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Last weekend at the gun club I saw on the "For Sale" rack a nice Winchester 21 / 20 gauge skeet. It was in VG condition with some really nice wood, 28" skeet barrels, English grip with checkered butt.
Today I was back down there and it was "Sold". Seems a 95 year old widow woman called them up and said her care giver had found the gun in the closet. It had belonged to her deceased husband. She informed the girl on the phone she did not want the gun and if they could not help with it she would just throw it away.
They had it priced at $9250.00 but it sold for 6K.
Also in the closet was a Winchester bolt action 22.
Wow, she was going to put them in the trash.

When I was in the Gun Libraries at Cabela’s (when they deserved the Gun Library name) we got a call from a woman in San Francisco. She told us she had her dad’s guns and we had three days to get there and buy them or she was going to dump the “filthy, evil things” in the dumpster. We knew the father and immediately headed to SF. We left with numerous Henry’s, Volcanics, Winchester 1866s, historic Colts, S&Ws, etc. she ended up with a six digit check for important guns that were going in the dumpster because she’d drunk the Koolaid. Often hard to believe what occurs with estates.

I've known of a few people around this side of the state that regularly visit with new widows of gun club regulars, particularly if they haven't heard that ol' Billy already had arrangements for his battery (kids that are shooters, disposal via another club member, etc.). Though it isn't my style, this is probably a helpful service, and may help the firearms get to future parties that will appreciate and care for them. Guns moldering in the back of closets and under beds won't keep our sports alive. But a few actually need to proceed to the trash. My father once tossed a cheap 38 with a bulged barrel, and I once tossed a Mauser 95 with excessive headspace, pitted receiver, and a butchered stock.

Whew, trying to do the right thing through having some knowledge, is a bit different than preying on grieving widows.

Sometimes, the people left behind don’t make it any easier.

I remember being “that guy” who was enlisted to help an obviously not grieving granddaughter with a shotgun her grandfather brought back from Europe when his war ended. She knew nothing about his service or the gun, and, made it clear as could be that she wanted it out of the house. She did have an 8X10 photo that was displayed on his casket, he was guarding a pretty much destroyed building in what appeared to be France. I recognized his uniform and asked her if “The Big Red One” meant anything to her. She hissed like a viper that she didn’t care and reiterated that she wanted the damn gun out of her house.

You win, babe. Bend over.

Best,
Ted

Ten years ago I helped sell a 20 ga. Fox XE in original but used condition after the owner, who was 100, was no longer capable of shooting it (formely her dad's gun) and her family feared she might have a moment when she would shoot someone who probably didn't need shooting. She lived on a local barrier island mostly by herself until she was 103 and then moved to assisted living. She died on her birthday at 108. She had kept it next to her bedroom door and would occasionally take pot shots from her second story bedroom window at racoons in her yard. The family turned the gun over to a local antique dealer who took it to a gun shop and was offered $750 because it was said to be "unsafe" to shoot. The family smelled a rat,and asked me for help. We had the late Jim Kelly inspect it and pronounce it fit and a Callahan letter praised it's original condition after seeing it as he had an opportunity to see it. It was professionally photographed and sold on GB with no reserve starting at a penny. The hammer fell at just over $24K. Gil

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Good for you Jimmy. It would be nice if everyone were of the same mindset,

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