Back in the day

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R. Dupraz posted this 25 January 2017

Ken's last comment at the end of his topic High and Low Scope Mounts jarred this feeble mind,,once again. Something about snow and having fun.

Yep., There was about 15 inches on the driveway this morning here in SE SD and everything is a blinding white. Every time this happens I get flashbacks to when I was on the farm and couldn't wait to get out after a fresh snow to spot and track those crafty red foxes that populated the country around. Everything else in my life was put on hold. Had to get the priorities straight you know. Especially if there was a sunny day after the blow.

Spent many hours, days and miles in pursuit. With my dad's old Model 12 and a load of 2's, or a 220 swift. As well as a Marlin 62 256 Winchester for a while. Mostly though with my little sweetheart, a 700 triple deuce. Now it's all steel facsimiles of pigs and chickens and turkeys and those infernal 200 yard rams and paper images of the same in the winter. Those bloody arrogant critters don't even move! They just stand there and let you bang away! How's one supposed to do any tracking, I ask?

Kinda makes me wonder what happened. Not complaining you understand just more thankful than anything I guess. A bit of nostalgia every now and then is good for the soul ,, i think. 

 

From the fly over country 

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Eddie Southgate posted this 25 January 2017

Some call it progress and growing up . I call it a shame, Not too many farms where you are allowed just to wander with a gun , Fortunately for me I own some property where I can still do that and am far away enough out in the county to be able to target shoot in my front yard . When I was a kid my step fathers parents owned a farm in Nolensville Tennessee and Pappy drove the school bus . Everybody knew him and I was pretty much given the run of two counties . If I was seen in the woods or fields I got a wave instead of the lecture . Now days they would call the cops or game warden on a kid . No wonder kids get into so much crap now days . We need more small family farms .

Eddie

 

Grumpy Old Man With A Gun......Do Not Touch .

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 26 January 2017

i remember RD has a Bee .... my first centerfire was a win. 43 in 218 bee .... first with the 57A peep and then a B6 scope ... my first red fox and jackrabbits ... caught  the fever, still have the disease ... hey, found herters and built some stocks and learned glass bedding ... not bad for a 12 yr. old farm boy .  my dad knew i was dangerous so wouldn't let me reload like my heros in the American Rifleman did ( i even got tech answers from their staff ... wow... ) ... so my bee shot about 1.5 moa with factory ammo .... 100 yards on crows ...

expanded my universe ... from farm boy to world-awareness .... if ” they ” could do it so could I ... herters had anything a guy could need .

yep, got one of those miraculous rem 722 in 222 ... wow.... put over 50,000 rounds through it ( with herters stock and glass bedding of course ) and in 1999 sold it to another old guy that also used to have one in his youth ... ( hey, it still shot about 1.5 moa ... totally shot out for a 222 .... hear that joeb ?? ) .  i probably have a plaque on the wall at the hornady 50 gr. SX machine ...

i still live on a brushy 5 acres, got deer, fox, and coyotes in the yard ... for some reason i don't shoot at them much anymore ... might be sympathy ...

ken

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R. Dupraz posted this 26 January 2017

Interesting replies. Seems as though all that would have to be changed are the names of the posters. 

Yes Ken, there “was” a Bee. A little falling block. But like all the rest mentioned in my original post, it is gone now. However a B is still here only in a Contender.

Back in the fifties, every Sunday was visiting day, The relatives of course. That's what folks did back then, visit. I always looked forward to making the trip to one my uncles. Why?. Because he was a shooter and belonged to the NRA. And while all the old folks were in the living room “visiting", they were all old in those days, I would head for the pantry in the old farm house and spend my time pouring through his American Rifleman magazines. Oh, did I mention there were coons hounds in the family too. One big old Redbone “George” that when he came in the house and walked under the kitchen table, the table would move with him across the floor. 

This is where I first discovered a Remington advertisement for the new 722 .222. Also, I soon discovered that the uncle Lloyd had one. A heavy barreled Sako. Not only that but he used it to shoot prairie dogs and jacks in the winter time. He brought it along one summer Sunday afternoon during a visit with my folks and I thought that it was the neatest thing that I had ever seen. I vowed then that as soon as I could get a job and make some money that I was going to have a Sako triple deuce.  

