Patching a Major Hole in my Gun Collection

I may be doing it again. I have an offer in on a firearm.

When I was a kid, my grandfather used to load me in the truck and take me around to his farms. Sometimes, we would shoot. He had three .22 pistols. One was a High Standard Double Nine revolver. Another was some kind of High Standard automatic. He spoke highly of that one. The third pistol was a third-generation Colt Woodsman.

When both of my grandparents were gone, the estate lawyers gave the heirs a list of the guns. My grandfather had a fair amount of stuff. He had two Smith & Wesson .357 revolvers. He had two S&W pocket revolvers. He had an unfired WWI Colt commemorative 1911 in a glass-topped box. He had a Marlin lever action. He also had a .30 caliber “Enforcer,” which is a strange pistol made from an M1 carbine

A number of things I expected to see on the list were not there. I never expected a shot at the Colt, because my uncle bought it for my grandfather, and it made sense that his son would get that. But the other things…hmm…where did they go?

I only wanted a few things, and they weren’t particularly valuable. I wanted the Colt, because I used to shoot it with my grandfather. I wanted the High Standard revolver for the same reason. I wanted my great-great-grandfather’s flintlock shotgun, which no one else wanted. I was also interested in an old Remington 550-1 .22 rifle, because I had used it a lot.

Other than the Colt, I wanted junk. The value of the flintlock, the revolver, and the .22 rifle is probably less than $300. The flintlock is useless. The Remington is (was) not much of a gun. It has a cap on the butt end of the barrel which unscrews itself from time to time. The revolver is about as cheaply made as a firearm can be without inviting lawsuits.

I got two items: the High Standard revolver (featuring a painted aluminum frame) and the flintlock. Luckily for me, my dad already had my grandfather’s Browning Sweet Sixteen. That was not part of the estate. My grandmother gave it to my dad while she was alive, so no one else had a claim to it. It’s probably worth $600. They bring a lot more when they’re in good shape, but my grandfather threw his guns around and beat them up.

I have been told that I’ve been cheated on a couple of items that belonged to my grandparents: a watch and a Frederic Remington sculpture. Is it true? I don’t know. I hope not. I refuse to mud-wrestle over trinkets. The way people tussle over inherited wealth is disgusting and heartbreaking, so I don’t do it, even if I suspect I’m being defrauded to some extent.

I govern myself as though my relatives, apart from my sister, had done everything as ethically as they could. For all I know, that’s true. My sister is special. I have no doubts about her ethical issues.

My relatives–some of them, anyway–know more about my grandparents’ personalty than I do. They took a greater interest in looking after their cut.

I have the manual for the Colt, because whoever took it didn’t understand how important it was. It was going to be thrown out. When you sell an old gun, the more original paraphernalia you have, the more the gun is worth. That manual, with the box (now gone) may be worth $200. No one will ever see that money, however, because the gun is somewhere far away, and the manual is here.

I hope a stranger didn’t steal that gun.

I don’t think my grandparents gave any other guns to my relatives, because the recipients would have made a point of letting the rest of us know. I have mentioned the Colt, and no one has raised a hand to say they have it. I told everyone about the Sweet Sixteen, to avoid problems.

Ever since I learned my grandfather’s Colt was gone, I have wanted to get a Woodsman. It won’t be the gun I used to shoot in Kentucky, but like all of my guns, it will make me think of my grandfather when I shoot it. I didn’t appreciate him when he was alive. I miss him more now than I did during the years following his death.

I don’t want a Woodsman exactly like his. I don’t like the heel-mounted magazine release on the third-generation guns. I want a second-generation gun with a button release on the grip, like a 1911.

I found a nice one online, and I decided to see if I could buy it. The store wants more than I think it’s worth, so I sent them an email and offered them a hundred dollars less. I am waiting for their reply.

I’m doing it again. I’m buying another gun. Trying, anyway.

If I get this one, it should hold me for quite some time. I may get a bolt rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor or Swedish, for deer, but that wouldn’t happen right away. I can’t think of anything else I “need.”

As I have said before, the Woodsman will have a purpose other than making me smile because I have another gun. When you hunt, sometimes you wound animals without killing them, and you need a sidearm to finish them off. It can be hard to hit a small animal at close range when you use a scope. The bullet will be 1.5″ below the point of aim when it leaves the barrel, and five feet away, things won’t have changed much. A pistol can make things easier.

The gun looks pretty good in photos. The seller claims he can’t see any evidence that it has been shot. It has light holster wear. Seems like every Woodsman I look at has holster wear, and that means people liked these guns. They didn’t leave them at home in drawers.

I don’t really recall the condition of my grandfather’s gun. It was good, but I don’t recall how good.

If the seller will deal a little, I’ll make this happen, and then I’ll be one step closer to forgetting the many senseless problems I’ve had with my inheritance.

If you have kids and/or a spouse, you need a will, and you need to be very, very detailed about who gets what. Otherwise, your heirs may sacrifice each other in exchange for junk they could easily buy at yard sales.

If you’re an heir, you need to choose your battles wisely. Flawed relatives usually have more value than household goods.

Usually.