Choosing an Heirloom
Images are sometimes not shown due to bandwidth/network limitations. Refreshing the page usually helps.
You are currently reading a thread in /k/ - Weapons
You are currently reading a thread in /k/ - Weapons
Soup, /k/ommandos?
Feels time.
My grandfather was the Director of US operations at Meprolight until his passing a few years back. The man knew his weapons better than anyone I've ever met, and represented Kimber, Colt, High Standard, Mossberg, Benelli, and SKB, through his job, though he was also a Browning fan, to my knowledge. Toward the end of his life, he worked more directly with Kimber, and appeared to have faith in the brand, despite some of their failings.
I've never respected anyone else as much as I respected him, and, sadly, with his passing we didn't receive any of his vast weapons collection, due to a sleazy attorney, and his will going "missing". I wanted to take one of his weapons as a family heirloom to pass down, but I'll never be able to, now.
So, /k/, I've decided to purchase my own "heirloom" weapon to pass on to my son, when he comes of age, in his honor.
I've narrowed it down to a handgun, as I would like to be able to carry it with me. Sort of a "grandad always has my back" sort of thing. Will you do me the honor of helping me choose, /k/?
My only conditions are that the sights are Meprolight, and the weapon is one of his represented/ favored brands. Sounds like shilling, I know, but they were incredible to him, all his life, and even sent a rep to speak at his funeral about him and pay half the costs.
His obituary.
http://m.legacy.com/obituaries/nwitimes/obituary.aspx?n=&pid=160324468&referrer=0&preview=True
I'm not too worried about being doxxed, since the thread is largely out of respect
Judging by everything you've said, it seems like a Kimber 1911 would be your best bet. Shop around for the one you like best. You can get Meprolight sights for them.
Just curious, if the guns didn't go to his family, what happened to them? Did the state take them? A sleazy family member?
>I'm not too worried about being doxxed, since the thread is largely out of respect
No worries. /k/ is (generally speaking) much more mature than the rest of 4chan. You have my condolences.
One other thing.
As far as budget, I'd like to stay under $1500 or so, unless there's something I REALLY love.
I also won't pretend to be the expert he was. I certainly had gun safety and care drilled into my head as a kid, and I'm very comfortable with guns, but I don't know much, in terms of specific models and what guns are good and bad. I pretty much stuck to the guns he gave me, and learned them inside out.
I leaned more towards the /g/ side of life, through my early 20s, and only recently began shooting again.
>>27954450
>what happened to the guns
Honestly, I'm not totally sure...
I heard his place was like a gun/ golf museum, but none of the grandchildren were able to go to his place in NY (he moved there from GA, where we live) to see his place.
I don't know about laws regarding transporting across state lines, but I know, for sure, his dickead attorney scammed us all out of his money, somehow, because we ended up footing the funeral bill. I think my mom and her siblings only ended up getting a thousand or so, altogether, and I KNOW he had more money than that. Shit, he'd spend three or four times that on everyone every Christmas, and not break a sweat.
And I've heard the Kimber is really divisive. Any experiences with them? I also may have it engraved
>>27954489
Forgot to add, since they had to foot the bill, I think my parents, and her siblings may have agreed to sell his guns to pay for the funeral, and not told us. There may have also been convoluted regulations, regarding transferring possession, especially across state lines, as well, but I don't know...
>>27954489
>And I've heard the Kimber is really divisive. Any experiences with them? I also may have it engraved
No experience at all. The reason I suggested it is because you said your grandfather worked with the brand and loved it. Also, 1911s are really great heirloom guns because they're seen as classics.
Heirlooms come from the emotions we give them, not their monetary value. I remember reading about some guy with a huge gun collection. When asked what his favorite one was, he grabbed an old beat to hell, single shot .22lr. He explained how his father had given it to him for his seventh birthday and that's the gun he learned to shoot with. The dude had some O/U that cost more than some people's cars, but he valued that .22lr more than any of them.
The big thing is you create wonderful memories with the gun. Which gun you create the memories with is up to you.
>>27954501
nah, don't even have to use an FFL for inherited guns across state lines. A lot og people do, but ATF has an exception for just that.
>>27954525
>Heirlooms come from the emotions we give them, not their monetary value.
Well said, anon
I will certainly have a look at them. As long as it will hold up over time, I'll probably love it.
I remember having an old, single shot .22, that he built by hand, but my uncle got it later, and it was destroyed in a house fire. That would have been PERFECT...
>>27954404
>filename
>>27954404
Damn, dude, your grandad was an important man. Looks like he dealt with Israel and a few other places, too. Even has mentions in a few major "outdoor" sites.
>tfw your grandad was never a major player in the gun industry
>>27954697
Yeah, he traveled there alot. Ireland, too, for some reason, but he was even more insane about golf than he was about guns, so that may have been why he went there so much. He was damn good, too. Probably could've gone pro, if he tried.
>>27954489
Kimber is pretty "love it or hate it" when it comes to their weapons. I always see forum arguments where the guys that love them buy two or three more and never have a problem, and the guys that hate them have absolute horror stories. I do understand that the clips are a problem and that you should buy aftermarket, apparently. They are stylish, and feature packed, though. I'd look at getting one and customizing it to hell and back. Find a really good gunsmith to suggest alterations, and just go ham over a couple years with it. Maybe even shit like pearl grips, and definitely custom tuning. Engrave it, spare no expense, make it a weapon to be proud of, but mostly, make it yours, man. I don't know if i'd make it an EDC, but if you can keep up with it, that's you.
>>27954789
I plan on spending a pretty penny on it. No use in going cheap on an Heirloom.
I know a few guys from his gun shop days, one of whom is an incredible gunsmith. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to work on a memento to an old friend. Matter of fact, I believe he machined the barrel for that .22 he built way back.
>>27954404
If it were me, I would probably look at a custom or semi custom 1911 that I could stomach the price of. You might also try looking for an Oregon Kimber pistol.
As for current Kimbers, they have had problems. Fit and finish, corrosion, mis-cut rifling, miscut feed ramps, failing small parts. You may find a pistol from them that would work, but they are really not cutting any deals, so I would look elsewhere if I wanted a 1911.
>>27954856
I'm willing to spend up to $1500 flat out, unless I absolutely fall in love with something. Customization, I can do over time, but I'm not going to cheap out within reason, initially.
I've heard different things about Kimber from lurking here, and gun forums. From what I gather, it's pretty much exactly like >>27954789 said. Love it or hate it. /k/ seems to lean much more to the latter side, but that's just the nature of the beast
>>27954888
What I had ought to have said is that there are a number of weapons for a while with problems that were widely publicized. I have a buddy who has one with an incorrectly cut feed ramp that they will not fix until he puts 500 rounds down the pipe, or so he says. The older Oregon ones were basically what made factory 1911s with previously "custom" features available a thing. If you could wrangle one of those for decent money, you would really have something.
>>27954939
Interesting...
I don't know if there are Meprolight sights available for those, but I'll do some digging. Sounds like something I'd really be interested in, anon, thanks.
>>27954939
Looks like the Clackamas (Oregon) Kimbers had some differences with the Yonkers (NY, my grandad actually worked out of Yonkers later in life) ones. Strangely, the later series (Yonkers) models had improvements, as far as parts go, but more failure. I wonder if there weren't early production problems in the transition?
The early (Clackamas) ones seem to have had plastic trigger pads, and MIM bushings where the later ones didn't, and added alloy triggers and the extra (Swartz?) safety.
I wonder if the Yonkers model wouldn't be just as good as any Clackamas, with a good polishing, and a professional inspection and setup?
