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Thread: Does your favourite rifle have a story?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master Bad Ass Wallace's Avatar
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    Does your favourite rifle have a story?

    It was a close call, but I managed to get 500 projectiles today to keep my little Brno ZK465 Hornet in ammo for the future. This particular rifle will only shoot Sierra 45gn SMP's (1210 - used to cost $4.65/100)) because of the short magazine length, else you can only feed long Spitzer's or BT's one at a time.

    I bought this little rifle secondhand in 1969 (1947 manufacture) for the princely sum of $45.00. I remember it well because my apprentice wage was $41.60/week. Didn't come with a scope so I fitted a Nikko Stirling 3-9X (paid $36.70) for about 2 years. Every long weekend and annual holidays was spent shooting foxes, rabbits and pigs. In 1973 I upgraded to a Kahles 6x42 (paid $82,00), a glass it still wears today and a solid steel Hilver bridge mount.

    God only knows how many rounds it has fired both the 22 years before I bought it, and the 50+ years since that I've owned it. Maybe in the order of 25,000 to 30,000 :umm: The gilt edged accuracy it once had is now in the 1.5MOA class

    A few years ago I happened upon a new factory replacement barrel (dated 1953) which still has to be fitted. Recently I tried a little 40gn powder coated cast bullet which shot reasonably well up to 2,380fps, then groups started to open.

    Me and that little hornet are a team, never had a reason to cuss it or doubt it's ability to put food on the table! nya:





    Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Most of my rifles probably have significant stories as all but very few are pre-WWII and several pre-WWI. How I wish I knew them.
    "In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'

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  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    My favorite rifle belongs to my upper middle little brother, now. A 1903 Springfield 30-06 that my dad sporterized when I was a little kid, and named "Betsy." He let me use it when I went on my first deer hunt at age 17. Once I quit shaking, it worked quite nicely to take the only deer I've ever shot. I may still have a polaroid of the deer. That rifle fed our family quite frequently. My own 1903 Springfield is my third or forth attempt to have one as nice as Betsy. It's only shot paper targets since I've had it. Maybe someday I will get to hunt with it. I know it's more accurate than I am.

  4. #4
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    Winger Ed.'s Avatar
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    One of my 2 favorites is also a 03-A3.
    Years ago, in the 90's, while working at the paint store, one of our long time vendor's salesmen offered to sell me his
    unissued, and unfired 03-A3.

    The story on it was:
    He was a WWII USN issue, black shoe, Gunner's Mate, sailor that served in the Pacific.
    In the early 50's when the govt. was selling everything off, he stopped in to buy one at some armory up in snow country.
    He got to talking to the armor, and was told, "Wait right here".
    He went and got him a 1944, unissued, Remington still wrapped in cosmoline, and sold it to him for the price of used ones.

    Years later, his travels frequently took him past the Fajen stock company back in the day when people would fly in,
    land on their private air strip to get high end stocks fitted.
    He swung through, got one of their nicer stocks, and they asked if he wanted the rifle sent out to be sporterized.
    He did, and it came back looking like someone's final exam project from gunsmithing school.
    As sporterized 03s go, its the nicest one I've ever seen.

    Then came us doing the deal----
    I told him if he thought I could afford it, he obviously didn't know what it was worth.
    He said he knew exactly what it was worth, and asked how much money I had in my pocket.

    I turned my wallet upside down, and had a $100. bill and a $5.
    He took it, then gave me back the five so I'd have something for Lunch,
    and he was glad that now he knew his drug addict son wouldn't loose it in a pawn shop.

    I shot it a bunch, with my first cast boolits for .30 caliber, and have since passed it on to my sister.
    In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
    In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.