Fast forward a few years.  I found my first 222 at a gun show. It was a new plain run of the mill 700 ADL without the box and think I gave around $100.00 for it. Pretty much cleaned me out. Wasn't a Sako but It would do for now. Seemed like everything that I pointed that 700 at was toast with my reloads. 19.5 grains of IMR 4198  behind a Sierra 50 grain Blitz. I used it a lot for a few years but both the Remington 722 and Sako varminter were still in the plan.

A Sako L461 Vixen 222 heavy varminter finally did come along and when scoped with a Leopold 10x was without a doubt the most accurate rifle that I have ever owned. See attached photo of the first out of the box 10 shot 100 yd. group. Again, IMR 4198 but with 20 grains and a Rem. 50 grn. plated HP this time. That  30 cal hole was my aim point.    

And, About ten hears ago, I found a little used, near new Rem. 722 .222. This rifle once again validates the accuracy of the magical triple duece    

 

 

 

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Eddie Southgate posted this 27 January 2017

Still got my 43's a Bee and a Hornet . Always wanted a .256 but one has not come along yet .

Eddie

 

Grumpy Old Man With A Gun......Do Not Touch .

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R. Dupraz posted this 27 January 2017

I got one of the first Marlin 62's., After having that .256  for a couple weeks or so, Marlin wanted it back so they could stamp it with a serial number. It was an accurate rifle.

I once had a Winchester 1892 rebuilt and then chambered in a .256 Win. Still sorry that I ever let that one go. I think that if ever it could be found, I would buy it back.

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Scearcy posted this 27 January 2017

I crossed paths with a Marlin 990 Ducks Unlimited version of the Marlin 60. Boy does that rifle bring back memories of my first rifle (4th grade I believe).  It is unfired and the LGS wanted the princely sum of $100 for it. It now sits in the corner next to my recliner. If I never fire it, the memories will justify the price.

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Dale53 posted this 27 January 2017

R. Dupraz;

Man, did your comments “take me back". In early 1942, my parents and I moved to my grandfather's farm, near the small town of Collinsville, Ohio. After Pearl Harbor, my dad figured he was going to get drafted (he was 35 years old). My mother (a formerly stay at home mom) did the Patriotic thing and went to work in a war plant. My grandparents would take care of me during the day. I was six years old. My Dad was a high level tool and die maker at Wright Aeronautical in Cincinnati, Ohio (actually Lockland, a small town just north of Cincinnati). Since he was in critical war work, he was eventually deferred.

The farm was 108 acres and about half woodlands. I immediately started exploring. On my ninth Christmas, my father got me a .22/.410 Over/Under Savage. I hunted legal game in season,and varmints, nearly every day. Crows, ground hogs, rabbits, squirrels, and the occasional weasel and fox fell to my very practical little rifle/shotgun. 

I also grew up doing “chores” from a VERY early age. My grandmother and grandfather raised chickens, hogs, and cattle for the market. We even furnished dressed chickens to my uncle's super market in nearby Middletown, Ohio. I helped to dress the chickens and had certain specific tasks to our “assembly line” (actually a “disassembly line"). It was all pretty primitive but it worked VERY well. Yeah, I learned to work, drive a tractor and truck, at a VERY early age. All of the young men were in the Army, so even children like me were NEEDED! They put blocks on the tractor clutch and brake pedals so I could reach them. I plowed, disced, and later harvested. We pulled corn by hand, too. I carried a salt shaker in my pocket and we would pull up a turnip when harvesting, wipe the dirt off and start eating. I still really LIKE raw turnips!

I got my love of small game hunting, and just woods rambling that never left me. In later years I wandered through the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, alone with a back pack a week or two at a time. Yeah, I never have lost my love of the outdoors. All of this, gained on a small family farm during the “not so good” times of World War II.

My years on the farm as a small child left me with a thorough appreciation of those who grow our food and how it is grown. I am a serious BBQ man (both smokers and grills) that still gets great pleasure buying fresh produce from local farm markets and fresh meat from local Butchers.

