Family Heirlooms

I got a 30-40 craig that was my gransfathers and a plastic stock 20 gauge stevens that was my great grandmothers. I guess thats the only two "Heirlooms" that I have.
 
My dad has some neat ones that come to mind. My brothers and I will have to negotiate over how they are eventually distributed. Probably a couple I can't think of. Sorry no pics.

Winchester 1890 .22 WRF pump action with octagon barrel
Remington Model 14 .30 Rem
Winchester model 65 .218 Bee - has some chamber issues and needs a gunsmith look at it
M1 Garand and Carbine that an uncle had in WWII
Winchester 1894 pre 64 in 30-30 and .32 special - still want to shoot a deer with each of these. Carried both at times as a teenager but no deer killed.
 
Sawthooth sent me a pm and gave me a heads up about this thread and also ask me to post something

Thank you Sam. What an enjoyable read, very interesting and enjoyable stories.

Hunting Wife. How cool is that to have those journals, that is very special.

We have old firearms but I do not have stories for each of them. My grandfather only hunted Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Old Mexico, so my hunting far from home came later in life. But him and Dad did take me with them to those states ( of course I hunted our farm in Arizona at a very young age alone ). We had a Mexican family work on the farm and they had family in Old Mexico. I remember going on Mountain Lion and sheep hunts in old Mexico as a young girl and I remember my dad and granddad used lever action rifles but do not remember what they were specifically ( however, I am sure they were Winchesters )

I remember a Coues deer hunt at home with my grandfather and coming face to face with a rattlesnake ( which is not uncommon in Arizona ). He didn't want to give away our position with a shot so beat the snake to death with the butt of the rifle. Unfortunately in cracked the stock. But I never forgot his reaction. He smiled and said will that didn't work out well. I think his attitude and manner in which he handled it stuck with me. As throughout life I have always tried to put things in perspective and what is important, as compared to what is just irritating or disappointing.

sorry, back to old firearms. He had an 8 gauge Parker ( which I never shot ) that he got in payment for something. Him and my uncles brought back or at least had a couple of German drillings, I also remember an 8mm Mannliher because it still had the bayonet on it. There were others and some handguns as well--oh I just remembered a Ross, all from WW 1------ I remember a Mosin Nagant from WW 2, and a couple other WW2 rifles and handguns I am forgetting the specifics, sorry. I also remember a 12 gauge Fox, but I think that was one of my uncles. Of course I remember the old Winchester 1890, that I shot a lot and then the Stevens combination. The 1890 and stevens combo was used by my grandfather, father, myself, son/daughter, grandchildren and great grandchildren and I was told that currently an 11 year old great granddaughter has laid claim to the Stevens

My husband enjoyed strange old handguns. My favorite was a double barrel percussion handgun, the triggers for esch barrel would drop down when the hammers were cocked and it had a 4 ro 5 inch knife on it the folded back up and laid on the barrels. Darn I can't remember the name of an old nine shot revolver with a 12 inch barrel on it, was fun to shoot . I just remembered a Webley came back from the war

My daughter has my 6.5 x 55 and 300 H&H which accompanied me on hunts on five different continents. My granddaughter who is 35 has ask for both those rifles and my Connecticut shotgun (-;. One of my Grandsons has my 450/400 ( which I have given him permission to restock it to fit him) as well as a written story about his grandmother, using that rifle to hunt hippo and during that particular hunt my bathing in a river and being chased from the river to camp by a hippo, wearing nothing but a pair of boots. I got teased for that a bit after everything settled down. I think my son has everything else or most everything, but not sure.

Surprisingly my daughter has hung onto an old ice cream maker that belonged to my Grandmother. and just recently I have been ask by my oldest great grandson, if he can have my 65 Mustang-. A pearl necklace my husband gave me is currently with my daughter but my granddaughter wore them to a prom several years back---so it is not all about guns in our family LOL

If this was too long, my apologizes---blame sawtooth !
 
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Ken Jr and I have a 760, 780 Rem and two A5's from Jr's paternal grandfather Big Skip between us....soon to be split with my son in law if he'll take em.
 
I have some family heirlooms but nothing fancy per se. Interesting to me however. The Winchester 1890 seems to be a popular theme here and I inherited one of those and still had it. From my mother's side I ended up with a Stevens combo, like Europe's. This one was .22/410. I no longer have it as it was in very rough condition, and I had no use for it. I got an H&A 722 "boys" rifle. weighing under 4 lbs with a 16" barrel it was a super light, but accurate, .22 rolling block. I killed a lot of squirrels with that back in the day. I wish I still had it, but I ran into a guy at a party who said he was teaching his daughter how to shoot - so I gave it to him. Never heard back. :(

My best heirloom however was/is a Wnchester 1897 12 gauge. My grandpa and his brothers bought it at the turn of the century and shot a few of the last prairie chickens with it. Then it went to Montana with one of the brothers, and then finally back to me. One day, I took the buttplate off for no particular reason and discovered Montana hunting license from 1917-1921 in the through-bolt hole. Now it has additonal licensst from KS, AZ, IA. I'll just show a couple below. Every year, it returns to the turkey woods in Iowa, less than 20 miles from where it started.

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Montana License 1917 A.jpgMontana License 1918 A.jpgMontana License 1918 B.jpgMontana License 1918 AMontana License 1917 A.jpg
 

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My grandfather left some .22s from the 30s and 40s. He only hunted raccoon until he dropped out of school in the 9th grade to work in factories. I'm sure they have very little value, but they're a cool memento from someone I didn't get to know very well.
 
What a cool thread.