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  5. #5
    Boolit Master Cast10's Avatar
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    M70 Winchester XTR 30/06.
    I married my wife in 1989. Her family were all hunters, her not. She asked me before we married what rifle I wanted if I could have any for hunting. I told her. This was my present for our first Christmas together. We lived through a forest fire not too long ago, in which our home survived. On a ‘sneek-in’ trip back to my house I grabbed firearms, among other things, that meant the most. That M70 was the first I grabbed! It always will be! Deadly accurate, pretty, has taken many game animals, and it represents my wife being with me when I carry it.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winger Ed. View Post
    One of my 2 favorites is also a 03-A3.
    Years ago, in the 90's, while working at the paint store, one of our long time vendor's salesmen offered to sell me his
    unissued, and unfired 03-A3.

    The story on it was:
    He was a WWII USN issue, black shoe, Gunner's Mate, sailor that served in the Pacific.
    In the early 50's when the govt. was selling everything off, he stopped in to buy one at some armory up in snow country.
    He got to talking to the armor, and was told, "Wait right here".
    He went and got him a 1944, unissued, Remington still wrapped in cosmoline, and sold it to him for the price of used ones.

    Years later, his travels frequently took him past the Fajen stock company back in the day when people would fly in,
    land on their private air strip to get high end stocks fitted.
    He swung through, got one of their nicer stocks, and they asked if he wanted the rifle sent out to be sporterized.
    He did, and it came back looking like someone's final exam project from gunsmithing school.
    As sporterized 03s go, its the nicest one I've ever seen.

    Then came us doing the deal----
    I told him if he thought I could afford it, he obviously didn't know what it was worth.
    He said he knew exactly what it was worth, and asked how much money I had in my pocket.

    I turned my wallet upside down, and had a $100. bill and a $5.
    He took it, then gave me back the five so I'd have something for Lunch,
    and he was glad that now he knew his drug addict son wouldn't loose it in a pawn shop.

    I shot it a bunch, with my first cast boolits for .30 caliber, and have since passed it on to my sister.
    SUCH A DEAL! For both of you. Sure beats my story!

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    Howdy !

    After buying my first Marlin M-336C in .35 Remington back in the early -70s, I always thought it would be cool even back then; if Marlin would have offered the rifle in stainless steel.... and with a more robust stock. I also had a grandious idea of shooting a superbly accurate .35Rem lever gun for things like local area " factory class " 100yd score shoots. To cut the X ring, I figured I'd need to be able to shoot/produce 5-shot groups of 5/8". THAT many would say, would be a near impossible task to realize.
    Still, I had my mind virtually self-hypnotized that I could find one of these rifles, and that it would have a superb trigger.

    After finding out Marlin did get around to offering their M-336 XLR .35 Rem in stainless & with a laminate stock; I set about locating one. Found one in Tulsa that was filthy from handling an dust, apparently sitting for a year @ a local gunstore. It was NIB so to speak, and unfired.

    I was thrilled when I pulled the trigger ( more than once ) and felt that it had a 2oz ( yes ounce ) pull !! Perhaps why the rifle had sat unsold for so long, and also that I doubt a Marlin M-336 .35 Rem is a famous as an Oklahoma deer " rifle " . No matter, as I didn't want the gun for field use on game... only for target work.

    I held off buying it due to financial constraints, but.... when I read that Marlin was selling out to Remington and closing their CT factory; I instantly felt that I could not buy the rifle I had found fast enough. Made 3 lay-away payments, and brought the rifle home 03 Jul 2010. *** It was the first factory stock rifle I had bought in nearly 20yr, and came from amongst the last 2yr of Marlin production @ the original CT plant.

    The rifle was so filthy inside the action, that it would not cycle properly. I cleaned the gun up inside & out, and set about finding the best accuracy load. I was determined to use benchrest-level brass prep, load procedures; and my best possible bench shooting practices. I told myself I would even pay for a full custom shoulder bump/ bushing neck size die... if need be. Whatever it took to meet my project goals.

    Some features of my rifle that I found out:
    - For whatever reason, the barrel seemed to be " choked ", or more accurately.... seemed to have been lapped; as patches pushed through the clean bore would give evidence of tighter bore constriction the last inch before the muzzle.

