memories
I cannot handle my Grandad's M88 Winchester w/o smiling.....I don't even need to shoot it. Dad hunted with it too. Sometimes I just take it out the safe and set it in the corner and remember. I'd never blink a tear, not me. I killed a small meat buck with it for a sick pal a couple of years ago......I was for sure really grinning that evening.
I cannot handle an M1 Garand without a warm feeling either, maybe not quite a smile, but much appreciation. Those rifles meant so much to so many guys. I've been to the range and younger guys walk up "what kind of rifle is that?". Who would have thought it would have come to that? The M1 is iconic.....I thought.
Recently, a friend sold me his Grandad's 16 ga double, a much worn, but cared for Savage 311A. I had to clean it up a bit, it had seen all the use a gun from the farm and an outdoor family could give it for 67 years...3 generations. But the bores were pristine, and the lock up fair. I've got no use for it, 26" and choked M and IC. I was honored he would offer it to me, I could not refuse his offer. A bird (quail) hunters gun, back when quail hunting was an everyman's sport, and covey's were abundant.
Muzzles worn silver from pushing through thickets. Receiver polished silver from carry, not a speck of case hardening color. Left side of the forearm worn to bare wood, and the barrel above it devoid of blue. I suspect it rode in a scabbard, on a mule or wagon. Maybe in a rack in a pickup. Likely all three. No cracked wood, no cracked butt plate, no really obnoxious scratches, ........... no negligence or drops. This old double was cared for and about, but hunted hard. How many fences has it crossed, coveys has it seen, birds/game it has taken? How many good bird dogs have worked in front of it? Draped open over the forearm at fence line while talk wandered to politics.....Ike maybe, Kennedy, George Wallace? Talk about sea duty in the WWII Pacific navy, (the Dad) and sea duty during Vietnam (son). Later, leaned empty against a tree at lunch, complaining about declining bird numbers?
I like to shoot, but the history and memories connected to my firearms are a big part of for me too.
