Safe Queens

[GBExpat]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a "safe queen" is.

A few folks here clearly think that "Safe Queen" refers to a firearm acquired with no intention to ever fire/use it.

Most of us seem to think that a "Safe Queen" is one that sits in the gunsafe, very rarely, if ever, used, for whatever reason.

 

[herrwalther]

I only have one safe queen: A commemorative Para GI Expert 1911 that is engraved with detail of my last deployment. And not even that firearm is completely immune. I have fired exactly 57 rounds through it. And it still comes out from time to time when I miss the feel of a single stack. *Sigh* I really need another 1911 for carry.

 

[Paul7]

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.

I sell the guns I don't shoot anymore, have sold a bunch and don't miss them, too many new guns to try. Not only don't I have safe queens, I don't have a safe, but they're all insured. Unless you have grandpa's 1911 he carried on D-Day, I don't see the sense of getting emotionally attached to a thing.

 

[larryh1108]

I can see a safe queen as a hand-me-down gun from a loved one or a rare gun from years gone by that will increase in value over time.... kind of like gold sitting in your safe.

I don't have a gun that I've lost interest in and never shoot.... for whatever reason. I don't understand the mindset that you never sell one of your guns. It may work for some but the premise is lacking. If it has no collector value, if it isn't a family heirloom, if it doesn't fit your hand, or style, why keep it? The day will come when it goes to another home anyway unless you request you are buried with your entire collection. Yeah, don't sell it now 'just because" because when it is dumped when you pass on, I'm sure your heirs will get $.20 on the dollar.

I can see keeping your favorite hunting gun even though you haven't hunted in 15 years. You may get asked to go next year! However, that cheap gun that doesn't fit your hand or you can't shoot for crap will rot in your safe until you pass on. Why not sell it to someone who will appreciate and may even shoot it?

 

[Grassman]

Have a Remington 1100 that was the National Turkey Federation gun of the year, that I won a few years back, that I have not shot, and don't really intend to shoot. Guess that is my safe queen.

 

[jrdolall]

I don't understand the mindset that you never sell one of your guns. It may work for some but the premise is lacking. If it has no collector value, if it isn't a family heirloom, if it doesn't fit your hand, or style, why keep it?

I don't sell my kids either but one day they will move on to other places. I didn't say I wouldn't sell a gun. I actually did sell one last year to a relative that needed a carry gun. I don't need the money that I could gain by selling off my extras and a new safe is about $1,000 so I just buy a new one and rearrange the guns.

As to what my heirs will do with the guns when I am gone...I really don't care. I'll be dead and they can chunk them in the river for all the difference it will make to me at that point.

Once in a while I pull them all out and fondle some of the ones I never shoot. 100 year old rabbit ear double barrels. Old single shot shotguns. 100 year old S&W pistols. Multiple Mosins. Collector, hoarder, enthusiast whatever you prefer.

PS I have a bunch of cars too.

 

[huntsman]

Expensive ammo and nasty weather has turned all but my carry gun into safe queens

 

[gym]

There is always going to be something new that you want to try, if the old ones are just sitting there collecting dust, why not use them to buy a new one that will tweak your interest for a while. Nothing is forever and everything material is for sale at some time for some price.

 

[bushmaster1313]

This one is staying in the safe.




(until it get warm enough to take it to the trap club )

 

[Ky Larry]

Everything in my safe gets shot, including my Snakes. Having guns that are too pretty to shoot is like being married to Miss America and having seperate bedrooms. Whats the point?

 

[duck911]

Like the Stages of a Hunter I think in some cases the same applies to firearm ownership.

When I was 18 I owned exactly ONE weapon: a Remington 870. That gun shot every animal that moved, paddled a boat more than once, dug a 1984 Nissan pickup out of the mud, possibly whacked a dumb Labrador or two, and was spray painted on a weekly basis.

If you'd asked me then about safe queens I'd have laughed and told you I'd never own a gun I wouldn't be willing to use. And by use, I mean, abuse. I didn't have the money to buy a nice firearm, and I didn't fully contemplate the eventual reality of owning family history.

But over the years, I've matured, and things change. These days I have firearms that serve many purposes. Some are precision long range builds, and others are important family hand me downs and other firearms that are more rewarding to me to clean, handle, and reminisce over, rather than shoot.

Times change. Tastes change. Priorities change.

But that 870 is still my go to during bird season....

