Nostalgia for old guns

nrh0011

Senior Member
I dog deer hunted with a few guys that fit the bill of the op. When I think of them, I think of the rifle that they carried. There were many REM 7400 30-06 in that lot.
 

Tom W.

Senior Member
Early on I decided that single shot rifles were the way to go. I've had a Ruger #1B in 7mm RemMag, a #1B that was a 30-06 that I rechambered to A.I., and 2 NEF's one in .270 and the other in 30/30 that I recently had rechambered to a.i. I have since sold, traded or just forgot where I put them, but I have both rifles in the A.I. configuration still with me. I had an old double barreled 12 ga. that I foolishly gave to my oldest son because I had to have an 1100..
 

HabershamHunter85

Senior Member
I got a JC Higgins 12 gauge from around 1915 that was my grandpas he got from Sears and Roebuck, I've never shot it just because of the shape its in. He was a big moonshiner, he got drunk one night and tried to shoot a fish and split the barrel on it so he sawed it off. Also got a Mossberg New Haven 283t 410 that is one of my most treasured guns. Got it when I was real young from my parents. It's not worth much but its worth a whole lot to me. That's why I still go to gun shows and buy older guns so that one day I can pass them on to my kids. New guns are nice but there is something about the old ones, kind of like cars. I hope to one day own a pre 64 model 70.
 

bullethead

Of the hard cast variety
Can't hunt with this one, one reason is because I cannot find ammo(I think I can make some though) but mainly because I don't know what I'd hunt with it. Although some tungsten #10 for turkeys would make for some incredible converstion...
Anyway, how do you guys like this Fore Hand Arms X-L Shotgun in .38 caliber!!??Screenshot_20181026-152012_Gallery.jpg
 

DeoVindice

Senior Member
Two things my family and friends know about me. I love the BAR and I love .270. I just finished my 30th season with that rifle. I got it on Christmas when I was 14...I have several others but it is still my go to rifle for deer.

There is nothing like the old rifles. I am a gun enthusiast all around, but the hunting rifles are where my heart is at. I am very fortunate that my Dad still hunts with me, and his old guns have a warmth that is priceless to me.

I love reading yall's stories and posts. Now that rifle season is in the books I thought it would be a good time to bump this thread TTT.
 

hayseed_theology

Senior Member
I have been blessed with the means to buy a new rifle ever year or two, but sometimes I feel like something has been lost. I remember my grandfather's gun rack. A 30-06, .22, and a side by side double and that was all he ever needed. I remember men in my family that I identified with a caliber or a rifle because for decades that's all they ever shot. "That Uncle Joe sure is a sharp shooter with that .243 he got after the war".... anybody else feel like with the affluence we lose a little bit of the nostalgia for a man and "his" gun?

You just described the gun rack of almost every older member of my family: A shotgun (usually a Stevens or H&R single-barrel 12 or 16 gauge,) a centerfire rifle (usually a 94 or 336 in .30/30,) a .22 rifle (usually a Remington single shot or clip-fed bolt-action,) and a short-barreled revolver (usually a S&W in .38 special or .32.) Quite a few of the older men also had an old, original percussion muzzleloader, or "hog rifle" as they were called here at that time. That was the standard utility gun collection, and most folks didn't need or want anything but those basics.


That was my grandfather. I inherited his Winchester Model 94 in .30-30 (also the first rifle I ever killed a deer with), single shot 12 ga, and Ruger Security Six in .357 Mag with a 4" barrel. Unfortunately, he traded off his Remington 1100 for the trailer hitch on the F-150 that I also inherited from him.

As much as I love guns, I think something is lost when you have a safe or two full of them. Each successive one becomes a little less meaningful.
 

hayseed_theology

Senior Member
"As much as I love guns, I think something is lost when you have a safe or two full of them. Each successive one becomes a little less meaningful."

I couldn't disagree more. Granted, I have a few I love more than others, but doesn't everyone? I don't have any guns with no meaning and none have become less meaningful over time.

Well, I'm not cleaning out my safe anytime soon, but buying a rifle or shotgun today doesn't feel like it did when I bought my first one.
 

Big7

The Oracle
Unfortunately, I inherited my
Dad's 1100 he called it
"My Shotgun" nothing fancy
but he had it before he had me
and no amount of money will
buy that one.

And.... He had a sporterized 7.62
X54 Russian he called it "My Rifle.

The only other one he ever owned
was a H&R .410. The long beefy
one. He shared it with my uncle
when they were kids. Not much
money laying around back then.

My Dad inherited my grandfather's
and great-grandfather's shotgun's
in 1966. Grandad's is a 26" and
Great-grand's has 28" bbls.
Grand and Great-grandad's
Shotgun's were their only gun.
They shot everything useing
different shot and slugs to put
meat on the table. Both doubles
with rabbit ears that I still shoot
sometimes.
So.... I got them too when my Dad
passed. Also forgot to mention,
the .410 has been mine since
I was nine years old, so I already
had it. Still rabbit and squirrel hunt
with it.
 

Ruger#3

RAMBLIN ADMIN
Staff member
My grandfathers Winchester gallery .22 is with me. That old squirrel rifle will only shoot Longs not LRs.

It’s a tack driver.
 

Oldstick

Senior Member
Close, but mine has the stubby "half-hammer," and no recoil pad.

And I have their white trash cousin, a Diamond Arms 16 gauge, from about the same time period passed to me from my dad and granddad both deceased.
 

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Big7

The Oracle
Shop close to me has an I J
single bbl CHEAP. I didn't look
at it real hard because I have
no need for one. Don't know the
model, production year or anything
else. It was banged up a little
but sitll locked up tight. Me thinks
it wouldn't be to hard to refinish
and prolly make a good Turkey
gun.

PM me if interested. I'll get you
the phone number.
 

DAVE

Senior Member
I think the appreciation a person has for guns, either beauty or tool depends on their personal history of how they have used them or had them used against themselves and the good or sometimes bad memories associated with them. Although I own many and see them as necessary, my views have changed from a young man looking at them with admiration of beauty to an old man looking at them as unfriendly deadly tools.
 
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