My "new" baby!

[RetiredUSNChief]

Yes, Virginia...there IS a Santa Claus! And Christmas came early for me this year!



Nearly 25 years ago, now, the first rifle I ever bought was stolen. A Marlin 783, bolt action, tube-fed, .22 Magnum. Bought it when I turned 18 for $117, including tax, from JC Penny.

I put thousands of rounds through that rifle, plinking, target shooting, and hunting. I could dust walnuts out of trees, pop the head off a squirrel, and reach out and touch a groundhog as far as I could wish to shoot. The day it was stolen was a sad day.

Well, today I picked up the Marlin 783 I won on Gunbroker as a replacement. Cleaned and oiled her up and not a single sign of rust, pitting, or patina ANYWHERE. In fact, the only "flaws" are some minor stock blemishes which look to be the result of storing the gun in a rack. And I do mean minor.

The gun still had Cosmoline on it...including the bolt and chamber, indicating it had never really seen a decent cleaning. The bolt had very minor powder build-up, and the magazine well below the bolt was virtually clean...indicating a very limit number of rounds through it, perhaps only the factory firing.

This rifle brings back some very fond memories...and I look forward to taking her out and putting her through her paces this summer.


Here's a pic from the item listing...I don't have my camera handy to take my own right now:


Marlin 783-01 by RetiredUSNChief, on Flickr

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

Was the new one still $117? hehe

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Was the new one still $117? hehe

One could only wish! I paid $330 for her.

 

[jim243]

One could only wish! I paid $330 for her.

Not bad, not bad at all, they are supper accurate rifles.

Jim

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

"Super accurate" is a good description.

I remember all the guff I took from family when I got that rifle. There were basically two sides: the ones who said it was too powerful for small game and the others who said it wasn't powerful enough for certain game or ranges. Or it was too loud. Either way, most thought it wasn't a "good" gun for those reasons. Nobody was willing to say anything good about it.

I didn't care...she was MINE! I had all the power I could ever want in a .22 and all the range I would ever need. "Too powerful" for small game simply meant I needed to make every shot a head or neck shot. And I flat out proved the range assumptions wrong every time I went out groundhog hunting and consistently picked them off at ranges up to 100 yards (sometimes more) with no problems.

I used to practice picking off Sycamore tree fruit on breezy days. If you wanted to see them explode in a puff of hair, you needed to score a direct hit on the center.

All that either open sight or with a cheap $10 scope I bought at Walmart!

Nice scope, by the way.

 

[12many]

I like tube fed guns. They hold a bunch of ammo and create a nice line and smooth bottom for handling/carrying on a sling. I have a couple old Mossberg tube fed 22s.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Exactly! There is a symmetry to a tube-fed rifle that enhances its beauty, in my opinion.

And not having a detachable magazine digging into your back while on a sling is really nice.

I picked up a couple 5 round magazines for the Savage Mark II-F I bought for my wife and she wanted to know why...I told her that when I borrowed her rifle to go squirrel hunting, I didn't want a 10 round magazine digging into my back while I was carrying it.

She gave me "The Stare" ™. Not because she thought it was silly to have a 5 round magazine, but because I said "when I borrow your rifle..."

 

[wankerjake]

Cool! I dig tube-feeds as well.

 

[mrcylinder]

Nice find!!

Wow, nice find! The memories can be relived again and again! Congrats!! Happy Shooting!!!!

 

[Geno]

Those are some good looking firearms fellas. I agree, tube-fed rifles are great.

Geno

 

[mdauben]

Congrats! That's a darn handsome rifle.

 

[SSN Vet]

good for you Chief...

hope you enjoy it

 

[JPG19]

That's great. To me, this is what shooting is all about; creating (or in this case, reliving) memories and useful skills. Glad to hear you were able to find a replacement for your childhood rifle. I'm counting down the days to when my son is old enough to be given his first firearm (he's currently 2yo)!