R. Lee Ermey was the real deal. A United States Marine and a drill instructor hired to advise the actors in Full Metal Jacket who was so impressive in showing the phonies how to be a real Marine the folks in charge hired him to play the role (or so the story goes; there are various versions floating around). We’ve all seen the movie; I watch it every time it airs.
What grabbed my attention is that the late R. Lee Ermey’s gun collection is about to go up for auction. I looked through the guns listed out of curiosity to see what Gunny Lee had, and he had good taste in firearms. Lee Ermey owned a lot of shotguns, a few handguns, and a few rifles.
Here are a few of the Gunny’s guns that got my attention.
The first is a Colt Python that is part of a three gun cased set Colt offered several years ago (the set included a Python, a Single Action Army, and a black powder revolver). What’s interesting to me is that Gunnery Sergeant Ermey used his Python (it’s got the scratches and finish wear showing that).
Another one that’s interesting is the Model 62 Winchester. I have one of those that my Dad left to me; he bought it when he was a kid. One of these days I’ll do a blog on it.
And one more of the many that are going on the block. It’s a 1932 Mosin. If you’ve spent any time on the ExNotes blog, you know I love shooting my Mosins. Gunnery Sergeant Ermey was a man who knew his guns.
You can view the complete Lee Ermey auction here. I’ll be watching the auction as it unfolds, especially on the Mosin pictured above. It’s likely it will quickly go beyond my pay grade, but you never know.
More Tales of the Gun!
Never miss an ExNotes blog…sign up here for free!
Excellent article.