thoughts on passing down guns

[saddlebum]

when my dad passed he left me a few of his guns that are treasures to me. My health hasn't been great in the last few years and so i got to thinkin about what i'd like to pass down.

there are guns that have special meaning to me and some that would just be turned in to cash for my wife. Well i was disscussing what i would leave to whom with one of my stepsons when he says wonder what i could get for them?. thought my head was gonna explode,if they are just gonna be sold ,i'll sell them for my wife to have the money. looks like my grandson just got a bigger share

 

[SiGArmed]

Personally, I think if something is going to be "passed down", that person should have to wait until 25-30 to get it. Unless at 18-25 they are already really mature and understand the "value" and significance of the item being passed along.

If that makes sense.

 

[HMCS(FMF)Ret.]

Yeah, I can't see giving my guns to my kids. They aren't really in to shooting (live in Chicago). I have a hard time giving guns to people that won't enjoy them.

 

[saddlebum]

Personally, I think if something is going to be "passed down", that person should have to wait until 25-30 to get it. Unless at 18-25 they are already really mature and understand the "value" and significance of the item being passed along.

If that makes sense.

the one mentioned is 27 and a gun guy thats why his comment suprised me, the other is 30 and not really into guns. to think they would be sold for beer money irks the hell out of me

 

[SiGArmed]

Yeah. Guess some people just never get it.

 

[JRSherman]

I wonder that too sometimes. My grandfather has a number of guns that will become mine when he passes, and I'm not sure where to draw the line. It wouldn't be so hard for me, but we're just becoming increasingly distanced of late.

I suppose it's subconsciously because we both know we're getting closer to the end, but at the same time he's all but given up on getting out and doing things, and sits at home all day every day absorbing negative MSM news.
I can't go home every weekend to take him out either, I just can't afford it and it's not fair to my wife.

On top of it all, I already know that I'm going to be the executor of his estate, so it will blatantly become my problem.

With all that, though, before my step-dad came into the picture, he was my dad. He taught me a lot of what I know today, and he taught me how to shoot, gun safety, how to hunt right and respectfully, and how to fish.

There's a lot more that goes into family guns in the country than I think goes on otherwise. There's always a story behind a country gun. I remember most of them for each of the guns I've shot in the family, and it does make it a little harder to get rid of them before you have to.

At the same time, there are a few guns that I'm just not that interested in, and they don't have a story with them either. One of them is definitely staying with me(Belgian made 12ga.), but the others will probably be sold and the money going to Grandma.

It won't be a "wonder how much I can get out of them" case though, that stuff really ticks me off. Especially when it's less than a week after the family member is passed on.

 

[P97]

I like to look at guns and shoot them. I have several guns that I have done considerable things to make them where I enjoy owning them. Example: Engraving, Grips, Action Jobs, Refinishing, Sights, and ETC. My Son don't enjoy guns like I do. My Grandkids are too young to know if any of them will or not. My Wife Shoots, and if something happens to me before her, I told her to keep the guns and decide whether any of the grandkids would be responsible enough for them, and if not, for her to sell them.

 

[redneck1861]

I guess a gun passed down to someone doesn't mean that much to them sometimes.

I have a marlin model 60 that my great grandfather gave to me about a month before he passed. The monetary value of that rifle is only about $100, but that is the only gun that I will NEVER get rid of. It means way too much to me. I shoot it all the time and it is the gun that I hunt Squirrels and rabbits with. I plan on passing it down to my son someday.

 

[RidgeHunter]

If they mean more than cash to you, give them to someone who cares or sell them yourself and blow the money or give it to your wife. You won't feel right otherwise. If they hold no value other than cash to you, give them to whoever.

My grandpa was in very bad health when I was 11 and started giving stuff away while he could see it. He gave me his Winchester 94, that about half the guys in town, including my dad when he started hunting (dad was his son-in-law) had killed a deer with. It was the loaner gun, he had lots of friends. I killed my first deer with it that fall, and he died the next year. It's never going anywhere. It's beat to hell and has dropped many a deer, and been carried many a mile.
He gave my dad his engraved 1903 hammerless, it'll never go anywhere as long as I'm alive.

My dad has a couple guns that aren't worth much, but I want them because they've been carried a lot of places over the years.

Plus if you give them to someone who doesn't value them, you'll piss off someone like me. A family member that is not into guns ended up with a particular gun that would have meant a lot to me, I can only assume it has been pawned. To add insult to injury, it had decent cash value and I'm sure they got ripped off on the sale. I don't know for sure they sold it, but I can't see that person keeping a gun. Oh well, wasn't mine to begin with.

 

[BluRaySS]

I have spoken with my father about this. We are very frank about the fact of mortality. Pretty much all of his guns are near and dear to me since I grew up with them and were my primary training as a child and young man.

Of course there are some more than others, but I don't think I could bring myself to get rid of any of them. I keep trying to talk him out of his .221 Fireball (target pistol), but he just tells me I have to wait...... I have refrained from asking how long. lol Our family has a bit of a morbid sense of humor.