Author Topic: ever forget you had a gun? (Read 1863 times)

Lloyd Smale · « **on:** October 09, 2011, 02:09:33 AM »

A few years back i picked up a 4 5/8s ruger blackhawk in 45 colt. Shortly after i found a bisley grip frame trigger and hammer and converted it to bisley. The problem was after fitting the parts the gun wouldnt lock up right on two cylinders. Ive got a buddy who works on all my guns and does actions on them and brought it to him to do an action job and see if he could fix it. He broke his neck years ago and is in real rough shape. Hes in and out of the hospital all the time getting operated on and is bed ridden about half the time. So he had it for about 2 years and i just lost track of the fact i had it. I went up to visit him yesterday and bring him some venison and summer sausage and he handed me the gun all fixed up. I honestly had forgotten i even had it. It was like getting a new gun!

Glanceblamm · « **Reply #1 on:** October 09, 2011, 03:49:43 AM »

Quote

ever forget you had a gun?

My first thought was (ever forget you had a gun on your person!) and the answer was yes. These were during my trapline days and I had popped into the store on my return home forgetting that I had the H&R .22 convertible in the crossdraw rig under my jacket

I think that this happened at least twice and I never was detected. If these Liberals would ever let the ccw go through (IL only state without) I would get the ccw for just for senarios like this.

Congratulations to you on getting the blackhawk back

DennisB · « **Reply #2 on:** October 09, 2011, 04:02:36 AM »

Sweet deal! I guess that's payback for being a nice guy and sharing some hard-earned venison with a buddy. (Hope his condition improves-)

Last time I forgot I had a gun was years ago on a West Texas highway when a state trooper helped me remember it--but, that's another story.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2011, 06:10:35 AM »

We went for a walk in the 'back 40' one Sat. morning and I clipped on my S&W 442 Airweight, you know, the one so light you never notice it, and slipped it to a kidney carry.
Somewhere in the course of things we decided to go to lunch. At the restaurant I was just about to drop my light jacket when.............bingo! It was a short jacket. so I had to sit pretty straight to stay 'undetected' in the chair (the booths were full).
In retrospect, I should have just gone out to the car and discretely removed it, but about then some crazy would have started shootin' up the place, right?
More to your point, Lloyd, what a sweet thing! Maybe better than Christmas. My sympathies and all to your friend. Ive suffered from a past neck injury for nigh on 20yrs now; it does change ones life.

sureshot2040 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2011, 07:21:03 PM »

dont know about the rest of the guys here but wouldnt mind seeing a picture of that shooter you forgot you had

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #5 on:** October 10, 2011, 01:01:30 AM »

im a little computer challanged and i have to have training by my wife to use our camera. She couldnt just buy one of the cheap point and shoot deals. Its got more buttons and levers on it then the space shuttle. It aint nothing fancy. Just a blued 4 5/8s blackhawk with a bisley frame. Only other thing done to it other then an action job is it has a belt moutain keith style base pin. Ill probably pick up a bowen rear sight for it but other then that it will stay stock and be used for a beater gun. Ive got to many custom sixguns that a guy has to be careful with to keep looking decent. This one will make a good mate to my 4 5/8s 44 spec bisley and my stainless 4 5/8s super. A couple guns i wont have to care if i scratch or they get some holster wear.

Quote from: sureshot2040 on October 09, 2011, 07:21:03 PM

dont know about the rest of the guys here but wouldnt mind seeing a picture of that shooter you forgot you had

drdougrx · « **Reply #6 on:** October 10, 2011, 05:05:58 AM »

I used to work part time in a gun shop in the 80's. It never ceased to amaze me how many guys would bring in guns for repair and then we would not see them for a couple of years. One guy brought in his prized ortgies pistol for some thing or other....it was ther for at least 5 years that I can remember.

Swampman · « **Reply #7 on:** October 10, 2011, 05:47:53 AM »

I bought a Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt back this morning that I sold 4 years ago. It hadn't even been out of the box.

gcrank1 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 10, 2011, 01:28:24 PM »

Hey Swamp, was it an even better buy this time?