I have been blessed!

Dale53

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 27 January 2017

the marlin 60 doesn't get a lot of respect especially from the 10-22 crowd ... however back about 1990 i sponsored a postal match between 10-22 and marlin 60 shooters ... made up special targets .... honor system they were box stock rifles ... anyway no contest ... the m60 marlin returned about 30 % better scores .

and to join the ” dang i let it get away ” crowd ... i had a m7000 marlin that was * amazing * ... must have been a lucky assembly ...a m60 variation with hogue stock, varmint barrel, box magazine ... anyway my shooter buddies gave up trying to beat it ... so of course i sold it to a gal for her hubbie;s xmas present .  oh, yes they stopped making them about then ...

...as to the little m43 .... did you know they came in 32-20 and 25-20 ? ... oh ... when i traded my m43 bee in for a rem 722/222 they gave me $25 for it with a custom stock, b6 scope and sling ....

wonder how the little m43 would shoot if tuned up :  bedded, tighten action and headspace, rechamber with tight specs, then sort cases and use good bullets ? ...

back in the day ...

ken

 

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John Alexander posted this 27 January 2017

In the early  60s I bought a new sporter weight  L46 barreled action in 222 with the 12 groove rifling. When I got it stocked it shot just as its reputation said it would. Now with better bullets it shoots even better.  In addition to the full power loads, 4 or 5 grains of Bullseye behind a Sierra 45 grain “Hornet” bullet would reliably make head shots on squirrels beyond 50 yards when you could see them that far away.

When the CBA was invented in 1976 it became my “match” rifle for the early postal matches with the old style 415 bullet.  I liked it so well that a few years later I bought another barreled action ($90) and by then it had been improved to the 461.  It took me 45 years to get around to stocking that one. It shoots as well as the first. By that time I had more money and sprung for a fancy piece of wood. It is now my Sunday show off rifle. 

John

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frnkeore posted this 27 January 2017

I also have a “B” story. In 1985, I bought a 310 Martini in 218 Bee at a big auction in So Cal. It had a beautiful Fajen stock set and had the standard 16 twist. I tried to get it to shoot with the RCBS bullet but, they would just tumble so, I cut the GC area off of the mold and it would then group (nothing special that I can remember).

Enter one of my best friends, he live 60 miles from me. When he saw that it was a “B” he WANTED IT!!! So, I sold it to him. He was about 15 years older than me (I'm 72 now) and n the 60's and 70's, they had Turkey Shoots, in his area. It turns out that a Sako 218 Bee was the winningest rifle in those shoots (jacketed bullets, of course) and he had wanted one ever since.

I don't know how he did with the rifle. His health went bad shortly after that and he died a couple of years later. I didn't find out until months later and never saw or heard about the rifle again. I would have loved to have it back.

Frank

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Eddie Southgate posted this 27 January 2017

 

...as to the little m43 .... did you know they came in 32-20 and 25-20 ? ... oh ... when i traded my m43 bee in for a rem 722/222 they gave me $25 for it with a custom stock, b6 scope and sling ....

wonder how the little m43 would shoot if tuned up :  bedded, tighten action and headspace, rechamber with tight specs, then sort cases and use good bullets ? ...

back in the day ...

ken

 I have seen several of the 32-20's and knew that they were made in 25-20 but have not seen one . I would love to have one of each some day .

Grumpy Old Man With A Gun......Do Not Touch .

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Scearcy posted this 28 January 2017

Dale53

In northern Minnesota we don't have the variety of small game that you enjoyed.  I did, however, shoot my first duck and my first deer with a Savage 22/410 over and under.  My dad traded that gun for a H&R 999 break action.  When dad died one of my brothers beat me to the H&R.  Its funny. The have been many guns that have passed through my hands since then. I would trade the majority of them for that old Savage, the Marlin 60, or the H&R. We were rich in those days and we didn't really have any money.

 

Jim

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R. Dupraz posted this 28 January 2017

"We were rich in those days and we didn't really have any money"

yes! Little did we realize.

