"Ratgun" anyone?

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Creeper

New member
So I'm sitting here, watching "My Classic Car" on the tube, and they're doing a story about the "Beatersville" car show... I think in Louisville, KY.

We all know what a "ratrod" is. A DIY hotrod with a nice patina of primer, rust, grease and baked on roadkill bits. Usually, they go like a sumbitch, are noisy, may have lawn chairs for seats, don't handle well... but give you the warm fuzzies all over.

Does anyone have, what they would consider, a "ratgun"? Something that is so ugly you'd have trouble giving it away, let alone selling it... but, and this is the big but, it's a gun you love, shoot often and perhaps even carry every day?

I just gave my favorite ratgun to my daughter... a Star PD .45ACP that, even though has nearly all the blue worn off, and most of the checkering worn off the grips as well, shoots 2.5" at 25 yds all day and never once failed to fire in over 20 years of carry... and for them that know what a Star PD is, the frame is still in good shape!
My last remaining ratgun is a .32ACP Seecamp that actually survived a fire in '95, and I never bothered to get all the smoke stains and interesting coloring off of it. I did break down and buy a new set of grips because the originals were kinda melty... but other than that, it's got all the ugly, all the time.

A friend has a gen 1 Glock 17 that looks like the dog used it for a chew toy... then tossed it into a chemical fire. I'm going to e-mail him and see if he'll post a pic.

Anyone else? Pics would rock! :D

C
 
M

mrt949

New member
Smith Wesson M 60 Chief Special. Gave it too the daughter cut the front sight off for some unknown reason 20+years ago ..Made it look like a magna port bulldog .
 
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L

Lost Sheep

New member
I have a Star PD I bought new in the '70s. 100% condition Largely because I never carry it, but it shoots as well as my Gold Cup. (How does THAT happen!?)

A seriously under-rated pistol, in my opinion.

Lost Sheep
 
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Lost Sheep

New member
mrt949 said:
Smith Wesson M 60 Chief Special. Gave it too the daughter cut the front sight off for some unknown reason 20+years ago .It's a point and shoot .
Click to expand...
Perhaps the prior owner took the common advice given in my area when someone is carrying a gun too light for bear protection, "File of the front sight off so it doesn't hurt so much when the bear shoves it up your a**."

Filing down the hammer is common enough to ensure a snag-free draw, but unless the front sight has an undercut, it seems like someone just did not apply common sense.

Lost Sheep
 
C

Creeper

New member
I love PDs. IMO, the best gun Star ever made... with one little flaw. Thankfully, I have a few buffers in my stash, so my daughter should be good to go for at least a decade or two.

I suppose the Firestar was a technically better gun... but it just doesn't have the panache of a PD.

I'd be happy to buy yours at the same price I bought mine new in '88... $275 + tax. :D:D:D Actually, I'd probably pay $400 for a nice one and be very happy.

Cheers,
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9

9mm

New member
So, ratgun = old ugly beat up gun? Go to a gun show and by a SXS for $150 or LGS has single shot 20/12g for $85.


Or look for a used Hipoint $100<+-/ That can be your ratgun. :D
 
C

Creeper

New member
I considered putting this in the general guns forum and including rifles and shotguns, then thought better of it. Limited to handguns, with a stipulation of "it's a gun you love, shoot often and perhaps even carry every day".

Cheers,
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S

Sharpsdressed Man

Moderator
For in the trunk? Under the seat? Something to have with you to shoot whenever, and never have to worry about it? I'd recommend a used, but well taken care of .22 revolver of some sort. My brother lucked into a S&W K-22, dated to 1953, from a granddaughter of the deceased, previous owner. She just wanted to get rid of it. Brother bought it for $200. I had to give him $325 (he needed the money), but it is easily worth $450 or more, so I didn't whine too much. A little freckling, and VERY minor exterior pinprick pitting, but mostly still blued. It shot dead on at 25 yards, and produced a 1 1/2" group. I couldn't ask for more in a "ratgun" for plinking, small game, etc. And since it is worn, it can ride in a holster in the truck, and always be ready for plinking at the range, or a day on someone's farm, etc. Maybe not a defensive gun of choice, but you need a .22, too, right? I could see any old Ruger or Taurus revolver taking its place, or a worn Ruger .22 auto, Browning, or other auto, too.
 
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WC145

New member
I built this ratgun out of a bag of 1911 parts that I picked up for $150. It's got an Essex frame, a 1940s Colt slide, an old Springfield barrel and Para grips. I traded the rest of the bag of parts to a gunsmith friend in exchange for a new recoil spring and extractor and a bit of fitting and throat work. It ran like a champ and was surprisingly accurate. I was using it for a yard work gun and figured to keep it but was offered more than double what I had in it so now it has a new owner.

SDC11874.JPG
 
B

brazosdave

New member
I guess for both size and lack of general care, it would be an old Phoenix Raven .25 acp I carry around in my car, or pocket, depending. It lived in a dresser drawer for a few years, actually basically forgot I had it. Got bored a couple yrs ago and use it to play darts with, using bullets instead of darts (yeah, I used to drink, ALOT). It is kinda beat up looking, but it never jams, so it qualifies as reliable. Not the first choice in a defense gun, but for in your pocket or car console, anything is better than nothing, and I myself would hate to be shot at close range by it. So ratgun it is!
 
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aarondhgraham

New member
That would be my Dad's .22 rifle,,,

That would be my Dad's .22 rifle,,,
It is some store brand single-shot bolt cation.

The stock cracked so he whittled one from a pine 1 x 8,,,
The front sight went missing so he drifted a brass screw and "sharpened" it,,,
The firing pin broke so he fashioned one from a nail he beat flat on a piece of railroad track.

He sat in the living room of his cabin and popped squirrels through the screen door,,,
The distance was maybe 50 feet from his chair to his bird feeder,,,
He never missed one as far as I know of,,,
I couldn't hit the tree with it.

Pop passed away in January of this year,,,
That was the one and only firearm he had left.

I have it mounted on a piece of driftwood in my living room.

I guess you could call it a ratgun,,,
It's pretty ratty. ;)

Aarond

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M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
along those lines... would be my 1st... shotgun...

I was the oldest of 3 boys... my dad's father died, when he was just a little kid, & his mother, was a nurse, & very anti gun... my dad ended up slightly anti gun... not that he was totally against them, only that he never had the chance to shoot one, & knew nothing about them

so... when I started begging for a gun at 14-15... my father finally relented & bought me an old Stevens single shot .410... funny thing, he was so worried about safety, buying me the smallest single shot, but the gun was so worn out, that the safety didn't even work... as a kid, I stripped off the scratched & nasty old finish, & just put an oil stain with no other finish...

sad thing ( as far as I was concerned ) was the very next Christmas my then 2 year & 4 year younger brothers also got shotguns... my next youngest got a bolt action 12 ga, my youngest a bolt action 20 ga with a poly choke & detach mag... me... I kept the old worn out single shot .410

it got put into a closet & my brother ended up taking it after we all moved out... a couple years ago, he asked if I wanted my old shotgun back... well duh... yes I wanted it back... I had my machinist buddy fix the safety, otherwise I left as I had finished it as a kid...

it's my "rat gun" both litterally & figuratively
 
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