Too nice to shoot?

[GunnyMack]

Just for grits & shins I've been looking at/for Marlins in 25-20. 4 listed on Guns America. This one stands out!
https://www.gunsamerica.com/988151573/4 ... 24-OCT.htm

[J Miller]

Too nice to shoot?

Not for me. I love shooting nice rifles. I might baby it and not take it to the field, but if I had the wherewithal to buy it, I'd sure shoot it.

Joe

[Borregos]

Too nice to shoot?

Not for me. I love shooting nice rifles. I might baby it and not take it to the field, but if I had the wherewithal to buy it, I'd sure shoot it.

Joe

Me too

[M. M. Wright]

My supply sergeant told me, a long time ago, that "no man should have to hunt with an ugly rifle". So I bought a 99 Savage in 250/3000. Shot the snot out of it.

Is the Marlin "too nice to shoot?"? Not a bit. If you can afford it, buy it and shoot the snot out of it.

[crs]

Agree with most on shooting your guns, but I have two that will remain unfired as long as own them.
1. LNIB Miroku/Winchester 1895 Deluxe in 405 WCF. I have two other .405s that I do shoot and the Deluxe is a safe queen (last price check was $2500) until I sell it or I pass on.
2. NIB NRA Centennial Colt King Cobra Stainless steel .357 revolver. I won this at a Friends of the NRA auction and being a S&W nut since a teenager, I have not shot it. It will be a safe queen until I sell it (last check a few years ago the going price was $2,400) or pass on.

[Sixgun]

If it's already been shot with slight marks on the moving parts, you won't hurt it with an occasional range visit. It would be easier to send me $750 and I'll send you an 1894 Marlin CL in 25-20 that I put a full length mag tube on...(still have the shorty). Still has the box...I'm a first owner.

I occasionally take out a like new Model 65 in 32-20 and shoot it. ----6

[crs]

Six
Thank you for your kind offer, but I am presently selling a few guns and not buying any.
My safes are already full and even a few long gins in closets, so I need to make more room.

[Baja_Traveler]

That rifle will be my next levergun (to match my 32-20 and 218 Bee). I sure as heck will be shooting it no matter how nice it is...

[hfcable]

I have an early 1894 marlin in 25-20 that gets shot, not nearly as pristine as that but still nice





its a short rifle, with excellent bore and quite accurate, 20" octagonal barrel.


i have a load using a cast bullet that basically duplicates 22 LR ballistics, and a load with speers hot core 75 gr that is hotter, but safe, and a real hitter; the cast load is sighted dead on at 75 yes and at that range the speer hits directly above it and about 1 1/4" higher......allows choosing either one without worry too much about where to aim.

if the other one was mine I would shoot it, and likely let it get out in the woods on a nice day

[Sixgun]

Yep.....as we age, we get "gun rich" and "cash poor". I keep saying I'm done buying but the disease just will not go away. Guns all over the place...lost several carry guns...they are in the house...somewhere. It's bad when your digging in the safe and you find a nice 95 and say to yourself, "did someone leave this here...never knew I had it."

Harold....I now see it's time for you to be tantalizing me with that 94 of yours. Yes sir, that's a beauty.

[GunnyMack]

Trust me, if I had that to spend on that rifle I WOULD SHOOT IT. I figured that all of you would enjoy seeing it and talking about it here.
Although I might have to think about that offer you made Six!

I have shot many high dollar guns over the years, but the most valuable thing I ever had my hands on was a $100,000 Perazzi. Didn't get to shoot it but I did get to see it with my fingers. Amazing engraving and wood that was 'alive' with figure!

[earlmck]

That sure is purty -- thanks for showing it Gunny. But I personally would opt for another one with good bore but not so fine outside. All my weapons are exposed to grandkids (which species includes a few great-grand kids) and I don't want to have to worry about the dings that accompany young shooters to the field. There's enough stress just getting them to the muzzle-conscious stage.

[Sixgun]

I never shot this one. It came from an old estate in Greenville, De.....where Joe Biden lives....it came with a box of ammo with a dozen rounds missing and it's my guess that's all that were ever shot from it. Built in 1891.---6

[hfcable]

I never shot this one. It came from an old estate in Greenville, De.....where Joe Biden lives....it came with a box of ammo with a dozen rounds missing and it's my guess that's all that were ever shot from it. Built in 1891.---6

Holy cow, basically looks new !!

