doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How many hunting seasons for you?

Rem,

Mine is so worn out that the bolt lifts in the rear when the trigger is pressed. You can't shoot hyper-velocity rounds in it or gas will blow back into your face. But, I'd never sell it for $100 in a gun buy-back. The sentimental value to me far exceeds that amount.

Glad you're a NRA member, BD. Wish you'd change your mind and donate here. I don't agree with everything the NRA does, and I'll bet you don't either. BTW, I made two donations last evening here for 2019, one for me and one in memory of PA24.

SRH

I have my Dad's old 16 gauge H&A single, which is probably the first gun he actually owned. I also have an old Birmingham proofed W Richards that belonged to his Father, my Grandfather. My Son has an H&A (.32 S & W (not long)) top break revolver which belonged to him & my Grandson has a Winchester low wall in 22 long which he bought during the depression for less than a dollar. This gun was actually bought for my Dad's younger brother but ended up being given to my Grandson by my First Cousin, This was the first gun I ever shot.

The little H&R 28 gauge was the first shotgun I shot. The first rifle I owned was a Stevens model 15 bolt action single in 22 LR. First shotgun I owned was a J Stevens Arms & Tool Co 12 gauge double, wish I still had it. My only desire for the little 22 would be pure nostalgia as the first gun I owned.

My first "real"gun was a Stevens .410 model 94 youth model. When I outgrew it I traded it off for something else I have no more. I do still have the Marlin Fourtenner lever action my Grand-Father gave me when I was 12...Geo

Rem;
I couldn't recall what a model 33 was so had to look it up. Found it stated it was Remington's very first bolt action rifle & due to that is a highly sought-after collector gun which fetches high prices. I suppose they meant Remington's first 22 caliber bolt action as I am certain the model 30 centerfire based on the 1917 Enfield. preceded it.
My experience with Remington 22s is that almost all of them, from the cheapest ones on up, have always been very accurate.

I�ve never been able to understand the sentimental attitude regarding guns. Different stokes for different folks, I guess. My ancestors, including my Dad had guns, but really they didn�t give a hoot about them. My first gun was a Model 17 Remington I inherited from my grandfather. It had a short stock and the recoil pad was made from several layers of leather. I shot it a bunch as a kid, but as an adult with that shorty stock, it was all but useless to me. So, I gave it to my vet for his grandson. I was told the kid loves the thing. I don�t regret giving it away and I don�t miss it even despite the fact it was my grandfather�s gun. I have plenty of others that better suit my needs now and that I much prefer.

How about pocket watches, buzz? Or shaving brushes, or fountain pens, or pocket knives? Would those things be unimportant to you if they had been your grandad's?

Not trying to sound convicting, just trying to understand. Because, all those things of my grandad's are special to me. All those things, including his guns, remind me of things that happened to him in his life, and seem somehow more important because of them.

I'm not morbid about them, and they are not a part of some shrine, but they have a special place in my memory. I gave my brother our grandad's gold pocket watch when he moved away to Arizona some 25 years ago, because I wanted him to have something tangible of our family's past that he could look at and hold, and I thought that object might accomplish that for him. I asked him about it last year and he said he had passed it on to his oldest son.

Strange how personal objects mean so much more to some than to others.

Thanks for the opportunity to reminisce on some things.......... and wonder about their importance.

SRH

I have an old friend that I have hunted and fished with for more than a half century. I don't know who I'll pass him on to.
He was raised in circumstances that many would be considered to be privileged. His family owned a couple of thousand acres of prime property including duck fields that could be planted and flooded seasonally. He grew up having the best duck hunting in the area. The property was sold. He has more than the memories of that era. He has his grandfather's doubles which were passed on to his dad and now him which he hunts with today. They will eventually be his son's. In my estimation, that is treasure money can't buy. Gil

Same with most of my family....That's because to them they were just a tool.
With that sAid....

I got some old worn out cAmi'flagged drawers that upon farting spew fragments in all directions.

I've developed quite the sentimental attachment to them.

Should I build a shrine or pass them down to some homeless'jOe living under an over pass ?

I guess so, guys.....but they are just �things�. When I was younger I was more sentimental than I am now about materialistic �things�. I think of my ancestors with fondness, but their �things� just don�t strike the chord they once did. It�s probably just me and the fact that I�m confused. No worries.....I�m glad you guys cherish those things, just for me, it�s different. Also, I sort of agree with jOe, my ancestors looked at guns as only tools. In my case, my taste in guns is far different than those before me. Their tools just don�t do much for me, I guess.

Thanks for the reply, buzz. No problem in feeling the way you do. I just wanted to try to understand.

Objects trigger memories for me that otherwise may not surface. That gold watch, for example. When Grandaddy was 14, in 1906, he walked to Stoney Bluff Landing on the Savannah River, near here, and caught a steamboat to Augusta. When he disembarked it he walked down to Broad Street and went to a jeweler, where he bought that watch and had his initials engraved upon the lid. Returning home on the steamboat he tried to sleep, but said all he could hear all night was the ticking of that watch. I still remember the twinkle in his eye retelling that.

I wish I had his 1897 pumpgun. He said he got rid of it because he wore it out shooting ducks, doves and quail. A younger hunting friend of his, after his passing, once related to me that Grandaddy once killed 13 birds on the rise with that gun, out of a single covey. He said the dog pointed, but Grandaddy saw the covey well ahead of the dog and shot into them on the ground, then as the rest got up he shot until empty. He killed 7 on the ground and 1 with each of the remaining shells in the gun, for a total of 13. They were meat hunting, and there were bountiful birds, so I don't belittle him for doing that. But, I'd sure like to have the old gun that did it. It might be worn out and unsafe, but it'd never go to a gun buy-back.

Anyway, have a fine day, brother. SRH