It began with a levergun

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Camel73
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Posts: 274
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:01 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada

It began with a levergun

Post by Camel73 »

As a kid I was stuck in the city, but my heart wasn't.
I loved the visits out at the grandparents spread. Life became exciting, and somehow more relevant to my young brain.
I got to fetch warm chicken eggs in the morning and poke around grandpa's time capsule-esq equipment sheds, help feed the pigs and cows... always wary of the well about which I was sternly warned never to go near.
I fired a rifle for the first time out there and I remember looking through pages of rifles, thinking which one I liked best. It was always a levergun.
Being my first rifle, and seriously eyeing up the levers on the wall, the guy behind the counter recommended that I go with a 30-30. Something that wouldn't develop a flinch, effective on game and found everywhere.
I wasn't interested in scopes back then and with a top eject lever I could see nicely what was going on in there.
This rifle has been to hell and back with me, in all my adventures of life's development. We've been through our scars together. To me it's a testament to hardiness and lessons learned.
viewtopic.php?t=66748
Little did I know how cast bullet friendly it was all these years! So lately I swapped to feeding it only lead. Casting and reloading was a whole new unexplored world. One that challenged my mind and idle hands.
Just a flick of the wrist these days smoothly chambers a superb variety of ammo - and combined with a lyman peep... Well, how perfect!

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I never did hear any hunting stories from grandpa, but pops was a different story. He grew up out in the sticks, and when we hung out together one of our favorite things to do was put the smackdown on some coyotes.
A wary songdog hanging up 300+ yards was a little beyond my talent level with a 94 - still working on that :)
"Well, I guess I need a varmint rifle - a bolt action I can put a scope on to see what I'm doing waaay out there."
Unbeknownst to me It ended up being Mossberg's first rifle in 20 some years. An ATR 100. I handled others in the same price range (I'm frugal!, lol) but always came back to the synthetic Mossberg. I was rough on stuff, and by this time I knew it, and as much as I wanted real wood, the weight factor while chasing coyotes became real to me previously packing a 26" savage 22-250 in a Boyd's thumbhole stock. I still regret letting that rifle slip though my fingers, even if it did have a mysterious ftf issue.
I finally settled on the infamous .243 cartridge. My lazerbeam - that ended up kicking harder with 55 grain pills than my '94 30-30 with 170's! The .243 had a good track record and our yotes are big enough that I never had any problems blowing gaping holes through them.
She's a loud sow for sure, and came with a freaking hair trigger but it fits me very comfortably - with the cheek piece now in place.
Although I'm happy with the 4-16x40 wide angle Bushnell, I have yet to really stretch it's legs to potential. All in good time..

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When my brother handed me his .22 you would have thought I won the lottery, even if it didn't cycle, lol. Poor guy had so many problems with it, it might have turned him off guns for good as he only packs a camera while camping these days.
After a whole lot of learning I gave the action a whole lotta love and a Simmons 3-9x40 that comes with a .22 cal yardage turret. Sweetness!
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/#/ ... 793?page=1
So far I'm capable of a golf ball at 70 and a softball at 150. So far so good. We buy our .22 ammo by the bucket now and the model 60 Marlin is the sweetest shooting (and looking) .22 I've had. The salt and pepper laminate stock, scope and 22" barrel give it some nice weight. I don't trudge around too much with this one. It's just too nice.

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The wilderness holds many memories for our family. For much of our lives now we have trudged through those same woods, with adventure waiting just around every corner every time we go.
Usually laughing our BUTTS off, we enjoy one another's company while munching on hotdogs and telling stories of previous outings throughout the years.
Many of those stories to this day include bears, and there are plenty in the Alberta Rockies where we have camped every year for close to 20 now. Animals can certainly be interesting critters, and like people, have a personality... and their bad days just like us.
We have been fortunate in that respect. One late night by the fire my brother and I were surprised by rustling sound approaching our camp, so we busted a move to the camper and investigated with a flashlight. To our surprise a big red fox came rumblin tumblin by, sniffin around for a bean or two - within 5 yards our low-to-medium campfire. That experience scared the living daylights out of us and I knew right away what was in order.
Black bears are one thing but when it comes to mountain grizz.. well, I believe that's a whole nuther ball of wax. They have to work hard for their food and if they are cranky, it's a situation I'd like to be prepared for.
Grandpooba always had his 45-70 and gifted his mariner 590 to my bro. I knew I was a decent shot but my 30-30 left a little to be desired. Enter the Mossberg 500 12 gauge.
I always wanted a shotgun... and somehow I was blessed with a beautiful 18.5" 6 shot cruiser/persuader. It didn't take long for a tube mounted tri-rail, offset mount and a modified mid lumen flashlight to call this new camp defender their home. I kinda whittled down a weaver rail for a bit and came up with a rear express of sorts. I might have to fine tune it but it should work close enough. It's backwards to get some disrance... Must be gettin old or somethin..
With the ability to swap barrels, I could hunt birds in the future, and I was already familiar with the 500 series from working over my brother's 590. http://www.mossbergowners.com/forum/ind ... ure.16171/
I don't know why it was a refurb - it was real clean but the pump did catch a bit at the back, possibly causing a short shuck scenario. Again, after some love to some specific areas I could run the pump lightly with two fingers.
I waited through over 50 people that day. That Wholesale Sports was closing forever within a week or so - with some of the very staff that had been there for my very first levergun purchase.
You see, the .22 was from the same store... and my .243 was from a northern location of the same store.
I thought it was fitting that I got my (maybe) last firearm from the some of the actual people that I got my very first. And to walk away, knowing that they would be closed forever with the one gun I was missing from my humble collection in my hands... well, how cool is that?

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My first child - '94 30-30
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ollogger
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Re: It began with a levergun

Post by ollogger »

Very nice write up & photos on your affairs with some of your guns


Thanks ollogger
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Old No7
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Re: It began with a levergun

Post by Old No7 »

Cool story, thanks for sharing.

I started off with a Daisy BB lever gun! :wink:

Old No7
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Blaine
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Re: It began with a levergun

Post by Blaine »

Nice story. Thanks for sharing. 8) 8)
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AJMD429
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Re: It began with a levergun

Post by AJMD429 »

That's a good post - even an 'anti-gunner' might read it and realize that shooting is pretty enjoyable and wholesome...! 8)
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claybob86
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Re: It began with a levergun

Post by claybob86 »

Great story. You're a very good writer! :)
Have you hugged your rifle today?
Rusty
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Re: It began with a levergun

Post by Rusty »

If you like shooting cast bullets out of that thuty thuty you might want to check out www.castbullet.com. That website was started by a former member here who has passed away.
If you're gonna be stupid ya gotta be tough-
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gamekeeper
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Re: It began with a levergun

Post by gamekeeper »

claybob86 wrote: Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:38 pm Great story. You're a very good writer! :)
Plus 1.
My first gun aged four was a King BB levergun, brought back from America by an uncle in the First World War for my father.
If more men loved and cherished their wives as much as I love bacon the world would be a much better place.
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Camel73
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Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:01 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: It began with a levergun

Post by Camel73 »

Thanks guys. I enjoy stories of why people have certain things so I thought I'd throw one out there of my own.

Actually my first gun was a lever action popgun. I was 3. After watching some western, I was later reenacting what must have been an exciting part cuz I accidentally broke it over my knee. I had a lot of stuffed animals in my room then so I hid it behind big bird.
I had forgotten about that..

As it's something my back doesn't complain about too much, casting and handloading for my lever 30-30 has become a great pastime. And I think it's lead buddy is gonna be the 12 gauge.
My first child - '94 30-30
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