Old Rifles are Fun

[Pressman]

I got in a short range session this afternoon. 10 rounds fired from a 88 year old Savage, using a 65 year old Weaver scope, fired off a 70 year old and home made front rest, by a 72 year old guy. The ammo is modern.

I am satisfied.

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[dverna]

Very nice!!

[stubshaft]

Nothing wrong with that group! I personally would rather shoot older classics than newfangled modern rifles too. Good shooting.

[slim1836]

I took my 1943 M1 Garand to the range today. First time shooting it since I acquired it a few months ago, belonged to my Marine buddy.
3 shots at 50 yards with one going thru another hole.
13 shots at 100 yards put me back to reality.
Think I'm going to like this one, I like old war weapons.

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Slim

[Pressman]

Slim, that is nice. I have never owned an M-1, though the one I did fire was very pleasant to shoot. Yours is a treasure.

[OS OK]

Careful ! this can be habit forming.

Very nice rifle, love blue steel & wood. Whoever said that an ole'Dawg can't get in the hunt?

Looked all over the web, can't find that particular front rest...interesting how they designed the elevation adjustment. Who made that rest?

[Pressman]

OS OK, it is home made. The base is cast iron and was a base for something. The three leg screws have the old GE emblem, The center shaft is 3/4 rod. The top is simple folded sheet steel just large enough to set a front bag in with no side adjustments.

I got it in 1988 when I was asked to help lady clean out her father's basement in Iowa Falls, Iowa. There had been an active BR shooting league in the years right after WW2. I never seen any of the rifles he used, though I did get a couple of old stocks. I know he shot Remington rifles with heavy barrels chambered in .222. He loaded with a Tru-Line Jr.
He also made a rear rest, not a bag, from wood.

Ken

[atr]

good shooting !
nothing wrong with older equipment

[444ttd]

back about 9 years or so ago, the 7 - 10 are the group that was made by my sporterized 1898 spr armory(made in 1903) in 30-40 krag with 165gr ranch dogs at 100 yards. this was before i put on a redfield 102k no drill aperture sight. 1-6 are sighters

https://i.imgur.com/WwYxpe3.png
https://i.imgur.com/cBi4FhJ.jpg?1

what it looks like now
https://i.imgur.com/DVr4IEx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/drGMr1t.jpg


i have to go to my eye dr this week. my eyes aren't that good anymore, but i sure do like my old rifles!!!

[Bigslug]

"Old Rifles are Fun"

Ummm. . .Duh?:mrgreen:

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[Pressman]

Umm Bigslug, vintage .22's. It doesn't get much better than that. And the bottom one is one I don't own, yet.
Nice,
Ken

[15meter]

Does shooting a Winchester 67 and a Remington 511 with my 11 year old great-nephew count?

That was Thursday.

And I had some 50's vintage Winchester shorts to shoot up as well. 99% fired no problem. The last 1% took a second time to fire.

Another wasted day in an old guy's life.

It's a hard life but sometimes ya just gotta man up.

[Tar Heel]

Wood and metal! You can keep the black plastic junk.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I expect to hunt with my Savage 99's from the 30's,40's,50's until I finally stop hunting(10,20 plus years). Most of my 'newer' rifles are Marlin's and Savage 99's from the 60's and 70's, same with my Mossberg 22's, though Henry has made some inroads, but all blue steel and wood. After a week in snow/rain mix I do wish the barrels were stainless though.

[45DUDE]

Very nice group. I like to shoot fly's at 50 yards with my military 513 bull barrel Remington and a 32 power scope. You can tell a hit by the blood splatter.

[Bigslug]

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For just joy of the shooting experience, I think the early 1950's Winchester 63 I scored 3-4 years ago is possibly my favorite. It has no provision for optics, and the care that the factory lavished onto a pure plinker speaks of much we have lost. I think the only negative to it is that the lack of a last round hold-open makes you count your shots (I had to replace the firing pin when I got it home before I could start playing).

The 67 in my first post walked into my usual shop as I was hanging out. By the look of who brought it in, the $50 the shop gave went to support a drug habit. So, in honor of the previous owner, I nicknamed it "Tweaker". The 63 happens to be nicknamed "Crack Pipe", because you can't put it down.:mrgreen:

The 1906 was purchased for the simple fact that it got me OUT of the match-accuracy, bughole-group shooting trench I was stuck in and got me having FUN with a rifle again. It does not CARE what kind of ammo is in the magazine, and neither do it. That mechanism may be John Browning's greatest gift to mankind, AFAIC.

[15meter]

287524

For just joy of the shooting experience, I think the early 1950's Winchester 63 I scored 3-4 years ago is possibly my favorite. It has no provision for optics, and the care that the factory lavished onto a pure plinker speaks of much we have lost. I think the only negative to it is that the lack of a last round hold-open makes you count your shots (I had to replace the firing pin when I got it home before I could start playing).

