Just purchased my first rifle

[wayne R]

At over seventy four years old, i just purchased a 40 year old,
Winchester 90---30-30.
And it may sound strange, but ill probably never use it, and im
not even going to  purchase bullets for it.
Reason is ive always watched old TV westerns and   the 30-30 was used alot in
those weatern movies, and so ill just clean it up,play with it, and look at it alot,
ive always liked the look of them,---hope ill like it.
Have to go get  my licence in a week, before i can take delivery of it.
The gun that won the west.

[Peter]

I don’t think this is a subject for this forum.

[ja17]

Sorry but I could not help keeping this thread going. It is a bit out of place. My dad got me one exactly like it for my sixteenth birthday and as we lived in the country, I could target practice with it. I still have it today and it still goes to the range from time to time for target practice with my grandson. Even if you do not use it for sport or hunting, one cannot help but admire the fine craftmanship and quality. If you do take it out for target practice, be prepared, it kicks like a mule!

[Atazman]

Love it!!  The Winchester 94 was my first deer rifle bought for me by my Dad when we lived in Colorado.  Within a few years though, I needed a rifle more suitable for Elk hunting.  Sorry to say...... I traded my 30-30.  Fond memories.

[ja17]

Mine still works perfect after more than fifty years and worth 10 times it's original purchase price.

[ejboyd5]

I've had my Model 94 .30-30 for almost 60 years.  Accurate (within reason) for iron sights and extremely reliable.  I can't begin to estimate how many rounds have gone down its barrel, most of them hand loaded.  You say that yours is 40 years old, but is there any chance that it was manufactured pre-1964 as that would make it a special item.  Good luck with it however you plan to use it.

[wayne R]

I don’t think this is a subject for this forum.

    Sorry Peter,   i dont mind if moderator removes it, thought  it may interest  some.
regards.

[mdsalemi]

I'm not particularly fond of guns. However, this is the "Way off topic" forum, and this is THE place for us to share our other passions besides Pagodas...or other things of interest. If it's a gun, well so be it. I don't know a .30-06 from a .30-30, or a P38 from a Luger. But whatever.

You don't need to use anything to appreciate it. I have a fine collection of old film cameras that are nice to look at, but they haven't seen film in years and probably never will again. I like fine mechanical watches, and love looking at them but don't wear them. So, if that .30-30 brings you joy, put on an old Western, put the gun in your lap and enjoy!

Thanks for sharing, Wayne!

[Cees Klumper]

Nice rifle Wayne, just one edit is that it is the gun that took, not won, the West. Other people lost because of it as we know.

On the lighter side, I am seriously considering taking up my target pistol shooting hobby again. There is a range here at Los Angeles airport and I would love to go back to regularly (as in every week or two) shooting maybe 10 rounds of .22s with my favorite match pistol, the Pardini SP:

[ja17]

Yes Gentlemen, target shooting is still an Olympic Sport. I have seen some Olympic match pistols similar to yours Cees. Some finely crafted German rifles are works of art, with carved wood, metal engraved and inlaid with gold. Some bring as much as a restored Pagoda (100K) when brought to auction.

[ja17]

"ejboyd5" yes, my Winchester 30-30 was manufactured in 1963. I had it since new.

[wayne R]

I've had my Model 94 .30-30 for almost 60 years.  Accurate (within reason) for iron sights and extremely reliable.  I can't begin to estimate how many rounds have gone down its barrel, most of them hand loaded.  You say that yours is 40 years old, but is there any chance that it was manufactured pre-1964 as that would make it a special item.  Good luck with it however you plan to use it.

YES  EJBOYDS  i realize that  before 64, i did a bit of homework before i made the purchase,
but i only wanted to spend no more than about $800,and mine is 1979, so
if you or Joe want to swamp i dont mind,----would you mind telling me what yours is worth
now in US dollars,    regards .

[Bonnyboy]

When I was 14 my dad gave me a rusted and bent 1894 30-30 built in 1908 that spent probably 50 yrs stashed in a barn near Kitwanga BC and another 20 yrs on the wall of an antique dealer in Hazelton BC.   It was apparently used in the "first" bank robbery in Hazelton BC Canada (summer 1913) to break the lock on the door of the tent structure that was the local bank at the time.   The story is that there was such a small amount of money in the tent that was taken that after being caught drinking the proceeds, the "bank robber" worked off the debt to the Bank and the town by working on clearing land for the townsite. 