[marlinman93]

That's a gorgeous 1894 linked by the OP, and it would be a shame to own one that nice and not shoot it! They were built to be shot, and I couldn't own one that I would not shoot. I may not shoot the very minty guns as often, and how I shoot them requires more care. But I shoot everything I own.
Of course some guns I own get shot a lot, even though others have questioned my sanity in shooting a very valuable old gun. But once you shoot one and it shoots really well, it makes you want to shoot it even more!

[tman]

I won't own a gun that I can't shoot, own a car I'm scared to drive. Life is just too short and don't put all that much meaning in material possessions. To poor to do it, anyway.

[Sixgun]

I also have never shot this one....it's an unfired Single Action Colt from 1917.....I ain't no rich guy....punching a clock for the same company for 43 years but......in those years, when I saw something nice that I knew would be worth money one day, I grabbed it. There is very slight muzzle wear but I cannot find any burn marks anywhere from firing.----6



How about these serial numbers....38-40 and a 45. Yep, they are Colts...and unfired. I love these showing off times.



One day after a camp out..shoot......when I was 15 years younger and 30 pounds lighter.....I met up with Doc O'Meara......may the Good Lord rest his soul....... who took some pictures of a Triplelock Target in 44 Spl. that was shipped to some big shot named Nate or something for a book he was writing. This Nat guy made racing yachts for America's Cup some hundred years ago.

Sometimes you just luck out...pays to have factory letters.

[Old Savage]

Well Six, send that .45 out here. I'll shoot it for ya. You can still say you never shot it.

[Sixgun]

Well Six, send that .45 out here. I'll shoot it for ya. You can still say you never shot it.

OK.....I think I still have your address in my "saved messages". .......yep....got it...

"Bunny's T-Bar"
L.A., California..
ATTN:
Couch Room personnel.

[Pitchy]

Well Six I gotta say your looking pretty good in that picture, what the hell happened to us now.
darn nice guns fellars.

[Sixgun]

Pitchy,
IIRC, I was about 42 in that pic......board member CAS (the guy with Bugs Bunny as an Avatar) will remember better than me......he was there and he don't drink or do drugs so his memory is better than mine............20 years ago? pelosi! I'm almost dead!

Party on baby!----6

You guys have to keep in mind....when I was in my "buying years" the stuff I have now was all over the place....everyone wanted the 1866's, deluxe 1873's, engraved guns...etc...regular grade 1886's with 40-70% condition were going for 3-5 hundred. I remember in 1975, when I was 21, and I was at a top dollar collectors show......did not know pelosi, other than what I read......and there was this "older" guy...probably in his mid fifties all excited as he just bought an 1886 MUSKET for $900. My professional guess is that today that gun is worth 30'g's....maybe more. These things stuck in my mind so that why when you guys see some neat stuff I have, ......it was no big deal when I bought it.....as I wanted to be the "big deal" in thirty years. Our Christian God has blessed me with the ability to foresee guns that one day, will be desirable. You boys would be sick..sick...sick...if I got into the stories of stuff I passed up for lack of Bens.........OK......the martialy marked Henry, complete with sling and sharp cartouche for $4500.....the "one of one thousand" deluxe 1873 for 20 g's.......the absolute new in box 1892 in 32-20 complete with hangtag for $900...the deluxe 1866 factory engraved musket for 5500......this pelosi all stuck in my head.....well, the memory did. ---6

[Pitchy]

I don`t have anything that hasn`t been shot, the closest thing I have that hasn`t been shot much is my single action Colt 44 special that Bob Munden tuned and a model 70 feather weight in 257 Roberts I bought new back when they were made by Winchester in the early 80`s if my memory serves me right.

[EdinCT]

If I am not mistaken that 94 has been chambered to 256 win. so its not unmolested. While very nice I would shoot it.

[Pete44ru]

Just for grits & shins I've been looking at/for Marlins in 25-20. 4 listed on Guns America. This one stands out!
https://www.gunsamerica.com/988151573/4 ... 24-OCT.htm

I know the folks selling it (Wildwood) from my gun show days - ergo, they most likely bought it for $1K (their markup is HUGE).

It IS pretty, though..........


.

[lazarus870]

I've purchased guns from people who have said they're "too nice to shoot". Then I shot them.

I just recently paid a little more over value for a Marlin 1894 Cowboy Limited 24-inch barrel in 44 mag. The bolt didn't even have the wear from cycling they get so quickly. I fixed that, lol.

[marlinman93]

Sixgun,
Love to see the really great old guns you own pictured here! What I really appreciate is your comment about being a working guy, and having the foresight and priorities to make those purchases, even if it might have been hard to pull the money out of the bank. Makes you look pretty darn smart 20 years later when they did well increasing their value!

