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SOG DonationsI don’t have a favorite firearm but the one with the most interesting story to me is a .22 revolver that is currently sitting in a ziplock bag in pieces because it was made of cheap pot metal and some parts just dissolved when my father in law tried to clean it before giving it to my daughter. It is similar to a Rossi Princess but not similar enough to use parts from, the story goes like this; One day several years ago my mother in law was looking for my father in law with some sense of urgency but he was no where to be found so she got in her car and started looking for him. Unknown to her he had let a friend borrow his truck to run some errands. While after a long search she found his truck at the house of another women who had a reputation with some of the fellas around town. She didn’t confront him there or even see him to be sure but when he walked in the door later that evening she grabbed the .22 and shot him in the head. I don’t know if she just intended to scare him or was not a great aim but the shot barely grazed him and he still has the scar. I guess later he may have been able to convince her he let the other guy use his truck because they stayed together the rest of her life and had three children together, one being my wife. Any other gun in that condition would have gone in the recycle bin but because of the story I can’t just toss it.
I have a story about a handgun i own, it’s not my favorite. in fact i kinda hate the thing. haven’t even seen the the thing in years as i keep it crammed in back of the safe and the story is not a good one to tell anyway…so…
We demand the story.
9 posts were merged into an existing topic: I can’t follow the contest rules so my post ended up here
To stop this massive derail i will tell a short story, not the one i was going to.
Many and i mean many years ago when i was a wee lad, me and a buddy walked to a lake in the middle of the woods. lake was called firemans lake. we used to go shoot guns and fish there all the time. was another smaller lake there too.
I had a bolt action 22 we were hunting anything that moved, especially cotton mouths. and there was plenty of them there. I had shot a snake and jacked the shell out and left the bolt back. we were walking around this decent sized lake and i accidentally pulled the trigger in some brush hanging over the walkway and the bolt came out and down the embankment it went in the lake.
Well crap, i told the guy with me Named Harlan, he went on to play major league baseball. He had two other brothers and they were some baseball playin fools. i used to catch for his brother and he was a knuckleballer. if you ever caught for a knuckleballer you know what kind of crazy stuff the ball will do.
Don’t know how many times he hit me in the chest or even the head. especially when i first started catching him. Harlan is dead now, but he played a while in the big leagues as a pitcher and he hurt his arm.
Anyway, enough of that, i said i just dropped my bolt in the lake, he gave me a look of disbelief and i said look, i showed him my gun. i said ain’t but one thing to do so we took off our clothes and jumped in. the water was right at out neck high there. the bottom was pretty soft so we felt for it with our feet. anyway after a while i was thinkin we ain’t finding it, then Harlan said i may have it under my foot. he dove down and came up with it.
Man what a sigh of relief, that old bolt gun was my very first gun. seems like i gave 15 bucks for it at a pawn shop. i shot many a round through that thing and killed a lot of squirrels and rabbits and snakes.
When my son got old enough for his first gun i gave it too him and told him the storied me and that old gun had. he still has it and i’m sure one day he will give it to his son.
We had a lot of fun on them lakes and swamps back then, used to wade barefoot in the slews and when we stepped on a snapping turtle we’d grab it by the tail and pull it out of the mud. we never shot them though. mostly just threw em on the bank and piss em off with a stick then let em go.
Had another friend we called Porky and no he wasn’t fat. i had that same 22 and he had a 12 gauge. we found a huge hornets nest close to the lake. before i could get the words out hey Porky look at th…BOOM. he shot that damn thing. i ain’t never run so fast and long in my life. we looked like a pro running back in the NFL running through the woods dodging trees.
We had a lot of good times on that old wooded section and lakes. i caught some nice fish there too.
I like gun stories like that. Now back to business, don’t derail the derail! 
A long time ago (1960’s) there was this little boy (me) who had a tool and die maker/gunsmith for a grandfather. At about the age of 5 or 6 ( not sure exactly it was a long time ago) grandpa built me a single shot 22. It had a Stevens Favorite action. Where you push the lever down, the breach block lowers out of the way and you insert a cartridge. Then you still have to cock the hammer to fire the rifle. The original barrel was shot out so grandpa used a Winchester barrel that was laying around and modified the barrel to fit the Stevens action. He cut down the stock to fit a boy my size. He also had to make a custom fore end. He installed a Weaver 4x scope. I have shot many squirrels with that rifle as well as rabbits, groundhogs and other varmints. Latter on in years a full size butt stock was added. This is my favorite gun because it was made just for me. If I remember I’ll post a picture when I get home from work.
