Your favorite old gun (pre-1960)

[Commygun]

1960 was the year I was born so anything older than that
has to be really, really old.Seriously though, I've only been heavily into guns for about 13 years but I've had many
pre-war guns pass through my hands. The one I will never
get rid of is a very nice Lee-Enfield N0.1 Mk.3 made by
Birmingham Small Arms and dated 1912. Given it's year of
manufacture I find it fascinating to imagine where it might
of been in it's existence. Mons, the Somme, Cambrai, Dunkirk, El Alamein, Normandy, Imphal and an almost endless
variety of places and events are encompassed by this rifle's
period of service. Mine probably guarded a motor pool in
Ottawa for all I know but I still find it remarkable that
it made it's way into my suburban gun safe. An old battle
rifle is about as an evocative piece of history as most of
us are likely to hold. So what's your favorite over-40?

 

[radom]

That would be a long list even not including my 11mm mauser. My Enfield SLR even as a 1958 date on it,

 

[Jim V]

So many.......

to pick from but I would guess the Ithaca 1911A1 built in '43. I carried it as my duty pistol - off duty too - with my first department. It kept me safe and I kept it clean. After well over 300,000 rounds I have retired it and now carry a Norinco 1911.

 

[Ironbarr]

Mine...

My .22 and my 12-gauge compete for the title of favorite. The .22 is a Winchester Mod 02-22 patented in 1889 and, according to best info was born in 1904. Single shot, Bolt, .22 Short-Long-Extra Long - Still a great squirrel gun. Gifted.

The 12 is an H&R Topper. Single bbl, full choke. Bought it 1948 - I was 15. - Paid $16.

-Andy

 

[beemerb]

1903A3 made in 1944 and my S&W I frame made between 1906 and 09.I shoot both and love them.

 

[Herodotus]

Well, if it the shear pleasure of the places and battles that it MIGHT have been in, its got to be the military rebuilds that one can pick up for a fraction of the cost of the true "museum quality" rifle that take the prize.
For shear depth of possibilities, my Model 1903 Turk Mauser, rebuilt in 1936, is hard to beat. The places and events in which it could have been present sometime in the Ottoman/Turkish service between 1903 and 1936 are awsome. And it got pretty beat up after the rebuild! A lot of people don't know much about Turk history, but they fought an incredible number of campaigns on far flung fronts during this period: the Balkans, the Caucusus, Mesopotamia, Palestine/Arabia/Syria, Gallipoli, then the break up of the Empire and finally a nasty war with the Greeks.
I've got Waffen Fabrik Mauser Obendorf 1915 Gew 98 action for some future custom project. It could have been just about anywhere the Germans fought during WW1 and I wonder how it got to be just an action, not a rifle. The finish is far from pristine, so it must have been used hard.
Another I wonder about is a Springfield 1903, Mark I, built in 1920 and rebuilt in 1942 during WWII. It's in great condition and probably didn't see any action after the rebuild, but it must have seen hard service somewhere between 1920 and 1942 to justiy the rework.
This type of rifle will never equal the "as issued" arm on the markets (which I fully understand) but my how they can bring on the fantasies, especially when abetted by a little research in to the times they were in service.

 

[Dark Avenger]

Garand M-1. Built in 1942 in Springfield Mass., and then reconditioned in 1951 at the Rock Island Armory.

A pleasure to shoot, 1.5" groups at 100' using 1952 Twin Cities surplus .30-06. She looks great to boot. I wish I had a few more!

 

[glockten]

My FN-49 in 8mm Mauser.

 

[Tamara]

I'd have to say...

...the 1930's commercial-production Broomhandle Mauser I wish I'd never sold.

One that I'd love to just see and hold in person would be an English Adams double rifle from the early 1800's, used by troops in India.


____________
"Now in Injia's sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A'servin of Her Majesty, the Queen."

 

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's All:

Well, it's gone now (traded a few years back); but if I could get it again, it would be a 2-1/2" barrel Colt Python from 1959 with serial #29554. This firearm was purchased NIB
by a doctor, here in my hometown for the sum of $125.00. I'm
not exactly sure the price is correct; but that's what I was
told my his family?

Regards,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[Dave R]

Makes me sad to even write about it.

My dad inherited his uncle's rifle. A Winchester 1894 made sometime near the turn of the century. Unusual in a couple of respects. Looong barrel. Maybe 26"? Octagonal, of course; the gun was original. Caliber was .32-40. Rare, but flatter-shooting than the more common .44-40.

Dad had it checked out by a smith when I was 12. It was the first center-fire long arm I ever shot. First time he ever shot it, too. The first group I shot was about 3" at 100 yards with the buckhorn sights. The front sight pretty much covered the black. The sights were right on after who knows how many years since the last shooting.

The reason I don't have all the details? During my first year of college, the gun was stolen from our house. Probably by a "friend" of my brother. I pity the guy.