The 67 in my first post walked into my usual shop as I was hanging out. By the look of who brought it in, the $50 the shop gave went to support a drug habit. So, in honor of the previous owner, I nicknamed it "Tweaker". The 63 happens to be nicknamed "Crack Pipe", because you can't put it down.:mrgreen:

The 1906 was purchased for the simple fact that it got me OUT of the match-accuracy, bughole-group shooting trench I was stuck in and got me having FUN with a rifle again. It does not CARE what kind of ammo is in the magazine, and neither do it. That mechanism may be John Browning's greatest gift to mankind, AFAIC.

Inherited one from an uncle in the early 70's.

Killed a lot of woodchucks with it. It fit between the back rest and the lumbar support on John Deere 3020's and 4020's. Cultivating beans, woodchucks weren't afraid of the tractor. Cultivate up close to the woodchuck, push in the clutch, then leaned forward SLOWLY and pulled out the rifle.

22 solid in the belly and they self-buried. Politically incorrect today, but I didn't have to deal with the carcasses.

[rbuck351]

I have several 22lr rifles. My absolute favorite is a Savage 1919 NRA Match.

[Pressman]

rbuck351, I must agree with you on the Savage 1919. I acquired on two years ago for pennies on the dollar, it looked rough. A good cleaning at it quickly became my favorite rifle. I need to shoot this afternoon and it will be going along.
A have its cousin, the 19-33 NRA Match. It's just as accurate but lacks the personality of the 1919.

15meter's story is great, cultivating beans with a 3020 kind of dates him :-P

[tazman]

Pressman---Your post inspired me to take a couple of my older 22lr rifles to the range. I took my first rifle, which was a Winchester 72A, and a Remington 512. The Winchester wears an old Weaver 4X scope.
The Winchester was still sighted in, even after all these years. I haven't adjusted the scope more than a couple of clicks in the last forty years. Previous to that, it wore a cheap 22lr scope. I have taken tons of squirrels and rabbits with this rifle over the decades.
I bought it from a relative when I was ten years old back in 1962. I took my first squirrel ever, with a single shot to the head, with it and open sights in the fall of that year.
The Remington, I fired using open sights and my failing eyes.
All shots were at 25 yards using a rest.
It was a lot of fun taking these old rifles to the range and seeing that they could still do what they were intended for.

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The Winchester was shooting exactly where I was aiming. I need a bit more power to see well, so I was aiming at what I could see clearly in the scope.

[pworley1]

I agree with you about old rifles. All the ones that I bought when I was young are now C&R's.

[Pressman]

Tazman I was inspired to try and improve my shooting by you and OS-OK.

[tazman]

Tazman I was inspired to try and improve my shooting by you and OS-OK.

I still have a long way to go. Skill is something you learn and have to practice to keep. My skill level is not yet where I want it to be.
All I have to do is go to a competition to see how much I need to improve.

[rbuck351]

My 1919 Savage took out another skunk last night.

[tazman]

My 1919 Savage took out another skunk last night.

Those old rifles just keep on doing what they were designed to do, don't they?

[5614estell]

My CMP Remington 40X is my fly killer. The flies seem to really like white paper.

[John Boy]

Old 22 rimfire rifles are fun to shoot … yes, indeed
The old Stevens and Ballard accurate single shots made from the 1920’s back to 1880’s … 100 years old plus, are Old Ones!

[rbuck351]

Yep,old rifles are not only fun but they work.

[Pressman]

Yep, old rifles are not only fun, but they work.

That they do. A story: I was born on a cold January day in 1934 in Ilion New York, from there I went to a store in Minnesota. Then one day a man came in and bought me, taking me home to his farm and I was excited. However, life on the farm was tough during them times and I was expected to work and earn my keep. That also meant that I had to live in the barn.

I did as I was asked for years, dispatching chicken stealing coons and other critters. Many times, I was called upon to finish off a butcher hog, the family needed food and I was glad to help provide it. I never had really nice treatment, not like those fancy house rifles, but I was kept clean enough to do my job.

And the years passed by turning into decades until one year I was not called on, it seemed that I may have been forgotten. More time passed and someone found me, but instead of loving me they just hauled me off to another store and left me there. I got passed around some more till last week when I was found sitting all alone in the corner of yet another store. This time I knew it was different, I was held gently, rubbed down and carefully inspected, and I had a good heart as my bore is bright and shiny after all these years, so I went to live in a nice house where to my surprise there was two of my cousins, #510 and #514.
I am a Remington Model 33 and immensely proud of my past.

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[sparky45]

Lovely story; I grew up with a 514 and feel it was love at first sight. With 12 year old eyes she shot lights out whenever I used her. Lots of small game and plenty of "targets of opportunity" fell to her fire. Traded up for a 550 and still regret that move. A few years ago I acquired another 514 and she works out well in dispatching vermin such as Armadillo's and snakes. Sets along side the 550 in my gun rack.

[Jack Stanley]

One day my Kimber model 82LH will be able to tell stories like that , right now it does it's job way better than I ever expected .

Jack