Krag 1901
03-29-2021, 10:35 AM
I'm sure that everyone has regretted trading or selling a gun over the years. One that sticks out in my mind is a little carbine that was my first make over gun.
Long ago in the days before touch tone phones or computers, I was cruising the Junk, er antiques, shops looking for a gun. I didn't have much money so I couldn't afford the S&W #28 that I really wanted. $75 was out of my league. I was far out in my search and wandered over to the county seat looking in a shop, trying to talk myself out of a Vetterli-Vertali that hung on the wall in a shop, when a Mexican fella came in and was trying to sell a rifle to the owner, cheap! The owner declined and I followed the guy out and asked him what he wanted for the gun?
Five bucks he said. Well I took a look at it and saw a Mossberg carbine that was in sad shape, the bluing had faded to brown and the stock was almost lacking in finish, BUT it was mechanically sound and the bore, while dirty was pretty good. I paid the guy the $5 and took it home.
Now I had been reading the Gun Mags for a couple of years and had a good idea how to clean up the Mossy. I went up to the hardware store and bought supplies, 0000 Steel wool, some sand paper, some cold blue and some stock finish. Another five bucks gone!
At home I found that the Mossy was an L142 carbine, ~18" bbl and had a neat fold down hand grip on the forend, kinda like'a Tommy gun. Best of all it had a swing away aperture sight on the rear and a M1 type front sight with wings. After a week or ten days of after school work the little Mossy looked pretty and not too bad at all. The cold blue had worked well and the stock had all the dents steamed out of the stock and four or five coats of finish and the cheap walnut looked like new, if a little rounded on the edges.
It's funny that I don't ever remember shooting it. Not long after I finished it my Uncle Frank came over and I showed it too him, he got all excited and offered to trade me his Italian Ternie for it. Well I couldn't pass up a real center fire rifle for a $10 .22 could I?
I should have pass it up. I never forgave Uncle Frank for that. I ended up trading the Terni to a friend for his 12 gauge single shot and still have it in the gun locker, lo these 60 years later.
Long ago in the days before touch tone phones or computers, I was cruising the Junk, er antiques, shops looking for a gun. I didn't have much money so I couldn't afford the S&W #28 that I really wanted. $75 was out of my league. I was far out in my search and wandered over to the county seat looking in a shop, trying to talk myself out of a Vetterli-Vertali that hung on the wall in a shop, when a Mexican fella came in and was trying to sell a rifle to the owner, cheap! The owner declined and I followed the guy out and asked him what he wanted for the gun?
Five bucks he said. Well I took a look at it and saw a Mossberg carbine that was in sad shape, the bluing had faded to brown and the stock was almost lacking in finish, BUT it was mechanically sound and the bore, while dirty was pretty good. I paid the guy the $5 and took it home.
Now I had been reading the Gun Mags for a couple of years and had a good idea how to clean up the Mossy. I went up to the hardware store and bought supplies, 0000 Steel wool, some sand paper, some cold blue and some stock finish. Another five bucks gone!
At home I found that the Mossy was an L142 carbine, ~18" bbl and had a neat fold down hand grip on the forend, kinda like'a Tommy gun. Best of all it had a swing away aperture sight on the rear and a M1 type front sight with wings. After a week or ten days of after school work the little Mossy looked pretty and not too bad at all. The cold blue had worked well and the stock had all the dents steamed out of the stock and four or five coats of finish and the cheap walnut looked like new, if a little rounded on the edges.
It's funny that I don't ever remember shooting it. Not long after I finished it my Uncle Frank came over and I showed it too him, he got all excited and offered to trade me his Italian Ternie for it. Well I couldn't pass up a real center fire rifle for a $10 .22 could I?
I should have pass it up. I never forgave Uncle Frank for that. I ended up trading the Terni to a friend for his 12 gauge single shot and still have it in the gun locker, lo these 60 years later.