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My Cowboy Guns

3K views 23 replies 17 participants last post by  tomingreeneco 
#1 ·
I grew up in the 40's and 50's watching Saturday morning cowboy shows. Hopalong Cassidy, Roy and Dale Rogers, Johnny Mack Brown, Lash Larue, and others whose names escape me were my heroes. My friends and I spent most days playing "Cowboys and Indians in the fields and woods around my house. Fast forward 60+ years and I am once again running around dispatching various and sundry desperadoes with a bunch of like minded old coots. Here are my cowboy guns.

Jack



 
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#3 ·
Very nice collection. Congrats on your taste. 20 years ago I was shooting Cowboy Action, what fun that was. You're about a decade older than me but it doesn't sound as if there was much difference in our upbringing....or heros!
 
#8 ·
Very nice Jack. I've always leaned toward wheel guns myself. Just picked up a 97 this Wednesday. Guess that was yesterday. Took the bolt out and got everything all snugged and lubed. Can't wait to take it to the skeet range (haha).
 
#10 ·
Nice to find a bunch of like minded folks here. Thanks for looking , appreciate the comments.

Howdy Firpo
About 10 year ago I walked into a gun shop in Connecticut and saw a pristine 97 on the rack. It had to have been a police shorty that spent it's life in a PD locker somewhere. There was no sign it had ever been fired. Not a scratch on the hammer from racking the slide even. I think I paid about $600 for it. Then I took it up to a sass shooter in Maine named Jimmy Spurs to slick it up. It runs like greased lightning.
 
#11 ·
I tell you a very foolish thing I did about 8-10 years ago. My neighbor had an acquaintance who had a couple of guns that he had inherited from his father that he "did not want in the house" (a liberal, I guess). My neighbor told me about them and asked me if I was interested in buying them. I asked what they were and how much the guy wanted for them. He said that he did not know what they were but his friend said that he would take $300 for both of them.

I told him to bring them home and I would look at them and decide if I wanted them or not. A few weeks later he called me to come over to see the guns. They were both in perfect condition, beautiful guns, a 1903A3 and a shotgun. I had been looking for a 03A3 for a while and when I saw it I got really excited. I could care less about the shotgun so I gave it to my neighbor as a "finder's fee" for bringing me the 03A3.

The shotgun was a Winchester 1897 with the slotted/holed barrel shroud and bayonet lug on it and, as I said, in perfect condition. Later on I found out what it was and what it was worth and I have been trying to buy it back from my neighbor ever since.
 
#15 ·
I tell you a very foolish thing I did about 8-10 years ago. My neighbor had an acquaintance who had a couple of guns that he had inherited from his father that he "did not want in the house" (a liberal, I guess). My neighbor told me about them and asked me if I was interested in buying them. I asked what they were and how much the guy wanted for them. He said that he did not know what they were but his friend said that he would take $300 for both of them.

I told him to bring them home and I would look at them and decide if I wanted them or not. A few weeks later he called me to come over to see the guns. They were both in perfect condition, beautiful guns, a 1903A3 and a shotgun. I had been looking for a 03A3 for a while and when I saw it I got really excited. I could care less about the shotgun so I gave it to my neighbor as a "finder's fee" for bringing me the 03A3.

The shotgun was a Winchester 1897 with the slotted/holed barrel shroud and bayonet lug on it and, as I said, in perfect condition. Later on I found out what it was and what it was worth and I have been trying to buy it back from my neighbor ever since.
Arrrrggghhhh missed opportunities suck don't they? My uncle was a paratrooper in WWII and jumped behind enemy lines at Normandy. He brought home a lot of mementoes and when he died my aunt offered them to me. I was in grad school in Albany NY at the time and I took several german flags and daggers. He also brought home a walther PPK and a Luger in their holsters. I turned them down because at that time I didn't have a permit to possess handguns and did not want to take the chance of ending up bagged for possession.I think they were turned in to the PD.
 
#12 ·
Jack,

Can't wait to get mine in shape. There are pics in the tech questions forum. It has a mismatched forend and someone decided to put a shiny finish on the stock. What attracted me to it is that it has a factory cyl 20" barrel. I can get the forend. To me it's fun putting the old ones back to their original, or as close to it as I can.
 
#14 ·
Beautiful photos of a beautiful collection. Everyone is talking about the single action revolvers but my eye keeps going back to the Lightening. Is it an original Colt or is it a reproduction? Very nice either way.
 
#17 ·
How well does it work? I know people that were quite excited when the repros showed up, but none would run right.
 
#20 ·
I gave up looking for a USFA in my budget (for now) and yesterday picked up my first cowboy gun. It's just a Beretta Stampede Gemini repro, but feels great if a bit gaudy. Too darn cold to get to the range so I will just fondle it during my daily dose of the western channel.

Growing up in the early-mid fifties was the best of times for cowboy fans. All the B-movie heroes were rerun plus the new Production TV shows. When was the last time anyone saw boys playing shoot-'em-up outside? Twenty to thirty years here. Sad.

The old radio westerns are also wonderful, especially on road trips at night. Hoppy is my favorite with Paladin a close second.
 
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