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John Alexander posted this 28 January 2017

I passed up a good looking M43 in 25-20 in a gun shop in 1961 and my brother picked up a nice one at a gun show in K-Hornet maybe a couple of years later for $60 which I thought way over priced. After 1964 the ones I found were well over $300 which was a heck of a lot of money in 1964.  Damned collectors.

John

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rhbrink posted this 28 January 2017

Reading through this has been very rewarding and brought back a lot of memories. Like most I bought a Sako barreled action back about '71 and put a Fajen stock on it and it's still one of my best shooters. I went a step above I thought at the time and bought a 222 Rem Mag thinking that it was a better reloaders cartridge than the .223 and still think so! Brass is a little hard to find but I have enough to last a long time probably way more than the life of the barrel. Also remember looking at a few 43's Winchesters and decided they weren't worth the money dang collectors, I had a Custom Shop pre 64 Model 70 in my hands once chambered for the 22 Hornet and didn't even ask the price on that one!

RB

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Eddie Southgate posted this 28 January 2017

I passed up a good looking M43 in 25-20 in a gun shop in 1961 and my brother picked up a nice one at a gun show in K-Hornet maybe a couple of years later for $60 which I thought way over priced. After 1964 the ones I found were well over $300 which was a heck of a lot of money in 1964.  Damned collectors.

John

 

You are lucky to find one in Bee or Hornet for anything under $1000 now . The 32-20 and 25-20 would cost you more . Double Damned Collectors !  The K-Hornet would bring less because of the re chamber . 

Grumpy Old Man With A Gun......Do Not Touch .

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harleyrock posted this 30 January 2017

rhbrink:  Re: 222 Rem Mag brass:  Easy as pie, run .204 Ruger brass through your 222RM dies. Instant 222 Remington Magnum brass. 204 Ruger brass is easy to find.

I also have a Sako 461L action with a 26” heavy varmint barrel in a laminated thumbhole stock, possibly a Fajen.  I have not yet tried cast bullets in it.

Harleyrock

Lifetime NRA since 1956, NRA Benefactor, USN Member, CBA Member

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rhbrink posted this 31 January 2017

Thanks for the heads up on the .204 brass I knew that they were very close but didn't realize they were that close one of these days I'll snag some .204 range brass and give it a try and see. I have the Vixen heavy barrel it's pretty picky about the length of the bullets even cast the only cast bullets that have shot well in it is a version of the Lyman 225415 or shorter. But it will shoot '415 very well makes me think that I need to get it out and shoot some more cast in it, so much to do and so little time! Between milsurps, breech seating, a revolver or two, muzzleloaders, experiments with various new lubes I hardly have time to go fishing!

RB

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M3 Mitch posted this 07 February 2017

Yeah, I don't get out to shoot as much as I did earlier in life either.  Still have all the great old guns, but anymore they mostly sleep in the safe.  Over 20 years ago bought a M92 in 25-20, a rifle, from my cousin.  This has aftermarket Redfield front and rear open sights, a double flip up, both can be flipped down to use the Lyman tang sight.  A real tack driver with the standard, what is it, 75 grain flat nose Lyman bullet with gas check, flat nose. 

Back as a kid I probably preferred to hunt (tree) squirrels more than anything, doing this with a .22 Rimfire mostly.  Ever since buying the 25-20 I have lived where there is no squirrel season.  No doubt it would make a really fine squirrel rifle, but would have to pack it with me to visit the South again to prove that.

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Dale53 posted this 07 February 2017

M3 Mitch;

I learned that the .22 rimfire had the precision but not the stopping power that I preferred for small game. Early on, I went to centerfires for handgun small game shooting. I certainly agree with you that squirrel hunting is excellent sport. I was middle age before I got a Marlin 94CL 25/20. I bought a box of jacketed bullets and a Lyman bullet mold for the 258420 cast bullet. All of these years later I still have all of the jacketed bullets. I shot LOTS of cast bullets. The squirrel load had it all over the .22 rimfire. That is a great combination - squirrel hunting and a cast bullet 25/20.

Dale53

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