Rare Guns - Pics and Info!

[predecessor]

Megastar .45

Oooh - nice condition - how does it shoot?

[Skans]

Oooh - nice condition - how does it shoot?

I was surprised how accurate I was with it. Trigger's not bad for a DA/SA firearm, but not nearly as nice as the trigger on my EAA Stock. If I could put night sites on it, I'd make it my primary home defense weapon.

[pesta2]

A Savage model 101 single shot .22 "revolver".

The last gun show here in Fairmont, WV had one. I was eye balling it. If I had the money I would have snatched it up. Interesting piece. Wish I could find a Ruger Hawkeye .256 for a good price.

[lee n. field]

I learned about the Semerling from the Repairman Jack series of novels (anybody else read them?).

Oh, yes. Semmerling mentioned as one of Jack's pieces in the first Repairman Jack novel. The Tomb?

It held four shots but you had to manipulate the slide yourself for each shot. Billed as the smallest .45 acp. If I'm wrong, blame it on Repairman Jack.

Last I heard, American Derringer makes them now. Made slowly, and very expensive. "Price on request" and the web site hasn't been updated in a bunch of years.

[Delaware_Dan]

Last I heard, American Derringer makes them now.

They do.

Made slowly, and very expensive.

The price quoted on my price sheet $3800

[Jbar4Ranch]

Originally Posted by pesta2

The last gun show here in Fairmont, WV had one. I was eye balling it. If I had the money I would have snatched it up. Interesting piece. Wish I could find a Ruger Hawkeye .256 for a good price.

They turn up on the auction sites regularly, but I've actually laid eyes on only three in my life. I believe I've only laid eyes on two Hawkeyes, one at a very decent price at a local gun show here about a dozen years back. I'm still kicking myself for not picking it up.

[Rangefinder]

I wouldn't call it "extremely" rare, but I've only personally seen one other. Gabolindosy Urresti 'Ruby'. Spanish made, and for a time was issued as an officer's sidearm in the French Army. Fires 7.65 Browning or .32 Auto, 9 rd. magazine. This one dates to about 1906-07. After tearing it completely apart, remachining a few if the internals that had worn out ages ago, this little bugger operates flawlessly.



This one, on the other hand, is a pain in the butt more often than I care to discuss. Lone Eagle SSP-1 by Magnum Research. They were only made for a few years, and then dropped like a rotten egg. It IS a fun shooter, for being a single-shot 22-250 rotary breech-loader, but I've gone through several firing pins (which are impossible to find, so I've had to machine them). On another forum I found a company who produced clones, who might also produce pins that will swap straight across. If it pans out true, I'll probably take a little more interest in this one.

[Brian Pfleuger]

It IS a fun shooter, for being a single-shot 22-250 rotary breech-loader,

Wow! That thing must make a bit of a "BOOM!", eh?

[Rangefinder]

Yah, it's interesting. Unless you download a bit, it's got a pretty impressive light show at the muzzle--enough that it makes my Mosin look like a little pop-gun if I put factory ammo through it.

[glock199mm]

smith and wesson 646 one of 300 smith and wesson 625-4 springfield armory edition one of 500 smith and wesson 242 one of about 1600

[Piper Cub]

Jap Exposed (2).JPG Type 26. Kind of pornographic?

[Wleoff]

Don't know how rare it is, but it was hard to come by. It's a Kommer 25 Cal that was remove from a German POW by Sgt. Thomas Sanford in WWII. Included is the capture paper allowing it to be carried home.

[paull]

Wleoff...
Thanks for sharing.
That's really something.
p

[KyJim]

Oh, yes. Semmerling mentioned as one of Jack's pieces in the first Repairman Jack novel. The Tomb?

Exactly. I also think it was in another novel or two in the series. I started reading these considerably out of order and went back just recently and found an old paperback copy of The Tomb to read.

[predecessor]

Kommer 25 Cal

I'm jealous.

[roklok]

Dont have a picture at the moment, but my rarest handgun is a S&W 686 Mountain Gun. They are rarely seen on auction sites.

[Charger Fan]

This is the rarest one I currently own.
United Sporting Arms Seville Silhouette .454 Magnum (Casull) IHMSA edition...1 of 5 made.

