Thread: Longest continuously owned firearms

In the flintlock era from 1550s until 1820s
A young man might buy a rifle and have it for the rest of his life
Frequently it would be refreshed, involving cutting the rifling deeper or reaming up and completely re rifling.

The pace of change of ignition was so slow that a rifle would easily last a lifetime

If that firearm was a tool ( as in frontier living ) it would be loaded at all times.
Unloaded and cleaned often or daily and never more than a few quick paces from its owner.

I wonder if now the state of development of the self contained cartridge has reached its zenith.

But I could safely say that there has been very little true evolution to the sporting rifle in my lifetime
Sure there has been a lot done around the edges to keep us wanting more features.
But the basic principals are so well established that we are just tinkering now ( in my opinion)

yeah I think you are right akaroa - some of the oldies ( well not that old) like 270 308 30-06 are still very popular years after development - I think the real development will be in scopes I can see light weight with built in thermal and ballistic read outs - would I buy - well thermal yes but ballistic probably not - barrels may well get a little better - and better weight saving materials used more for stocks and trigger guards but we may well be already there with those - but for me blued and walnut and likely wont change

Still have a .22 Wischo a Voere copy probably had it for close on 40 yrs also a howa .308 lightweight with a Boyd's stock from the factory about 20yrs old

Such a great thread
Pity about the picture quality

Originally Posted by Maca49

As kids we were always running around with a mouth full of pellets, that why I’m suspicious of lead poisoning by chewing

100% what we did back in the day too..

While the oldest one in my contimous possession would be a Norinco JW27 I got in the mid 90s so nearly 30 years....However, The sxs shotgun was bought by my Grandad in the 1930s and was with my father since the 60s before I got it, in the last few years and the 22 long Stevens was about WW1 (thats right one) when grandad got it as his first rifle....I think I have a picture around here somewhere of him holding it and a billy goat he shot that is estimated to be just prior to ww1 when grandad went to war. He looked a lot older when he returned just a few years later (post ww1- I dont know how long he was over there..but it was long enough to find a wife to bring home but not long enough to get shot...)

Originally Posted by ONYVA

No, the pockets had holes in them from your pocket knife, so the pellets went in the mouth.thought everyone did that.

Put the box of wasps in the button pocket of your stubbies and a handful in your mouth. And dream about how good a magazine fed air gun would be!

Originally Posted by timattalon

While the oldest one in my contimous possession would be a Norinco JW27 I got in the mid 90s so nearly 30 years....However, The sxs shotgun was bought by my Grandad in the 1930s and was with my father since the 60s before I got it, in the last few years and the 22 long Stevens was about WW1 (thats right one) when grandad got it as his first rifle....I think I have a picture around here somewhere of him holding it and a billy goat he shot that is estimated to be just prior to ww1 when grandad went to war. He looked a lot older when he returned just a few years later (post ww1- I dont know how long he was over there..but it was long enough to find a wife to bring home but not long enough to get shot...)

Greetings,
You can find your grandad's records on line. The records do not show which battles the fought in but once you know which unit they were in you can put it together. I've looked up my Grandpop's records and those of other family members plus others of interest. A couple were killed and a lot more were wounded, some more than once. Some also lied about their age in both directions.
Grandpamac.

I have my father’s Ruger m77 Mk1 from the 60’s and I’ll never sell it but other than that nothing special.

We are all keen to hear from Buzzman on this thread…….

TIKKA 595 stainless in .223 and a Marlin 795 both bought new 23-24 years ago (both slightly different times).

Have in possession a double barrel percussion shotgun that my great grandfather bought out from Scotland. He was gatekeeper on a estate there. Also served in the second Boer War. Alas his service rifle was stolen....

Sent from my SM-T225 using Tapatalk

I bought an SLR in 1993/94 for $75 as a teenager and i still have it despite several stupid law changes trying to take it off me.

Originally Posted by akaroa1

In the flintlock era from 1550s until 1820s
A young man might buy a rifle and have it for the rest of his life
Frequently it would be refreshed, involving cutting the rifling deeper or reaming up and completely re rifling.

The pace of change of ignition was so slow that a rifle would easily last a lifetime

If that firearm was a tool ( as in frontier living ) it would be loaded at all times.
Unloaded and cleaned often or daily and never more than a few quick paces from its owner.

I wonder if now the state of development of the self contained cartridge has reached its zenith.

But I could safely say that there has been very little true evolution to the sporting rifle in my lifetime
Sure there has been a lot done around the edges to keep us wanting more features.
But the basic principals are so well established that we are just tinkering now ( in my opinion)

Good point @akaroa1,
The .270 Win is now almost 100 years old with the very similar 7x64 a few years older. Both are still chambered today. The 7x64 is a little more flexible with its faster twist and the option of heavier projectiles but the .270 was probably one of the first mass produced non military hunting rifles available at a price that most hunters could afford. Well before our time Akaroa.
Regards Grandpamac.

Unless I'm horribly wrong the humble 22 rimfire holds the record for longest serving metallic case cartridge

Ruger 10/22 brought when i was 18 the day I got my license 27yrs ago from memory it was $250 second hand
it just so reliable and accurate for a old semi I will never sell it

10/22 is still the Semi auto king

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Unless I'm horribly wrong the humble 22 rimfire holds the record for longest serving metallic case cartridge

And so it should
It was usually your first rifle and maybe the last one you have because of those childhood memories