 

[TexasVet]

1870 Alexander-Henry Falling Block in .577-.450 Martini-Henry Cal. It's slightly ahead of the 1870 Colt-Berdan in .45-70 (1 of 20 built). Then the 6 or 7 Martini-Henrys and Sniders I've got hanging around here. Now there is some history to think about! Rourke's Drift, Kabul to Kandahar, the Sudan, Red River war in Canada, Nepal, all of Victoria's Little Wars!

 

[LawDog]

Colt SAA, calibre .41 Colt, serial number 187XXX.

It was my great grand uncles 'church gun' that he bought during a cattle drive up North. Despite only being worn on special occasions, he used it during at least one difficulty that we know of.

LawDog

 

[DDS]

Remington model 51 .380 pistol. The grip is great and the unique breech block action is impressive. Also need another breech block if someone has one!

 

[kjm]

Can there be any doubt? The M1 Garand hails from the only era of United States history where our government insured that the GI would be armed with the undisputed finest rifle on the battlefield. If you don't own one, I suggest you pick one up from CMP before they're all gone. I have no doubt that the Garand would still be relevant on the battlefield today in the hands of a TRAINED RIFLEMAN (do we even have any of those left?). The Garand is a pretty neat gun.
Next I would say the '98 Mauser. Prior to the '98, there wasn't much in the way of battle rifles. PP Mauser's design revolutionized the military and sporting arms industry, and we are still building a majority of bolt-actions based almost entirely on his design (Winchester model 70 for example). All M98 variants have to be on that list somewhere. Mauser was famous for the strength in his design whereas JM Browning is famous for the shear creativity of his designs. Browning is the Thomas Edison of guns where Mauser is the Henry Ford (Make one thing, but make it well) IMO.

 

[Zeebrahed]

My Springfield Armory Garand was born in 1941. Rebuilt in the 50's. Our country will never again see such a magnificent tool of the battlefield again. It's design has been supplanted several times, but the Garand is a lasting example of American pride, ingenuity and craftsmanship. The world was saved by USGI's carrying M1's.

 

[RWK]

A pre-WWII Colt 1911A1 Government Model. Superb, no-frills .45 ACP that is as durable, reliable and accurate today as it was 60+ years ago. However, what makes this 1911A1 particularly dear to me is the fact my father carried it daily (personally owned, but approved) during his FBI service in the '40s and '50s. Like the Master Card commercial says: PRICELESS.

 

[sw627pc]

Any of my five screw S&W revolvers. (My Python just misses, it was made in 1961).

 

[Gewehr98]

Toss Up...

1. 1918 DWM Luger, captured by the Soviets after the failed German offensive at Stalingrad in WWII. It endured shrapnel or bullet fragments into the trigger guard and left frame side (so it wasn't holstered?), but the Soviets still reblued, re-gripped, added a sear safety, and issued it to the East German VOPO after the war. Then after the fall of the Berlin Wall, I buy it from an importer, replace the rusted smoothbore 4" barrel with a new 6" tube, replace the bakelite grips with new checkered walnut ones, add a Wolff spring kit, and learn to handload for my first ever 9mm. About the only war it sees nowadays is the dropping steel plates at 25 yards.

2. M1 Garand, Springfield, 6690XX, early 1942, then rebuilt in 1966 with new wood, a new Marlin barrel, and yellow crayon serial numbers, at Crane Naval Depot for reissue as a trophy rifle for some deserving Navy marksman. I just wish I knew how the DCM got it before I bought it for $165 in 1991. And where it went between 1942 and 1966...

3. 1916 J.G. Haenel & Son Gewehr98 Mauser action that I bought from a late gunsmith. Haenel wasn't your typical run-of-the-mill military armory during WW1, they were the creators of some of the most gorgeous 98 sporting rifles then known. Even when they were under contract with the military to produce issue rifles for the war, their level of fit and finish was impeccable. Just like Herodotus stated, I'd like to know how it ended up as just an action after all those years. I blessed it with a heavy Krieger barrel in 6.5-06, and it now lives La Dolce Vita as a long-range Interdiction rifle, with it's Canjar single-set trigger, titanium striker, 4-16x scope, and Vais muzzle brake. Wonder if the folks in the trenches, perhaps during Somme, would've found it's current configuration useful against the other side with their Enfields, Springfields, and Lebels?

 

[Thibault]

My grandpa was given this 94 Winchester by his father when he turned 14. That was in 1936. They lived comfortably through the Depression hunting the mountains, trapping, fishing the lakes and rivers, guiding american hunters and growing fruits and veggies.
This gun was a no-frills, standard issue 30-30 (or should I say 30WCF) with a saddle-ring on its receiver side. My grandpa hunted with it for 50 years, my uncles and I learned to hunt with it. In its 65 years, it never bore a scope, still shoots straight, the wood is blackened and dinged, most of the blue is long gone and the action is still butter-smooth.
I can't imagine how many deer, moose and bears fell to my grandpa's 94. It was the only rifle he ever owned.
The man passed away six years ago, but his memory still lives through his faithful 30-30...