Dan just published some fine photos of some great looking rifles. What impressed me most were the fine wood stocks. Beautiful guns they are.
My rifles are really old and they work too. But they aren’t pretty. Years of field use caused nicks and scratches. While this doesn’t bother me, I appreciate a fine, well cared for weapon that looks presentable.
I now own two respectable pistols. My "doomsday" Glock Model 22 in .40cal and the new Bersa .380 pocket gun. Hand guns are not my main interest but having a few options to carry makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Still have not even fired my new Bersa .380. Been too busy making money and with Easter weekend entertainment on the schedule it may not be until next Saturday before I am able to give it a go at the range.
My Shoot Guns are very special to me. I use them each year to bag game birds. They work great. Speck approves.
My classic Browning Sweet Sixteen needed a part last year. It was jamming. My gunsmith, Manny, took it down and found that a metal tube which housed a gas chamber necessary to rechamber the next round had cracked. It cost $75. and that included a complete take down and cleaning. Manny is definitely the Mann.
Then there is this Winchester Model 88 scoped rifle in .308 cal. that has been taking up space in my vault for too long.
A rustic appearance in a gun does not bother me at all, in fact, it makes me proud to haul decades of family tradition into the field each year. Since the old man (grandfather) is long gone I don’t have to hear his field jive anymore, which is nice.
“You’re behind”, “Lead more”, “What the hell were you waiting for”, “You can’t hit shit” and my all time favorite, “Don’t point that God Damn thing at me”. If only.
He’s gone but definitely not forgotten. I have a few of his guns. Some were good and well cared for, others were so rusted out they were worthless due to years of neglect such as storing them in his horse barn.
This poor rifle has been screaming for attention. The metal is in perfect shape. He used it to bag big-ass moose in Canada.
I believe my dad gave this .308 to him for Christmas one year, back in the mid 60’s.
The last time I shot this bad boy was over 15 years ago. It needs attention and I am about to give it some.
In researching the .308 Win. I found some interesting facts. Not pretending to be a ballistics expert or gun snob I discovered a lot of information, thanks to the internets.
From Wikipedia:
“308 Winchester is the commercial name of a centerfire cartridge based on the military 7.62x51mm NATO round. Two years prior to the NATO adoption of the 7.62x51mm NATO T65 in 1954, Winchester (a subsidiary of the Olin Corporation) branded the cartridge and introduced it to the commercial hunting market as the .308 Winchester. Winchester's Model 70 and Model 88 rifles were subsequently chambered for the new cartridge. Since then, the .308 Winchester has become one of the most popular hunting cartridges available. It is also commonly used for civilian targets, military sniping and police sharpshooting. The relatively short case makes the .308 Winchester especially well adapted for short action rifles and is easy to reload.”
I wanted more even info specifically on the Winchester Model 88. Thanks to Algore, inventor of the internets it did not take much effort to find out. Chuckhawks.com looks like an expert on such matters to me. He says:
“The Winchester 88's front locking, multi-lug rotating bolt operated much like the modern Browning BLR. Functionally, it was a bolt-action rifle operated by a lever. It offered most of the features of a bolt-action rifle with faster lever action operation. In particular, its manual operation and front locking bolt made it a suitable rifle for serious reloaders.
In 1967 the Model 88 carried a MSRP of $139.95; extra magazines were $3.90.”
Hell, I was a high-school freshman in 1967.
The old man was a big lever-action rifle fan so this all makes sense. He told me once while target shooting at the farm as a kid that the time and effort it takes to re-chamber another round allowed one to regain composure and sight on a target. His words, not mine. This obviously applied only to rifle and pistol shooting. When wing shooting his point was moot. Bagging as many birds as possible in one flight meant smooth natural pointing, shouldering, swinging and emptying that semi-automatic shoot gun magazine as quickly as possible. Git-R-Done ;D
Back to the .308, according to chuckhawks.com:
“The M 88's only real drawbacks were that its trigger was neither as light or as clean as a Model 94 or a Model 70. Its trigger moved with the lever, avoiding a bruised finger due to careless operation, but complicating the trigger linkage. And, it kicked pretty hard in .284, .308 and .358. It was not a pleasant rifle to shoot in such powerful calibers. By modern standards the stock had too much drop at comb, and the surface area of the butt plate was too small. A good recoil pad would have helped, but was not supplied.”
“I think that, by the 1960s, it was basically a rifle out of sync with time. Lever action fans were perfectly happy with their traditional (and much less expensive) .30-30's, and bolt action fans would not buy a lever action rifle no matter how good it was. Then, too, the 88 was designed around standard, short action cartridges and the gun buying public became consumed by the belted magnum craze. The .260 Remington and 7mm-08 cartridges, which would have been perfect for the Model 88, were not introduced until long after it had been discontinued.”
The issues I have with this rifle are the retro-cheesey acorn basket-weave pressed wood stock and matching sling and what appears to be cheap optics. In addition, the old man was about 5’5” while I am 6’ 3”. I have used padded recoil extensions for his old shoot guns and they work well with my long ape-arms.
Here is what he did to the .308. Since the stock was too long he sawed off a few inches and taped the cap back on to the stock. The tape marks are still visible. When I got my hands on it I had a Pachmayr recoil pad installed. Not pretty but it helped.
Last summer I need a few trees taken down. The good-old boy I hired was very interested in the moose head and fish mounts hanging in my garage along with my boat. He asked why a “country boy” like me lived in a “country club” neighborhood like mine. My answer was simple. “Because my wife liked it” was the response.
Turned out this guy was into long-range target shooting and sniping big-time. His load of choice? The .308 Winchester. His hobby was calling in coyotes and picking them off at 300+ yds. When I brought down my model 88 to show him he was very impressed. He explained that with a newer scope it would be a fine gun for long range shooting. Who knew?
Look out...Marty Moose.
Gotta love the beer barrel dude. Sadly after a home run, Bernie Brewer does not slide into the giant mug o beer anymore, political correctness has him sliding down a slide onto a...deck. Can't anything be fun anymore?
