What's a Safe Queen to You??

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crestoncowboy said:
It doesn't offend me at all just to hear the term "safe queen" unless the negative connotation is there, and often it is.
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Agreed... My childhood gun is a "safe queen" as is my first 'big boy" gun. Along with several inherited guns.
Just think my 1960's Glenfield Mod. 60 gets priority over my custom engraved Pistol. :eek:
 
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The only safe queens I own are family guns I inherited. Some are wall hangers, and some I just don't feel the need to take out and shoot but I won't get rid of them due to the personal history behind them.

Most of my "accumulation" are shooters. However, the only reason I don't have more safe queens is that I lack the cash. If I could afford it, I would pack my hovel to the rafters with collectible firearms.....:evil:
 
Something that has too high of a sentimental or monetary value where I don't want to shoot it. I have a commemorative 1911. It is a budget model 1911, Para GI Expert. It has had exactly 50 rounds (one box) of 45 through it. To me, that is my safe queen.
 
I have 2 safe queens, a M1 Inland 30 Carbine, that got my father back, from WWII, and my grandfather's Colt 45, with holster, that got him back safe, from WWI. And by the way, they aren't that way, because of worth, but respect for what they mean to me. They are taken out to be cleaned and admired, but not shot.
 
I've got some odd ducks, but they are all shooters. Don't shoot all of them all the time.
Probably won't get rid of many of them, either.

Take my '03 Springfield. Every now and then I like to throw a group into a target at 100 yards.
Sometimes I even take it hunting. I'd never get rid of it. But it sits in the safe a lot. Same thing
with the Garand.

Sometimes the "safe queen" is getting a time out for bad behavior. It needs accurizing, and it just
sits there, till I get around to correcting whatever problem it has.
 
I was just telling my daughter this evening that probably 25% of my accumulation I have never fired. None are valuable and only 3 have any real sentimental value but I would never sell any of them. I have a growing family and plan on passing down guns to each of my kids and their kids and hopefully even their kids kids.
 
A $2000 Colt Python pretty much exemplifies the safe queen category. A safe queen is a gun that the owner is either afraid or unwilling to shoot for some reason. Usually that reason is the fear of it losing value. Safe queens are owned by safe kings. Guys who brag about revolvers that don’t have turn lines on the cylinders are safe kings.

In a previous life I was a news photographer. I always wanted a rangefinder Leica camera for use in places like courtrooms where the clunk of an SLR shutter could get you tossed out. Unfortunately I never got the chance to own one because the collectors would snap them up and put them on a shelf somewhere. They drove up the prices to the point working photogs couldn’t afford one in decent working condition. Those guys were safe kings. The same thing exists today in certain segments of the gun world.

If I possessed a gun that was too valuable to shoot it would also be too valuable for me to keep and would be sold as soon as I could find a buyer.
 
I have a couple (had a few more before 2008 [:(] ).
Safe queen, for me, is easy to define: Arms I'm not inclined to sell but disinclined to shoot.

That takes several forms. Like my Camp45. It was sidelined for some long while until I got a Blackjack buffer for it. Which moved it up in the rotation. It's fun to shoot, but less so to clean. The latter has it moved kind of the back of the safe. My Beretta .25 is similar. It's a silly gun, but, it's not really worth the effort to sell, and I might have to arm a little old lady or a librarian some day, so, it stays.
 
Berretta 84FS I inherited from my best friend of over 25 yrs when he passed away in 2000. Its been heavily fired and the internals have started to peen.
 
In a way most of my guns are safe queens - in some way. They are kept in a safe and most get the royal treatment. However, I shoot them all but wth a lot of care given to packing them for the range visit and giving them a careful cleaning. I have more money tied up in guns than my house is worth and will not want to depreciate their value through negligence.

My carry guns, mostly Glock, are different. I care for them as much as for my fine tools and kitchen utensils but they show hard use.
 
I don’t consider historical or collectible guns safe queens if they get shot at least a couple times a year. Part of it is wanting to preserve their condition.

If the gun is modern and doesn’t get shot, that is a safe queen.
 
Here's another. Never fired after proof testing. Never will be fired again. I have another C-96 to play with.
 

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No queens here, my firearms are all males dripping with copius amounts of testosterone - all are shot as frequently as possible.and always given lots of TLC.
 
WiTom said:
I have 2 safe queens, a M1 Inland 30 Carbine, that got my father back, from WWII, and my grandfather's Colt 45, with holster, that got him back safe, from WWI. And by the way, they aren't that way, because of worth, but respect for what they mean to me. They are taken out to be cleaned and admired, but not shot.
Click to expand...

I also have my grandfathers 1911 and holster that he brought back from the the first war. It is not a safe queen as I shoot it on a regular basis.
 
I do have a safe queen. A Ruger No. 1 in 7mm Rem mag. I doubt I will ever shoot it again. Anyone in need of a Ruger No. 1?
 
I have a Mel Smart built Model 70 in .35 Whelen that was built for my dad for his Canadian moose hunts. He gave it to me years ago and it's worth quite a bit of money. How much, I don't know. To have one built like it by Mel Smart's current gunsmith shop would be over $17k.

I took it hunting a couple of times for elk, but was just paranoid of damaging it the whole time. So now it resides safely in a gun vault at an undisclosed location. Beautiful rifle with sentimental value...

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My Safe Queens are mostly guns that I inherited or were gifted to me from Family. I have shot them but the nicer ones are not everyday shooters to me. Things like my Dad's 2nd Generation Single Action Army that he only shot once and I only shot once. Or his Colt Woodsman Match Target. A few others are things like his shotgun that he hunted with for years that I just don't shoot regularly. Most of the ones that I personally purchased, either on a whim or for investment purposes were sold during the shortages of 2007-2009.
 
I don't really target shoot anymore, so everything in my safe is for hunting.
Did buy a factory checkered 10/22 sporter (fingergroove) a few years back.
Not mint, but too nice to ding up hunting.
It occupied a spot in the safe for a while. Sold it to make room for something else.
If I aint shooting it, it goes bye bye.
At least I have room for a Ruger #1 A now :)
Off to the gunshow to see if there's anything else I "need".
 
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