I saw a model 70 that was stainless with a curly maple stoc at the teskeys in weatherford that was pretty sharp looking! My preference would be a high end Mark V or a medallion grade browning if we’re keeping it under 2,500

Id like a nice matched set O/U + SS for heirloom. Each with fine wood, case hardened receivers, .410/16/12 barrels. Each has its own leather wrapped hard carrying case.

I have a Remington 1100 that was my Papa’s. My dad gave me a Browning take down 22 in a fur lined hard case, along with a Browning BAR 30-06. Wife has inherited her grandpa’s Marlin 39a and Weatherby MK V 257wby. I could see all of those guns making it another few generations.

Heck, I’ve got 4 pistols that commemorates DPD that I’ll never sell. Maybe my kid would like those

South of five figures means all in the four digits is fair game.

Customs by:

John Bolliger
Sterling Davenport
D’Arcy Echols
Mark Pernod
Dale Goens

To name a few for a starting point.

Watch gunsinternational.com for the high end customs. Don’t be afraid to make offers, most are open to offers from serious buyers.

Shared a sheep camp in the Yukon with D’Arcy back in 2006. Wonderful, humble man. Basically re-worked my old Winchester pre-64 .300 Win Mag while we were swapping stories around the campfire first night at base camp before we all spiked out.

But I don’t think any of D’Arcy’s rifles were in 4 figure territory, even back then. Maybe he is now building some that are more economically priced....

Side story: D’Arcy also brought his wife and 8 year old daughter Lexie along. They stayed at base camp along with Joann Koser (outfitter’s wife - Pete Koser who was also D’Arcy’s guide) and their 8 year old daughter who was in camp also while each hunter spiked out with their respective guides. When we rode into camp 10 days later there was a wolf pelt hanging on the corral fence. JoAnn saw it sitting on the shore end of the dock while the two kids were playing with the water at the other end of the dock. She opened the cookhouse window and shot it with the .30-06 camp rifle.

Pick a solid, well built that you like and will use.

Pass it on when it time.

The ones I inherited that mean the most are nice and well used, but not fancy.

Buy a nice rimfire. My parents bought me a Remington 552 Speedmaster when I was somewhere around the same age as your son. I killed a boatload of squirrels, rabbits, and birds with it. I haven't shot it in several years but thinking of it still brings back good memories. I will pass it down to my son. It will be one he can shoot his entire life.

Henry Golden Boy, Remington Speedmaster, CZ, Anschutz are all nice choices.

whatever it is - make sure it can be hunted with & not just something to stay in a safe or hung on a wall

An heirloom picks itself not sure there's any type of qualification, maybe I should say and heirloom is chosen and most likely not by you. My best memories of Pop was when he was carrying his go to meat and potato's rifle an old 721 Remington re-chambered to 300 Weatherby . Nothing fancy about that rifle at all other than it was Pop's rifle and the only one he hunted with until it was passed down.

This^^^^^

My two most prized rifles are both .22's.....a Model 67 Winchester from my dad and a Model 62 Winchester from my grandfather. Neither is very valuable but to me they are priceless......

This wouldn't be one of those one upper threads would it?

Or “one downer” threads where those that like nicer (insert whatever here - rifles, trucks, coolers) things get accused of being “one uppers” just for discussing a subject?

See, it can work both ways if one chooses to see discussions from that sort of perspective.

I agree with what others have said about it being heirloom with sentimental value VS a collectable. It's most likely going to be the rifle you hunt with most while with him. The rifle will be sentimental because it's a symbol of those times you hunted together. There is nothing wrong with a quality rifle in a high quality synthetic stock like a McMillan or Manners. If the rifle will hold up for generations and it's the one pop always used, it will have tremendous sentimental value.

If yeti made a rifle this thread would be over

I don’t think it’s either. Just guys discussing rifles in response to the OP and what an heirloom means to them. I just see the “one upper” deal always thrown out there whenever quality stuff is discussed.

My heirloom piece was my Grandfather's Savage 99E in 243. Wood is a little beat up but I like it better that way. Wouldn't be worth much to most but it has killed over 200 animals.

If I were buying a new rifle and had your budget I would buy this and in a classic and versatile caliber like a 270 or 30-06:
http://www.sako.fi/rifles/sako-85/85-deluxe

I agree. I don't think you can buy an heirloom. Shouldn't an heirloom have memories attached to it?

A pre-64 Winchester Mod 70 Supergrade in 7X57 Mauser, .270 or .257 Roberts. Hunt with it and make it an heirloom.

IMO, an heirloom gun is one that's special in terms of the experiences it has seen and if possible, was limited in production. The more limited and unique in its production, the greater its heirloom value.

I have a Browning Micro Medallion that I have set aside for my daughter with hopes that she will make a heirloom rifle. It had a limited production run and is her first deer rifle.

When I think of the term "heirloom" I think of something that is of exceptional or higher than average quality that has age/experience attached to it.


for instance, I would not consider a run of the mill rifle or shotgun to be heirloom quality. My dad killed a pile of birds with his Model 500 Mossberg and I love the gun, its special but I would not consider it an heirloom. Great great grandpas model 1886 lever gun, maybe, if it existed.

None of my rifles I would consider heirlooms. Sentimental, yes, but not heirloom.


but really, what does it matter? if you want to buy him a nice rifle, for you to use now then pass down, buy a nice rifle.

Custom Mauser 98 Argentine or Earlier Orbendorf

yep one you hunt together with, a rifle he will think about your great times together when you're gone. doesn't have to be a special gun but the times together using it. Actually mine is a handgun S&W Model 18-3, .22lr with the "3 T's", close to a collector gun but my uncle and I shot it all the time. He left it to me along with a bunch of other guns, One was a Remington 722 in .222. My daughter has her eye on the Smith .22, I guess that makes it my heirloom gun.

This is where I'd disagree on definition.

I have the rifle that was my paternal grandfathers last hunting rifle
and that my father used for the last hunts of his life.
It is a Savage model 840 in 222 Rem. I definitely consider
it an heirloom and am sure it will still be going strong when I give it
to my son.

I'm sure most would consider it run of the mill but it has the kind of value
that only an heirloom can gain.

I think he’s talking about wanting a nice rifle, hunting with it for many years with his kids, and thus it becomes an heirloom.

I look at this differently.

Heirloom is something that was used by a family member. Rarity or price does not make it any better, IMO.

The point is, “This was my dads rifle,.....or grand pa’s...” it was his and he used it.

This is dumb.

An heirloom can be something of zero value on the open market. But it has the history of someone in the family using it, passing it to the next generation, passing it to the next generation.

If my Great grandfather carried a penny in WWI, then my Grandfather carried the same penny in WWII, then my dad carried the same penny in Viet Nam, then I carried the same penny into countless structure fires, car wrecks, and medical calls for 30 years, that penny would not be for sale. It would be a family heirloom.