    - I broke-in the barrel by shooting one shot, then cleaning the bore; then firing the next shot w/ the barrel slightly damp using Montana Extreme bore conditioner. I did a shoot one then clean regimine for 10 shots. When performing the unfired rifle's first bore cleaning after firing the first shot, I used Gunslik foaming bore cleaner. After seeing some slight blue on the first wet patch,
    I saw no blue on any patches thereafter ( hundreds of shots and 10+ yr later ). The "Ballard" rifling is 12 groove, and fairly deep.

    - Trigger pull turned out to be around 1.5oz, and I could set it off using the wide flat side of a flat toothpick ( I made a youtube video that shows this ).

    - Surplus Remington .358" cal 150PSPs outshot all other .358" cal bullets from Hornady, Sierra; and others. BUT, I ran out of those; and had to switch to a custom .358" cal bullet. More on that in a bit. I had read that the 150PSPs were " plated " and not jacketed, so perhaps they obturated to fill the bore better, when shooting my lower power " reduced " loads ?

    I cast a combo barrel clamp / fwd bi-pod mount, using a modified empty motor oil plastic bottle; and casting resin. The mount block / clamp locks the magazine tube to the barrel; and sorta mimics the floated action / clamped barrel scheme used on competitive long range bolt rifles. It eliminates unwanted vertical pressure being up on the barrel from use of a bi-pod. I put a 2X boosted T-36 on the XLR, and magnification works out to around 52X.

    I only intended to shoot minimal recoil " reduced " loads, and started grouping trials w/ SR4759, Rem brass; and mostly FED LR Match primers.

    After I finally found a load that gave me an 11/16" 5-shot group @ 100 ( bi-pod and rear bag set up ), my oldest son shot an honest 5/8" 5-shot 100 yd group; and it happened to be his first ever time shooting a center fire rifle ! I myself did not shoot a 5/8" group w/ the gun/load until the following month, but... I too did shoot one. If I did my part, my 100yd grouping goal could be realized !

    When the 150PSPs ran out, I found out Remington was backing out of the reloading components business; and the seasonal supply of .358" cal 150PSPs dried up. I found a superlative replacement in Cutting Edge .358" calibre 150gr turned brass Extended Range
    " Raptor " bullet. The bullet wt matched the same wt of the PSPs that had shot so well for me.

    After much research into reduced loads and reduced load formulas for certain powder(s), I decided to go w/ a fast burning rifle propellant that was known to be temperature stable, and had shown good accuracy potential. I chose H4198.
    Got a safe formula for reduced load using H4198 from a guy on the net, that had performed " secondary explosive effects " testing on rifle barrels; using reduced loads.

    Being somewhat dyslexic, I managed to bungle my first trial load charges by interposing 2 of the charge wt numbers in-error. After shooting my first trial rounds, I found out my initial loads were some 2.4gr < the safe minimum his formula had called for! Aaack! Thankfully, I did not blow up the gun or myself; and found myself shooting initial charge weights I otherwise would not have ! And, perhaps no one else would want to have tried ! But, accuracy @ 50yd initial zeroing range was great, after only increasing the charge a few tenths grain.

    But, recoil levels were building to a level I did not want to exceed for my bench work. My idea of a low recoil hyper-accurate load shot from a 24" .35 Remington lever gun that I could press out as-far-as 500yd ( target and egg shoot work ) would require some
    recoil mitigation efforts. Full power loads ( or very nearly that ) would be required for a press to such distances. And that is as far as I have gotten w/ the rifle, to-date.

    Long story short..... my particular M-336 XLR .35 Remington is a fantastic rifle, and I receive positive comments on its appearance almost every trip to the range.