Swampman · « **Reply #9 on:** October 10, 2011, 01:43:32 PM »

He let me have it back for what I sold it for, and I got $80.00 worth of ammo for $50.00 more.

tacklebury · « **Reply #10 on:** October 10, 2011, 02:45:56 PM »

That's sweet.

I got my .22 H&R revolver back similarly.

44 Man · « **Reply #11 on:** October 27, 2011, 08:19:19 AM »

I have forgotten where I put them before...... But as to Lloyd not worrying about holster wear, I love some honest holster wear on my guns! It give them 'character' and shows they are real working guns. I've even carried my '1 of 500' engraved 1911 from the Colt custom shop in an IWB holster before. Yep, it has some holster marks (blade tec plastic holster) on it from doing that. When I sent my last Colt SAA to Ken at Mag-na-port to cut the barrel down, he had to refinish the barrel and ended up refinishing the whole gun for me. I wish I hadn't had to do that, as I thought the wear on it made it look honestly used and loved. Maybe I should take a little polishing compound and add that holster wear back onto it; you know, sides of the barrel and ejector housing, top strap and cylinder. But then that would not be 'honest' wear would it?

44 Man

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #12 on:** October 27, 2011, 10:11:54 PM »

I dont mind a bit of holster wear either pal. You know me and know my guns are used. Even my 2k plus linebaughs are used. I do have a couple customs though that i do tend to treat a bit better. Id say they to have a bit of holster wear but there not guns i throw on the back of my pickup. I once had a buddy who used to frequent this forum come out to camp to do some shooting. He was the type that shot his guns and would wipe them with a rag and make sure he sat them in cases and he was floored that i tossed a 3000 dollar linebaugh (and i mean tossed) onto the bed of my truck. Now before you get all excited it is rhino lined. I told him that a handgun is a tool to me. If i bought a hammer that was top end i wouldnt wipe it down and carefully set it in the tool box. The hammer is still a tool. I paid high dollar for it because it was a better tool but still only a tool. I dont buy them to coddle them or to show them off i buy them to SHOOT. I also never buy a gun and worry about resale. Bottom line is you can get a sixgun reblued for about a 100 bucks so even if you get it to beat up or want to sell it its pretty easy to get it back in shape. theres a couple though with nice case colars that i tend to be a bit more anal with though.

Swampman · « **Reply #13 on:** October 27, 2011, 11:55:37 PM »

I use my guns hard for years but they still look new. I see no reason to abuse a tool. I quit giving my son guns because he showed he didn't care enough about the gifts to care for them properly.

OldSchoolRanger · « **Reply #14 on:** October 28, 2011, 03:50:28 AM »

Quote from: Swampman on October 27, 2011, 11:55:37 PM

I use my guns hard for years but they still look new. I see no reason to abuse a tool. I quit giving my son guns because he showed he didn't care enough about the gifts to care for them properly.

That's usually the problem with getting something expensive for free. No sweat equity involved, no appreciation. Sell him the gun for the actual value, I bet you that he takes care of that one.

Brett · « **Reply #15 on:** October 29, 2011, 08:29:42 AM »

My opinion differs from yours Lloyd. I make my living with my tools and I tend to take care of them like I take care of my sporting gear. If my hammer gets rained on while I'm using it or my wrenches get grease on them they are getting wiped down before they are put away. Good tools cost money and I don't see any sence in abusing nor neglecting them. I've got hand tools (block plains and such) that belonged to my father. I still have and use the first fishing rod I ever purchased with my own money nearly 40 years ago, the reel wore out long ago but I still have the old Diawa rod.

Frank V · « **Reply #16 on:** October 29, 2011, 01:29:17 PM »

I kind of thought the question was going to be forgot you had one on you too.
No I don't think I've ever forgotten a gun that I had.

CONGRTATULATIONS & AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!!!