The gun was very rusted so my Dad said if I restored it I could have it.  He gave me a large roll of 0000 Steel wool, penetrating oil and some oil for the wood and a penny to make the sight with the proviso that I had to do it all by hand - no scrapers - no angle grinders - no drills - he said it would all come apart eventually.  I soaked and rubbed and soaked and rubbed and eventually I was able to take that thing apart, clean it all up and put it back together. 

Apparently it was all a test to see if I was worthy of getting my own car.  I guess I passed.  Damn thing took me a month of evenings to make all pretty again.  I left the bent magazine tube as that is part of history.

   

[mdsalemi]

would you mind telling me what yours is worth
now in US dollars

For those so interested in the value of firearms, one of the places to make such judgements from isn't surprisingly, an auction house. One of the premier auction houses in the USA for firearms of all types is Rock Island:

https://www.rockislandauction.com

I had a very positive experience with them. Some years back, I convinced my 92 year old father (today, 97 and going strong) that it was time to get rid of the WWII German Luger he had. His brother, who served in the European Theater in the war, had brought back (quite legally), a number of guns, including a Luger for each of his brothers. My father kept this tucked away for decades, I never saw it until about 10 years ago--with dad well into his 80s.

The problem was I didn't want to get caught owning this Luger by default, an inheritance upon my father's passing which isn't imminent, but as he was 92, and not likely to use this gun, it was time to get rid of it. Massachusetts has a very strict gun law with a mandatory (no judge's or jury discretion) minimum of one year in jail for any firearms violations. As this was unregistered and unlicensed, I thought we had to really get rid of it--quickly and also quietly. So I contacted Rock Island; they asked for comprehensive photos, and they evaluated them, and gave us an expected auction price. We consigned the gun to them and I was nervous as we packed it in an unmarked Fedex overnight express box, and drove the 2 miles to drop it off. Once out of our hands, I felt relieved. I was petrified of being pulled over for some stupid traffic infraction, acting all nervous and having the trunk opened, the police getting suspicious and then getting wrapped up in some mess.

Upon receipt, the experts at Rock Island evaluated the gun and RAISED their auction estimate by 100%. They chose the auction it went in and when all was said and done the auction value was 5x the original estimate. So, Dad was pleased, I was pleased we didn't have this gun hanging around any longer.

Now, he still has his .30 caliber army-issue M1 carbine from 1943, but since that isn't a handgun a different set of rules apply.

[wayne R]

Thank you Michael for that fascinating story about your Dads Luger,
and 97 years old incredable, also the value for firearms contact.
And for your first  reply in this forum,about old film cameras.
I had about 3or 4 Nikons over the years , and my best one was a Nikon FE,
made about 1978-9,  infact  used this camera for , Buick Club Of America national
 early nineties, as i was photographer for that meet,was a fantastic Camera, in all conditions.
Probably worth peanuts today.    regards. 

[MikeSimon]

Way to go Wayne!
I am a devout Nikon fan. Since 1970! Had an early F2, which was stolen from me while on vacation in Puerto Rico. Got really upset and replaced it with several others. One of them a F2 Titan. Still have it. "Migrated" to digital with a used D1X, mainly to be able to use my vast collection of lenses and currently use a D3X for the same reason. Still holding on tot 4 or 5 F2 bodies with a variety of viewfinders, both AI and non-AI

[wayne R]

Hi Mike, yes  i think the first F2 was about 1971-2,a terrific camera.
This may interest you, back about  3 or 4 years, Nikons first camera 
1948 i think  a Nikon 1, was sold at auction for $400.000 US dollars.
But check your old cameras stored away, a original 1923 Leica 0  series ,
 one  of  25 made and first, but only  3  are known to be still original,
sold for  2.9 million US dollars.

Original  is allways the best investment.

[MikeSimon]

On the F2s, you can tell the year of manufacture by the serial number on top of the housing. They start with F2 71..or 72..or...

[mdsalemi]

I've been a Nikon guy since I bought my first, a Nikkormat FTn around 1970. 50mm f2 lens which today qualifies as "fast glass". Traveled all around Europe that summer and the next, and used it for many years until I upgraded many years later.

