effengee
Member
Earlier today, my kids and I went out in the backyard and shot our newest acquisition; a pre-WW2 J. Stevens .22 bolt action rifle.
I bought it at a gunshop I've never been to before about a week ago.
Trader John's in Winchester N.H. My little sister and her husband shop there often, and it just so happened that I was over that way and decided to drop in. It's been a long while since I was in a really well stocked gunshop and I had a hard time not drooling all over the Auto-Ordinance Tommygun for $1,200
But, alas, my financial advisor (read that as wife) just smiled, and said, "Perhaps someday" God, I love this woman! While she checked out a few purse guns, I wandered over to what Trader John calls the "boneyard" section. Having never seen such a thing, but hearing many stories, I looked at a sad bunch of poorly treated firearms and parts guns. A sweet little Colt .22rifle that proved upon closer inspection to have been actually soldered on the barrel over an old rust spot.
:banghead:
It also had some major stock damage that was drilled out and then bolted back together... A few unmentionable crap guns, and then this little Stevens bolt action with a fine coat of surface rust. I checked it over and it seemed alright. I paid $75 and brought it home and had each of my six kids, ages 7 to 16, help with some small part of restoring it back to good working order. We scrubbed the barrel and found the bore was as clean and crisp as I had thought upon first inspection. I completely stripped the rifle and cleaned every little nook and crannie. I'm talking Q-tips and an old toothbrush and most of a bottle of Hoppes... I reblued the parts after letting the kids each get in a little time with some fine grit emery cloth and 0000 steel wool in the area where the stock covered. They each took a turn pulling a patch through the bore. We all wore old clothes and gloves and such. I also took care with each while handling the rifle, and the chemicals. And no children were harmed during the production... Now, many of you may sit there thinking:
"Is this guy nuts for letting his kids help in a firearms restoration project?"
Firstly, no offense, but, these are MY kids, not yours...
Second, I firmly believe that the best gift I can give to my kids is knowledge.
Some parent groups and/or child psychologists might disagree with my choice of subject matter, but not one would condemn me for spending quality time with my kids. Lastly, it's an old .22 Stevens that I paid $75 for and not a long lost first model Purdy...
This isn't the first time I've ever resurrected a gun, and it certainly won't be the last, but it is the first with my kids, and by far the most rewarding.
I took it out alone and carefully ran 20 rounds through to satisfy myself that it did indeed work safely and flawlessly. Then, we all took turns popping soda bottles off the snowbank out back...
The best part?
They all want us to go on the hunt for more project guns
"The Asgaard would never invent a weapon that propels small weights of iron and carbon alloys by igniting a powder of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulphur." Thor- Stargate SG-1
I bought it at a gunshop I've never been to before about a week ago.
Trader John's in Winchester N.H. My little sister and her husband shop there often, and it just so happened that I was over that way and decided to drop in. It's been a long while since I was in a really well stocked gunshop and I had a hard time not drooling all over the Auto-Ordinance Tommygun for $1,200
But, alas, my financial advisor (read that as wife) just smiled, and said, "Perhaps someday" God, I love this woman! While she checked out a few purse guns, I wandered over to what Trader John calls the "boneyard" section. Having never seen such a thing, but hearing many stories, I looked at a sad bunch of poorly treated firearms and parts guns. A sweet little Colt .22rifle that proved upon closer inspection to have been actually soldered on the barrel over an old rust spot.:banghead:It also had some major stock damage that was drilled out and then bolted back together... A few unmentionable crap guns, and then this little Stevens bolt action with a fine coat of surface rust. I checked it over and it seemed alright. I paid $75 and brought it home and had each of my six kids, ages 7 to 16, help with some small part of restoring it back to good working order. We scrubbed the barrel and found the bore was as clean and crisp as I had thought upon first inspection. I completely stripped the rifle and cleaned every little nook and crannie. I'm talking Q-tips and an old toothbrush and most of a bottle of Hoppes... I reblued the parts after letting the kids each get in a little time with some fine grit emery cloth and 0000 steel wool in the area where the stock covered. They each took a turn pulling a patch through the bore. We all wore old clothes and gloves and such. I also took care with each while handling the rifle, and the chemicals. And no children were harmed during the production... Now, many of you may sit there thinking:
"Is this guy nuts for letting his kids help in a firearms restoration project?"
Firstly, no offense, but, these are MY kids, not yours...
Second, I firmly believe that the best gift I can give to my kids is knowledge.
Some parent groups and/or child psychologists might disagree with my choice of subject matter, but not one would condemn me for spending quality time with my kids. Lastly, it's an old .22 Stevens that I paid $75 for and not a long lost first model Purdy...
This isn't the first time I've ever resurrected a gun, and it certainly won't be the last, but it is the first with my kids, and by far the most rewarding.
I took it out alone and carefully ran 20 rounds through to satisfy myself that it did indeed work safely and flawlessly. Then, we all took turns popping soda bottles off the snowbank out back...
The best part?
They all want us to go on the hunt for more project guns
"The Asgaard would never invent a weapon that propels small weights of iron and carbon alloys by igniting a powder of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulphur." Thor- Stargate SG-1