Nice story Rex. Sounds like your Grandpa was an awesome man.
Can’t wait to see a pic of that rifle.
Also if you loosen the screw on the bottom front of the action the barrel and scope and fore end come off the receiver. Breaks down to fit in a backpack just fine.
This was a home build?
That is a family heirloom for sure.
Definitely! Nice rifle!
Stevens Favorite action. Winchester 74 barrel, custom fore end. Pictured is the full size stock. It had a shortened stock for several years till I grew bigger.
Wanna sell it?
Just kidding. That needs to stay in the family. They haven’t printed enough $ to buy it from you.
Ok i have one. It’s gone now and i really wish i didn’t lose it in katrina.
My uncle had a single shot bolt action .22 with the bolt broken off.
I used to pull it out and look at it. One day a friend asked for me to bring it to see what kind it was.
It was in my trunk when we went to a club called sharkey’s reef just ooutside nola. It had a tank 20 ft deep the length of the entire dance floor wall, about 20 feet high. IT was huge!
So, we go outside after closing and one friend passes out in the car. I dig the rifle out of the trunk and hand it to my friend. After looking at it he hands it back when a squad car storms in and they get out.
No guns drawn or anything “ugly”.
I explained what was going on and when they looked at it they laughed.
Then they shone a light on my friend and yelled at him to see if he was alive.
He freaked out and fell out the car. 
It was probably just a cheap old bolt .22, but i wish i could have saved it.
It was useless. Even some neighbors who really knew weapons threw theirs out as well. Almost impossible to restore. 
Some had piles of ruined weaponry.
This is a story with history and facts of a firearm very near and dear to me, I’m the 4th generation that will get it, when my mother passes away and I hope and pray that is a long time away personally. In the mean time I will just keep it in my safe and take it out now and then to admire it and reflect on the many memories.
The following is from my mother, born Oct. 1938.
My Limited Knowledge of
How the Muzzle Loading Rifle Came Into Our Family
By Marie Evelyn
My father, Glen Layman, (born July 9, 1895) told me that his father, George W. Layman, (born March 31, 1864) acquired this muzzle loading rifle from a gunsmith in Quaker City, Ohio – but I do not know the year. The story, as told to me by my father, was that George Layman, (my grandfather), had traveled by horses and wagon to Quaker City, Ohio, and while in town, he stopped at the gunsmith’s shop. While there he noticed this rifle behind the counter, and commented on it. The gunsmith (whose name I do not know) stated that it belonged to a man who had brought it in for some work and/or repair, and the gun was now repaired and ready to go, however, the owner had not come to pay for it. The gunsmith stated that it had been in his shop for quite some time, and he wished the owner would come to pay for the work done to it. George Layman (my grand-father) indicated that he would be interested in buying the muzzle loader if the owner didn’t come to claim it. The gunsmith sent a letter to the owner, notifying him of the charges for the repairs to the gun, and gave the owner a fair amount of time to claim the gun, or else it would be sold.
Several months had passed when my grandfather, George Layman, again stopped at the gunsmith’s shop to see if the muzzle loader was still there. The gunsmith said yes, that the owner never came for the gun, nor made any attempt to contact him, so my grandfather paid the gunsmith, and took ownership of the gun. I do not know the amount of money involved in this transaction, nor do I know the exact year that it happened, but from what I have been told, it was in the late 1800’s.
The above information is what I remember from my father’s account of this story. There are a lot of missing links here…and sadly, there is no one left to ask.
Marie E.
April 27, 2005
A DAY WITH CECIL BROOKS
IN LOWELL, OHIO
On Saturday, April 30, 2005, my son, David and I took the muzzle loading rifle and all related equipment, and drove to Lowell, Ohio, to visit with Cecil Brooks and to get any possible information that he could give us about the rifle…as to age, maker of the gun, or any other details that he might be able to provide.
