Well of course you do! If you have a gun safe, you probably have more than, say, ten guns. And if you have more than ten guns, you have at least one or two that you hardly ever or never shoot. Guns that you have for no “good reason” other than you inherited them or simply wanted to have them. Safe queens. It’s OK. You can admit it. I’ll go first . . .

I have a extravagantly engraved Texas Edition SIG SAUER 1911 given to me by an industry type (who shall remain blameless). That’s it. Except for a boat anchor masquerading as a Smith & Wesson .460. And a Colt 1903 that I’d carry in a heartbeat if it was drop-safe. Does the Grizzly Custom Guns 1894 hanging on my wall count? What safe queens do you own, to have and hold, from this day forth?

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67 COMMENTS

  1. Only guns passed-down from my deceased father and grandfather.
    Guns I would never have chosen, but now will never part with.
    A few of these have already been passed to my son.
    We shoot them maybe once a year, in remembrance.

  3. A 6″ blued Python. I can’t remember when I shot it last. I got a Diamondback in .38 as a shooting substitute.

    • I found a Diamondback a very poor substitute for a Python, did not seem the 2 guns were related. Did you get a trigger job on the Diamondback, or something? I always found the 4″ Python handled better, and thought the stainless ones to be sacrilege.

  4. All three of our scatter guns, shorty Mossberg 500, it’s full sized brother, and an h&r pardner pump 20, other than that, i reload for all of them aside from the .22’s and shoot them all weekly or so.

  7. No safe queen any longer. I traded or sold any safe queens I have had. Now everything gets shot at least once a year, except maybe my squirrel rifle, .17hm2. Ammo is hard to find or going for too much online, I have a few hundred rounds but haven’t had enough time to small game hunt the past 2 years.

  9. Occasionally, a customer would have us receive for them a special- ordered, limited edition, gold plated, ivory inlaid, hand engraved, John Wayne commemorative, could-be-fired-but-probably-never-will type gun to our store for them to pick up.
    Frankly, I always found such things to be utterly ridiculous and would harbor nasty fantasies of loading that piece up before they came to get it and putting a box of ammo through it to see if the gold made it shoot any better.
    Never did. But if I had a hell of a lot more dollars than sense I might buy such a pompous display of ballistic bodaciousness and put it through its paces on the range in full view of others just to troll the world. Guns are meant to be fired, and if it can’t be fired then it’s either in need of repair or disposal.

  10. Who’d think a stock Sig 226E would be a safe queen, but with Tupperware in rotation to/from the range (G17, VP9); it is “fairly” virgin and I don’t even want to buy a holster for it. Probably should trade it for a G19 and subcompact something or other.

  11. I happen to have 3. A Sauer & Sohn 38H in very good condition. MY 40 S&W Hi-Power for no real reason. Altho I did shoot it 2 weeks ago for the 1st time in about 10 years. My late Uncles S&W Model 41 made in the mid 50s. None are for any really good reasons they just are.

  12. 9mm PPS43….Looks WW2 cool….runs like sheet.

    Lesson learned….don’t buy stuff converted from open to closed bolt unless you can return it.

  13. When I bought my numbers matching, tiger striped, battle-damaged G98/40 a few years back, the previous owner swore he had never fired it after five years of ownership. Bore condition at the time led me to trust him. Regular patches came out clean, but birchwood casey bore scrubber got some leftover embedded fouling out. Now it’s bright and shiny enough to cause eye pain. I too will never fire this rifle so long as I own it.

  15. My Yugo K98 qualifies, at least until I can get a new firing pin for it. The FP is not standard Mauser and it would cost more than the rifle is worth to machine a new one.

  16. Shotgun that was my great grandfather’s from 1880. Only proofed for black powder so not really safe to use.

    .22 single shot that was my first firearm from my early teens. Only comes out to teach new or young shooters

    Everything else get used. Trying to go hunting from Thursday for last trip of the year.

  17. A Feinwerkbau 300S match air gun. It hasn’t been fired in at least 12 years. It did have new seals and springs installed before storage. It was my second gun and I fired many thousands of pellets in practice and competition.

    My son is looking forward to using it as his first rifle when he is old enough.

  18. I have one or two “safe queens”. Operational security prevents me from divulging too much detail.

    I do have a 1911 pistol made in Turkey that is waiting for me to replace its front blade sight. For now that sits in storage. And I recently retired a Smith and Wesson model 642 revolver.

    I shoot almost everything else at some point or another … although it can be three or four years between outings for any particular firearm.

