This posting reminds me that I have an old .308 Winchester model 100 that belonged to my grandfather and that I know he used to hunt with in Colorado way back in the day. He was born and raised in Alabama, but during WWII he served as an MP in Europe. At one point he actually drove Gen Patton on a short trip somewhere. The details are sketchy and I have tried multiple times from different angles to get his military records, but I think they perished in some fire in Missouri. At any rate, when my grandfather passed away my senior year of high school, my grandmother wanted all the guns out of the house and gave them to her son-in-law (my dad). Though my dad enjoys looking at guns and range shooting/plinking on occasion, he has never hunted. For Christmas two years ago, I asked him to have it cleaned and pass it down to me. It has sat in my safe since then and not even been fired. Might have to throw that one in the truck when I head out hunting this weekend to see if the iron sites can even get something on paper. Hope everyone has a safe and prosperous Thanksgiving and we should all take a minute to give thanks to God for blessing us with all that we have.

I have been trying for the better part of ten years to take a deer with my grandfather's 1904-vintage model 94.

I'm the gadget type, so given the choice, I'll typically hunt more modern hardware. But every once in a while, when the situation permits, I'll reach for that old .30-30. This year I had the chance to go on an old-fashioned beagle-driven deer hunt. That old girl was a joy to carry through the hardwoods and on the fourth day, a buck had the misfortune of stepping out in front of me at 13 yards! I have to say it was one of the best hunts of my life!

Some day, after my dad's hunting days have long past, I hope to shoot a moose with his Remington 760; which has already accounted for better than a dozen since 1976. If you asked me tomorrow to hunt with that thing, I'd probably laugh at you. But I BETCHA... One day, I'll carry that thing as proudly as I did that Winchester a few weeks ago. If only guns could talk...

And I thought I was the only guy in the world who owns a Winchester Model 1400…glad to see I have company. I believe I've taken more deer than bunnies with mine, as these things can chuck 00 buckshot faster than an anti-aircraft installment.

Sentimentality with regard to rifles? Absolutely. My first deer rifle was a 7.7 mm Japanese Arisaka bolt action my Dad bought for $7.00 during the Kennedy administration. He sporterized it, hand-fitted and free-floated a beautiful Fajen walnut stock. Although I've since moved on to a Browning BLR, "the Jap" still makes the trip upstate with me every year. -Bob

Wow, talk about timing! My Dad passed Monday morning at the age of 89. He taught me to hunt and shoot. Several years ago, he gave me his JP Sauer 20 ga. I plan on shooting it this weekend. Looking forward to shooting that little 20ga and the memories it brings. Will definitely be tough though, I think I'll go alone.

philbourjaily-
Thanks for your come back on the nitpicker. Too many good guns and old memories in this thread to allow a small minded SFB to muck it up with legalistic trivia. I had to go and handle and relive some memories with my Father's Sweet 16 and my Grandfather's double
12 with hammers after reading some of the posts.

Nice story Phil & I know it means a lot to Rick. He's quite the gentleman, inviting me to a rain-date memorial hunt since work kept me from the hunt you describe.

My dad, Paul Lidral, passed away on Nov 16, 1997 and I pay tribute to him each year with a hunt. It is usually a solo affair, giving me time to contemplate my navel, what made him - him and how he shaped me. My tradition started the day after he died when I took his humpedback Ultra-light Auto Browning partridge hunting, shooting only blanks, cuz it was a day no grouse should die. I often follow this up on my last pheasant hunt, using his duck gun, another humpback, but an unsightly battered one with a poly-choke topped with dental acrylic for a sight bead. I take no end of grief from hunting buddies, but with the poly-choke tightened down, it is great for late-season birds. At a later date I'll place a feather at his grave.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow with the temp in the high 30's. Time to get out the short stocked Model 12 my grandfather bought used in the 1920's. He died in 48 and I never knew him. My dad, who died in 97, hunted with that gun from 48 on. He bought me a used model 12 in '65. Dad's gun has a shorter stock than mine. When hunting in cold weather with extra layers on, I take the gun my grandfather and father killed so many ducks with. My grandfather never killed a goose. Maybe I'll add another goose to that old guns resume tomorrow. I ask you, is there anything in the world that lasts so long and provides so much to a family's continuity as a good old gun?

Nothing beats hunting with Dad's old guns or those of our ancestors. I have enjoyed a model 12 in 16ga, then a nice 12ga.