    With regards,
    357Mag

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    I bought a Schutzen rifle in 8.15x46 from a buddy of mine. It was built in 1890 and the original owner immigrated to the US from Germany around 1900. In 1930 he gave the rifle to his son (and wrote his son's name and date of birth inside the wood forend), who passed away in the mid 1980s. According to their obituaries, both were avid outdoorsmen and shooters.
    I was able to piece the story together by deciphering some of the barrel markings and searching obits. Luckily the names weren't very common on this side of the Atlantic.
    Last edited by JSnover; 04-15-2021 at 01:17 PM.
    Warning: I know Judo. If you force me to prove it I'll shoot you.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    My least accurate (3 shots in 1 1/2" @ 100 yards on a good day) game rifle is a "200th year of American Liberty" Ruger M77 257Roberts. It's also my lucky rifle. It killed 43 whitetails with 43 shots.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    Almost all of the many rifles in my safe have a redeeming quality that makes them a favorite in one way or another....but as they say there is nothing like your first! My first new rifle was this Ruger M77 ordered through a LGS in 1977. It had to be ordered since I wanted it in 6mm Rem which wasn't very popular even back then. Why this cartridge? My earliest recollection of it was an article in Outdoor Life in the mid 60's of a black bear bagged on a talus slope out West somewhere using this cartridge but maybe it was the unusual metric designation that intrigued me at that young age. And with a young family and it being an all around deer, bear and varmint caliber I thought it would serve my purposes for awhile, well at least until the next interesting one came around - and many more eventually did as is typically the case.

    It was also responsible for my first deer taken on my first out of state hunt where rifles were allowed which was 1979 in Maine. I believe this was the last year you could take either sex deer in Maine and my first was a doe. I remember the load was a 95gr Nosler Partition (the old machined ones with the relief band around the middle) over IMR 4831. A friend also took his first deer, another doe, on this three day hunt. It turned out to be quite an adventure and we were flying high on the drive back to MA. Most on here would remember the Chevy Vega - well picture the wagon version with two deer on the roof and eight legs sticking out every which way. We got a lot of high beams clicked on behind us on the 6 hour ride home that night.

    Besides being my first new rifle and bagging the first deer this rifle can shoot. It was made long before Ruger started forging their own barrels around 1990 and it has been written many times their sourced barrels were a hit or miss proposition (pun intended). Well I got a good one. It was easy to get three shots under an inch at 100yds with any 60 to 100gr bullet tried. And when I test and sight in I hold the forearm in my hand rested on a bag with scope at the max 7X setting so it certainly could do even better using a more target oriented technique and higher magnification. As you can imagine this rifle is not going anywhere until I no longer control the outcome.

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  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norske View Post
    My least accurate (3 shots in 1 1/2" @ 100 yards on a good day) game rifle is a "200th year of American Liberty" Ruger M77 257Roberts. It's also my lucky rifle. It killed 43 whitetails with 43 shots.
    My first really great rifle is a “Liberty” in 243 Win with a Varmint barrel, the M77V.

    It has racked up an untold number of coyotes as far as 450 yds. As a strictly predator rifle it has maintained its sub .3” accuracy because of a low round count.

    Three44s
    Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207

    “There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    Is this becoming an M77 thread? Alright with me but others must have some favorite rifles with stories to be told to bring some diversity back to it.

  13. #13
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    Oh yeah,,, I have a story.

    When I was 18 years old (1968) we had a place called "All American Sporting Goods" in town. They had a nice gun rack which I visited every chance I got,,, and since I worked at the Vons Market next door that was frequently.

    I saw this Mauser .22 on the rack one day and it was in nearly perfect shape. They wanted $50 for it. This was a full sized Mans Rifle with superb sights but it was still a single shot . I was used to shooting my Remington 514 so Single Shot wasn't an issue and so I pined away after it, until I finally had some money and made a deal to trade in my 514 for $15 and my Mom gave me the other $35. I was stoked!

    The gun after many years of searching for a model # turned out to be a Mauser ES 340 B. It was made in Oberndorf Germany in 1929, and still looked nearly new. It has a Ramp Style Rear Sight with a reversible blade to switch between a Vee Notch or U notch, and then the Front Sight was interchangeable with a Vee or Bead style blade. I only have the Vee Blade.

    After shooting it for a while I figured out that all you had to do to load it was drop a round into the open breach and close the bolt. The gun would automatically feed the round into the chamber, and this is because it is a "Real Mauser," and has "Controlled Round Feeding!" just like the Real Mauser Centerfire Rifles have.

