Time machine-but only 5 guns, cannot sell them.

[jim in Anchorage]

If you could go back in time (different eras OK but only 5 guns total) and buy anything new-cost no object buy what you want - and live the experience of buying say a cased pair of 1873 Colts in 1874.
Yes you can bring them back to 2017.
You would have the incredible experience of-
Buying the gun new-no question of original finish or if the factory offered this.
Talking to retailers of the day-I want one of those new 1894 Winchester levers in 38-55. What engraving can I get?

I say you can't sell it because I have no interest in profit. Yes I am aware that you could buy a new m-16 for 600 bucks in 1985 and sell it for tons of money today. Well a 2017 made m-16 is about the same as a 1985 m-16 that sells for a billion dollars so who cares? You have a time machine!
I'll start-
A 1886 Winchester carbine. Early color case hardened model in 50-110. Engraved with a moose and scroll work.
A 1874 Sharps in 45-120. Cased with accessorys.
A cased pair of the civlin numbered Colt walkers. Consecutive #s.
A 1936 made Winchester model 70 super grade carbine in 7.65 Argentina(yes they made a few)

Well that's 5. Yours?

 

[bannockburn]

Let's see...Start with a Colt Single Action Army serial number 1 (I believe it's in someone's collection currently), one of those beautifully engraved Winchester "One of a Thousand" lever action rifles, A Ferguson Rifle, courtesy of Major Patrick Ferguson of His Royal Majesty's Army during our Revolutionary War. A Thompson Submachine Gun Model 1928 and a Beretta Model 93R Machine Pistol.

 

[Bbear]

Handgun would be one of the few Lugers in 45 acp.
Model 94 Win in 30 Winchester
Model 99 Savage in 22 Hi-Power
Any of the Newton bolt action rifles in 256 or 30 Newton caliber
Colt Walker

 

[badkarmamib]

C96 Mauser
Your 1874 Sharps 45-120, if I get there first
M1 Garand
1903 Springfield
1873 SAA w/ 5.5" Barrel

 

[Walkalong]

5 full auto guns.

 

[lpsharp88]

I'm with Walkalong. Assuming I can keep what I currently have, I'd pick out 5 full autos of varying flavors. BAR, Thompson, M14, M2 carbine, and maybe a 93r

 

[Ranger Roberts]

5 full auto guns.

And a box full of registered DIAS's! Technically they are accessories and not guns. I recently saw one sell for $28k! Those things cost about a $1 to make.

 

[TrickyDick]

STG44

C96

Luger P08

SVT40

SVD

 

[P5 Guy]

Gas trap M1, S&W registered Magnum, Ithaca 37 riot gun, Maxim gun, M2 Carbine.

 

[JohnBiltz]

This is fantasy so I'd say my first 3 would be Victorian era Purdeys. A nice engraved Side by side shot gun. A double rifle with matching Howdah pistol with matching engraved African hunting scenes.
A '30s Thompson
A Civil War Gatling gun, I mean one actually used in the Civil War.

 

[Armored farmer]

How about some double rifles?

 

[entropy]

5 Walkers. I might not be able to sell them, but it'd set my family up for generations.

 

[WestKentucky]

5 is tough...but doable. Sharps in 45-110 is at the top of the list. Schofield revolver is up there too. 1927a1 Thompson with a few sticks and a couple drums would be really nice. Throw in a colt revolving rifle for good measure. Last but not least would be a Remington model 11 trench gun following ww2. I think I have my bases covered...if artillery pieces are available I'll take a bofors instead of the model 11 and a whitworth instead of the schofield.

 

[AlexanderA]

In this scenario, anything full auto is not doable. Let's say you go back before 1934 and buy, for example, a hardware-store Thompson for $250. You'd have to make a stop in July or August of 1934 to register it (or at least in November 1968 to register it under the amnesty). Under whose name would you register it? Obviously not your own because you haven't been born yet. What about registering it in the name of an ancestor? Then who would possess it from that day to this? There has to be a chain of custody. You get the picture.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

In this scenario, anything full auto is not doable. Let's say you go back before 1934 and buy, for example, a hardware-store Thompson for $250. You'd have to make a stop in July or August of 1934 to register it (or at least in November 1968 to register it under the amnesty). Under whose name would you register it? Obviously not your own because you haven't been born yet. What about registering it in the name of an ancestor? Then who would possess it from that day to this? There has to be a chain of custody. You get the picture.

Good point. It made my head hurt thinking about it
Anyway after some thought I want to swap one of my Colt Walkers for a 1795 Springfelid musket.

 

[Tommygunn]

In this scenario, anything full auto is not doable. Let's say you go back before 1934 and buy, for example, a hardware-store Thompson for $250. You'd have to make a stop in July or August of 1934 to register it (or at least in November 1968 to register it under the amnesty). Under whose name would you register it? Obviously not your own because you haven't been born yet. What about registering it in the name of an ancestor? Then who would possess it from that day to this? There has to be a chain of custody. You get the picture.

The first thing you do is create a new time line where the NFA never existed. I won't tell how this is done.....but if successful, you get your BARs, Tommyguns, Greaseguns, Uzis, M-14s all taken care of, no questions asked, no problem.

 

[JohnBiltz]

This is fantasy so I'd say my first 3 would be Victorian era Purdeys. A nice engraved Side by side shot gun. A double rifle with matching Howdah pistol with matching engraved African hunting scenes.
A '30s Thompson
A Civil War Gatling gun, I mean one actually used in the Civil War.

If I can't get a Thompson, then I will add a Winchester 1873 one of one thousand. The Gatling gun is not an automatic weapon so still should be good.

You guys are crazy not to get some high end English double rifles or shotguns. You can buy houses for what they are worth today. A matched double rifle and howdah would be insane.