 

[astra600]

I have a sporterized Arisaka type 99 in 30-06 that my late father-in-law gave me. I have no interest in shooting it, but it's 'family'. I do have two Ruger MKII specials that I don't shoot. I have one in SS when I get the urge to shoot 22LR in an auto. I also have one of each type of action in the 22LR rifles, but I like to feel the push against my shoulder still. Except for the steyr-mannlicher.
Ouch.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have some unfired guns that are investments. I also have shooters just like them. If a shooter gets lost, stolen, or broken beyond repair, I would likely forgo any monetary gains, break out a unfired model and go to shootin'.

 

[Manny]

I've got several guns that haven't been fired yet, strictly due to lack of time and opportunity. I had the money to add several pieces but not the time to get out and enjoy them especially given the severe weather this winter. That will be rectified as the weather warms up as I don't believe in owning guns that don't have a purpose and don't get used.

 

[ohioshooter]

I'm like most that fall into the unintentional safe queen category. After you get so many and you can't make time to shoot them all, some end up staying it the safe but I have shot every gun that I own, just not as much as I wish I had time for. My most expensive ones I use for carry rather than sitting them in a safe.

 

[bannockburn]

I have a collection of guns but I'm not a collector as in keeping it nice and minty. Guns were meant to be used and I certainly adhere to that notion.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Anyone else immune to safe queens?

I am.............well my budget is anyway.

There are a lot of firearms I would like to have from a collecting standpoint. I love the old west stuff. I would love to have old 1st gen Colt SAAs, Civil War era cap and ball revolvers, Winchester, Spencers etc. and I would not fire them if I did.

But, I have champagne tastes and a Busch Light budget so it will be a while before I can get any of those.

 

[Agsalaska]

98% of my guns are safe queens. In fact I am in my 30s and have no plans on buying another gun to shoot. I have my SD pistol and revolver, my deer rifle and my shotgun. But I buy guns all the time and rarely if ever sell them. I specifically buy guns with the intention of putting them in the safe so their value appreciates over time. I also only buy guns at what I consider below market value. Its actually pretty easy to do as long as you are not buying new guns.

When I die my grandkids are going to think I was the coolest person ever to die when they open my safes.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

^ Hopefully they'll shoot the snot out of them.

 

[BELTFEDJASON]

My long story about a safe queen

I have 2 M1's I received from the CMP around 2003. One is a field grade HRA 5,800,000 or so with a LMR 1955 barrel, that is my shooter. It was fairly used when I got it but is works great. Just looks like it was used. The other is a service grade Springfield 5,8000,000 or so with a 1955 Springfield barrel and a Winchester bolt all other parts being Springfield. Stock has cartouches which are correct. The rifle appears to be unissued or at least unfired. There are no rebuild stamps on the receiver legs, other than that I have no really good idea of its history. I was kind of disappointed when I received the Springfield in a way as I am a shooter not a collector. And this rifle just was too nice to shoot, at least that's what I thought for the last 10 years. I also have the HRA to shoot so I just shot that one. Last week we were talking and my friend asked what were my plans for that Springfield M1? I never really thought about it. He made the point that at most it is a $1000 rifle and he has seen me shoot rifles which cost way more than that a lot, a really lot. I am not saving it for an investment, I am not saving it for my children to get to shoot it first, So I have decided to shoot my only "Safe Queen", but I will wait till it warms up a bit, kind of cold in WI this weekend!

 

[tarosean]

When I die my grandkids are going to think I was the coolest person ever to die when they open my safes.

Or it will be straight to the pawn shop. Lack of interested heirs is one of my main reasons to sell off a lot. Course my 4yr old daughter brought a box of Legos into the living room the other day and asked me to help her build a gun. So there is hope

 

[mavracer]

If you're talking unfired NIB I have none, if you're talking LNIB that don't get shot often I have quite a few.

 

[G'dale Mike]

I have guns i shoot, but i also have several pristine pre 64's , unfired, that will remain that way. Hard to find "brand new" unfired 50 year old firearms. However, i definitely will be purchasing a few pre 64's that are nice, but have been used so i can have the pleasure of hunting over a classic firearm

 

[gym]

I personally never saw the allure of having a gun and not using it. May as well not have it. If I wanted to just look at it I would get a nice picture of a gun, and frame it. That goes with pretty much anything I own or possess. If someone spent their time on building a great gun, the least I can do is shoot it.
Maybe with coins or stamps that will be sold for a higher price if unmarked, but I don't look at guns that way. They were made to fulfill a purpose. The artist or builder wanted to make his gun better than other similar guns of that period, unless it's a one of a kind, that I purchased as an investment, it's getting fired.

 

[buck460XVR]

IMO, having a gun you don't shoot is like having a good bird dog you never take hunting. That said, I know lots of folks that compete in AKC shows with pointers that have never seen a gun, much less know what a Timberdoodle is. Different strokes for different folks. You money, your firearm, use it as you please and let others do the same.