Hunters guns, 1954

[rking22]

Had the JC Higgins out today and the other two right there too. I like the rifles and shotguns that were actually used by everyday people, farmers and workmen. The fancy stuff is pretty, but these have stories to tell. The SxS is a Sears offering from 1954 when they decided to play in the quality arena. It’s by AYA and very well made, better than the later Matadors by a goodly margin. This is when the sold the Sako L46 and Browning Safari (FN Mauser) under the JC Higgins label. It’s a 16 and in that period, well if you hunted a 16 was “it”. Carries like a 20, hits like a 12!
The M141 is from 1948 in 35 Remington, open sights because scopes were still expensive and unnecessary to the average hunter. We all hunted in the woods, close up and the 35 was a killer! This is the cleanest 141 standard grade I have come across, lacquer is original and still clear!
Everyone in the farmland had a 22 or two. This 121 is from 1951 and bears the scars of use , and a stint with a side mount scope. It still shoots tight, easily making the 1/4 inch at 25 club. My eyes no longer do it justice but squirrels inside 35 yards are going in the pot if I can see their head clearly. Holds a bunch of subsonic or standard velocity LR and is pretty quiet given the long barrel.
I can see these and probably a M33 in the gunrack in the den, circa 1954! Fellow sitting with his hunting buddy, sharing a coffee and pipe while talking about last seasons hunts. Showing his buddy the new 16 his family gave him for Christmas and planning a quick duck hunt! Yeah, I like that image. Please post your own groups and thoughts on our grandfathers hunting.


( just needed a break from politics and the flu, thought it might be fun)

[richhodg66]

I like old work horse guns too. Been shooting trap a lot with a Stevens 5100 in 16 gauge, pretty sure it saw its share of field time in the day.

[toallmy]

I have a love for regular older workhorse firearms as well . A couple Remington Model 58s in 12 & one in 20 that just hit what I point them at , a Bruckshire ‘ that might not be spelled right ‘ S&S in 20 that makes me want to go rabbit hunting every time I pick it up just to mention a few .
How could I not mention the old 30-30 sears/ chester that sat in the closet for 20 years or so untouched until I started playing with cast boolits in it .

[Shawlerbrook]

Here in NYS it would have been a Winchester 1894 or a Remington 760/740 near the top of the list.

[panhed65]

I like the older guns also, esp. when you can tell they were someones pride and joy at one time. the honest wear just makes them that much better. you can tell when someone was a gun nut, not just another hunter.
Barry

[ole_270]

Older stuff gets a regular workout here.
Oldest is my family heirloom Marlin M94 25-20, made in 1906. Been re-lined and carries a Williams 5-d receiver sight. Very accurate with cast loads and is my favorite plinking and small game rifle.
Next is my 1953 Savage M99R 250-3000. I've taken several whitetail and coyotes with it.
Then comes the 1959 JC Higgins M51-L 308 (HVA action barreled by High Standard). Took a couple deer with jacketed and last year got 3 does with cast out of the old warrior.
Son has a late 50s JC Higgins M50 (FN Action) 30-06 with a M51 stock (deluxe checkered model). Plan was to rebuild to a 6.5 x 55 or 6.5 x 57 After shooting it that won't happen.
He also has a 1916 German SxS 16 ga by Oscar Will/Venus Gunworks? on a JP Sauer forging for the action. Very fancy gun that needs some work, but shoots well and has taken a couple pheasants with it.

[Texas by God]

I’ve killed pheasant with the 1920’s? made NR Davis & Sons 12 gauge SxS above my mantel. I’d use it on pond ducks if lead was legal, 32” barrels IC&full, double triggers. It was someone else’s before I got it a decade ago. I love hunting with Dad’s early 50’s Win. 94- even more since it’s a 38-55 now. A recently arrived Remington 510 has been like a time machine because we learned with Dad’s 511. I wish I had more of the old classics. I Have Had Lots of them that I let slip away; I ain’t alone!

[sharps4590]

Older stuff or reproductions thereof are about all I have anymore...and I rather like it. Most of it is from between the wars but there's a considerable number from before WWI and back to the 1840's-50's that still see use. As is often said, "if only they could talk".

