Thanks for the pic Mark, and the comments Milsurps. This gun was designed as a functioning weapon. It has performed it's job fantastically. It has given lots of years of service, never had a malfunction, and put food on the table when my mother was younger. It is now, as it always has been a SHOOTER! And I will be damn sure to keep up the tradition!
Thanks for the info Jon! I appreciate it.
As for the ammo... Those 2 boxes of LC ammo are untouched. They are still full, and all have a headstamp of LC46 on them. Is it worth anything to keep around and not shoot? If it's blasting ammo, is it corrosive?
That box of Remington ammo isn't full. It's short a few rounds, and I don't think I would fire that. I think I would like to keep it there, in the box and preserve it. It was that exact box of ammo, that I took into the woods deer hunting, and we didn't see anything that day. My grandfather could see how disappointed I was, and asked me... "So kid, you mad you didn't get to shoot today" I replied that I was, and he pointed about 25 yards away at a tree that was about 4-5 inches across, and said.. "There's your deer boy, see if you can take him down" He told me to twist off the safety, and I let all 5 rounds out of that mag go. I'll be damned if that tree didn't fall over about 3 seconds after the shots rang out. I stood there with a grin from ear to ear, and when we started to walk away, he looked at me and said.. "What the HELL are you doing"? I asked him what he meant, and he replied.. "Son, we respect the land we use, we don't kill an animal for no reason, we don't cut down trees we don't plan to use"... "Now I suggest you sling your rifle, and get to haulin' your kill out of these woods". I'll be damned if he didn't make me drag that fur tree all the way out of the woods, by myself. We hunted by walking into the woods just out the back door of his house, and we were probably only 1/4 into the woods on our way back to the house. I didn't give up, I pushed myself to keep dragging that damn tree, following his footsteps in the snow. When I got back to the house, I dragged the tree all the way out of the woods, and over to the back door where my grandpa was sitting on the stairs. I sat down beside him catching my breath. He handed me a bottle of Pepsi, and his bar of chew. He told me, "Good job son, you've shown me you are becoming a fine man" "Go ahead, take a bite and chew on it, I won't tell your mom, but for Christ sake don't swallow it this time, I won't be able to hide it if you turn green again"
We sat there for a while, in silent conversation (if that makes sense to you). He finally started to stand, and as I was getting up and turning for the door, he said.. "Not so fast there kid" He handed me a small ax that he had hidden beside him on the stairs and said.. "You killed that there tree, now you've got to dress it out, and get it ready to eat".. I looked at him with a puzzled look and he pointed towards the chimney and said "Don't be too long, you've got a rifle to clean when you're done"
I look back on that day, and think about exactly what he was trying to teach me. I will remember it forever, and his simple (however cruel at the time) lessons will stick with me for life.
I learned alot that day, and will never forget it.
Now that I'm all done being all nostalgic and all....
Adam (who's rifle makes him remember happy times)