His wife, Mary greeted us at the door and invited us in. Mr. Brooks had recently had an injury to his foot, and was not getting around real well at this time. He was most cordial, and invited us to sit down. He was interested in examining the muzzle loader and all of the accessories that we had with us. He said that it was a very well made firearm, and was in excellent condition. He was familiar with the gunsmiths of the Quaker City, Ohio area. He stated that it is a half stock, believed to be made of walnut. Total stock length is approximately 28 inches overall. The stock is inlayed with German Silver, consisting of two (2) fancy octagon-shaped, engraved, ramrod guides, an end cap, and a dual oval barrel pin/lock, all made of German Silver. There are four (4) inlays consisting of a fancy forearm inlay, approximately 5 inches long, an engraved inlay for the screw of the lock box (opposite the hammer), and an oval grip pin. On the left side of the stock is a buck in the laying-down position, and closer to the butt plate is another inlay of a dog standing in grass. On the right side of the stock is a hinged grease patch box. A 2-piece butt plate and a fancy trigger guard surround the set triggers.
The muzzle loader has a .32 caliber, percussion cap, octagon barrel which measures 32.5 inches in length with an overall length of 48 inches. Mr. Brooks stated that the lock (hammer) assembly was made by Golcher (of Germany). The trigger assembly is a set trigger. The second trigger is curved and is the set, and the first trigger is a straight release trigger.
Mr. Brooks proceeded to disassemble the muzzle loader, in hopes of finding a makers’ signature or proof mark. Upon disassembly Mr. Brooks kept commenting on the quality of the craftsmanship that was put into this muzzle loader. He also stated that this barrel came from another rifle from a much earlier date. Mr. Brooks told us that in the early 1800’s when this gun was made, that quality steel for gun barrels was not readily available, and that a lot of gunmakers used barrels from other guns. We were not able to find any signature and/or distinguishing marks at this time. Mr. Brooks asked us to bring the muzzle loader back to him when he is getting around better, so that he can examine it more closely in his shop.
Unfortunately we didn’t make it back to visit with Mr. Brooks, as he had invited us to do. He died September 24, 2006, at the age of 93, of heart failure of heart failure.
In April of 2011 the NRA Show was in Pittsburgh, Pa. So I took my mother and the Muzzle Loader along with a few other firearms, to the NRA show, in hopes of finding some more information.
Well as it turned out the old muzzle loader made quite a stir at the NRA show along with a mint Winchester M1 Garand. We were ushered to a table where we met with Mr. Phil Schrier head curator at the National Firearms Museum and Mr Doug Wicklund of the National Firearms Museum.
My mother and I showed the Muzzle Loader to the guys from the NRA and the National Firearms Museum, everyone was infatuated with mom’s muzzle loader, after about 2 hrs of questions and review of the history from mom and Cecil Brooks.
Mr Schrier asked my mother for her permission to do a documentary of her and the history of the muzzle loader and he wanted to put it on the NRA’s new documentary called Guns and Gold. Well after persuading my mother that she should put her fears aside of being on TV and just do it, she finally agreed.
Between the NRA and the National Firearms Museum time spent looking and researching the rifle they came to the estimated value between $12,000 and $18,000 dollars, and they told mom that it could be even more at auction.
I received a letter from the National Firearms Museum in December.
Mr. :
Would be happy to talk to you regarding all the aspects of donation – perhaps during your visit to the museum galleries?
I can tell you that we’d be very interested in a mint condition Winchester M1 Garand rifle!
The NFM collection started in 1871 and roughly 99% of what folks see in the museum cases are items that other folks have donated. We select items that we do not have represented – usually considering condition, historical association and other factors. Unlike many museums, we rotate items in the displays regularly, and we upgrade items when we get better condition examples.
We work with many collectors and some have elected to donate some pieces in advance of their other items, just to get a sense of what it would be like to have their items on display. One collector in the Carolinas has a group of twenty pieces now up in our galleries – shoulder stocked Colts, Winchesters, and other items from a collection that numbers in the thousands of guns.
We are working to set up a large satellite museum in the Midwest, and with our present loans program to other institutions – we are actively looking for material that could go on exhibit here or elsewhere.
During your visit, you’ll have a chance to see exactly what we have currently represented here in the collection and we can work out how best to get the donation squared away. NRA has a Firearms for Freedom program (http://nrafff.com/) that also may be of interest.
Doug Wicklund
National Firearms Museum
I have discussed donating the Muzzle Loader to the National Firearms Museum, I will keep it in the family for now, until my days become numbered.
That is the story of my favorite firearm that is priceless to me.
I wouldn’t give it up unless you have no heirs.
Maybe it’s me, but i think it was very forward to ask for it.
One of my neighbors is now a pariah of sorts because one church asked him to donate a few acres of land, BUT they want the few acres of land by the river.
He said they could have a few up near some frontage, but that wouldn’t do so he said nevermind.
