Most unusual gun you own and how you got it

[Chuck McDonald]

Unusual

Most unusual.... I suppose that depends on how you define "unusual."

One definition might be my French Mle. 1866 Needle gun, wiht the needle etc still in good shape. Given to me by my German landlord in the 1970s... his grandfather brought it back from the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. Unfortunately when I was assigned to Germany the second time, my Father let some clown polish it for me.... He thought he was doing something nice... oh well...

Another definition might be a S&W M60 with an unfluted cyl....only 200 made.

Or perhaps that wonder of Victorian Engineering the Webley-Forsberry automatic-revolver (Eat your heart out Mataba.)

FWIW

Chuck

 

[Marko Kloos]

Don't have any super-rare guns in my collection. The most "unusual" is probably the S&W Model 19, 4", round butt. The 4" barreled 19s all came with square butt frames, except two small batches made for the U.S. State Department, and the Office of Naval Intelligence. Some of them ended up on the used market, and the one I got landed in the used gun section of a local gun store. I picked it up for a song and a dance without realizing just how uncommon that factory configuration is.

I also have a Chinese Norinco M59 Makarov, the rarest of Mak variants. Only very few were imported into the country, and I bought mine from a dealer at a gun show for $80.

 

[BigD]

Thats an incredible story Hemi.

My sentiments exactly. I'm actually choked up. <sniff>

 

[Mark D]

I have a factory desert camo HK-91. Walked into the gunshop one day and the thing said, "BUY ME!" So I did. Oh... I have a black one too.

 

[Steyr]

most unusual

For me its a .577 Snider-Enfield.
Bought it on the urging of a friend who'd found it in a local gunshop at a good price.
Ganged up on by himself and another buddy who already owned one.
As he'd already done most of the legwork over a few years,and knew where to find cases,bullets,etc.,I went for it.
Lotsa fun,dirty,messy,BP.,can't hit a barn unless I'm inside it.
But a hoot to shoot

 

[Cap n ball]

1761 English 'New Land Pattern' horse pistol 58 cal. Handed down to me along with powder horns. All original. Only gets fired on the 4th of July after a reading of the Declaration of Independence. It was given to my 3 times great grandfather who was an officer on General Wayne's staff at the end of the Revolutionary War.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I was at a gun show and I saw this unusual looking 1911. The dealer walked up and said "You've never seen a Seecamp conversion have you?" (That's a DA conversion of a 1911 done by Colt) His was a 38 super done in the 70's. Well I SHOULD have bought that one, as the going rate was something like $600.

I dreamt about that wierd looking Colt. I decided I had to have one. Lo and behold, I saw an ad in the Shotgun news. Gunparts Corp. was selling ODI/Viking Seecamp frame kits for $200. So I quickly ordered one through my FFL buddy.. next came a 1991 upper, beavertail, extended safety, screws, springs, etc etc etc. then came paying Qualitie Pistol & Revolver to build it.

I dubbed the franken gun "La Machine" cuz its big ugly and parkerized. I shot it in competition for a while but the darn thing is a jam-a-matic at times. (You should see the looks when you lower the hammer, then put it on "safe") DA pull is a crisp 14 pounds I have to replace the springs a lot. Considering what I spent on the thing, I wish it was a better piece. But its fun and very few people have one.

 

[Crimper-D]

3 barrel "Volley Gun"

Figures that anything this wierd would have to be French Called a "Buffalo" - a 3 barrel .22LR that was made to let off all 3 loads simultaneously! It had shotgun type sights, so my guess is it was for long shots at flying targets. It 'patterned' a rough triangle about 3" at about 75yds.
Noisey, but no recoil to speak of.

Belonged to a friends dad who had worked for the State Department. Odd? ...Definately

 

[DadOfThree]

Hemi,
Very touching story. Make sure to pass the story along as well as the gun.

 

[ACP230]

I have an Smith M38 that was a MI State Police issue revolver. It has the light alloy frame and a stainless cylinder. I like odd guns and this one is odd enough for me. KY Imports had them for sale and I finally picked one up.

 

[TexasVet]

The most unusual is the ex-Texas Ranger 45-70 trapdoor with the barrel shortened and stock cut down like a Mannlicher full stocked sporting carbine. Checkered on the right side only of the grip (also has one of those bolt-on "officers" pistol grips) and the left side only of the forearm. And a big Texas star carved on the right side of the buttstock.

The rarest is the Colt Berdan Rifle. It is the factory pattern-room model gun for the 45-70 version of the Russian .41 Berdan that Colt never put in production. A Colt model gun is basically the one that was made by hand to use to make the production line gauges off of. It has little "m"'s on every part. I chased this gun for 5 years from gunshow to gunshow until the seller finally admitted that I was the only person showing an interest and asked "how much CAN you pay?". Persistance counts, I got a zero knocked off the first price I had seen.

 

[butchb243]

Not too unusual but different , Winchester 52 sporter not 52b not 52c & not 52d . Just plain old 52 sporter with very low (1xxx ) serial no. & original sling.

 

[bobs1066]

Model 1917 S&W revolver in 45ACP with a Brazilian army crest on it....it was part of a batch made in the 1930's for export.

 

[Rembrandt]

Have many unique pieces in the collection....my two favorites are a Browning 9mm Renaissance High Power....took nearly 15 years to acquire, long story. Then there is one that has some special meaning and another long story, a Custom Volquartsen 10/22 that Chuck Heston autographed the stock for me with a nice little personal note...