if you could own a historic weapon

[Highwall]

9 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Ma Deuce 

My dad, a Marine vet from WWII would go for that! 😊

He also told me the 30-06 won Okinawa with the M1 Garand and the BAR.👍

[watab kid]

i actually own an original S&W no1 in 22short , its a great little vest pocket revolver , as well as some others mentioned here , i cant think of one id like to have particularly at this point in life 

[Highwall]

9 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Ma Deuce 

My dad, a Marine vet from WWII would go for that! 😊

But he also told me if not for the 30-06, in the battle of Okinawa, with the M1 Garand and the BAR, the battle there could not have been accomplished.👍

 

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

out crusin' the shops , I ran across a S&W 1 1/2 4th issue 

 

seems to time well , I may have to try to make a deal on it 

 

  IF , I can get it right 

 

  CB 

[J-BAR #18287]

I do own one... I own J-Bar's S&W Model 18 .22 Combat Masterpiece, purchased 43 years ago from a good friend.

 

Just because I am not famous doesn't mean it's not historic.

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

13 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

For me it would be an American-issued Charleville musket from the Revolutionary War.

This is from my recent Display.  The top is an American stocked 1763 Charleville .69 cal. Musket and the bottom is an American stocked British Short Land Pattern "Brown Bess" .75 cal. Musket with U.S. Surcharged on the lock tail.

 

Rough shape and with period repairs either side of trigger gaurd

Edited November 1, 2025 by Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

6 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

 Since I probably can’t really have a Ma Deuce, a BAR would be really cool. Select fire of course. 😎

Not select fire but here is my BAR 

[DocWard]

The first that popped into my head was a Mauser C96 "Red Nine." My father-in-law had one that was stolen. I never got to fire it, but in holding it, I did like the feel.

Beyond that, like most everyone else, I could come up with a laundry list of historic firearms I would want if I had big lottery money.

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

1 hour ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

I do own one... I own J-Bar's S&W Model 18 .22 Combat Masterpiece, purchased 43 years ago from a good friend.

 

Just because I am not famous doesn't mean it's not historic.

But you are historic, therefore it is. 😊

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

1 hour ago, Highwall said:

My dad, a Marine vet from WWII would go for that! 😊

He also told me the 30-06 won Okinawa with the M1 Garand and the BAR.👍

I have a nice Garand, a Colt 1911 and a (repro) M1 Carbine. A BAR would round out my meager collection. 

[Chicken Rustler, SASS #26680]

I do own a historical gun! 

My grandfather's 16 ga double barrel bird gun, it turned 100 in 2022. I don't shoot it much but I have used it in SASS shoots. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 10/31/2025 at 12:49 AM, Dapper Dave said:

I have a few, almost by accident. My gunsmith buddy bought some wall plaques from a bar, (closing? Not sure), of old pistols that had been hanging there for who knows, 50 years plus? He loves to tinker and make his own parts, so he restored these to functional. I bought two of them, one for me, and one for Da Boy, both 38 SW.

The Harrington and Richardson American. Pain to unload with that fixed cylinder, but it works.

 

The Iver Johnson Second Model. Note the small brass piece - that's the part he replaced due to it being welded open.

 

They weren't exactly what I was looking for in a classic historic firearm, but I could afford them.  A lot of the old Suicide Specials are still around, but being fired with smokeless powder before people knew different, being far cheaper made, b t the look in my son's eyes when I told him, when these guns were made, Wyatt Earp was still walking this Earth, (sometime between 1895 and 1905, IIRC), well, that was neat.

Then from the same guy I fell into another oddball piece of history, this Australian Lend Lease US Made Smith and Wesson Victory Model in 38SW, factory rebuilt in Australia in 1954. 

So, yeah, I'm good with these for now, 

I have an H&R Young America.  It looks exactly like yours except mine has about a 2 1/2" barrel.and black gutta percha grips/

[Dutch Coroner]

17 hours ago, Alpo said:

 

I think somebody already laid claim.

Lots of guns got claimed at the Little Big Horn on that June day in 1876.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Come to think of it I have a number of "historic" guns:

   1. a 1894 model Winchester . 30 30 made in 1912

   2. a S&W Model 1 1/2 first issue 32 rf with a scarce 4" barrel

   3. a S&W Model 1 1/2 SA . 32 S&W witha4" barrel

   4.  A S&W SA  Second model with a 4" barrel

   5. a Hammond "Bulldog" .44 extra short rf

   6. a Remington "Iroquois" round cylinder version in .22srf

   7. a Remington Model 8 autoloader in .35 Remington made in a 1911

   8. a Colt third model derringer .41 rf in marvelous condition 

   9. six "mystery guns", makers unknown; two in .32 S&W, three in .38 S&W, and one rimfire that I haven't yet figured out what center fire caliber it is.

