My Gun Collection

by

Jerry Farquhar

I started collecting years ago, My interest is in the 'old stuff' of the early west. The 1800s' guns are HISTORY in one's hand, and still effective today. I have about 100 guns in a 10' x 23' vault gun room, with a total estimated value of $55-to-60,000.

Cowboy Action Shooting in the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) requires two six guns, lever rifle, and a shotgun, all must be pre-1897 designs with steel targets in a timed action stage, and all four will be used. Lest anyone suspect the 'old stuff' is slow, I point out that our local Okeechobee Marshals Club has TWICE outscored the Martin Country Sheriff's SWAT TEAM! And, they used their 'modern' guns! A 1973 Colt Single Action Army (in skilled hands) is faster for five shots than a 'modern' automatic!

I reload for most, and shoot ALL of my guns. Some of my pistol favorites include: 1862 S&W#2, .32 rim fire, which was America's first cartridge revolver carried by both sides in the Civil War, mine has a CSA cartouche on grip, while most which survived the Civil War were southern guns--when the 'Rebs' ran out of ammo, the (Damned?)Yankees wouldn't sell them any more.

Another of my favorites is the 882 Colt Lightning double action, plus two later ones--Billy the Kid had one when Pat Garrett killed him in the Maxwell House Hotel. Also, the 1883 .45 Colt SAA, nickel plated and, the 1886 S&W #3 in .44 Russian, nickel plated. The Russians developed the cartridge for their 125,000 gun order in 1877.  It's the same case and bullet as the later .44 Special + Mag---just shorter.  My pair of 1964 150th Commemoratives of Sam Colt's birthday--they're .45 Colt SAAs, 7 1/2" Cavalry barrels, Sterling Silver cylinders, back straps and trigger guards. Also, a pair of Colt SAA .44-40s with sequenced serial numbers.

Those guns which came from my good friend Buck Congdon include his 1958 Ruger Single Six .22--an October 1941 built 1911 issued to his father, who was a West Point graduate--mint condition; a .380 pre-production auto built by Celmi Bros, Montevideo, Uruguay; this was a gun given to Buck's father during his WWII service as head of Army Intelligence in Argentina. Buck and his sister both confirmed that: 'Daddy shot 12 Nazis with it.'

Here are some of my favorite rifles: Winchester 1873 in .44-40 cal., built 1879; Win 1885 Low-Wall in .32-20, built 1892; A John Browning design, it still shoots a 4 inch 10 shot 100 yards group; A Win 1892 inch .44-40, built 1895 (John Wayne always carried the Browning model '92). Another favorite is my Colt Lightning pump action model '77 in .32-20, built 1895, and Lightning .22.

I also have a Springfield M-1 Garand, M-1 Carbine, and a Mauser 98k. Mauser is the short version, built in1941, and has matching serial #8777 on ALL parts. My favorite shotgun is the 1904-built Winchester '97, a Black Diamond Trap--an ex-Navy Seal friend told me many Seals in Vietnam bought '97s.  Fully loaded, it's open hammer can be SILENTLY cocked by holding the trigger! It's STILL the most rugged and reliable design by anybody.

Fun trivia: Did you know that  Springfield Armory continued to pay royalties for the Mauser designed bolt on its '03 rifle for many months after we joined WWI?  The Army considered the Garand inferior to the '03 Springfield for accuracy? They changed their minds after a Marine Major WON the '39 Camp Perry matches with one.  Because the Army got first-dibs on Garands, many Marines went ashore in the Pacific carrying the '03.  The Colt 1877 Lightning revolver was the only true .38?  Its bore is .376.  ALL other .38s are really .36s, with bores of .357.

Nobody ever built a .44 caliber handgun?  All the old 'cap and ball' .44s had .452 bores; so, they were .45s. All modern .44s are really .43s with .427 to .429 bores.  Send me 20% of your 'bar bet' winnings on these facts!.