  19. I sure do. Maybe 10 or so. A few have never been shot such as a Sig P226 Mk25 that was a memorial version specially marked etc… why shoot it when it is nothing special in that regard as a shooter. A few BBQ 1911’s that again I have a more plain versions that shoots identically so why shoot the fancy one. I few family collectables from Civil War also that I am not even sure would fire. And a Korth revolver that I picked up 2nd hand that I am sure the original owner shot a few times and I have have shot twice but now is just a Queen.

  20. With only five guns, none of them is a safe queen. My 1911 in .45 ACP will see less use now that I have a 9 mm.

    My only safe is a lock box barely big enough for two guns. I’m thinking of buying something bigger purely for security. It has to be something strong enough that a burglar can’t break into it in a couple of minutes and heavy enough that he can’t carry it off.

  21. Guns I haven’t shot in a while due to time constraints? Yes. Safe queens? No.

    Other than a serious historic piece I would never buy a gun I didn’t intend to shoot at least a few times a year.

  23. I have a few that stay mostly unfired for scarcity of ammunition, or general risk. I did see someone shooting a matching numbers, offset trigger/flat mainspring 1901 Luger Commercial. That should be a safe queen!

  24. Does the one in the wall safe count? The Mossy home defense is ready to go, but doesn’t get shot much. All others get shot and or carried in rotation.

  28. Stevens 12 gauge magnum single shot. I have more practical shotguns with things like more barrels or magazines, so the only use I really have for it is if I’m out shooting with someone who’s never fired a shotgun before. Sentimental value is way higher than monetary, so it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

    When I get the parts and put my Arisaka back the way it should be, it’ll probably only be fired once or twice. So I guess that might count.

  30. Must acquire a safe to have a safe queen, so I’m out of the running. The only thing I would ever own that I wouldn’t shoot would be those Cabot Meteroite pistols.

  31. My lone .22 fits this category. It’s not a carry gun, truck gun, defensive/hunting carbine, or anything else especially useful. I do my plinking with cast bullets, and rimfire cannot compare bang-for-buck.

  34. S&W model 19-4 in .357 Detroit Police Commemorative from 1978. Purchased new by my dad while he was in Detroit on the job, and never been fired.

    The main reason I’ve not fired it, is because I’ve got another one, just one model earlier (19-3) that’s identical except for the (lack of) commemorative markings. That’s the one we shoot.

  35. Guns are tools, and most people don’t have enough respect for their tools, weather its a pistol or weather its a 3/8″ ratchet. There’s nothing wrong with being careful with your possessions and being a good custodian of them. And there’s nothing wrong with being a collector either. This is why I don’t loan things out, if someone doesn’t respect their own belongings (or themselves), they’re certainly not going to respect your belongings (or you).

  36. Firearms from my grandfather mostly. Though I rarely use my m1 garand either.

    I rotate through my firearms otherwise where it’ll be along time sometimes, but I do get it out to the range when I can.

  37. A CVA double barrel 12 gauge muzzle loading percussion shotgun (that’s a mouthful). Its the only gun I own that I’ve never shot. I got it from a friend many years back as part of a package deal that included a very nice 1911, a Marlin model 60 and an old side hammer store brand 12 gauge double that I think was made by Stevens. Black powder, caps, wads and shot came with the deal but I never wanted to go through the hassle of actually shooting the gun. So its a wall hanger and I remember to run an oily patch down the bore two or three times a year. Maybe one of these days I’ll shoot it just to say that I have.

  38. Polyech legend underfolder ak, 1978 colt sp1, both in mint condish. Bunch of others i dont shoot, mainly because i hate taking all my guns out of the safe to get to them. I am in desperate need of a bigger safe. My guns are stacked like jenga pieces. I have to take a picture before i take them out, so i know what order to put them back, so they will fit.

  39. I refer to them as “retired guns”.

    One is a Hi Point C-9 and the other a really mint Lorcin L-32.

    Just kidding. I don’t own those models.

  40. Springfield 1903 sporterized by my great uncle along with his gunsmith friend, then given to my grandfather, then my father, now to me. It’s beautiful and not bubba’d.

    • Yeah – same here – have one with three arsenal marks on it – should never really have been sporterized, but happened before I was even a “gleam”, so I didn’t have any say in the matter – it’s a gorgeous piece though, blueing that looks deep enough to swim in, old-style fully linseeded stock that has the same type of finish – only way you can hold it is the way my dad used to hold it, it is that customized. Also have pair of those old bottom-break .32 rimfire revolvers that are maybe 45% – ugly as sin, but still tight just NO ammo. And my prized “queen” is a .401 Herter’s Magnum SA revolver – great big hog-leg of a revolver, with that awesome front blade that looks like a shark fin – although I’ve recently run across a guy “up yonder way” who reloads for it, so it might become more of a woods-carry gun. Everything else gets fired on a regular basis, cleaned afterwards (well, except for my dissy – it’s dirty as sin, and 1.5″moa from the day it was first built – never been cleaned, never will be until I decide to repurpose it)

  41. I don’t “do” expensive guns.

    That being said, my not-expensive Star Ultrastar doesn’t get shot much, because they’re very hard to find parts for.

