Author Topic: What have you kept the longest (Read 1272 times)

scotsman · « **on:** May 10, 2011, 05:05:20 AM »

Just a question of what have you owned for the longest amount of time. I think it is interesting what never gets traded or sold. I still have and love the Savage model 120A I got for Christmas the year I was nine. This coming Christmas will be 45 years. I hope to give it to a grandson someday.

MGMorden · « **Reply #1 on:** May 10, 2011, 05:39:00 AM »

Gun-wise? Still have my first - an NEF Pardner 20ga. Got it as a Christmas gift when I was 8. The barrel isn't the original though (the forearm nut sheered of the original long ago - for a LONG time I just kept it attached via electrical tape - then about 6-7 years ago I sent it in to H&R to have a new barrel fitted to the frame). I do still have the original barrel for it, but I doubt I'll ever have need of it again. I took my first deer and duck with that little gun. Feels kinda tiny these days when I shoulder it, but I still do occasionally take it squirrel hunting.

As far as ITEMS in general - not sure. I have some baseball cards and comics in boxes from when I was a kid. The most specific "old" item that I can remember though is a small piggy bank. It's in the shape of a barrel and was turned from an oak branch. My dad's aunt (who I was very close to as a child - she's long passed away now) once went up to Maggie Valley in NC which was (maybe still is?) a big tourist attraction with wild-west reenactments and such. She brought me back the barrel piggy-bank as a souvenir. I've probably had that for 25 years or so.

steg · « **Reply #2 on:** May 10, 2011, 05:43:16 AM »

I would guess that we all have our favorites that wouldn't be sold unless things got really bad, sentimental value or whatever, mine would be a security six, my first handgun, an old Mossberg .22, 140K it was a ugly duckling, but what a shooter. a N.R. Davis and sons 12 Ga double that was my father in laws, A Ruger #3 in 45/70, And bringing up the rear a Ducktown .410 SXS, yep it's as goofy looking as it sounds, but I've had a lot of fun with that piece, it's my going for a walk in the woods gun, at least it was when I was able to go for walks in the woods, now it rides with me on the Quad.......................steg

Glanceblamm · « **Reply #3 on:** May 10, 2011, 05:54:58 AM »

An old Stevens model 94 single shot 12 gauge. This one has plastic stock n forearm as there was a wood shortage during WW2. They made them between 1940-50 and even had some in dble barrel. I believe that they cost $10-$15 if you were around to buy one new. Mine is in very good condition and did see a lot of use in my youth.

Conan The Librarian · « **Reply #4 on:** May 10, 2011, 06:07:28 AM »

A set of four Mark Twain books printed in leather bound during the 1920s. Have had them since I was a kid. Nothing else even comes close. The books are not worth much, but have some sentimental value.

Drilling Man · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2011, 06:23:34 AM »

My dad gave me a pellet rifle when i was about 9 ?, that was over 50 years ago and i still have it, and it still shoots pretty good too. I'd say it's holding up better than i am! lol

BUT, actually what i have kept the longest is, my "origional" birth cert., it's real and it's origional, and even our president can't produce one of those!

DM

Dee · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2011, 06:24:39 AM »

1958 Winchester Model 94 3030. Still shootin it too, and better than ever.

guzzijohn · « **Reply #7 on:** May 10, 2011, 06:54:33 AM »

Gun wise it would be a Remington Model 34 .22 that I bought in the late 60s for $14. Still the most accurate .22 I have owned or still own. My Marlin 39A with target ammo and a scope will about match what the 34 will do with open sights and standard ammo of about any kind.
GuzziJohn

dukkillr · « **Reply #8 on:** May 10, 2011, 07:05:58 AM »

There's only 1 gun I've ever owned that I don't have now. My first BPS was damaged in a car accident and traded in on the one I use for duck hunting.

I've have more guns made before I was born than after. Something about quality craftsmanship appeals to me...

Sourdough · « **Reply #9 on:** May 10, 2011, 07:31:56 AM »

Due to a house fire while I was in basic training, everything I had gotten as a kid went up in smoke.

My very first gun I bought when I first got to Alaska in 1971. It was made by Parker Haile for JC Penny, and sold under the Foremost brand name. It's a model 3200 in .308. That was my only long gun for 15 years. I killed Moose, Caribou, Black Bears, Mule Deer, Whitetail, Antelope, and Turkeys with it.

