Essential Non-Essential Firearms

[Joe in PNG]

Unusable because of scarcity and value or, well:

Attachment 66086

Asking for a friend...

My Grandma's old break action 20ga comes to mind.

[Mitch]

Gotta have a bear gun no matter where you live.

[Lester Polfus]

Gotta have a bear gun no matter where you live.

Gun companies really should donate heavily to organizations that defend bears and their habitat.

[Whirlwind06]

I sold off most of my examples during The Great Sell-off of 2020 ™.

[mtnbkr]

Here at PF, we've made a list of the essential firearms that every American should own- a 1911, a K Frame S&W, a Glock, an AR-15.

But, as every gun owner knows, there's those guns we don't need, and really don't use that we all seem to wind up with in the safe at one time or another.

So, I would venture that every gun owner should either have, or should have possessed at some point in time one of the following:

-a Commie milsurp handgun that was cheap, but really unpleasant to shoot
-a Derp Tier plastic pocket pistol likewise
-the .40/.357sig inexpensive police trade in that you are going to convert to 9mm. Soon(tm)
-a .22lr semiauto version of the SMG you though looked cool, but doesn't really work
-that sub $400 1911 like object you thought you would learn gunsmithing on
-$400 of aftermarket 1911 parts that don't fit the above, and will never fit the above
-a Universal civilian M-1 Carbine that is kind of sad and disappointing in an unexplainable way
-your first attempt at building an AR-15, and is mainly a record of what not to do.
-a milsurp bolt action that's hidden under decades of cosmoline
-some kind of big thumping magnum handgun that you hate shooting, and can't really afford to shoot anyway
-a PPK that makes the big thumping magnum look pleasant
-Something in an odd caliber that lets you pretend that you'll get into reloading for it

I've managed to avoid all of those except the thumping magnum (phrasing?). To be honest, when I got into thumping magnums (phrasing!), I was capable of shooting them. Fifteen years later I no longer enjoy them. Casting and handloading makes them affordable (and enjoyable) though.

I sold my first home built AR during the Obama gun panic, but I followed the "best practices" at the time and wound up with a decent build that ran, so I guess it doesn't count.

There's also the pretty much unusable heirloom gun

I do have one of those. It's the single-shot 12 gauge that belonged to a great (or great great) grandfather. It's so loose it rattles.

ETA: The "something in an odd caliber..." category applies (32-20, 6.5x55, 35Whelen, etc), but I do load for them, so maybe not so much.

Chris

[rob_s]

There's also the pretty much unusable heirloom gun

I did not grow up with guns and shooting. And, while I know for a fact that there was a gun cabinet in at least one grandfather’s dining room with rifles in it, and at least one .45 on his boat(s), I am somewhat thankful that I don’t know what happened to any of those as I’d feel some obligation to hang on to them for no practical reason.

[Bergeron]

A copy of the first cheap .22 rifle you had as a kid.

Ha! I just got one of those.

I might add a crack-barrel shotgun as its own category.

[peterb]

I might add a crack-barrel shotgun as its own category.

Growing up rural, it seemed that a lot of folks had a single-shot .410 handy for pest control. I still have the one from my grandmother’s house. Or is that also the “useless heirloom”? ;-)

[Bergeron]

A single gun can fill multiple roles in this list, I suppose

[okie john]

There's also the pretty much unusable heirloom gun

I've got a Remington 700 in 7mm Mag that an uncle used for decades on his south Texas ranches. The bore is badly pitted, the rear sight is missing, the recoil pad is rock hard, and the web of the stock is cracked. The cost to make it usable again is probably double the cost to replace it.

I'm dropping it off with the smith later this month.


Okie John