Had a 1400 of my own also, as well as a 20ga. 870; all wonderful guns. Look at the picture again, those guys shooting with plain barrels, no vent ribs, no screw in chokes, oh the joy! I think I hunt better with that ol' M-12 and its unadorned barrel than with the new stuff.

And yes, the M-94 of Dad's, man does that make you appreciate an easy-carry gun! Plenty accurate as well.

Just before I was born in 1952, my dad accepted a job at a dam in Montana. Mom stayed behind in Idaho till I came along. Then her father drove the family up. He helped get the household belongings loaded for the movers and noticed that Dad's gun collection had dwindled considerably. Mom explained that he sold them to pay the medical bills when my older brother was born fifteen months earlier. "Papa" was a well-off fruit rancher and could easily have paid those debts. But he appreciated that Dad wouldn't ask for money because he wanted to stand on his own two feet. But he also knew Dad couldn't keep his family fed without a rifle! So he picked him up a brand new Remington 760 30-06 with 4x Weaver. Dad eventually cut the stock down for Mom but she got beaned by the scope once and never picked it up again. A few years before he died, Dad brought it up to Canada for me to hunt moose with. It is lighter than the sporterized Springfield he made for me when I was in the Army. It also has a great detachable scope mount that is ideal for the kind of hunting I do. I love that gun. It reminds me of the two finest gentlemen I will ever know. How they could have thrown an offspring like me is a mystery.

I have been passing along some of my guns to my son and son-in-law over the past few years and this is one instance where it is way better to give than to receive! Sat with my son in the deer blind while he shot his first buck with his Grandpas Remington 722 in 300 Sav. He never knew his grandpa but I would hope that he will sit with my grandson someday and experience the same emotions I did 15 yrs. ago.

The first shotgun I remember my dad having (he's 92 and still lives on the family farm in Illinois) was a Springfield-Stevens 16 ga sxs hammergun made in 1930-'32. He sold it to a hunting buddy (now in his 80's) in the late '40's or early '50's. My dad and I saw his friend last month while having breakfast at a restaurant in the small town near my dad's place. I asked him what ever happened to that old Stevens. He said he gave it to his son. I told him that if his son ever wanted to get rid of it to let me know. I was surprised to get a message from his son a few weeks ago on Facebook saying me that I could have it! I'll pick it up next month when we are back there to visit family. Hard to say what shape it is in, but it won't matter. I know it will bring back a lot of memories just having it in my gun cabinet.

I have a N.R. Davis 16g I got from my dad when i was 13(now 67)it has a 4 digit serial number. The wood is beat up but the old sxs shoots like a dream and has taken care of pheasents, ducks, geese, pats, and woodcock. I wish that I could still do it justice but I take it out every year and try. Maybe I will get the stock refinshed and pass it on to my grandson- now 3- and hope there is still a place for him to use it when he is able.

William --
You have to wear solid orange for deer hunting in Iowa. The rules for upland hunting are not as strict.
You must wear one item that is at least 50% blaze orange. An orange cap alone is sufficient orange for upland hunting so Brian has more than met the requirement.

Isn't it grand that we have all the know-it-all's who don't know their a$$ from apple butter pontificating on everything?

Only to be heeled by someone who actually READ the rule! Ha

Hey SS2, what are you going to do for every animal you see killed on the highway; burn a copy of Motor Trend?
SS2 is obviously another animal activist troll!

i dunno, the only shotgun i own, and probably ever will is a mid 1940's Browning Auto 5 Sweet 16. it does everything i want a shotgun to do, so why in the world would i replace it? as long as i can get shells for it, i will keep using it. if it breaks (not likely) i will take it to a gunsmith and have it fixed. if i duck or goose hunted, i would have to get another gun i guess. but as long as lead shot is legal for squirrels /rabbits / crows / etc. i'll just keep shooting the "Brownie".

Let's talk about why this picture is not Gun Nut worthy. The guy on the far left [Brian] is not wearing a hunting legal blaze orange vest. In Iowa, where this picture I imagine took place you cannot have any other color on a blaze orange vest than blaze orange. No black zippers, pockets, shell holders are allowed. Above all, no other color can be on the vest or obscuring the vest. Not the type of hunting you want to portray to your readers. Look up the regulations if you doubt me. I've been stopped by the DNR for a black zipper on my vest so I know better now.