 

I gave my son-in-law (He's a mighty fine guy.) my dad's Stevens 12 gauge pump gun (model 520???) made in 1914, because he sat for three hours in my den one afternoon fondling it.  I had it checked out by great gunsmith who passed it...without even mentioning that it looks mush worse than it really is.

 

I have reproduction of a few dozen true historic, antique, or just interesting guns, but the ones listed here are all over a century old.  I am only fifteen years away from being an antique myself.  I wonder what I'd go for on an auction block.

Edited November 2, 2025 by Forty Rod SASS 3935

[Lawdog]

I would be pleased to have one of the Tommy guns used in the St. Valentine's Day massacre.

 

The Actual Tommy Guns Used in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre - The Mob Museum

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Dutch Coroner said:

Lots of guns got claimed at the Little Big Horn on that June day in 1876.

Another brain fart. That is Custer. I was thinking it was Cody. And Cody's 50/90 rolling block that he used most often to shoot buffalo was named Lucretia Borgia

[Seamus McGillicuddy]

Lewis Gun

 

[Joe LaFives #5481]

P-51 Mustang

[Alpo]

I think I would like to have a 1928 overstamp Thompson, NIB.

[Nickle]

I love historic guns.

Picking up,handling, shooting a reproduction isn't the same. It's hard to describe. 

A old mechanic from Poland had some tools that where made and stamped CCCP.  Weird feeling holding a piece of the evil empire in your hands.  Guns are same thing. Plus quality of real 19th century colts are just better. They feel different (better)than Italian guns. 

I like real  guns used by real people more than fancy Richie Rich guns that spent all their life in a safe.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Well, I have this...



A fairly run of the mill, S&W New Model 3 target in .38-44.    But, what make it historic is that, according to the S&W Letter, it was sold to one Arthur Corbin Gould of Boston, a national pistol champion.   The was even an article about him in the American Rifleman once.

Didn't know any of this when I bought it.   I just thought it was a cool gun.

[RIDGE WALKER]

On 10/31/2025 at 7:28 AM, Dawg Hair, SASS #29557 said:

I can thin k of a couple of dozen but I'd be very happy with a Smith & Wesson Volcanic Pistol.

 

Edited November 2, 2025 by RIDGE WALKER

[Dapper Dave]

On 11/1/2025 at 9:28 AM, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I have an H&R Young America.  It looks exactly like yours except mine has about a 2 1/2" barrel.and black gutta percha grips/

I have a later production Young American, smokeless capable, shown here with a 9mm cartridge for size comparison. It's inaccurate, finicky, and just flipping nifty. 

 

[Vail Vigilante]

On 10/31/2025 at 12:11 PM, Yul Lose said:

I’ve always been enamored with Gatling guns so how about one of these?

That might be less of a problem than you think. From what I understand, ATF is good with it as long as crank of the handle fires only one barrel. Also the 50 caliber rule applies. Once again, all it takes is money. You cant take money to the hererafter.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 11/2/2025 at 9:15 PM, Dapper Dave said:

I have a later production Young American, smokeless capable, shown here with a 9mm cartridge for size comparison. It's inaccurate, finicky, and just flipping nifty. 

 

I shot mine...once.  Now it just fills a gap on my wall.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Reading this again brought four more to mind.  I have owned all of them at one time or another.

 

1. 1965 era Ruger Bearcat .22.  I gave one to my wife when we got married.  My daughter has it now and won't give it back.

 

2. 1917 S&W in original condition.  

 

3. S&W Model 19 with a 2.5" barrel.

 

4. S&W Model 19 with a 4" barrel.

[Texas Joker]

Always been partial to the Lemat or a Ferguson rifle

[Pb Mark]

The question was what historical weapon...

 

Trinity.

 

Would keep it in my garage to prevent break-ins.

[Rexster]

If family history, Cold War era counts, well, it would be nice to possess the M1 Garand that my father used, to inflict a case of Garand Thumb, on a freezing-cold day, when his hands were too numb to properly load the en bloc clip of ammo. He was too young for WW2, and just barely missed the Korean conflict. He was garrisoned in Japan.

 

A great uncle served in WW I, but he passed before I was born; no idea what he carried.

 

 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 11/1/2025 at 3:46 PM, Seamus McGillicuddy said:

Lewis Gun

 

"Belgian rattlesnake."

[Coyote Kid, SASS#54714]

Dapper Dan, I have a H&R Young American that my great Grandmother carried on the LIRR when going from work in the city to her home on Long Island. 

It's a 2 inch barrel, .22 caliber.

Pat Riot, I have the S&W Model 1905, 4th change from my Dad. It's in .32 caliber. Fun to shoot with 32 S&W.

Coyote Kid