marksman13
Member
When my dad passed in 2013 I gifted his old Marlin 36G to my nephew. I didn’t care anything about lever guns or 30-30s back then and it seemed like the right thing to do. Long story short, the kid (man, I guess because he’s 21 now) has no interest in hunting or shooting outside of video games and hasn’t exactly been responsible with a lot of his financial and life choices. For some reason I’ve been feeling really nostalgic about that old 30-30 this year and asked my sister if she thought my nephew would let me buy that rifle back from him.
She wasn’t having any part of me “buying” that gun. She told me to come get it whenever I got ready and to pass it down to my son as hers just didn’t seem to appreciate it. We live six hours apart and I honestly forgot all about the conversation, but when we drove over to see them this weekend, she got the rifle out of her husband’s safe and brought it to me. My nephew was there and honestly seemed happy that the rifle was back in my hands. He said it just wasn’t his thing and he wasn’t sure what he was ever going to do with it. I offered again to buy it from him, but he declined with enthusiasm.
I can’t explain the emotions that came from seeing that old rifle again. I can’t fully express the flood of memories that came rushing back when I put my hands on it for the first time in nearly a decade. It’s a bargain model Marlin built in 1965, but I’ll be danged if I can put a value on it from my perspective. I grew up with this rifle. Killed my first deer with it. I guess you could say I came of age as a hunter and a man with this rifle in my hands and I’m beyond thankful to have it back.
Maybe one day, when he’s older, I’ll give my nephew another of dad’s guns, but I think this one has found it’s way back to it’s permanent home and I’m glad of it. Mandatory pictures attached, but I’ll get some better ones once we get home.
She wasn’t having any part of me “buying” that gun. She told me to come get it whenever I got ready and to pass it down to my son as hers just didn’t seem to appreciate it. We live six hours apart and I honestly forgot all about the conversation, but when we drove over to see them this weekend, she got the rifle out of her husband’s safe and brought it to me. My nephew was there and honestly seemed happy that the rifle was back in my hands. He said it just wasn’t his thing and he wasn’t sure what he was ever going to do with it. I offered again to buy it from him, but he declined with enthusiasm.
I can’t explain the emotions that came from seeing that old rifle again. I can’t fully express the flood of memories that came rushing back when I put my hands on it for the first time in nearly a decade. It’s a bargain model Marlin built in 1965, but I’ll be danged if I can put a value on it from my perspective. I grew up with this rifle. Killed my first deer with it. I guess you could say I came of age as a hunter and a man with this rifle in my hands and I’m beyond thankful to have it back.
Maybe one day, when he’s older, I’ll give my nephew another of dad’s guns, but I think this one has found it’s way back to it’s permanent home and I’m glad of it. Mandatory pictures attached, but I’ll get some better ones once we get home.
