The Prodigal Gun

I live in a blue state. But we still have gun shows, knife shows, outdoorsman shows, etc.

This is a story related to that.

When my wife and I got married, I had four guns.

• Remington pump shotgun (12 gauge).
• Springfield 1903 30-06, sporterized.
• Ruger Mark II ,22
• Marlin .22 pump

About seven years in, we fell on hard times, and sold a lot of what we felt were luxuries. 2^nd Car, Stamp collection, class rings from high school, and finally the guns.

Things got better, gradually. I started recollecting similar guns. I got the Ruger Mark II first, then went with a Ruger 10/22 instead of the Marlin pump.

Eventually I had some more guns, a Remington 870, Remington Hi-Power, etc. But never found the 1903 replacement.

So a few years back, I’m attending a gun show and see a 1903 in pretty good condition, with a nice scope on it, and at a reasonable price. I looked at it, and decided I was over it. And we went on home.

Told my DW about it, and she said, “Get back in the car, you idiot.”

And we drove back.

The 1903 was still there, and I agreed to purchase it. We have BG checks at shows in our state. I don't mind. It would take a while, as the BG check was backed up, and the vendor had to keep redialing.  He didn’t realize he had a redial on his phone. I showed him that, and he was so grateful he gave me a free soft case for the gun.

While he was dialing, and dialing, and dialing, I took a closer look. There was a small chunk out of the recoil pad. While dialing, the vendor said, “It wouldn’t take much to replace the recoil pad.”

I let him know that my 1903 had a very similar chunk missing, but that I had iron sights. He said he had added the scope when he took it in trade a few months back.

It was the same gun. Serial numbers matched The prodigal gun returned, 25 years later. I have lovingly fed it a diet of nice brass since.

Best regards, and keep the four rules,

DaveJ

Welcome to my gun nut blog, “Recreational Shooting.”

Hello there. You’ve found me. You didn’t even know you were looking for me, did you?

This is a blog about shooting and other topics. About an old guy (me) who had guns, but wasn’t a gun nut until I found more gun activities that didn’t involve hunting. Then it got real.

Not that I mind hunting folk, I'm just not into that myself. I like nice venison steak, but I'm lazy.

This is the story of how I went from not really being a gun nut to being owner of what some people would say excessive amounts of guns, and others would say are just getting started. Also the story of how I remembered how to be safe with guns, and how to be accurate.

Along the way there have been lots of fun times, some interesting discoveries, and some great trips. This has all unfolded over the past seven or so years.

This will not be a blog about the second amendment (I’m for it.) or about open carry/concealed carry/gun free zones, etc. It’s not meant to be political. There are lots of places for that. This isn’t one of them.

This is not a place to talk about Obama, Clinton, Trump, gun control, registration, background checks or any other of a hundred hot button issues. There’s too much of that and neither side can yell loud enough to drown out the other. So please don’t try it here.

The only controversial thing I will say is that there is no such thing as an accidental discharge. There are deliberate discharges, and there are negligent discharges (ND). If you look back at the root cause of what people call “accidental discharges” there is always negligence involved. Violation of at least two of the four rules, failure to secure a weapon, failure to maintain a weapon, using the wrong ammunition, etc. Always something where there was negligence. I’m just telling you this so you know how I feel.

I take lots of people out to the range, and won’t let them even out of the bus (1968 tin top camper) until they can repeat them back to me. And I have never been witness to an ND.

My plan is to have a new posting each week, so that I can gradually catch up to today. Then we’ll see what happens. If no one reads it, I’ll stop, of course. I don’t want my words to be a negligent discharge.

Best regards, and keep the four rules,

DaveJ