RBHarter
West Central AR
Reading the Marlin thread got me thinking about some of the guns I've bought and passed on to kids etc . I get to visit a little bit sometimes so it's all good I guess .
Obviously to have Mom's Dad's 47' S&W low number M10 , Dad's Dad's 57' M70 , and Dad's 40' M12 is good . Dad's M12 maybe more so .
Mom's 1917 Colts is a bit of a wonder , some research says it's a 1905 frame with matching numbers and properly stepped chambers completed mid 1918 . It's hard to imagine a a frame wandering around lost on any sort of assy line for 12-3 years . Maybe it was an exceptional assy and was under a bench in the engraving shop ?
I had a late 1916 M12 at the then cost of them it's lucky it wasn't converted to a trench gun but I guess at that time the 97' was probably the preferred so maybe not so lucky to have been passed over .
Of course the 1917s didn't really go anywhere but I wish I knew the story of the "not English made" stamped S&W . Probably lucky it made it back to the states I wonder if it had lend/lease marked grips . Civi patrol some sort of national guard unit ? Did it just sit in some armory ? Maybe it came back in some GIs bag ......
I had a Model 1909 S Stevens shotgun drop dead gorgeous wood buried in all of that pre 1910 oil . The most important part is that it passed the safety checks with 3 smiths and had tight headspace . The vast majority of the 1909s had become unsafe and unrepairable by the 1970s . Also there doesn't seem to have been very many of the S made as it's barely noted other than folks that have one and want to know something about it .
I would guess that any pre WWI German made 98' like a 1913 DWM is a lucky find also , probably luckier without 4 sets of sight drills in it .
I have to wonder how many Mausers , Enfields , Webleys , 97's , M12s , 1911s , and 03's were just plowed under when the battlefields were back filled . How many went directly into smelters .........
Probably just a silly fit of nostalgia .
Obviously to have Mom's Dad's 47' S&W low number M10 , Dad's Dad's 57' M70 , and Dad's 40' M12 is good . Dad's M12 maybe more so .
Mom's 1917 Colts is a bit of a wonder , some research says it's a 1905 frame with matching numbers and properly stepped chambers completed mid 1918 . It's hard to imagine a a frame wandering around lost on any sort of assy line for 12-3 years . Maybe it was an exceptional assy and was under a bench in the engraving shop ?
I had a late 1916 M12 at the then cost of them it's lucky it wasn't converted to a trench gun but I guess at that time the 97' was probably the preferred so maybe not so lucky to have been passed over .
Of course the 1917s didn't really go anywhere but I wish I knew the story of the "not English made" stamped S&W . Probably lucky it made it back to the states I wonder if it had lend/lease marked grips . Civi patrol some sort of national guard unit ? Did it just sit in some armory ? Maybe it came back in some GIs bag ......
I had a Model 1909 S Stevens shotgun drop dead gorgeous wood buried in all of that pre 1910 oil . The most important part is that it passed the safety checks with 3 smiths and had tight headspace . The vast majority of the 1909s had become unsafe and unrepairable by the 1970s . Also there doesn't seem to have been very many of the S made as it's barely noted other than folks that have one and want to know something about it .
I would guess that any pre WWI German made 98' like a 1913 DWM is a lucky find also , probably luckier without 4 sets of sight drills in it .
I have to wonder how many Mausers , Enfields , Webleys , 97's , M12s , 1911s , and 03's were just plowed under when the battlefields were back filled . How many went directly into smelters .........
Probably just a silly fit of nostalgia .