I have a few.

a 1917 Trench knife knuckle duster that one of my grandpas brothers brought back from WWI hangs above my work bench. Brutality of hand to hand combat in those early wars. When I was 21 I was given my first Model 70, a 1941 22 Hornet that my Great Uncle purchased in 41. Lyman 48 peep. That rifle started my love affair with Model 70's. Now I have 6 pre 64's ( hornet, 243, 270, 300HH, 338WM, and 375HH) and 4 Classics (243, (2) 270's, and a 308 ( FNSPR). Those will all go to my 4 daughters when I pass. I need one more 270 so each of them get one and an early pre 64 FWT is the holy grail for me.

Grandfather clock that my wife's grandpa made was given to us when we married and that will never be sold. I have a ton of my grandpas old tools accumulated from a 50 year career as a machinist that I am slowly teaching the girls to use so hopefully they pass it on.
 
I inherited
Lee -Enfield's, ( MLE and SMLE) , Ross and Springfield rifles

Cooey shotgun

my husband and I with the help of some family members have collected several different lever rifles, mostly Savage and Winchester

and I have a 275 H & H that is very old and very nice which was gifted to me by a non family member ( for Brent---I hated the first time it got scratched o_O)

Pat, I didn't forget your love for and collection of pre 64's. Nice !
 
This W H Hamilton double barrel XL 44 shotgun was my paternal grandmothers gun. I know she spent some serious time behind it hunting grouse. From what I can find for information, this gun was manufactured around the year 1880. The XL 44 was a precursor to the 410. I am just now working on getting this ready to pass on to my daughter. IMG_20200219_142408616~2.jpg
 
Sheesh! Have to scroll to see it all! How long is that barrel? Barrels, I guess...
 
I just had to measure them to answer that question. 26" long. It must be being slim makes them look long. The gun really is light and slim. I can see why my grandmother would like to carry this gun for grouse hunting in the thick cover along the shores of Lake Superior.
 
I have 3:

A Beretta 300 12ga. My grandfather's gun, purchased in the early 70's. He gave it to my a year before he passed.

A High Standard Flite King in .410. This was my other grandfather's (he died a month before I was born). My grandmother gave it to me when I was about 7.

A Smith and Wesson 1500 Deluxe in .270 Win (made by Howa) that was my dad's hunting rifle for years and years. It looks a bit rough from riding in a gun rack in the Jeep for years. It had a Redfield Illuminator on it. I replaced that scope when the internals no longer worked. This rifle is one of the most accurate in my safe and I love hunting with it.

Wouldn't trade any of these guns for any amount of money.
 
Well I just finished capturing the family heirloom to pass on to my daughter. I mounted the XL 44 double barrel shotgun and one of the telescopic steel fishing rods that I used while fishing trout streams with my grandmother when I was young. I mounted these two pieces to a siding board that is from a secondary building at my hunting camp. This building was a bunk house from a logging camp used about 1900. It was disassembled then relocated and reassembled as a hang-out for many of the local people prior to my purchase of the property. Overall three family pieces tied together in one display.
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This is a cool thread. Unfortunately growing up, no one in my family was into guns or hunting so I will have to start the tradition with handing guns down to my kids. My daughter isn't old enough to hunt or shoot yet, but she already has a few guns in the safe.
 
My GG Grandfather and his brothers homesteaded in eastern Colorado in the 1850s. Their homestead later became the town of Bennett, just east of Denver. He later became the first Territorial Representative to the US Congress, and served two terms in the 1860s. He submitted the first bill in Congress to make Colorado a state, but it didn't pass until 1876. He was friends with Kit Carson and the Ute Indian Chief, Ouray and they worked together to bring peace with the Utes in western Colorado.

My Grandparents on my Dad's side were very interested in history and archaeology and my Sister and I inherited "a ton of old stuff." Some of that stuff that I have include indian blankets, pottery, pictures, guns, and two pairs of beaded moccasins.

This picture was taken in Washington DC in 1868 by the famous photographer of that time, Brady. These men were working on the Ute Indian peace treaty. Kit Carson is sitting on the left, and my GG Grandfather is sitting on the right.
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In 1859 My GG Grandfather and his wife were camping near Denver and Chief Ouray stopped my their camp to visit. My GG Grandparents gave Ouray a tin of biscuits, and Ouray took off his moccasins and gave them to my GG Grandparents.
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My family liked camping and fishing, but were not into guns and hunting like I am, but I did inherit these guns.
The Bowie knife is inscribed "CAPT WM GIBSON, DENVER JULY 1884"
The 2 Nickle or Chrome plated Colt DA 38 revolvers belonged to my G Grandfather who was a western writer (like Zane Gray) who published over 50 western books. He was born in Denver when it was a town of 5,000 people.
The 7 1/2 " Colt 1st gen .45 Colt SA revolver belonged to my Great Uncle who was a US Army Brigadier General at the turn of the 20th century.
The Colt Model 1911 .45 acp belonged to my Grandfather who was a Lieutenant in the US Army in WWI.
And the rifle at the bottom is a Winchester Model 06 .22 takedown with a canvas case and 3 boxes of Sears & Roebucks .22 cartridges that belonged to my Grandfather.
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These are 3 of grandfathers rifles I've inherited. The top was my moms maternal grandfather's only rifle, a savage 99 in 250 savage. He hunted deer and elk in Oregon with it, and gifted it to me as my first deer rifle when I was 11.

The middle rifle was my maternal grandfather's primary rifle. It's a left handed Mauser 30-06 that he carried for most of his life, taking deer, elk, and Alaskan caribou with it.

The bottom rifle was my paternal grandfather's primary rifle that he hunted with most of his life. It's a sporterized Springfield 30-06 that he purchased in the 60s.


The floorplate on the Mauser:
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I've got a Bear recurve my grandfather gave me. I shoot it every year.
While writing this short post a great memory popped in my head of us rabbit hunting together. Yes, he had his bow.
 

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