If you like the Luger story, you'll like this too. My father, again still doing great at aged 97, used to work for a research lab in NYC. In 1972 they  decided to leave NY, and concentrated their NY lab with one in Waltham, MA which necessitated a family move. When shutting down the lab they got rid of (read that: threw out!) all sorts of interesting and valuable items past their usefulness to the lab. These were the days before serious "asset auctions" and eBay, etc. My dad obtained three interesting cameras that were being tossed out. Two of them were identical: nearly flawless kits of Polaroid 180s, and a Leica 250 Reporter. The formers we held onto and used for many years, before finally selling them just before they stopped manufacturing the pack film they needed. These were not plastic junk Polaroids, by any means:

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Polaroid_Land_Camera_180

They were always rare and in demand, and we got a very nice sale price on them at eBay not that many years ago. The lens was incredible, going down to f90 (not a typo) to accommodate a B&W film speed of ISO 3000.

However the real winner was the Leica 250 Reporter.

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Leica_250_Reporter

Ours was basically a Leica III with bulging sides to accommodate 250 exposure bulk rolls of film. It was a prewar model, circa 1938. One day around 1973 or so, I took this to NYC, located the Popular Photography columnist Jason Schneider (who wrote "The Camera Collector" column) in a phone book, and called him from a pay phone on the streets of Manhattan. Taken aback, once he understood what I had and I was no nut (just a 17 year old kid!) he told me to go visit a certain guy at Wall Street Camera. Before I did that, I sent to another well known shop to ask what they'd pay for it. Then I took the subway downtown and met the man at Wall Street Camera. After a little negotiation--he gave me two Nikons with standard 50MM lenses, (the models escape me); a 43-86 zoom; an 80-200 zoom, and a 55MM micro. This was a boatload of very useful camera equipment which served my father and myself for many years. At the time of the deal, it was something like $1,600 worth of equipment at cost (he showed the price list to me). Wow was my dad ever pleased with this deal.

Until then he had been using an Exacta VX IIa, circa 1958. The deal allowed him to use modern state of the art Nikon equipment.

[MikeSimon]

Funny! I also have a 43-86, 80-200 and a 55 Micro in my set of lenses, which still work with the D3X in manual mode. The 80-200 in its day was supposed to be the best zoom on the market.

[mdsalemi]

Funny! I also have a 43-86, 80-200 and a 55 Micro in my set of lenses, which still work with the D3X in manual mode. The 80-200 in its day was supposed to be the best zoom on the market.

I concur that the 80-200 was one of the best zooms ever made, sure for the era. However, the 43-86 was among the worst lenses ever made.

https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/10-worst.htm

[MikeSimon]

Sure, as far as high quality, fine photography was concerned the 43-86 was a dog. But it had the advantage of being small, handy and covered the standard focus length from a light wide angle to the ideal portrait format. this made it versatile and attractive to a lot of amateur photographers.
Here are a couple of shots taken with a 43-86 for a demo when I sold one. 43, 86 and close-up

[ejboyd5]

After having been relegated to "amateur" status, may I still say that I used a 43-86 for many years before the digital age and the 18-200 lens. Both worked perfectly for their required tasks.

[MikeSimon]

No offense intended. I consider myself an "amateur photographer" although I did make money with photography while I was in school. The very first lens I bought together with my first  F2 was a 43-86! I "upgraded" this to another 43-86 with AI after I upgraded my F2. And this one I still have. It took me a while to get a 80-200 because they were quite expensive back then and I could not afford one on my student budget.

[mdsalemi]

Sure, as far as high quality, fine photography was concerned the 43-86 was a dog.

Indeed it was. I was so used to two lenses I had for my Nikkormat; the standard 50mm f2 Nikkor, and then a third party lens (this is testing the memory of photographers for sure) a 28mm f2.8 Spiratone wide angle. Both were exceptionally sharp. So, most of the slides I took with the 43-86 were definitely on the soft side, though the zoom range was very nice for being able to "frame" a nice image. Then, after my coup on the Leica (see the previous post) my normal lens changed to the 55mm Micro-Nikkor, and wow was that ever sharp. So I was used to very sharp lenses, and the 43-86 was just not up to snuff, even for amateurs.

Today of course, I get incredibly sharp photos at high resolution with a lens smaller than a kernal of corn stuck on the back of a iPhone...