Joe S.
Hunter
Sorry for the long winded story.
Years ago my dad had a Savage over and under. It is what i graduated to after my single shot bolt action 22 became "too childish" in my mind. So dad gave me the Savage to tote. It was a 22 mag over 20 ga. Model 24. It became one of my favorites and I carried it many miles. Dad wouldn't give me much 22 mag ammo because it was too expensive but he let me carry one or two in case i saw a deer or coyote or whatever else may come along while i was on my adventures (of course nothing ever did cause i was always too busy shooting!). At any rate, many ant beds and birds fell prey to all the birdshot i could stuff in my pockets. It was a fun gun. It had a button on the side that we were told was a selector, but it had broken at some point. A gunsmith had fitted a hammer with a selector on the hammer to the gun and that was how you told the gun which barrel to fire. A barely noticed handicap, if you wanna call it that at all.
Fast forward a few years. I must've discovered girls or had a job or somethin cause i just wasnt getting to shoot much (oh the mistakes of my youth!), and the old Savage lay in the cabinet all but forgotten. Well dad found a Browning BAR or something he wanted real bad, he just didn't have quite enough cash to bring it home. So he took the Savage and an old Winny model 70 and a few dollars and brought his new gun home.
Of course i couldn't get mad. After all it was HIS gun... I wasn't using it at the time... And he got what he wanted. But i missed it since the first day it was gone. And i never made a fuss about it but i have always kept my eye open for a replacement.
Fast forward to today. I was at a pawn shop talking to the salesman. I asked the guy about a shotgun on the rack. It looked like a 22lr/ 410 ga but ended up being simply a 410 O/U. He asked what i was looking for and I told him about what i had as a kid and how I'd like to have another one day. We talked about it for a minute and he excused himself. I continued to browse the racks and the handguns when i noticed him carrying a gun my way. I couldnt believe what i saw!! It was MY GUN!! Well, one like it, but JUST LIKE IT. With the hammer replacement and all. It was a little rough and had a busted butt plate but it was my gun. I asked him the price, and sadly he was $70 more than i wanted to pay. I asked if he could come off it any, and he cane off a few dollars but it was still more than i could pay. I just threw an offer out there and he said he would have to check with his boss. He did, and his boss accepted!! Now this gun did have a scope on it, and the mount was blocking what caliber it was on the top barrel so i told him before we shook on it, i wanted to remove the scope and make sure it was a 22 mag. IT WAS!! So i told him to keep the scope and write it up.
Took it straight to my folks' house and showed it to dad. He ran into his room and dug through the pile of parts he had and brought out a grind to fit butt plate. The screw holes lined up so we went to the shop. Dad tinkers with knife making and had some white spacer material, so we cut out a little bit and got it fitted up with white spacer and all!! I got home and started cleaning on it and got most of the rust build up off. It is actually in good shape with very little pitting.
I do need a rear sight but i'm happy as a fat kid in a candy store over this thing!! I been waiting for it for a long time.
Years ago my dad had a Savage over and under. It is what i graduated to after my single shot bolt action 22 became "too childish" in my mind. So dad gave me the Savage to tote. It was a 22 mag over 20 ga. Model 24. It became one of my favorites and I carried it many miles. Dad wouldn't give me much 22 mag ammo because it was too expensive but he let me carry one or two in case i saw a deer or coyote or whatever else may come along while i was on my adventures (of course nothing ever did cause i was always too busy shooting!). At any rate, many ant beds and birds fell prey to all the birdshot i could stuff in my pockets. It was a fun gun. It had a button on the side that we were told was a selector, but it had broken at some point. A gunsmith had fitted a hammer with a selector on the hammer to the gun and that was how you told the gun which barrel to fire. A barely noticed handicap, if you wanna call it that at all.
Fast forward a few years. I must've discovered girls or had a job or somethin cause i just wasnt getting to shoot much (oh the mistakes of my youth!), and the old Savage lay in the cabinet all but forgotten. Well dad found a Browning BAR or something he wanted real bad, he just didn't have quite enough cash to bring it home. So he took the Savage and an old Winny model 70 and a few dollars and brought his new gun home.
Of course i couldn't get mad. After all it was HIS gun... I wasn't using it at the time... And he got what he wanted. But i missed it since the first day it was gone. And i never made a fuss about it but i have always kept my eye open for a replacement.
Fast forward to today. I was at a pawn shop talking to the salesman. I asked the guy about a shotgun on the rack. It looked like a 22lr/ 410 ga but ended up being simply a 410 O/U. He asked what i was looking for and I told him about what i had as a kid and how I'd like to have another one day. We talked about it for a minute and he excused himself. I continued to browse the racks and the handguns when i noticed him carrying a gun my way. I couldnt believe what i saw!! It was MY GUN!! Well, one like it, but JUST LIKE IT. With the hammer replacement and all. It was a little rough and had a busted butt plate but it was my gun. I asked him the price, and sadly he was $70 more than i wanted to pay. I asked if he could come off it any, and he cane off a few dollars but it was still more than i could pay. I just threw an offer out there and he said he would have to check with his boss. He did, and his boss accepted!! Now this gun did have a scope on it, and the mount was blocking what caliber it was on the top barrel so i told him before we shook on it, i wanted to remove the scope and make sure it was a 22 mag. IT WAS!! So i told him to keep the scope and write it up.
Took it straight to my folks' house and showed it to dad. He ran into his room and dug through the pile of parts he had and brought out a grind to fit butt plate. The screw holes lined up so we went to the shop. Dad tinkers with knife making and had some white spacer material, so we cut out a little bit and got it fitted up with white spacer and all!! I got home and started cleaning on it and got most of the rust build up off. It is actually in good shape with very little pitting.
I do need a rear sight but i'm happy as a fat kid in a candy store over this thing!! I been waiting for it for a long time.
