I have my new carry.

casurvivor said:

I'm not the OP but what is the idea of leaving it pristine ? so the next owner gets a great gun after I die ? not me, I carry my guns and yes they get beat up.

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It just doesn't make any sense to carry that gun.

You're going to carry an oversized, heavy, low-capacity gun in a weak caliber, just for the "cool factor"??? No doubt the "cool factor" is strong with this gun, but should that cause you to choose a sub-optimal gun for CC? Carry it for a few weeks or months, and you've transformed a $1500 collectible into a $400 beater. Why? For the same money you could buy three smaller, lighter, - and yes, probably more reliable - double-stack modern carry pistols in .9mm, .40, or .45 and have your SD needs covered a lot more effectively.

You're also depriving the collectors' community of a beautiful old pistol, and while you might not give a rat's arse about the "collectors' community", they're just not making any more of those 1903's*, so why grossly devalue one of them when a modern pistol is better suited to SD anyway? If your heirs ever really had to sell that old heirloom, wouldn't you rather they were able to get 3 or 4 times the money for it?

If the OP really wants to honor Uncle Tony's memory, the smart thing to do is cherish that old gun. Shoot it once in a while, but take excellent care of it and do your best to preserve it. If you MUST carry a M1903 'in his memory', get a beater that was carried (perhaps by one of his contemporaneous LEO's), have it gone over real well to be sure it works, and put it back to work. Uncle Tony would be just as proud, and he'd respect your good sense.

[* Yes, I know they're making a nice 'nostalgia' reproduction, but I'm talking about the real thing.]