There had been a train derailment between Anchorage and Fairbanks. Guns had been scattered across the snow at the site. The Rail Road people just threw them back in the cases and shipped them on to Fairbanks. The store wheeled the crates out onto the floor and marked them "$80.00 each, take you pick". I heard about it on the radio and stopped. By the time I got there the only thing left that had no major damage was the .308 I got. My gun just had a long scratch on the stock.

Horse fell and broke the stock in the late 70s. Put a Bell and Carlson on it. Haven't shot it since I lived in New Mexico about 1985. I used it for Mulies and Antelope while there. Got orders for Alaska again, (third time) so I bought two 30-06s and a .338 Win Mag. A couple of weeks ago when changing out the guns to a new gun safe we ran across it. Sky had never seen it before. He took a great interest in it since it is a .308, and has a 28" barrel. I have a feeling Sky just might resurrect it in the near future. If he wants it, it's his.

bobg · « **Reply #10 on:** May 10, 2011, 09:55:01 AM »

Gun wise it would be a Winchester model 69 22 rifle. Worked all summer to earn the money for the darn thing. It will be 51 years old this fall.

Graybeard · « **Reply #11 on:** May 10, 2011, 10:03:14 AM »

I've never been a collector and guns come and go around me quite often. Never having the funds to just buy the next "gotta have it" gun a trade most times was the way to the next so litterally hundreds of guns I used to own no longer are mine. Many I sure regret letting go but many I have no clue why I got to begin with.

The oldest gun here is the old JC Higgins 12 ga pump shotgun that belonged to my grand dad. It was the first shotgun I ever pulled a trigger on and the one I used primarily as I grew up never owning my own until I was old enough to buy it after leaving home. It's a wall hanger and hasn't been shot in prolly 30 years perhaps longer. It is older than me I guess tho I really don't know when it was made.

The thing I've owned the longest per the question would be my old fiberglass Ben Pearson recurve bow. I rode the bus to town and bought it for myself for my 12th birthday so I've had it now for a bit over 54 years. I will never sell it and honestly I can't imagine why anyone would want to buy it anyway.

Conan The Librarian · « **Reply #12 on:** May 10, 2011, 10:28:29 AM »

Ha! I've got a Ben Pearson recurve. 40#. Had it for years and seldom use it, but it's a good bow and I don't want to sell it or give it away. Last time I use it was for bow fishing carp. Rigged up a reel with an old plastic coke bottle and some tape.

Graybeard, I'll bet you could easily sell it because there are a lot of guys who like vintage bows. I've had mine at the range and people have come up to me and offered to buy it, and its a range where not many are interested in archery. It's a gun range with a few archery targets out in a meadow.

Have had some outdoor stuff for several years that I've kept because I didn't want to sell it. My buddy's cabin burned down and I gave a lot of stuff to him so he could have things to replace what he lost.

dks7895 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 10, 2011, 11:04:24 AM »

Ruger 10/22 Deluxe Sporter I received for my 12th birthday. I love that gun.

LONGTOM · « **Reply #14 on:** May 10, 2011, 11:17:17 AM »

Gun wise it is the second gun I ever owned.
A Savage model 24 my Dad bought me when I was about 9 or 10 making it about 43-44 years.
Next would be my wife, 27 years married this June and we dated for 7 years making a total of 34 wonderful years together!
A close third would be my 1956 Chevy Hardtop - 33 years. Just putting it back together after a full restore.
Last would be my nickel plated Henry rifle from 1865 - 31 years.

LONGTOM

Pat/Rick · « **Reply #15 on:** May 10, 2011, 01:12:02 PM »

Mossberg 340 .22 thats about 45 YO.
The sporterized 03-A3 that dad had and his Colt Frontier Scout .22. Gonna give the Colt to my son, he also has the mossberg, and going to give the 03-A3 to my brothers son. They'll both have one that way.

Have owned and sold many guns over the years. Only a couple that I regret.

BBF · « **Reply #16 on:** May 10, 2011, 02:01:57 PM »

Remington 66, the original version

Cherokee Mike · « **Reply #17 on:** May 10, 2011, 02:13:40 PM »

When I was a little boy, a lady who worked in our family bakery gave me her grown son's "Buddy L" hook-and-ladder fire engine that was made in the 1920's. I still have it in my attic.

One Christmas when I was eleven, my folks gave me Revelation .22 rifle bolt-action rifle with a 6x scope. I haven't fired it in years, but I'll never get rid of it.

Heck, I still have several Valentine cards I received in third or fourth grade from my classmates.

