"Durable Goods"

I have the greatest readers in the world, I really do... The title of this post was a line from a recent post of mine where I commented about gun grabbers being mis-informed if they thought that they could ban "assault weapons" and just wait for the current inventory to age out. Given that there are literally millions of AR-15 pattern rifles alone in civilian hands, and that firearms are generally long-lived items, it may be many generations before the current crop finally wear out.

To illustrate this point, Stretch sent in a few of his older firearms:

Oldest firearm I have is a M-H dated 1877. Ammo for it was $2 @ round 8 years ago. Hate to think What it is now. Besides, never had it checked it out by a ‘smith to assess its safety.

Martini-Henry, in this case. First British firearm built for self-contained ammunition. Tamed a continent, that sort of thing... Plus - look at that bayonet!

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Also have a Trapdoor Springfield, Model 1884. Also reluctant to fire it. Has carving on butt that indicates it was carried by New York Volunteer Infantry in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
The oldest weapon I regularly fire is a Swedish M96 made in 1911. It performs as you’d expect a Swedish built Mauser to.

Trapdoor Springfields.  On the want list right next to a Sharps. You want to talk about a firestorm controversy? The Trapdoor vs. Sharps makes Glock vs. 1911 or AR vs. AK look like child's play.

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Revolvers from the 1920 or 30s also get fired, albeit infrequently. Not too keen to fire H&R break tops often.

I've got one H&R breaktop revolver, in .22LR. It's a Sportsman, and it's a fine plinker as long as you keep the rear sight permanently glued to the right. I centered it once. Once.

Thanks for sharing, Stretch!

That is all.