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Dave K.: It is nice to remember why we collect, associate and gather with one another here and there. Thank you for your comment.
Many thanks to AG…you, too, Clarence!!!! 
Tough question to answer! Obviously, my first gun has great sentimental value. It’s a 1947 Model 12, 16 gauge 28″ modified that my dad bought me at a mid-Michigan gun show in 1976. It was purchased without a butt stock so we got to work and found the correct one at a local gun shop. My great grandfather had purchased two new Model 12’s in the same configuration for his 2 sons in 1931 at the local hardware. My father inherited his from his father. My dad decided it was good enough for his two sons also. These Model 12’s got us started at the local trap range in 1977. In 1978, my dad bought two Expert Model 96 20 gauge skeet guns for him and myself to start skeet shooting. All these years later, we still shoot skeet and trap with a number of vintage Winchester shotguns. My 16 year old daughter now joins us in the hobby as a trap shooter for her high school team and has competed at the state and national levels for two years now. 40 some years of collecting and shooting has entertained five generations of my family since 1931. It’s amazing to think my great grandfathers purchases all those years ago have led to the hobbies we look forward to and enjoy today. May the hunt never end!
Thank you,
Chris
At one time it was a deluxe 1895 in .405. Sold it. Had a deluxe 71 in 98% condition. Sold it. I guess now it would be my deluxe 1886 ELW with 2X wood in .45-70. Also have a 65 in .32-20 that appears unfired. There’s more.
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
My collection center piece would be the Winchester Model 61 that my Dad taught me to shoot with more than 50 years ago.
It’s not fancy, it’s not valuable, but it is the only gun that I would never sell.
David McNab said
My collection center piece would be the Winchester Model 61 that my Dad taught me to shoot with more than 50 years ago.It’s not fancy, it’s not valuable, but it is the only gun that I would never sell.
Feel the same about my M.24 Remington in .22 Short, given to me by my father at about age 9 or 10. It was his own gun, not a new one, & actually a very poor choice for any kid. A Stevens Favorite or similar SS would have been a much better choice for learning to shoot, though what kid wouldn’t have preferred a semi-auto?
Impossible for me to use the factory sights, or I might still shoot it; cost of a Lyman tang sight for it is just about the value of the gun.
Well, I have to say that this thread wold be enormously more wonderful if there were way more photos posted. That being said, I’ve only got a modest collection, due to budget constraints brought upon by having six children. Consequently, most of them have been carefully selected as permanent ‘keepers’ so it’s hard to say which one is the centrepiece, so I’ll just pick one for this thread. It’s a Winchester Model 53 32 W.C.F. (32-20) serialized in 1929. The wood on both the foreshock and buttstock is noticeably fancier than normal. It was brought into a local gun store by an elderly man who said it had belonged to his uncle who had passed away. I would not be surprised if that old uncle was the original owner who took pride in the rifle. Not only is the wood fancier than usual, but it came with a fold down rear sight and a Lyman tang sight. This old 53 is still working on occasion, handling problems that show up around here such as Woodchucks digging holes in the bean field, nuisance Racoons, and skunks. Here is a photo ….
Kirk Durston said
Well, I have to say that this thread wold be enormously more wonderful if there were way more photos posted. That being said, I’ve only got a modest collection, due to budget constraints brought upon by having six children. Consequently, most of them have been carefully selected as permanent ‘keepers’ so it’s hard to say which one is the centrepiece, so I’ll just pick one for this thread. It’s a Winchester Model 53 32 W.C.F. (32-20) serialized in 1929. The wood on both the foreshock and buttstock is noticeably fancier than normal. It was brought into a local gun store by an elderly man who said it had belonged to his uncle who had passed away. I would not be surprised if that old uncle was the original owner who took pride in the rifle. Not only is the wood fancier than usual, but it came with a fold down rear sight and a Lyman tang sight. This old 53 is still working on occasion, handling problems that show up around here such as Woodchucks digging holes in the bean field, nuisance Racoons, and skunks. Here is a photo ….
Nice rifle!!