[claybob86]

I never shot this one. It came from an old estate in Greenville, De.....where Joe Biden lives....it came with a box of ammo with a dozen rounds missing and it's my guess that's all that were ever shot from it. Built in 1891.---6

Hey, Six, is the bluing on that 1873 really that BLUE? Or is it just how the picture came out? Bluest bluing I ever saw!

[Sixgun]

Sixgun,
Love to see the really great old guns you own pictured here! What I really appreciate is your comment about being a working guy, and having the foresight and priorities to make those purchases, even if it might have been hard to pull the money out of the bank. Makes you look pretty darn smart 20 years later when they did well increasing their value!

Thanks Marlinman,
I owe it all to TV westerns and a 1966 Gun Digest. Read that book from cover to cover a million times....still have it and every one since 1950. Started collecting what I could afford in the early days......single cartridges...books....books....and more books....once I had some knowledge, I knew what to buy...when I could afford it. Started with worn out Winchesters and a few single action Colts.....kept buying and trading up and after 40+ years and a thousand Colts and Winchesters later, I learned a few things. I believe the most I ever paid for a gun was about half of what it was worth...you know that yourself in the world of wheeling and dealing. The best buy always come from estate sales and no nothing two cent auctions but in the end there's one thing better than money....knowledge is king.....but you knew that. -----6

[Sixgun]

I never shot this one. It came from an old estate in Greenville, De.....where Joe Biden lives....it came with a box of ammo with a dozen rounds missing and it's my guess that's all that were ever shot from it. Built in 1891.---6

Hey, Six, is the bluing on that 1873 really that BLUE? Or is it just how the picture came out? Bluest bluing I ever saw!

Yes, it really is a dark rich blue but the picture does make it look even more blue. When the light is on it, you can see the forging marks....I'll find another pic...the last one is probably the best represented.







This here is a three digit model 71 deluxe...about new.

[claybob86]

VERY nice! Thanks for the photos!

[marlinman93]

The best buy always come from estate sales and no nothing two cent auctions but in the end there's one thing better than money....knowledge is king.....but you knew that. -----6

Yes, I couldn't agree more! And the best advice I ever got was from an old timer at a local gun shop, where I stopped every Friday after cashing my paycheck! He told me I should do my homework, and spend money on gun books before guns. Seemed crazy to me as a gun book took away good money I was saving towards gun purchases! But I respected his advice, and began searching gun shows for used books, as they were cheaper, and saved over new. Wasn't collecting books, so info was all I cared about in a book.
The same guy started me out with my first collectable gun, once I announced to him I wanted to collect pump action .22's back then. He went into the back room and brought out a Winchester 1890 pump, and told me it would be perfect for me! I looked it over, and the action was jammed. I thought he was playing with me, and was a bit put off. He said it was cheap at $80, and a very nice gun, and rare too. Again I thought he was pulling my leg, as 1890 Winchesters were everywhere, and certainly not rare. But the price was right for a project gun, so I bought it. Got home and tore into it to see what needed to be repaired, and found a .22LR cartridge bent 90 degrees inside the action! It was a .22 Short, so somebody simply put the wrong ammo in it. Fixed, and working like new!
But it was during the repair that I realized the big favor he'd done me! The NRA takedown manual described how to break my 1890 down, but it didn't match my gun! The 1890 I owned was a solid frame, not a takedown! One of less than 5,000 made in the first year of production, and worth many times the $80 price he'd sold it to me for!

I always figured I must have been adopted. With 3 brothers and my dad, I was the only boy in the family who got the gun collecting bug. Also the only boy in the family who got the hotrod building bug. My brothers had a few hunting rifles, and appreciated nice cars. But they all thought I was nuts to put so much time and money into old guns and old cars. My dad seemed to understand, even if he didn't do the same. He was always interested in what I bought, or what I built.

[Sixgun]

Marlinman,
Be truthful......in your mind, which acquisition made you the happiest...at the time........that solid frame 1890 or one of your latest Schuetzen Ballards that was custom ordered from Marlin by a rich doctor?

Back when I was 18, I went to this gun show where everyone had coats and ties on and I bought an 1894 takedown in 38-55....did not know nothing about it and in those days, ammo was not available, except single cartridges at a buck apiece. Everyday, while I was at work, all I could think about was going home and fondling that gun. Nowadays, I can come home with a high dollar Winchester, wipe it down and put it the safe....and mostly forget about it.

The game just ain't what it used to be......the "chase" and "acquisition" no longer have that pizazz.

