Favorite Firearms...

Even before I became a licensed firearms dealer, I had a great interest in them, and collected the ones that appealed to me...I was introduced to them by my Dad who was certainly no gun enthusiast, but was a father wanting to broaden the knowledge and experiences of his two sons...Not wanting us to grow up thinking all guns had endless supplies of ammo, never needed cleaning and only wounded people like we saw in TV westerns of the day, he went to a store and bought a new Remington Model 512 Sportmaster...

This was a walnut stocked full sized rifle, blued steel finish, with iron sights (rear adjustable), marked for .22 Long Rifle, Long or Short ammunition...He also brought home a Remington branded cleaning kit in a metal case with that wonderful aroma of solvent and oil plus a soft carrying case to protect the finish...

I recall the day he brought it home and showed it to us...Not really being a gun guy, he did remember what he was taught about firearms and shooting in the Army, and shared that information with my brother and I, emphasizing safety...I remember him taking us out of town to an empty field and showing us how to use the sights, the safety and how to shoot against a suitable backstop...

Both my brother and I were still aged in single digit years, but thirty or so years later we returned the favor by buying Dad his second gun...He wanted a handgun for home protection, and I went to a gun store where I knew someone, and bought him a Ruger .357 Magnum GP100...I could tell right away he didn't like the feel or the weight of it...

He wanted something similar to the revolvers he saw the detectives carry in TV shows such as Dragnet...Not ever having been the type to ask a retailer for an exchange or refund, I went back to the store and bought a new S&W Model 37 Airweight chambered in .38 Special, then made the necessary money adjustment with my brother, and kept the Ruger...When we gave it to him, I told him this one was named the Chief's Special, which pleased him to no end...

I also bought him a pair pf Pachmayr grips for it, and gave him a box of hollow point ammo, and to my knowledge he only ever fired one round, and that was at something he thought he saw moving in the garage one night...Thankfully whatever Dad thought he saw that night never returned, and the gun went back in his dresser drawer...

I realized much later that the Smith, being not only an Airweight, but having a three inch barrel instead of the more popular 1 7/8 inch, and having square butt grips in place of the more common round butt, is a bit of a rarity, and thus may be a little more valuable on the collector market...But it doesn't matter since neither of these guns will be sold during my lifetime...

Both my Dad and brother died many years ago, but I still have both guns together with Dad's cleaning kit and soft case, and the original box and papers for the Smith...I take them out and handle them sometimes like I did today...Somehow it seems for a while they're both still here...

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