So... any of our members here have an interest in firearms?

How'd you manage to buy so many from the CMP? Also, you didn't post a WWI one. I look forward to seeing that.

Until then, here's my 1915 Gov't Model that was sold to Argentina and adopted there as the 'Modelo 1916.'

Interesting threath for me. I love Guns, specially vintage hunting ones. I had a small nice collection including some fine Over and under Merkel, J.P.Sauer , some beautiful Mannlicher Schnauer stutzens , some CZ, a Remington 700, Winchester mod 70, 94 etc A nice DWM Luger in original .30 cal some S&W and Colt Revolvers among others.
Sadly I had to sell them to start a business and also things in my country have become difficult and it is not a sport that you can practice easily...it is difficult to obtain permits, ammo, transportation licenses etc. So I think I had my share of them and keep only collecting Watches that I love too.
Regards to all Guns & watch enthusiasts!!!!

Further adventures in my quest for great wood......

New England Firearms 410 single shot break open shotgun(made 1992). As simple as it gets.

BEAUTIFUL Flame Birch stock. The sunlight brings it front and center.😍

Yummy

H&R went under in 1986. NEF formed from the ashes and started up using the same facility and equipment. A new entity, H&R 1871 was formed in 1991, sold to Marlin in 2001, which was sold to Remington in 2007....

Both are merely Brand names now but I don't believe anything is made under the NEF banner currently.

I didn't mention the affection I have for the NEF 410, as it was the very first firearm I ever owned, now long gone to history. I became very very good with that little shotgun. Some outings never missed a shot.

It led to a long love affair with shotgunning, so much so I placed a shed in my backyard solely for shotgun shell reloading. Half devoted to supplies, half to progressive presses. 20yrs later leading to the Texas championships at the National Shooting Center in San Antonio.

Sadly, between tens of thousands of shotgun rounds, and magnum long range shooting, my poor right shoulder reminds me every day of every round fired.

So now I am back to a little 410, the gun I started with, as it is all my aging bones can now sustain. Ah, It was a great ride though.....every shot brings back decades of memories.

Another small adventure in my quest for great wood......

Helped out a local gunsmith fix a tough problem he had, AND he gave me this.

Springfield 15 single shot in 22LR.

Now hold on now, not that Springfield. But rather a Stevens Company model Springfield. Must have been confusing back then.

Only made from 1937-1947 (skipping the war years in between, only about 6yrs production). Like the single shot shotgun I posted prior, this little 22 is as simple as it gets. And cheap. Back then it was the equivalent of about $100. Stevens went on to grow this model in the 50s and 60s with store brands like Sears, JC Penney, etc giving them different names and models depending on where sold.

But even a little cheapy can have nice wood. A Little bit of flame birch brought out by the sun....awright!

I just picked up a pre-war Colt Detective Special, square butt, made in 1931. I bought it online and it presented a little better in the photos, but overall I am happy with this one and look forward to shooting it. I love the checkering on these old revolvers.

With this new DS I decided it was time for a new pre-war family photo. In this photo I was limited by the size of my table top, so I only have one example of each model I own.

From bottom left and ascending: 1910 Pocket Positive in .32 NP (S&W), 1910 Police Positive in .32 NP, 1923 Police Positive Special in 32-20, 1931 Detective Special in .38 spl, 1909 Army Special in .38 spl, 1914 New Service in .45 Colt. From bottom right and ascending: 1918 Police Positive Target in .22, 1908 Officer's Model (1st issue) in .38 spl, 1914 Officer's Model (2nd issue) in .38 spl, 1937 Officer's Model (3rd issue, heavy barrel) in .38 spl.

Some crazy beeeeeeeeeuwtiful issued 1911s here. I for some reason also feel its just wrong shooting land-fill guns. Must be solid steel (unless its a double stacked 1911, which can be forgiven for the grip, because they still shoot exceptionally, and the extra rounds may come in handy).

Found something local to me last year with not the best photos. Claim was ‘maybe unshot’, but the photos were bad, and it looked like it had a life.

But i went to look anyway…




And boy was i surprised.



A lowly series 80. But mint. The serial number dates it to ~1982.



The young guy i bought it from didn’t know how to disassemble it.



The bushing/spring cap had no marks on it.

He told me he had never shot it. He only had it for a year. I field stripped it. Was a bit worried about the bushing, as these have a collet bushing, which can be problematic if not treated with respect.



There were no marks on the black barrel…the barrel and bushing usually rub in/out of each other as the slide cycles…and that wears through to steel. Everything looked new. No wear here, not even marks. Mint++.

It came with its original box…and polystyrene inner! SN a match! No papers unfortunately.

It was a bit dry, and i was starting to think that maybe it was unshot. So i did a total disassembly…



All i saw was some red from light corrosion. If you have ever cleaned a firearm, you will know that no matter how much you clean it, the cleaning pads always come off with black residue. This came out without any black anywhere, just red, and I cleaned and oiled everything, intimately 😀 .

Story has it that it sat in a collection of 700+ firearms from a collector (i traced it to a large auction). To me it looks like it had never been wiped down/oiled - if one looks at the slide under direct sunlight, there is a slight stain in the blueing where it was handled) … it had also never been cleaned (and no gunpowder residue came up anywhere, all cleaning pads rusty red).

At least now its well oiled. I haven’t shot it. Not sure i ever will. Am i a fool?!

Thanks for reading!

@noelekal Here's my later (1967) Detective Special.