Enjoy.
Frank

grumpyErik · « **Reply #17 on:** November 06, 2011, 03:37:20 PM »

I too thought it was a question of whether or not one has forgotten they were carrying. I have in the past, forgotten that I was carrying. Luckily, it was not in a compromising place or in a place easily seen. I had that moment of terror worrying if anyone had seen it when I realized I was still carrying. This was before Kansas was a CCW state.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #18 on:** November 06, 2011, 11:20:34 PM »

my guns arent drug behind the truck but there used to shoot not used as a decoration. I dont pound nails with them but there shot and carried in holsters and if you shoot and holster a gun enough its not going to look like new. I know some guys that clean there handguns thoroughly after ever time they shoot, even if its only 50 rounds or so. If i did that id be spending so much time cleaning guns that ammo wouldnt get loaded or bullets casted. If im showed someones 5 year old gun that looks like new i will bet you a dime to a dollar that that guy just isnt a shooter. If im showed a 5 year old gun that has some holster wear a few nicks in the grips and a scratch or two I about know im looking at a guy that takes shooting serious. Sorry guys but i also dont wipe down my hammer every time i use it. If im out in the rain maybe but wiping that hammer every day sure isnt going to make it last a single day longer or work a single bit better. theres a big differnce in maintaining a tool or gun then being an excessive compulsive type that uses hand sanitizers everytime he touches the water fountain or freaks because theres a little spot of carbon on his gun or some good old honest holster wear. You spend your time cleaning and ill spend my shooting thankyou. I have worked as a milwright for 10 years and a carpenter for a couple and i dont recall EVER seeing anyone wipe there tools down at the end of the day unless it was covered with grease or dirt. Just about all of them to a man drop there tool pouches at the end of the day and go and have a beer! They know a shinny hammer doesn put nails in wood one bit better then one that isnt. Ill give some of you more anal types a good piece of advice. dont ever buy a blued big bore handgun. Shoot a blued 475 or 500 more then about 500 rounds and your 2000 dollar plus sixgun isnt going to have bluing left on the backstrap or on the side of the frame where you finger goes through the trigger guard. Im sure that would cause some to go many sleepless nights.

I guess that wouldnt effect about half who buy them because they spend most of there time on a coffee table in the house to impress there friends.

Brett · « **Reply #19 on:** November 08, 2011, 02:16:10 AM »

Okay Lloyed, honest wear from proper use I have no problem with. In fact I think it adds a little character. It was your comment about tossing your gun into the bed of your truck that sounded callous to me and struck a nerve. We probably treat our guns and tools more alike than not.

At the range I will place my hand guns on a scrap of carpet on my tailgate or the shooting bench when I need to put them down to avoid getting any grit on/in them and get unnecessary scratches on them. They go into a holster when I need to free my hands up out in the field not on a rock or a stump.

As to being anal about cleaning my guns... I don't think I fall into that category either. Guns that do not get shot often get a good cleaning and oiling before going into storage but the ones I shoot frequently may get a quick wipedown to remove any dust and sweat or acids from handling at the end of a shooting session. My center fires usually get field stripped and cleaned only after several hundred rounds have been fired, not after each and every shooting session. As long as accuracy or function has not dropped off my rimfires only get stripped and cleaned a couple times a year and they get far more rounds threw them than my centerfires.

I view my guns as an investment of my hard earned money just like my house, vehicles or tools. I certainly don't shy away from using them but I do try to take reasonable care of them to preserve my investment.

Brett · « **Reply #20 on:** November 08, 2011, 02:50:04 AM »

Sorry, we seem to have deviated from the original question posed in the OP. So to answer the question... no, I have never forgotten owning a particular gun. Guess I just don't own so many that I can't remember them.

I did on one occasion misplace one for a short time. This took place many years ago and I only had but one centerfire hand gun that I kept for home defence. I had just returned from the shooting range after putting in some practice with my J-frame and was in my kitchen when the front doorbell rang. I did not have time to go upstairs to return the gun to my bedroom where I kept it so I just stashed it behind a cooky jar and some boxes of cereal on top of my refrigerator and went to answer the door. A friend from church had stopped by, he wanted to show me his new kayak. We shot the breeze for a while and then decided to go try out his boat. I had completely forgotten about the gun until several days later when I noticed it was absent from it's normal place on a cup hook above the doorjamb inside my bedroom closet. I had spent several panicky minutes searching and trying to think where it could be until I finally remembered stashing it on top of the refrigerator.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #21 on:** November 08, 2011, 10:13:17 PM »