My buddy, who is a connoisseur of military 1911's told me the same. I walk in the office and I notice a "new" acquisition on his desk and when I ask, he say,"ah, just another Singer".-----6

[marlinman93]

Marlinman,
Be truthful......in your mind, which acquisition made you the happiest...at the time........that solid frame 1890 or one of your latest Schuetzen Ballards that was custom ordered from Marlin by a rich doctor?

....6

Honestly the latest Schoyen is a better gun, and more interesting. But the Schoyen Ballard I had already probably made me happier than either of the other two. Mainly because I was in the right place at the right time in a local gun store when they bought it.
I was irritated at first, as I wanted it badly, and they gave the young man $300 for it. I figured the shop owner was sticking it to him, and knew it was worth huge amount more. But when I asked how much he would sell it for, he handed it to me and said he'd have to make 50% on every gun he buys.
So I said I'd be happy to pay $450 for it, and we did the deal. As I was getting my money out, he says, "Now before you get in too big a hurry, I want to point out that some idiot put his name on the barrel!" I hadn't noticed the "Geo C Schoyen Denver, Co." stamp on the barrel! I told him I thought I knew that idiot and paid him his money.
I rushed out to my truck and actually was so giddy I almost got sick! I was pretty excited, and had to stop a few blocks away to calm down. That was truly a gun I never thought I'd own, and getting another last year at the Denver show was just crazy. But Denver provided my Hepburn Match B with 34" barrel, and a Ballard Rigby factory engraved schuetzen also. So with those three guns it was probably the high point of all the gun shows I've ever attended!

[Sixgun]

Ok...Marlinman....I am truly laughing my azz off right now......"some idiot put his name on it"........I love it. In fact, I just spit up a little Pabst Blue Ribbon.

But........but.......don't that go back to what I said about knowledge? I could go,on forever about this but I remember about 15 years ago some guy was selling an 1886 in 45-70......nice gun...and he told me, "hey man, this is a nice gun, I got to have $2600 for it". I said, "OK, I understand your situation". I even gave him an additional Ben Franklin and told him to take his wife out to dinner.

Except for what I've seen on Mertz's site, it's the nicest SRC 86 I ever laid eyes on.----6

[RIHMFIRE]

I never shot this one. It came from an old estate in Greenville, De.....where Joe Biden lives....it came with a box of ammo with a dozen rounds missing and it's my guess that's all that were ever shot from it. Built in 1891.---6

Hey, Six, is the bluing on that 1873 really that BLUE? Or is it just how the picture came out? Bluest bluing I ever saw!

Yes, it really is a dark rich blue but the picture does make it look even more blue. When the light is on it, you can see the forging marks....I'll find another pic...the last one is probably the best represented.







This here is a three digit model 71 deluxe...about new.

Six...those are really really nice.....
and I would shoot and hunt with all of all them...your winchester and his marlin
and if you take care of them....they wont loose value. They are money in the bank!

[4t5]

That link says ...caliber 256 magnum

[marlinman93]

Ok...Marlinman....I am truly laughing my azz off right now......"some idiot put his name on it"........I love it. In fact, I just spit up a little Pabst Blue Ribbon.

But........but.......don't that go back to what I said about knowledge? I could go,on forever about this but I remember about 15 years ago some guy was selling an 1886 in 45-70......nice gun...and he told me, "hey man, this is a nice gun, I got to have $2600 for it". I said, "OK, I understand your situation". I even gave him an additional Ben Franklin and told him to take his wife out to dinner.

Except for what I've seen on Mertz's site, it's the nicest SRC 86 I ever laid eyes on.----6

If you want a real laugh, you'll enjoy....the rest of the story!
A few days later the gun shop owner calls me up at home and tells me I need to bring the Schoyen Ballard back. I ask him why, and he tells me he was talking to a friend and says, "I sold that gun way too cheap!"
My gut reaction was to laugh, but I controlled myself and told him I never argued his 50% mark up, nor did I point out the name on the barrel. That was his doing. I was ready to buy it as a neat old schuetzen rifle before he even pointed out the name. I also asked if I came back and gave him more money, would he call the young man back and share his new found profit with him? Silence. So I told him that wasn't going to happen, and he needed to live with his mistake and know I would never profit from it, as I'd never, ever sell it either.
He told me to "never darken his door again" but I decided to ignore that threat, and stopped in every couple weeks as I always had.

[Sixgun]

Ha! Great story!!! Oh well, for him, it's another lesson on "The School Of Hard Knocks". ----6