[Tomas204]

WellMine is not a pistol but Ruger only made like 400 of these ,they where shipped only to their top stores it is a Ruger X-17 in .17 HMR it had trigger work done and shoots awsome ,I like the looks of it the cool stock

[Playboypenguin]

...but there were a limited number made and I have only chatted with one other person that has one. It is the Aristocrat version of the Walther PPK/S.

[gyvel]

His name, George Hyde, didn't mean much to me at the time, but it turns out George Hyde was one of the original designers of the Liberator and this particular pistol turned out to be one of two cut downs that were used at the factory to show military liaisons and plant workers how the thing was assembled and worked.

Would he have been the same one who was involved with the Hyde submachine gun that was submitted for U.S. Army consideration?

[gyvel]

I wouldn't call it "extremely" rare, but I've only personally seen one other. Gabolindosy Urresti 'Ruby'. Spanish made, and for a time was issued as an officer's sidearm in the French Army. Fires 7.65 Browning or .32 Auto, 9 rd. magazine. This one dates to about 1906-07.

It is far more likely that your gun dates to sometime during the 1914-1918 period of the First World War, as it appears to have the "French bump" on the slide that were all installed sometime after the war ended. It was most likely part of the many varieties of pistols that were delivered to the French army during the war as they were desperate for them and got pistols wherever they could.

Take a peek at the bottom of your frame and see if there are two stars, one located on either side of the magazine release. These indicate acceptance by, and issue to the French army.

[skidmark]

A Downsizer WSP (World's Smallest Pistol) in .45ACP. At least the smallest that BAFTE allowed to be sold in the US. Don't know how many were made (were available in .45ACP, .357/.38spl) before the guy stopped/was stopped from manufacturing them. Don't have the details but heard rumors he went to Club Fed on fraud charges for taking $$ and not sending guns.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...layingcard.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...arettepack.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...rightsides.jpg

I've recouped at least 3 times the purchase price on a little "scheme" - I show you how to load, fire, reload. I do 2 shots load-to-eject in under 30 seconds. You do the same in under 60 seconds and I give you $10. If not, you give me $5. There's probably a reason the manual says not to fire more than 5 shots in a 24-hour period.

I amazed myself and everyone else with an offhand (as in "throw-away, not caring a bit about the outcome) shot at between 25 & 30 yards (we never measured). I walked up to the firing line facing 90* to the left, stuck my arm out towards a popper (never turned my head to see the target) and let loose. BOOM! Tink. wait for it Thud! Looked over and there was a single splat-mark in the white paint and a popper laying over on its side. Made safe, walked over to confirm the shot, and said ""OK, anybody want to see if they can do better?" Sat down, shut up, and vowed never again to try anything like that.

And an AJ Ordnance "Thomas" .45ACP Not necessarily different, except for the grip safety forcing lugs up into the slide for a retarded blowback operating system. Confuses the heck out of folks when challenged to rack the slide while holding it in their shooting hand.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...anceThomas.jpg

stay safe.

skidmark

[Rangefinder]

Take a peek at the bottom of your frame and see if there are two stars, one located on either side of the magazine release. These indicate acceptance by, and issue to the French army.

Yup--found em. I was curious what those might be, but finding any info at all about these wierd little things is not easy. Thank you!

[gyvel]

Yup--found em. I was curious what those might be, but finding any info at all about these weird little things is not easy. Thank you!

Congrats. You have a WW I French army issued gun.

The large headed rivet on the slide was added sometime after the war (probably in the '20s) to address the problem of the safety being disengaged during holstering/unholstering and thus causing accidental discharges.

I have a modest collection of these guns (about 25 or so) and they are all different "brand names." Gene Gangarosa has written a book on Spanish pistols and there is a good bit of information about the various producers for the French army.

The moniker "Ruby" originated with one of the original contractors (Gabilondo) who used it as a trade name. The term has since become semi-generic to describe the whole genre of these guns.

[gyvel]

Not very rare but the rarest that I own - a WWII vintage Webley in .38 S&W.

Pete

Maybe not super rare (although most WW II W&S I've seen have 5" barrels), but always a neat gun