had to laugh about misplacing brett. About 10 years ago when i was dating my now wife i was at a range in the town she live in. I used to go there to shoot when i spent weekends there. I hate public ranges but had to do something to pass the weekend. I had two pistol boxes with 3 guns each in them. I got a call from her to come right home because her ma was sick and she had to go to the hospital. I was rushing around loading things and walked away with a case still there. I got to her house before i realizied it. The case had my two 500 linebaughs in it and one of my 475s. I drove like a mad man for the 20 minutes back to the range and low and behold they were still sitting there case open to the world. One of the guys sitting there knew me but didnt know where my girlfriend lived and said he was going to sit there till i returned. I think i aged a couple years on that ride back to the range.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #22 on:** November 08, 2011, 10:29:21 PM »

By the way i was at one of the linebaugh seminars a few years ago and was sitting on my but shooting my 475 which was the first linebaugh gun i had built. It probably had a 1/3 of the bluing gone off it from the 3 years or so id been shooting the snot out of it. It had many character marks from shooting and hunting too. John sat down next to me and said let me look at that thing. I was embarrased I thought he was going to read me the riot act. He did just the oposite. His words were finally someone who actually uses one of these for what there intented and he showed me his and it looked just as bad. I made out on that deal. A another freind of mine guided buffalo hunting on his property and i traded him that gun for a buffalo hunt. Something i regretted the minute i got home. He sent it back to John and he refinished it and replaced a few worn parts and made it like new. It sat at this friends for 2 years and he maybe shot a 100 rounds out of it. One day he called me up and offered it and a 50ak marlin to me for 1700 bucks. I literally dropped the phone grabbed my checkbook and jumped in the truck. Its back home now and for all the anal guys it still looks like new for a couple reasons. Since my 5 back surgerys i havent really jumped back into the big guns yet. Ive shot them some but not alot and i havent had the oportunity to hunt something the 475 is needed for since then. But next summer i will do my part toward taking it to the next rebuild. Its nothing fancy just a plain jane blued 5.5 inch 475 but it is the most accurate revolver ive ever owned.

Steelbanger · « **Reply #23 on:** November 09, 2011, 12:58:11 AM »

Never forgot any of them but locating them is often hard to do.

Handguns seem particularly easy to misplace, store in a different spot, camouflage themselves to appear like a different gun, etc. In the end I always find whatever I'm looking for, so all is good.

gypsyman · « **Reply #24 on:** November 10, 2011, 05:35:19 AM »

T-shirt I seen at a gun show. ''If you know how many guns you own, you don't own enough guns!!'' Good philosiphy to live by. gypsyman

woodchukhntr · « **Reply #25 on:** November 10, 2011, 05:39:58 AM »

A friend who carries went to his grandson's game at school. He realized he had the gun and beat feet out of there fast!

Ladobe · « **Reply #26 on:** November 14, 2011, 03:47:50 AM »

I never forgot I owned a firearm, but I certainly didn't see some of them for many years that I had loaned to a family member or friend for a specific hunt or season. Worst case was three I got back about 3 years ago... two I hadn't seen since 1967, and one for about 10 years. Even then only because the family member that had them died and their mate returned them to me a few months later.

But I forgot having firearms with me one time could have been way more serious though. I was on a driving business trip looping through several states and stopped to make a courtesy call at a state penitentiary. When the guards let me trough the gate and security checked my vehicle as required, I had a half dozen rifles, pistols and lots of ammo for them in the trunk I had totally blocked out was in there.

I often took firearms and fishing gear with me to hunt/fish with clients on those trips, and was doing so this trip for elk and bear when I got to Montana. Luckily the guards knew me well and just had me park next to the guard shack so they could keep an eye on the car. I tossed them the keys to it to hold while I was inside to try to lessen the embarrassment a little.

On future calls for several years they really teased me and wanted to know how much "firepower" I had with me this time and who I wanted to break out "this time". But I always remembered to leave any firearms/ammo I had on a trip that included a stop there either with another client friend there, or with the hotel staff to lock up for me for the day I was visiting the prison. Never did get over being embarrassed though. A big and dumb mistake that could have bought me a lot of trouble if I wasn't so well known and trusted there.