What is the Most Beautiful Firearm You Own
- Thread starter hm1996
- Start date
Primary Arms 3X Compact Prism Rifle scope. Was afraid I wouldn't care for the reticle from the ad; looked a little busy to me, but after shooting it, I kinda like it, works great in the field. Not many optics short enough to clear the top ejection port on a Garand with enough eye relief left over.
Called Joe Bob’s @ 4:30 PM Thursday and they were kind enough to get one out of the warehouse and check three critical measurements for me. It will be very close, but should clear ejection port on the rifle and still barely have sufficient eye relief. The rear groove in current picatinny rail would even be very close to correct spacing if all our measurements prove to be correct!
The scope came in Saturday, 48 hours after order was placed. (That's some excellent service Joe Bob!) My rail's grooves were too narrow for some reason, but after filing the rear groove out .020” to fit the cross bolt on scope base, everything fit as planned!
The prism scope is a bit high, but with the strap on cheek piece it is easy to acquire a natural point of aim while maintaining repeatable cheek weld.
The only foreseeable issue is loading a clip. I'm a bit reluctant to make this statement from fear of jinxing things, but in 66 years of fondling Garands, I have never had the dreaded M1 thumb! The optic makes my normal one hand method of holding the op-rod back with the blade, or side of hand while pushing clip into mag well with my thumb a bit awkward. I am going to have to remember to use both hands while loading from now on.
The 3X magnification is a real improvement for my 82 year old eyes. Lo and behold the old girl is all dressed up and ready for the ball.
Darn if I don't think I just heard her whisper, "Let’s dance!"
Three Steps in an M1 Garand's Evolution
Was first issued an M1 in 1954 and been either issued, owned one, or both ever since. Never found any warts on them until I could no longer use iron sights. Over time, after Burris came out with the FFII sight, a vision of a no-drill mount began to take shape in my mind until I finally...
www.predatormasters.com
Bob_Atl
Well-known member
as a youngster, this was my one & only personal "beautiful" gun.
My uncle gave it to my dad for safe keeping until I was old enough.
the story of this gun was; as boys, dad & uncle would ride one bike into their
adventures, dad pedaling and uncle carrying this gun broken down.
it was an easy brake down, known as a bicycle gun for boys, back in that day.
see the Sears catalogue add below, mine is a decade older than that add.
I plinked with it as a teenager, and kept track of it over the decades.
At one point the firing pin broke & was TU until 1970s when I found a gunsmith to re-make one.
So it works again, its not that accurate, barrel is very rough, but it has a special place in my inventory.
My uncle gave it to my dad for safe keeping until I was old enough.
the story of this gun was; as boys, dad & uncle would ride one bike into their
adventures, dad pedaling and uncle carrying this gun broken down.
it was an easy brake down, known as a bicycle gun for boys, back in that day.
see the Sears catalogue add below, mine is a decade older than that add.
I plinked with it as a teenager, and kept track of it over the decades.
At one point the firing pin broke & was TU until 1970s when I found a gunsmith to re-make one.
So it works again, its not that accurate, barrel is very rough, but it has a special place in my inventory.
They started making those again 25 years ago or so. I had to have one but it was a little more than 8.98. It has the octagon barrel. Fun little gun to shoot.
Bob_Atl
Well-known member
My BIL has a 32 rimfire 1915 Stevens Favorite in collector grade condition.
He has not and never will shoot it - just has it hanging on the wall..
Mine has a long flat forend, it looks OEM, but I've not seen any images of others like it.
Wouldn't but it past the brothers to find a good walnut piece and finish it like a pro.. but I doubt it.
They didn't have the money for custom work, guess I'll never know.
He has not and never will shoot it - just has it hanging on the wall..
Mine has a long flat forend, it looks OEM, but I've not seen any images of others like it.
Wouldn't but it past the brothers to find a good walnut piece and finish it like a pro.. but I doubt it.
They didn't have the money for custom work, guess I'll never know.
I like pretty plain rifles. have a 700 Rem I rebarreled to 260 Rem and refinished the stock and love it. Probably my realbest looking though is my 1903 Springfield redone by Paul jaeger in 1945. Love this rifle!
Has a 2 3/4 Redfield Widefield I got brand new about 1971. Best hunting scope I ever owned.
Has a 2 3/4 Redfield Widefield I got brand new about 1971. Best hunting scope I ever owned.
hunt0168
Well-known member
Just based on the history, my Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 308 Win. My dad bought it new for my grandfather in 1956 or 1957. I think he paid $150 ish for it. My dad and gramps hunted together until my gramps passed in 1977. Gramps never killed a deer with it. My dad hunted with it from that point forward until he gave it to me around 2005. My dad never killed a deer with it. To be fair, most of the deer hunting at that time was in NY’s Shotgun only zones. There wasn’t a ton of time spent in rifle zones by my dad and gramps.
When NY loosened restrictions on rifles I started hunting with it in hopes of tagging a nice deer in my gramps memory, and to show appreciation to my dad for entrusting me with a piece of our family history. 2013 was the year.
I gave my pops the empty brass from the kill, gave him a hug, visited gramps grave, and relived some hunting stories of my dad and gramps for a bit. I never got a chance to hunt with gramps, but I know just about every hunt my old man had with him from the stories. 2 great men in my life.
I’ll have to dig out the sales receipt from the purchase to get the accurate year and price. I have it in safe keeping.
When NY loosened restrictions on rifles I started hunting with it in hopes of tagging a nice deer in my gramps memory, and to show appreciation to my dad for entrusting me with a piece of our family history. 2013 was the year.
I gave my pops the empty brass from the kill, gave him a hug, visited gramps grave, and relived some hunting stories of my dad and gramps for a bit. I never got a chance to hunt with gramps, but I know just about every hunt my old man had with him from the stories. 2 great men in my life.
I’ll have to dig out the sales receipt from the purchase to get the accurate year and price. I have it in safe keeping.
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Fantastic Bob!!
Soup
Beautiful rifle, Bob & great memories. My wife and I were married in November 1956; she gave me Stoegers' catalog for Christimas that year. Thought you might like to see this page from that catalog:
Thanks for sharing your memories.
hunt0168
Well-known member
Thank you, Clarence. I am going to see if I can print that out and stash it. After posting earlier, I realized that gramp’s rifle went 56 years without a kill. I’m currently 56 years old and cannot imagine the torture that rifle endured! Lol…
I knew my gramps when I was a little guy. He passed well before I could ever join him in the field. I would have loved to have had at least 1 hunt with him and my dad together. I do remember a couple trout fishing trips though, so I do have that!
I knew my gramps when I was a little guy. He passed well before I could ever join him in the field. I would have loved to have had at least 1 hunt with him and my dad together. I do remember a couple trout fishing trips though, so I do have that!
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Wind River
Member
I’ve had some real beauties over the past several decades. Some very nice single shots, custom pre 64 Winchesters, gorgeous shotguns, doubles & O/Us.
I’m a habitual trader and the only guns I keep are totally practical. Having said all that my current “beauty” is nothing real special. Just a hunting rifle by Weatherby in the 700 copy they came out with a few years ago.
I’m a habitual trader and the only guns I keep are totally practical. Having said all that my current “beauty” is nothing real special. Just a hunting rifle by Weatherby in the 700 copy they came out with a few years ago.
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Wind River
Member
As beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, I consider this 108 year old my most beautiful firearm. A 1917 Colt model M1911. One of 400 guns shipped to the commanding officer of the Springfield armory in Massachusetts on May 28, 1917. It’s an all original 5” .45acp US Government issue, (apart from the replacement barrel). If only it could talk, what stories it might tell.
