Do you carry a tool or a "queen"

[Tenifer17]

I used to cradle and handle my pistols like new born babies. Here recently I have started using them as designed. Life is too short for all the safe queen drama and I am starting to enjoy them way more then when they were sitting in the safe.
Have you guys ever decided to do this ?

So I now carry a tool now and not a safe queen . I am even not afraid to drop it nor toss it across the ground while  practicing now.

It really does ease your nerves up some . Kind of like when you get that first dent on a car or truck, after that it doesnt hurt as much as the first dent did.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Tenifer17

[JeffL]

I try to keep mine in good condition. Never know if I might tire of it and want to trade it for something else. I'd be more upset if something happened to my FDE Glock 21 than my black 19 though.

[RED333]

One of the first things I do with every "NEW" out of the box firearm is put a mark, scratch or some thing on it to take the cheery

off. Make it easier when something does happen to them.

[TrickyNicky]

All tools here. Having said that I take good care of my stuff.

[Guest KCampbell]

Mine are tools,I maintain them though. You cant trust a carpenter with all new shiny tools.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2 Edited April 16, 2013 by KCampbell

[BrasilNuts]

My gen4 19 gets treated roughly as my EDC and IDPA ESP gun.

[Randall53]

Handguns, I carry and I shoot them, with the exception of a couple of Smiths I got when my dad died. I do have a couple of rifles that are safe queens, but some I do shoot.  The ones I don't shoot is just because I don't hunt anymore.  When I go to the range I take several  different calibers and types.  But I do clean, oil and take the best care for them as soon as I get home. I do not drop, or toss any of them across the ground. I look at them as investments. 

[Guest sL1k]

All tools here.

Quit insulting us ! Sorry out of context.

I do have some that are sentimental that I still baby (they sure as heck don't stay in the safe!)

They are tools. That holster wear gives it character, that idiot scratch is a learning experience, and those scratches on the stock were from a memorable days of hunting!

[walton6467]

Tools. The only safe queens are just tools that I can't carry right now.

[frankmako]

all of my are tools that I keep ready.

[rugerla1]

This is my tool, this is my gun;
This is for fightin, this is for fun :)
My ol P90 is more of a tool, its a freakin tank and I love it. My new M&P .40 is prettier but I'm not afraid to scratch it. But I take care of both of them. My life and my family's depend on it.

[xjsnake]

I don't go out of my way to baby my guns but they are well taken care of and typically look like a well cared for used firearm. Some wear but nothing abusive.

[MarkInNashville]

I have a Commander that I stopped carrying and shooting to much. It is now backup nightstand protection. I picked up a couple of M&P's that, while I can't say that I use them as nail drivers I do tend to pound anything that might need a pounding.

[Mykltn]

You cant trust a carpenter with all new shiny tools.Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I carry every pistol I own with the exception of the Buckmark .22lr. I take care of them and try to avoid accidents but non are safe queens. You can't trust a carpenter who doesn't maintain his equipment.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Except when they are somebody's pride and joy, and just happens to be for sale. Then they become,

almost magically "safe queens with less than 100 rounds through the chamber."

[glowdotGlock]

I have been guilty of treating most of my pistols as queens except my gen 3 Glock 34. It is my camping, playing in the woods, toss in the truck kinda gun. It's earned every scratch with probably over 8,000 rounds. I've fed it everything from tula, wolf to top shelf duty ammo.

[Links2k]

I have both. In essence, I'm a two gun guy. I have an addiction for the G30SF and the G19. I also have several guns in my safe that will never be more than safe queens. I see beauty in certain guns, so I buy them. If I shoot them, thats fine. If I simply admire them from time to time, I'm also fine with that. If the novelty wears off, I sell the gun. No one on TGO who has purchased from me has had an issue with pristine guns at fair prices. :)

[Guest TN.Frank]

I've never had enough disposable income to own a "Safe Queen", all my guns, even the nicer ones were working guns that got used. Of course I do take care of my guns and if they need a bit of cleaning up or a little cold blue to keep em' looking nice then they get it but I don't overly pamper them even though I am careful with them and don't abuse them.
Firearms CAN be works of art but first and foremost they're tools.

[StPatrick]

I've yet to find enough disposable income to own a pistol or rifle that I won't shoot.  That said, I keep my firearms in the best possible shape, because I appreciate them for reasons above and beyond their ability to poke holes where holes need to be poked. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

Anyone who has seen my carry 1911 will attest to it is well used. Shiny spots, matt blue and polished blue, SS and carbon steel. It is a mix match of parts but it shoots extremely well and has yet to fail in close to 4K rounds.

[BigK]

Every tool I own from cheap $10 pliers sets from HF to my most prized safe queens get treated with care. I hate every scratch, dent, mar, and chip they get from misuse or carelessness, but if it happens in the normal course of use, so be it...they are tools, after all.

[Guest Wildogre]

I have one safe queen. It is a 92f that I purchased with one of my first paychecks as a 2nd Lt back in 1980. I fire a few mags through it each year. Other than that every other firearm I have I will shoot some just not as much as others. 

[Steelharp]

Queen is only in my iPod.

 

Tools are on my hip.

[Tenifer17]

Queen is only in my iPod.

 

Tools are on my hip.

Nice ! I  Iike that and Queens music !

[Jonnin]

I decided the same thing some few years ago.  I do still have a couple of safe queens but I have slowly exchanged the bulk of them for shooters (usually at a 2-3 for 1 ratio in my favor) and will likely flip the rest eventually.    Certainly my carry guns have always been expected to take some abuse and to be shot a lot.