I’m not sure I can say this is the centerpiece of my collection, but it’s one of my favorites, because of it’s condition, and uniqueness.
Antique Model 1892 44wcf, sn 37362 made in 1894 oct barrel, takedown, special order, rod in butt, and special order sights, and it all letters.
tionesta1 said
I’m not sure I can say this is the centerpiece of my collection, but it’s one of my favorites, because of it’s condition, and uniqueness.Antique Model 1892 44wcf, sn 37362 made in 1894 oct barrel, takedown, special order, rod in butt, and special order sights, and it all letters.
Wow ! – Hang on to it.
D.
Great looking guns ya’ll.
1892takedown @sbcglobal.net ......NRA Endowment Life Member.....WACA Member
"God is great.....beer is good.....and people are crazy"... Billy Currington
David McNab said
Wow ! – Hang on to it.
D.
David what are you using for the background for your pictures?
Chuck said
David what are you using for the background for your pictures?
Actually not sure if the question applies to me but for guns I always use a red wool trading blanket made in Quebec – Identical to the one used by Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson.
I think Chuck meant to address that question to tionesta1. I’m butting in here, because I would also like to know. Great photos. If I had to guess, I’d say it was ultra suede.
win4575 said
I think Chuck meant to address that question to tionesta1. I’m butting in here, because I would also like to know. Great photos. If I had to guess, I’d say it was ultra suede.
Rick you are correct. I would like to find a neutral background that doesn’t wrinkle. I have some suede but it wrinkles when I fold it up and I hate ironing.
November 20, 2018
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The centerpiece for me is easy, as I only have one Winchester firearm. But it is my favorite hunting rifle, which I use for my semi-purposeful walks in the woods during Deer season.
It is a 1906-era Model 1894, rifle-length, octagonal-barreled 30.30 cal. Winchester; and it was once owned by my father’s hunting and fishing buddy, who died of cancer in his mid-30s.
Below is a photo of my father (on the right), and his buddy on the left, after a day of Bluefishing in Nantucket Sound. (The man in the middle is unknown to me.)
I retain the original buckhorn sights, but replaced them and added the Skinner aperture sights, without having to make any permanent alterations.
The rifle was inherited by my father, and then by me.
It is heavy, but carries easily, when straight-armed pendantly, and without a sling, due to its convenient balance-point and rounded forearm.
For years I puzzled over what had crudely been scratched, probably with a pocket knife, into the forearm: “L. Allen Scott/ Phantom Valley Ranch”. It sounded to me like a name right out of a Hollywood Western. It is he who probably carved a horse’s head on one side of the stock, and a daisy on the other.
Such carvings surely do nothing but diminish any residual collector value to what is a prosaic 1894 Winchester, to begin with. But for me, they invest the gun with a unique intrigue.
Due to the internet, I now know that it was probably owned by Lester Allen Scott, who ran a dude ranch, in Colorado, at one time, named Phantom Valley Ranch. It existed from early in the 20th to the mid-20th Century.
I attach a link below.
stumpstalker said
I attach a link below.
That’s a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
Huck Riley said
That’s a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
I agree. Guns with history (His Story) are cool. I have several that I know the history of.
Shoot low boys. They're riding Shetland Ponies.
win4575 said
I think Chuck meant to address that question to tionesta1. I’m butting in here, because I would also like to know. Great photos. If I had to guess, I’d say it was ultra suede.
The background for my photos is just a beige blanket.
I forgot to add my Oklahoma Diamond Jubilee as my “commemorative“ center piece. It is a beauty & of the 15 I own, it’s the center piece. Only 1001 made, 32-40, deluxe walnut, diamond tip front sight, & 24K gold etching. Gold butt plate, barrel ring, & end cap.
AG
I’ll throw this one out there for unique/rare. The rifle was a wreck when I obtained it, parts changed and in poor condition. It turns out it’s the first, second model deluxe full nickel 1890 to leave the factory and the 2nd full nickel deluxe produced. Before and after pics. with documentation. I would sure like to find it’s twin #17909!
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