 

[Walkalong]

In this scenario, anything full auto is not doable. Let's say you go back before 1934 and buy, for example, a hardware-store Thompson for $250. You'd have to make a stop in July or August of 1934 to register it (or at least in November 1968 to register it under the amnesty). Under whose name would you register it? Obviously not your own because you haven't been born yet. What about registering it in the name of an ancestor? Then who would possess it from that day to this? There has to be a chain of custody. You get the picture.

For anyone who can time travel this should be easy enough. Besides, this is fantasy after all.

 

[Walkalong]

You guys are crazy not to get some high end English double rifles or shotguns.

Dang good idea! Forgot about double rifles. Yea, gotta get one of those.

 

[lysanderxiii]

If you could go back in time (different eras OK but only 5 guns total) and buy anything new-cost no object buy what you want - and live the experience of buying say a cased pair of 1873 Colts in 1874.
Yes you can bring them back to 2017.
You would have the incredible experience of-
Buying the gun new-no question of original finish or if the factory offered this.
Talking to retailers of the day-I want one of those new 1894 Winchester levers in 38-55. What engraving can I get?

I say you can't sell it because I have no interest in profit. Yes I am aware that you could buy a new m-16 for 600 bucks in 1985 and sell it for tons of money today. Well a 2017 made m-16 is about the same as a 1985 m-16 that sells for a billion dollars so who cares? You have a time machine!
I'll start-
A 1886 Winchester carbine. Early color case hardened model in 50-110. Engraved with a moose and scroll work.
A 1874 Sharps in 45-120. Cased with accessorys.
A cased pair of the civlin numbered Colt walkers. Consecutive #s.
A 1936 made Winchester model 70 super grade carbine in 7.65 Argentina(yes they made a few)

Well that's 5. Yours?

The real value of firearms has not increased faster that inflation, So, what would you buy them with?

It sure wouldn't be 2016 dollar bills? And, the price of gold in 1985 was $350/oz, today it's $1000/oz, so it still costs about 2 oz of gold for a pre-1985 semi-automatic AR....

Machine guns are a different matter, so five class 3 things....

 

[tark]

Fantastic thread, Jim. And thanks again and thousand times more for the .32 rimfire.

I'm guessing what you had in mind with this thread was guns you could actually buy in a store at whatever time you went back to. Some of the choices here were never sold to the public, like that gas trap Garand. I don't think guns currently in private collections should count either, Like Model Shop Garand #5, John's Garand's personal gun. Billy Pyle's got that one, at least if he's still with us. T.R.s 405 is another example. That gun was never sold to the public. The model was, but it wasn't T.R.s gun until T.R. bought it, and after that it stayed in the family. A thread about what are the 5 most valuable guns on the planet might be interesting. That one would start with the derringer that shot Lincoln. So I have two lists, but all are guns you could actually purchase at the time they were made.

If I were just trying to amass wealth, my list would be:

Walker Colt,
Winchester 1876 one of 100. (Yes, there is such a thing. Only a handful made. There is one in the Cody Museum.)
Thomas Bland 4 bore single rifle. Only a handful in existence.
4 bore rifle by James Purdy & Sons in any configuration. If you count the number left in existence with your fingers you wouldn't get to the second hand
Iron framed Henry

If I just wanted cool guns to admire and maybe shoot occasionally.

A1911 Commercial with a low serial number.
An early hogleg with a 7 1/2 " barrel.
Colt D/B Rifle. (I think they were all 45-70s) Made briefly in the 1880s
Remington #5 Rolling Block in 30-40. Very few ever made.
H&H Royal Grade double rifle in 577- 3" Nitro Express. I have fired one. You don't forget that.

 

[jmorris]

Easy, keep the history books I have now and go back and get 5 from the most impactful assassinations right before they occurred.

I would have something that money couldn't buy at any price.

 

[Mike OTDP]

I'll play. First stop is London in 1800 to have Robert Wogdon make me a pair of flintlock duelling pistols. Second stop is still London, but 1815, for a case of Manton flint duellers. Third stop is Paris in 1865-70, for a pair of Gastinne-Renette percussion target pistols. Fourth is probably Pennsylvania in 1815 for a longrifle (double set triggers, .40 caliber). Fifth is most likely a Remington 1863 revolver.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

Great posts all but I would like to keep value $ out of this. After all I could go back in time and buy Microsoft stock and make money.
That's not what I'm after. I'm talking about living the expierance of buying say a brand new Paterson Colt.
Tark-
real glad you're happy with the .32 RF. Soon as I fire up the time machine again I'll buy you a few cases!

 

[jrmiddleton425]

If you could go back in time ...cost no object buy what you want -

Good deal. This could be my favorite thread ever.
1.) Holland & Holland side-by-side 20-gauge.
Specifications:
*"Royal" or "Round-action Sidelock," doesn't matter. A good photo of my Golden Retriever engraved on it and the engraving gold-inlaid.
*26-inch barrel, IC and Mod equivalent chokes. Second set of barrels choked Full and Full.
*Right hand, cross-dominate eye stock. 12-inch length of pull to shoot sitting in a wheelchair.

2.) Holland & Holland Bolt-Action Magazine Rifle. .30-06, sight leaves for 50, 100, and 200 yards. Same right-hand, cross-dominate eye stock as on the shotgun. 30-inch barrel (because I can).
**Doesn't matter if I time travel to get #1 and #2, so long as I don't book passage back to America on the Titanic.

3.) S&W Registered Magnum .357, 4-inch barrel. While bumming around Springfield in the 1930's, go meet John Garand.

4.) CZ-75B 9mm. Alessi Bodyguard shoulder holster. (Have this one. It's going with me, anywhere, any TIME PERIOD!)

5.) .30 M2 Carbine. USGI sling, a PILE of ammo and mags.