Again not a shotgun but
When I was younger my dad has this Spanish Astra 600 9mm automatic. It came with a Holster and 1 magazine. Now my dad never really liked the gun, but I loved it as it was the 1st real Handgun I ever handled and Shot. It looked just so different. My Uncle warned my dad about needing to clean it even when not in use. Which he never did, So I made sure it was cleaned on a regular basis. Sometimes it was cleaned more then was needed.
When I moved to Indianapolis about 40 years ago, My Dad gave me the gun. But I decided that a less complex gun was needed to protect the house. So I took the gun to the Stout Field Armory Gun show in the Indianapolis area and sold it for about 325.00 and used that money to purchase a 357 revolver.
Now the years have passed and about 10 years ago after watching some of the old TV episodes of Mission Impossible where they use the Astra a lot when visiting those Communist Eastern European countries. It started me remembering the old Astra and wanting to shoot one again..
Well A few years after that and that "Wanting-to-shoot-one-again-feeling" started to brew into that "dog-gone-it-I-wish-I-had-never-sold-the-darn-thing" feeling. A year after that full fledged remorse set it and I started looking to replace the gun.
Had seen a few at a local auctions and at Gun shows, but either the price was too high or the gun was pretty worn. Well one week I stopped into a gun shop on the east side of Indianapolis and they had a real nice looking Astra in the show case with Holster.
While looking at it and looking into the Holster. Inside the holster was a name in faded ink inside the flap. I remembered seeing that name before but could not remember where. Well it took a few more minutes and like a crowbar to the side of my head that was the name that was inside my dads old holster. I had looked at it and wondered about 100s of times when I was younger. It was identical, I did not remember the name but the lettering was large and distinctive. So I looked at the gun, and the neat thing I remembered was the the gun had a cool serial number with a group of repeating ones, with the last 2 numbers being "81" The year I was given the gun. And where as I could not truthfully remember the serial number but it did have repeating ones, and the last numbers was "81". Well I could not slap the money down fast enough. After 25+ years I got my original dads gun back.
How is that for a miracle of being in the right spot at the right time with the correct balance of money, attitude and knowledge.
Now on the Plus Side I did get an extra (Newer) Magazine out of the deal. One of the magazines is very worn, the other is very clean. On the Negative side, It cost me a little more then I sold it for and I swear there is a rather large nick in one of the wood grips that was not there when I sold it, Which kinda ticked me off, People should take better care of my stuff (ha ha ha)..
But really I can only think of and thank all the people who took care of my gun over the years and kept it for me till I got wise enough to want it back.
Now to look for my GTX
