way to put it. None of my firearms were 'expensive' (although I must admit that I have overpaid on accasion), and I certainly own no 'safe queens', but I do have some guns that I have not yet fired since taking possession of them. One example is a hex receiver M91/30 Mosin-Nagant from 1937. I have had it apart numerous times, cleaning out the cosmoline seeing how the parts fit and work together, shining and lubing it up. I have a couple hundred rounds of ammo, but have never fired it, and still like it a lot. If I can feel that way about an almost 80 year old $110 rifle, one of literally millions, I can now understand someone else feeling that way about their expensive or rare 'safe queen'.

I really think that money must have a lot to do with it, too. I cannot afford to have significant cash invested in a collectible that is never really used. A good buddy has several handguns that are NIB and have never even had the hammer cocked, much less been fired. They are beautiful, but ultimately 'dead' objects to me. I realize it is an inane thing to say, but if I were: a custom street rod I would want to be driven and not trailered to a car show; an animal in a zoo I would want to walk around on grass and earth instead of a concrete floor in a cage; and if I were a firearm I would want to throw some lead out my muzzle now and then, as well as be fondled and admired at home.
 
Safe queens...

I too am a shooter, not a collector. There is no sign in front of my house, "Smokey Joe's Museum." FIREarms, are made to be fired, IMHO. The ones I have a problem with--And would therefore never intentionally own--are the "commemoratives" for this and that, which are made to never be fired. The reasoning behind collecting those is something I cannot understand.
 
I have a couple that are de-facto safe queens, simply because I haven't had time to shoot them. Every gun I buy is meant to be fired. That may change if I get one that is of serious historical significance _AND_ it's not considered safe to shoot, but that's about it.

I view it the same as everyone that buys these awesome 4x4 trucks, shiny and new, jack them up, put big mudders on them, do serious drivetrain and suspension upgrades for off-roading, but then they're too worried about scratching them to take them off-road or even out in the snow, heaven forbid.

Matt
 
The only guns I have as safe queens are the ones I haven't had time to shoot. I was cured of this malady long ago. My father collected Colt and Winchester commemoratives . To look at one too hard would lower its value. Now some of them have become shooters because they are in the price range of todays guns. The other guns that are being sold/traded off are the antiques that are not shooters. Yes I shoot a factory engraved S&W and the Mauser BH made in 1896. Not often but enough to justify me owning them.

Nothing wrong with collecting guns not to shoot just for the pleasure of the history, design or beauty. Just not what I enjoy.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
Only in general the fact that I shoot less now than ever before, as I get older and ranges get farther away, and ammo costs more. I still do my dry fire exercises, and carry any and all of my guns at some time. I won't buy any more "range guns" as they won't get used. Only possibly a HD gun with a laser/light on it. It's more for you younger guys, "under 60", to carry the torch. If I get there every other month, it's considered good.
 
Being a collector, all my guns are "safe queens" -- even though I hate that term. I don't shoot any more, for the following reasons: (1) "been there, done that" -- at my age doing the same thing for the 1000th time doesn't interest me, (2) shooting puts extra wear and tear on the weapons, lowering their value, (3) guns need to be cleaned after firing and I'm too lazy, and (4) waste of expensive ammunition.

I'm posting this to say that gun owners don't all fit in the same mold. People do what they like with their guns and there's nothing wrong with that.
 
I've got 5 22lrs that are current safe queens! :uhoh:


At one point I had too any guns.. Stuff I hadn't shot in many years as interests changed.. Did a lot of spring cleaning and still have too many handguns but would like to get down to a couple dozen..
 
I have a winchester 9422 xtr that remained unfired (mfg. in 86) until the beginning of Janurary this year. I couldnt help myself. I do have a remington 7600 in 30-06 also made in 86 which has never been fired. Im struggling with the decision if I should or not. If I do, then I will hunt with it. If I hunt with it, Id like to put a sling on it, but I cant see drilling that perfect stock.
 
I buy 'em to shoot, even/especially the expensive one. Why would I pay a pile of money to get a guaranteed accurate gun and then not shoot it?

Of course, there is an exception. I have a NIB Glock 19, and I haven't shot it because I have two G23s and a LW 9mm conversion barrel that works flawlessly. One day in the not-too-distant future, Glock may abandon Gen3 and leave California without new Glocks - and it should be worth at least $20 more than a fired one, right? :evil:

I teach a lot of newbies to shoot, and sooner or later the G19 will go home with one - or I'll shoot it.
 
I have no use for a safe queen or BBQ gun. Nothing for all show and no go . Guess that one reason if I was to buy a high priced firearms it would never be pretty too. I would rather have a quality black composite stock and matt finshed metal work hunting rifle over a fancy wood and some high gloss metal and wood version of the same firearm. Same for handguns. Function over looks.
 
Also, if you purchase a gun that you have no intention of keeping long term, it can be a safe queen. I have had many such guns that I purchased with no intention of really using other than for trade stock. Why ding up or possibly damage a gun that your going to sell/trade?
 
I have no use for a safe queen or BBQ gun. Nothing for all show and no go . Guess that one reason if I was to buy a high priced firearms it would never be pretty too. I would rather have a quality black composite stock and matt finshed metal work hunting rifle over a fancy wood and some high gloss metal and wood version of the same firearm. Same for handguns. Function over looks.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a "safe queen" is. All my so-called "safe queens" are very utilitarian, being, for the most part, military guns. And I make sure they're in workable order, too. It's not their fault that they don't get shot.
 
As a hunter,my guns values have been determined by their accuracy and suitability for the conditions of the hunt.None are exempt from firing.Its been this way for 58 years.
 
I have no "safe queens" if I am looking at gun that I feel would just sit there and not get used I always pass on it. And if I do have a gun that I don't shoot I usually sell it.
 
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