A typical legacy firearm

Originally posted January 9, 2012

Over the weekend, I posted about the likelihood that families were rediscovering part of their heritage as they rediscovered overlooked firearms that have in storage for years.

A typical find might look like this Winchester Model 02 single-shot .22 rifle dating back to around 1919. It first belonged to the current owner's great grandfather, then his   grandfather, and then his father before it passed to the current set of hands.

I'm told it was used to slaughter hogs on a farm in the 1920s and '30s. Used to hunt squirrel and rabbit as well as other varmint control applications. And used to teach generations to shoot.

A year or two ago, a 9-year-old girl fired her first shot with this rifle.

It's probably typical of the kind of family firearms tucked away in closets and attics across America. Others are hunting rifles, shotguns, pistols and such. Some are even foreign military arms brought back from overseas by soldiers returning from war.

Are there treasures like this tucked away in a closet at your house or those of your extended family? Some may have been tucked away so long, it's been forgotten they're even there.