PowPow · « **Reply #18 on:** May 10, 2011, 03:17:52 PM »

I have had the same blue pocket comb for 38 years.
It does not get much use anymore, but I still carry it.

Hodr · « **Reply #19 on:** May 10, 2011, 03:38:30 PM »

About 1952 I think Dad gave mom a 22 cal benjamin pump up pellet rifle. I found it in Mom's closet when I went to her funeral, absolute junk. Brother and sister both said it was mine as soon as they saw it. $250 later I got it back rebuilt in mint condition and with higher pressure seals and almost double the range. That same year I cut a forked branch off Mom's apricot tree and with two bands of rubber out of an old innertube tied together with an old shoe string had my first slingshot. Mom expressed her displasure upon my bottom, but I got to keep the slingshot. As I grew up I took quail, cotton tail, squirrel, pheasant, snake, feral cats, rats and any tin can I could sneak upon. In 1969 I checked out of the Army. Got back to the folks home and found the slingshot on the post of my bed with surgical tubing whipstitched to an old shoe tounge, and a 3pound bag of marbles. The Benjamin and my slingshot are both still in use today.
For what it's worth I also have my father's 1953 sweet sixteen Browning. None of these are for sale or trade. It would be like giving up part of who I am.

Hodr

30-30man · « **Reply #20 on:** May 10, 2011, 05:28:04 PM »

That's easy for me. I have an AH Fox Sterlingworth 12 ga and an LC Smith 12ga that belonged to my grandfather and father. The AH Fox still has the old manual that came with it. It has an old box as well, but I have doubted it was an original as it has Savage/Stevens marked on the inside. The LC Smith was my gun in the dove fields. I couldn't hit the backside of a barn with either one of them then. Heck, I still can't..Worthless to hunt with, but priceless to me. Next in line of old guns is my Browning Sweet 16. I don't hunt with it anymore due to the local stores stopped stocking 16ga shells...Sad but true.

blind ear · « **Reply #21 on:** May 10, 2011, 05:55:08 PM »

My grandfathers draw knife from being a WWII ships carpenter in Pascagoula Mississippi and his wifes cast iron skillet that has turned fields full of corn meal into bread. ear

XD40SC · « **Reply #22 on:** May 10, 2011, 09:10:49 PM »

Either a Browning Sweet Sixteen or a pre 64 model 70. Can't remember which my dad got me first.

Hodr · « **Reply #23 on:** May 10, 2011, 09:35:42 PM »

Now that I think about it a little more, the thing I have had in my possession longest was given to me by my father. The day I was born I have been told he laid a 3rd. Btn. Ranger Badge in my crib. Dad was a medic at Cisterna and was ordered to escape in the second day of captivity due to not being wounded. He never forgave himself for leaving his unit. My sister had a case made for his coffin flag to hold his Ranger badge and medals. In the case is a picture of Mom installing 50 cal on a liberator in San Diego.

Hodr

magooch · « **Reply #24 on:** May 11, 2011, 03:36:27 AM »

I still have a Crossman .22 cal. pellet rifle that I bought for myself when I was about 12, or so. It still looks like brand new and works perfect. That would make it about 56 years old.

GeneRector · « **Reply #25 on:** May 11, 2011, 03:46:01 AM »

Howdy! I have carried a key ring ornament in my pocket since 1965. Something I see almost every day. Always, Gene

BBF · « **Reply #26 on:** May 11, 2011, 05:46:18 AM »

Come to think of it......... a person's birth certificate would be the oldest possession.

Hooker · « **Reply #27 on:** May 11, 2011, 02:01:17 PM »

Quote from: scatterbrain on May 11, 2011, 05:46:18 AM

Come to think of it......... a person's birth certificate would be the oldest possession.

Unless your Obama

Slowhanddd · « **Reply #28 on:** May 12, 2011, 01:42:06 AM »

Mine gun wise and probably all things is this old gun that was my Great Grand Dad's.It's a 22short model 70 Stevens.He taught me to shoot with it and when he died in 1957 I got it from My Great Grand Granny.Still shoots too.

guzzijohn · « **Reply #29 on:** May 12, 2011, 03:43:04 AM »

For a non-gun item it would have to be my old IH 350 tractor. My father bought it new in 1958. I have the bill of sale and owners manual. This was also the first powered vehicle that I ever drove. I still use it on a regular basis for mowing and blading. It is not to pretty anymore but runs great on it's original engine.
GuzziJohn