[dale2242]

My grand fathers 92 Winchester, made in 1921 , that I killed my first deer with in 1954 made the rounds in the family.
I now own it and my great grand kids shoot it.
With cast of course.

[EMC45]

I like that 141.

[GhostHawk]

I have a 16 ga 870 Wingmaster that I think was made in the first year of production. No vent rib, plain jane working gun. Much held and much shot and much loved. I got it as a hand me down from a relative of my Grandfather on Mom's side. Grandma hid it, held onto it longer than she should have. But in a move it came to light.

I have not shot it a lot. It did a fine job of busting pigeon's high and pushing the 50 yard mark. Slick and smooth of action. 16 ga is a bit hard to come by these days. I should set down and load up a couple hundred rounds for it.
Its owner and I were fishing parnters. He in his 60's, me at 6. Not many words said. Not many need to be said.
They don't make them like that anymore, gun or shooter.

[cowboy4evr]

I have my great grandfathers 10 ga magnum dbl barrel Ithica shotgun . It has exposed hammers . They custom made it just for him down to the chokes that are not the usual std ones . As a kid growing up it was the only shotgun we had so ---- that's what I used . When buying a box of shells I learned I could get a little shorter shell , 2 5/8" vs the 3 1/2 " . It was a milder load that for a 15 yr old , it was just about right . Regards Paul

[MT Gianni]

Mine are a Savage 340 in 222, an H&R 12 gauge single shot take down that is lethal at both ends, and a 1917 Enfield 30-06. Both the rifles have modern scopes.

[Norske]

I have and use my late uncle's 1949 Ithaca 37 12 gauge and a 1952 Savage 99 300 Savage I bought 2nd or 3rd hand.

[danmat]

Two of my favorites, win. mdl 70s,
270 win. 1949, 264 mag. 1960. Bought these outside a gun shop off 2 young guys 30 yrs ago, they were going inside to sell them.
This shop was known for being cheap, told them whatever he offers id give them 100 more, got them for 600.
They said they were out of work and broke, guns were their mom and dads deer rifles. We exchanged D.L. #s they were from east Tx. in Houston looking for jobs.
I always have doubts on these deals, they got to telling me how much their mom and dad loved deer hunting and he never went without her, i had noticed the 270s stock had been shortened and a pad added. My grandson killed his biggest buck with the 270, and I made my longest shot on a good buck with it. I always feel a little bad for those boys having to sell them, you could tell they did not really want to but were down and out, but I also think about all the joy this couple had hunting together.

[rking22]

Glad I took a shot and posted this, some really nice stories coming to light. Bet good memories attached too! Hunting and fishing with family, keeping the family guns in the family. I wish that was more common today, but I have made some nice purchases in pawn shops that wouldn’t have occurred if more were like us.
Being from a long line of Tennessee residents, long like on the 1796 state census, there were no deer rifles within the family. There wasn’t a huntable deer herd here till the 60s! My Grandfather was a fisherman and upland hunter. Sadly I know him only from stories told by my Grandmother and other family, he passed before I was born. His guns went to my Uncle and are long gone. I just enjoy the dreaming and thinking about the stories these old guns carry in their wear and scars. I have a first year 16ga M12, bought it from the estate of the grandson of the original owner! I knew the family well, and have several of his guns, we had like taste. M42, Rem M25, Win 04(?), and the 16. Most of the other oldies, I just have to guess at the stories, but that is a lot of the fun. Pleasant diversion sitting in the dove field, or the woods in late fall. For me, it gives me a feeling of more connection to our history, the everyday mans history, that is missing from the books.

Kinda off topic for the hunting forum, but I am meeting a youngster and his dad to help him learn to break some more trap targets. He started SCTP this year but got little practice due to the bug lockdown. I will be taking my WS1 M12 that grew a Polychoke sometime in its past. I don’t have a serious aversion like some do. I figure when junior inherited his dads skeet gun, he added the polychoke so he could hunt with it. Bet he had good memories of his dad shooting skeet with it, but already had a “better” (more modern) skeet gun of his own! Anyway, will be having fun, I’ve missed coaching and watching the pure joy when they “get it” and start really shooting well.

