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If you could have just one rifle back ?

A Remington 788 in 223 with a Weaver K-4 scope.
I had a Remington 700 ADL re-stocked in a really nice piece of maple. When Dad's 270 crapped out on him, I gave him that rifle for Christmas.
Sadly, I got it back when he passed away.

I'd give up that rifle and all but two of them to have him back. Why keep two? So he and I could make more experiences together.

I do miss my Dad.
 
Lotta Dad stories.... Mine is another. We had this old .303 Brit that was sporterized that my dad bought in the 60's. It was the only rifle we had, aside from a .22. When I was 16, I had a knack for wood working and hands on stuff generally. I took the old .303 apart and baked the stock in the kitchen oven to get the cosmoline out (don't tell mom why the house stank), refinished it to look very nice. Polished the brass butt plate up. Made all the bluing look pretty nice with some cold blue. I was proud. It kicked like a mule and my Dad felt bad, so for my birthday the next year, he traded it for a .243 Rem Woodsmaster autoloader.

Makes the story hard, because he meant well. But the automatic was used and there was a reason someone had parted with it. It jammed every third shot or so.

So it got traded back soon thereafter for a Rem BDL in 25-06. Which also had the funny ability to kick far harder than a .25 should. And never shot right.

Now -- I still have my dad, and the 25-06 is becoming a 280 AI at a well respected smith this year, 40 years after I got it. And I know he meant well the whole way.

But I still miss that .303 -- for a 16 year old, it looked pretty and I miss it.
 
I feel lucky, because I'd considered selling mine, but dodged that bullet.

We'd just found out that my wife was pregnant. Four years into marriage, a couple of deployments... We hadn't thought it was going to happen. Well, my wife really wanted to know the baby's gender, so we got the ultrasound. Sure enough, it was a girl. Well I was apparently quiet, really because I was trying to figure out how I'd be a father, but she interpreted that as disappointment that she was a girl.

So she takes me to the store, and tells me to pick out a rifle, saying "it's a girl; you'll need this". It was really cute. The rifle is one of the then-brand-new Browning X-Bolts. It's the base Hunter model, so not fancy, but it's what we could afford.

Still have that wonderful wife, still have that rifle, and my daughter will come hunting with me this fall.

It wasn't shooting so well, so it'll get a new barrel this year. Had considered selling it since it didn't shoot and I got a great offer on a CRF m70 (could have been net-positive financially), but I'm glad I didn't. It's going to morph from a .308 into a 6.5cm, which should also make it a little softer shooting for my daughter when I leave it to her. For now, she gets the Grendel.
 
Mine would have to be a Winchester, Sharpshooter, in 7STW. It had a Schneider barrel, and a McMillan stock, full bedded. It came from the custom shop, and shot like a dream. Had to sell it when I bought my house, for funds needed, for expenses. Really miss that thing.
 
7stw said:
Mine would have to be a Winchester, Sharpshooter, in 7STW. It had a Schneider barrel, and a McMillan stock, full bedded. It came from the custom shop, and shot like a dream. Had to sell it when I bought my house, for funds needed, for expenses. Really miss that thing.
Click to expand...

Really hate those life expenses. Is it really a life when you have to sell the stuff you love for the stuff you "need"?

I find myself asking that question quite frequently.
 
300whisper said:
Really hate those life expenses. Is it really a life when you have to sell the stuff you love for the stuff you "need"?

I find myself asking that question quite frequently.
Click to expand...
That rifle had a feel, and class of no other. Yeah, sometimes life steps on toes at times, but I got a great home, where the deer, and antelope play.
 
An 1892 Winchester 32.20 I once owned would be what I would like back. An old gentleman who knew I owned it phoned me to ask if he could borrow it as he was having trouble with the cartridge feeding on his 25-20, he was a gunsmith. He wanted to mic mine to compare with his. I dropped it into him and a few weeks later unbeknown to me he died. A few months past and I went to see him only to be told that he had passed away and his family had sold my rifle but they couldn't tell me who to. That old girl had a 24" barrel with full length magazine and for a 92 Winchester it was very accurate.
 
A Ruger number 1B, Bicentennial model in 6mm. It was my dad's I got it when he passed away. Long story short, bad marriage, forced to sell everything I had to get out of debt. That was years ago and things are great for me now, but it's gone forever.
 
Some GREAT stories. Mine - like a lot of others - was the first rifle my dad let me shoot at about age 10? (circa late 50's) - - a model 94 in 32 Winchester Special - with a fixed - 4 X Weaver - side mounted scope. In the woods in Southern Oregon - shots were not that far - usually 100 yards or less - and it worked just fine - open sight for short shots, scope for longer. We also had a 30.06 that I later inherited - which had been a 1903 Springfield - (w/ a decent 3x9 variable scope - Simmons?) - that my dad's friend had customized with a match barrel, Timiney trigger and good looking - Monte Carlo blond stock - which shot like a dream - dead on ragged holes @ 100 yds. Also had a Winchester model 97 pump 12 gauge - which had a looooong barrel - and could bring down ducks, geese and pheasant. Nothing like the good old days, eh? :)
 
BTW - I sold the model 94 Winchester at a very good price to buy a new 30.06 (shoots great) and a Designer Japanese kitchen knife ($300 value) for my wife; sold the 1903 Springfield to a high school buddy of mine whose uncle had originally rebuilt it - and bought a Benelli semi-auto 12 guage - to replace the Winchester model 97 that my dad had lent to a friend/patient - who naturally - never brought it back. My dad was up in years and getting a little forgetful - and my mom thought she knew who it was dad lent it to - but couldn't be sure - so that was that. As with most of ye - had I a do over - I would like to have all 3 "first" guns back. :)
 
RT2506 said:
My first high power rifle. My dad only small game hunted but my Sunday school teacher told me at the age of 12 if I would get me a high power rifle he would take me deer hunting. I worked hard that year working in the hay fields and tobacco fields, mowing yards and anything else I could do to make a dime and raised $45.00. At one of the stores they had a shopping cart full of boxed "Army rifles". That was all I knew at the time was they were "Army rifles." For my $45.00 Dad got me the rifle and two boxes of 30-06 150 gr SP ammo. Rifle cost $40.00. Rifle turned out to be a new UNISSUED 1903A3 Springfield made by Remington. I did not weigh 100 lbs soaking wet and that thing beat the snot out of me but I learned how to shoot long range with that rifle. It had the open pep sights and I learned how to estimate yardage and set the sight and could nail groundhogs at a good distance. I had a cousin that was in the national guard and he would bring me a 250 round can of ammo every month when he went to guard. I never did get to kill a deer with that rifle because deer were few and far between back then in my area. After a few years I got the hankering for something lighter and easier to handle in the woods and sold the Springfield for $45.00 and bought a Marlin 336 in 30-30 Win and killed my first deer with it that next season. Wish I had that Springfield back.
Click to expand...
 
swarbt119 said:
A Ruger number 1B, Bicentennial model in 6mm. It was my dad's I got it when he passed away. Long story short, bad marriage, forced to sell everything I had to get out of debt. That was years ago and things are great for me now, but it's gone forever.
Click to expand...
Look at the bright side, so is she!
 
I've traded away more weapons over the years than I currently own. That said, I nearly always regret moving a firearm down the road. The only one I have sold simply as I needed money was a lh m700 lss in 300 Winchester. I needed earnest money for the house my wife and I now own, so down the road went my "extra" 300win. The rifle shot well, but I was simply too broke 14 years ago to buy into a property without selling it.
 

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