    As I said above, this is a Full Sized Mans Rifle and weighs right at 8.5 lbs. I changed out the original Sling swivels for QD Studs but still have the originals

    This Gun was super accurate and due to the weight was easy to hold on target and I could hit a beer can nearly everytime offhand at 100 yards with the open sights. Around 1976 I had a Older Gunsmith Friend who owned an older gun shop in Oxnard and I took my gun in one day to have him look at it to see if we could mount a scope on it. He was impressed and immediately went over to his parts stash which was housed in dozens of Cigar Boxes and came up with an Anschutz Scope Mount that fit the 11MM Dovetails on the Receiver perfectly. We topped that off with a set of Redfield Rings that bolted right to the mount and then a New Steel Weaver K4 Scope.

    I took the gun to the Ventura City Police Pistol Range and sighted it in with Winchester Hi Speed .40 gr solids. Per Jack O'Connor's instructions,,,1" high at 50 yards, Dead on at 75 yards, 3" Low at 100 yards. I have never changed the settings on the scope, it is still dead on, and the Mount Repeats Perfectly. I like shooting it without the scope except when hunting with it, and since the mount repeats perfectly every time I can take it off and put it back on any time I choose. The scope has been on and off that gun easily 100's of times in the last nearly 50 years. In fact I just weighed the gun a few minutes ago and took the scope off for that. 8.5Lbs. no scope and back on at 9Lbs 11 oz.

    The rear sight is a quick adjustable open sight, with graduations from 30M to 200M, however they are calibrated For Standard Velocity .22 LR ammo which was the norm in Europe in 1929.

    I shot my Second Best Silhouette Score (31/40) with the open sights, after I figured out how to actually use them correctly about 15 years ago. The big secret was to make "Sight Alignment" first, and hold it in place with my cheek weld, and then put the "Front Sight" on the target and absorb/note the "Sight Picture" that yields the hit,,, and repeat that as many times as necessary. You must get all of the Chickens at 40M and all of the Pigs at 50 M as they are the easiest targets to hit. The turkeys at 75M are the hardest and then the Rams at 100M are in between the Pigs and Turkeys in difficulty. I got 9 chickens, 10 pigs, 4 turkeys and 8 rams for 31/40 and I got the Glass Mug Trophy to prove it!

    So me and my Mauser are pretty inseparable, and it is my Most Prized Possession. If I could only have one gun that would be it. It is worth well over $1000 now, and it will probably go to my only Nephew when I get ready to croak.

    Here's some Pics.

    Randy
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Para LDA 1640 315.jpg   Para LDA 1640 316.jpg   Para LDA 1640 322.jpg   Para LDA 1640 326.jpg   Para LDA 1640 323.jpg  

    Para LDA 1640 001.jpg  
    Last edited by W.R.Buchanan; 04-21-2021 at 06:01 PM.
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  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    One of my favorite rifles is a rare Lady's Model Wurfflein 22LF. It is the same serial numbered rifle in Grant's Single Shot Rifle book
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    Regards
    John

  15. #15
    Boolit Master

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    30+ years ago, i was in a pawn shop in my hometown, and i had a deal worked up with the owner to clean and oil his guns every week. Guns came, and went, like they do in a pawn shop setting, but there was one pistol that he couldn't seem to sell. So,after i worked out deal that involved $325 of my hard earned cash, which was in short supply back then, i went home with a 8" barreled COLT Python in, of all things, 38 Spcl!! Roll stamped on the barrel, it reads,"Python Target" 38 Spcl CTG. I guess i have shot that pistol a gajillion times, it never fails, and every time i look at that thing,( it rides the safe shelf now) i think about my old friend in that pawn shop who told me, " i cant sell that dam thing because it's a 38!!" Couple of other guns with good stories, but this is my favorite.
    I firmly believe that you should only get treated by how you act, not by who or what you are!!