  43. The only gun I own that hasn’t been in the woods or carried in a holster is my Savage 110 BA .338. That’s a little excess for deer / squirrel / duck / rabbit hunting.

    I used to sweat wear on guns. Now I really enjoy a well used firearm. Maybe that’s because I’m a well used hunter?

    If it’s not an heirloom or collector’s item, might as well peel off the stickers and give it some range time. My $.02.

  45. I have a few now; may have a few less in December, depending on what prices and inventories look like. Thinking it might be smart to sell when there’s high demand and the threat of a Clinton Presidency. Might not be able to sell anything with 7 shots or more at all after Clinton becomes President.

    Yes, Clinton Presidency. Why? Because a bunch of folks are thinking it can’t possibly happen, so they’re not going to go vote against the Clinton / Pelosi / Schumer coalition. You know who you are. You know it’s on their websites and their public and private speeches. They have stated outright they think Heller was wrongly decided, which means they think you don’t have a personal right to keep and bear arms. Ms. “Turn them all in” Pelosi is just waiting for a second chance at an assault weapons ban like she helped pass in 1994. Maybe you’re too young to remember that actually happened, but most of us remember quite well.

    Make plans now to go vote to protect the Second Amendment people!

  46. I have a 91/30, an M39 and a K31 I’ve never fired. The K31 has a twin that has a diopter sight that I take out pretty regularly. Also have a Marlin 1895 Century Limited in 45-70 that hasn’t been out in quite a bit. Ammo for all though. Forgot about the Browning BAR II in 30-06. Just took it out for the first time in at least 2 years. Made in ’71 and was my first firearm purchase.

  47. Just one: An S&W M27, TT, TH, TS, 8 3/8 Nickel in its presentation box. I bought it new in 1976. I don’t know that I’m all that fond of it, but yeah, it’s a safe queen.

    Charlie

  48. My Webley in .455 has seen maybe six rounds per year. I have a beater Webley in .38 I use for historical two-gun, along with the SMLE (cf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0txxmNKTgI), which is pretty much a safe queen when not in use as a competition gun.

    I have a lovely example of a Yugo SKS I don’t shoot very often, but that and my stock Mosin aren’t really nice enough to be safe queens. They just don’t get much range attention.

  49. My Antonio zolI o/u 12 gauge. A gift from my father in law. It’s in beautiful condition and used rarely as I have a Mossberg 500 and a 590a1.

  50. Guilty – 1940 Walther PP with matching magazine (bake-lite finger extension) on it. numbers matching like new with German proof marks. Was apparently an officer’s commercial purchase. I DO have the ammo though and it’s cleaned and oiled (like everything else) and ready to go if necessary.

  51. Only one. It’s a single shot 12 Ga.

    Grandpa gave it to dad, new, in 1970. He fired exactly one round at midnight, New Year’s Eve, 1971. I managed to sneak it out of his closet and shine it up in 2010. Apparently cosmoline turns to super glue over the span of 40 years. The firing pin was retracted and the hammer didn’t have enough ass to push it forward through the gunk…

    I spiffed her up and he put the second shot through it at midnight, New Year’s Eve, 2011. Exactly 40 years later.

    I’m still working on him to send my Grandpa’s guns my way, where at least they will be safe queens as opposed to leather sock in a closet queens. There’s a turn of the century Winchester, a similar vintage Savage, a model 37 from the 40s, and an old Colt Woodsman that I’ve only seen once…..

  52. None, I shoot them all in my possession at least annually. But I did just realize this weekend that a lot of my guns are currently loaned out to other people. This makes me happy.

  53. Probably the only thing I’ve got that even remotely resembles a “safe queen” would be the WInchester Model 67 I was gifted by my father in law. It’s the gun I’ve used to teach my kids the shooting fundamentals, and it really only comes out a couple of times a year when they want to plink. It’ll probably start seeing a lot more action once my boy is old enough, but in the meantime I’m content with it just hanging out in the corner.

  54. The only safe queens I have are military collectibles. Once cleaned and restored and fired, they can go years without being fired again. After all, there’s not much difference in firing one Mosin Nagant 91/30 from another.
    Everything else gets fired. Never as often as I would like, but that’s because time is limited.

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