[358wcf]

I've always been a big fan of older single shot rifles for hunting and plinking here on the farm. Due to a move 2-3 years ago, I discovered a long-lost old stevens model 44 1/2 singleshot in the back of a closet. I've had it forever, and the 22LR barrel was "well used", to be kind. I'm in my late 60's now, and was planning on getting something special for that new grandson that carrys my name- I sent that old stevens off to CPA rifles in Pennsylvania and asked Gail there to restore it to "like new condition and make it safe"- I was advised it would be an easy job, and they could upgrade it as well- so- I packed up some absolutely gorgeous Missouri Black Walnut wood I'd been saving for over a decade, and asked Gail to restock the old rifle, put a new 30" barrel in 25-20 wcf on it, change the single trigger over to double- set, it is now a centerfire as well, and just to make it special for the boy, add a bit of "period correct engraving" on the action. Montana Vintage Arms provided a finely-adjustable tang sight and tunnel front sight. Finished off with new color case hardening on the action and checkering the stock, it is now waiting for that little boy to grow into it-
I had actually forgotten about this long-planned project, until 10:30PM last Christmas eve, when the UPS driver came to the door with long box from CPA rifles--- what a surprize that was!
The boy is still an infant, but he has a special rifle from "Pops" to learn to shoot on, just like I did, some many years ago- I never had anything like this special stevens, but to a young boy when Dad and Pops take you out to the field for training, anything is special. It's the memory that counts, and I wanted it to be a great one!
I have another old stevens single shot laid by in case there is another boy in the family- gotta treat them all alike-- Stevens company records were destroyed in a fire, but this model was only make from 1903 til 1916- no expense was spared on this project, but I can't count the satisfaction of completing this dream gift for the boy.
358wcf

[beltfed]

Well, Starting with my first gun, a Winchester M37, 16 gauge. Went hunting with my cousin, pheasants, ducks,etc.
Had cut off half the choke to open it up some.
First deer rifle-Cut down M1903A3/1943 Springfield( a shame nowadays). Once hunting, fired one shot at a buck, missed. then had to sell it re. college expenses.
THEN, got THE rifle : A M1886 Win 45-70. My exclusive Wi deer rifle for 20 years. Shot many nice bucks, Cast Boolits, of course. Lyman 457483, 385 gr made into a FP, clocking 1740fps.
Also, another old shotgun for pheasant- Pre War Marlin M90 O/U, 12ga. Hunted over my Shorthairs for years. Still have it. But no Dog of my own.
But I have been the "gunguy" for training my friend's National Champion Griffins. Fun.
Hunted deer also with my Marlin 1893,cal 38-55, but did not get to shoot a deer with my Lyman 375248, 255 handloads.
Second last buck was with my First year Production M1892 Win 44WCF. Again, Cast Boolits- 208 gr HP, 1330fps One shot one kill.
Now, I have another "golden oldie" to deer hunt with; a M99 Savage Light Wt, Deluxe Takedown, cal 250-3000, Vintage 1932. Picked up from
an old time deer hunter in No. Wi. Has a Classic Paul Yeager detachable side mount and a Leo 2-7x scope. I real tackdriver with my 117 gr Horn RNs
(Sorry, I just feel that .25 is not the best in CB persuasion for clean kills on deer, even Tho I have some 85 gr cast FN bullets on hand.)
beltfed/arnie

[rking22]

358, that sounds like a beautiful rifle, and a wonderful gift. Singles shots are a favorite, but my only vintage ones are 22 bolt guns and a couple shotguns. Have always wanted a nice Stevens.
I ran across a 48 vintage 250-3000 M99 last year, couldn’t resist. Took a deer with it last year, first with a jacketed bullet in quite a few years. I have 2 molds for that gun but need to shoot a couple coyotes with them before deer hunting with it. This years first deer will be with a new underhammer 54 I am working on right now.
Anybody else hooked on squirrel hunting with prewar 22s like the Rem M33 and Win M67? Really adds a challenge and reminds me of my first hunt with Dad carrying the M41 that was always around the place. A very good friend of my Grandmother gave it to her when they moved away, they were fishing buddies. Always going with their husbands, remember several great old pictures. Reminds me, I will take that M41 hunting this fall!

[bisleyfan41]

Threads like this are what makes this place such a great forum. Love it!