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    My favorite rifle is a 96 Swede, that I got off of a guy in 1985, in 6.5x55. It was bone stock, and I was a fledgling in my gunsmithing career, so I decided to make it a custom rifle, for me anyway. I turned the bolt down, and also tapered the barrel, which cut back to 24" and crowned. I drilled and tapped the action, redfield bases and rings were added, along with a Timney featherweight deluxe trigger with side saftey. I then parkerized the rifle, base and rings. I glass bedded it in a cheap syn stock, that was just becoming available back then. I got some Norma ammo, 139 gr and it shot 3/4" with that load, all day long. I finished it before hunting season and took it deer hunting. My only shot came at 200yds, offhand when a buck jumped up in a big field I was crossing, with the sling wrapped tight around my arm. At the shot the buck folded, and I was in love. I did load developmetn over the next 2 years and found out it shot 1/2 MOA and under, with several different loads. Since then I have taken over 48 deer with that rifle alone, over 600 woodchucks, 300 crows and around 100 coyotes, as this became my do it all cartridge, with settling on a 120gr Sierra at 3000fps for deer, and a 85 gr HP varmint bullet for all the light stuff. I shot my last deer with it in 2018, my longest shot ever, at a ranged 510 yds, in a big field where I have chuck and coyote hunted for the last 30 years. The bullet entered behind the quartering left deers rib cage, and exited out the chest after taking out all the vitals, and blowing the right leg off above the knee. I have about since retired it, but last year, after thousands of rounds doing load development and hunting, I put a dime size dot up on a piece of cardboard, at 300yds, and shot a 3 shot group, on sandbags across my truck tool box. The 3 shots went in just a hair under an inch, bracketing the dot. This rifle has made me look like a lot better shot than I am in front of a lot of folks over the years, and most folks in this county who are serious hunters and shooters, know about "Helga" as I named her my sweetheart from Sweden all those long years ago. What is not to love about a rifle like this.

  17. #17
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    Over the years many fine rifles have came and went, some with great regret like the 700 Classic in 221 Fireball and the Cooper 222. There was a little Herter's 222 that I really enjoyed owning, though it was not to accurate. Currently the K-31 and 1917 Carl Gustav, along with a sporter 03-A3 and M1A are very nice.

    But the one rifle that has really captured my affections is the Savage 1919 NRA Match rifle (top rifle below). I picked it us at a local show two years ago in serious need of cleaning and some minor repair.
    It has gotten a serious workout at the range last fall and to my enjoyment it is as accurate as any rifle I own. It's balance, stock fit and attractive style have given new meaning to favorite rifle. I am old enough now that I can forecast no life style crises that will force me to part with it. Someday it will go to my daughter.

    The other three Savage rifles are also well liked and respected, though not as much as the 1919.

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  18. #18
    Boolit Bub
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    I have some of the rifles that my dad owned and the memories and stories are priceless.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master FergusonTO35's Avatar
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    I spent alot of time drooling over printed gun catalogs as a kid, and one rifle (carbine, actually) which always called to me was the Marlin 1894 .357. They were pretty rare in our parts, nobody really saw the use of a lever gun that wasn't a .30-30 or a big bore. One day in 1998 my 19 year old self stopped in at the fun store and spied a little lever action on the used rack amongst the multitude of 336's and 94's. To my delight it was a cherry 1894 .357 of 1982 vintage. It was stickered at only $250.00, the shop owner said I was the only person that showed interest in it because it wasn't a .30-30 or .44. I filled out the yellow form and wrote him a check for part of the price, put the rest on plastic. You do what you gotta do when you make $7.00 an hour.

    That little carbine has seen many, many rounds down the pipe, probably more than all my other centerfire rifles combined. Never found a load it wouldn't shoot halfway decent, especially after I put a Lyman 66 receiver sight on. I've never seriously hunted with it but the 1894 has accompanied me on many walks in the woods. The finish has some honest wear now, a record of all the good times I have had with it. I've turned down more than one serious $1000 offer for it sight unseen, this one is going to my daughter.
    Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Western Colorado
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    663
    I only wish that 7 of my rifles could talk, all are 100+ years old. think of the stories they could tell.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check