Guns of my father

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Steve Milbocker

Steve Milbocker

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My dad did pretty well in life and owned some very nice firearms. Shortly before his death last February at the age of 88 he sat down with us kids and had us divy up his collection. I’m the oldest of us kids, 64, so I got to choose 1st. But rather than go for the high end rifles and handguns he amassed later in life, oh I got a couple, but mostly I chose the guns that he started out with when he didn’t have much. The ones I remember as a boy, the ones that meant something to me. One such rifle that I always liked was this Savage 219 in 30-30. He bought it from a guy he knew at the County Road Commission. He said it had a 16 ga. Barrel as well but he never got it. The scope he originally had on it came home from Korea courtesy of the USMC. He told me it came off a 50 cal. He got a Purple Heart there so I guess he’s even:) This rifle killed a boat load of deer in the cedar swamps of Northern Michigan. I even killed one myself with it about 45 years ago. Just another good memory. Thanks for sharing it with me. F9622227-DDAD-434A-BEF3-B8642FB957B5.jpeg 67713DCD-DD3A-484C-A169-E77B3061A28E.jpeg DFE6CF05-5924-4686-8FE7-48CC69E7D04F.jpeg 40AD1DA4-692B-4F3E-975D-82324F345EE0.jpeg A4269D4D-8D71-4BB8-9A6E-F39766EF86F4.jpeg
 
Great story, and great choice on your part. It is the sentimental value that is more valuable than the dollar value in cases like this.
 
Yeah, there's a Remington 700 in .30-06 that I want to kill a buck with, but I have no desire to own. My grandfather traded a .38-55 on it, he's gone, but dad hunts with it now. It'll be a treasure and an heirloom, but I like it where it is right now.
 
Very nice. I don't believe that scope was mounted on a 50 in Korea. Id imagine a Browning M2 is the 50 your speaking of. As i have read, that wasn't really pioneered until Vietnam by Carlos Hathcock.

Beautiful firearm and nice story. I too picked out firearms out of memory and sentimental reasons over value.
 
Mn Fats said:
Very nice. I don't believe that scope was mounted on a 50 in Korea. Id imagine a Browning M2 is the 50 your speaking of. As i have read, that wasn't really pioneered until Vietnam by Carlos Hathcock.

Beautiful firearm and nice story. I too picked out firearms out of memory and sentimental reasons over value.
Click to expand...
Ive seen period photos from WW2 and Korea of field expedient scope mounts rigged up by GIs on M2s, coulda been something like that.

My Dad has a huuuuuuge accumulation of mostly .22s and shotguns that I will have to liquidate someday, but there are a few special peices which will stay in the family, and they arent the most valuable ones, dollar-wise.

A couple that come to mind are the Mossberg M44 US he bought from the NRA sponsored elective shooting course in college (first gun he ever shot), the silly Type 99 Arisaka he spent way too much effort sporterizing, and his prized "Graf Spee" Balaster Molina .45.

Some good memories there.
 
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I was a kid when he told me this story and he said a machine gun so I assumed it was a 50 cal I suppose. He was himself a BAR man. He spoke quite highly of that weapon.
 
Mn Fats, I know the story of Carlos Hathcock. He mounted his 10x Unertl off his model 70 on the company’s 50. This scope, the M 82 with the Griffin& Howe mount apparently was used for sniping during WW2 and Korea on 03 Springfields and the M1 Garand. I have no doubt it was also rigged for use on other weapons.
 
This is America....and that is a fantastic American story....and there are many....we need to pass them on to the younger people....it's important for people to realize that for us rifle loonies that those guns are a lot more than just guns....they are generations of family memories and moments of monumental happiness.
 
My most prized possessions are all family heirlooms. The single shot 22s of my paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather fed their families during the Great Depression. They are THE reason for the 2nd amendment. They brought home food, they protected the chicken house from foxes, and one of them protected grandmas only sister from a drunk boyfriend one night. Apparently he was sober enough to decide not to eat a 22 bullet and obeyed the cease and desist order of a 7 yr old holding a rifle.
 
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Looks like a Lyman M82 telescope which was the original WW2 sniper scope on M1903A4's and sniper Garands. That scope is extremely rare and more valuable than the rifle.

There are many A4's looking for a scope like that

mPmBFus.jpg

I know nothing about scoping 50 caliber Brownings, probably someone did it. That mount, someone who is an expert can tell us whether that is an original Garand sniper mount or not.

Great rifle.
 
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Great story. My dad wasn't a shooter, nor his father, so no family heirlooms in my safe. But I did inherit my FIL's 1960s era Remington 700 ADL in 7mm Remington Mag, that he bought new. It was afield often, and shows honest wear. I am glad to have it. Thanks for sharing the memories.
 
You were blessed to share an interest with your father. I liked shooting, hunting, fishing. Dad didn’t. We played chess until I started winning. I’m 76 and he has been gone for 36 years and I’m still trying to figure out our relationship. I envy your clarity.
 
My very good friend past away last year. He had cancer. Before he was really bad he was going to sell all of his guns. He asked me about them but I said to him to let his 2 sons pick which ones they wanted first and that every time the would see the gun it would remind them of him. I don't know if he took my advice but I sure hope he did.
My friend and I would always go to the range and compete against each other. Every time I go to the range now my thoughts are of him.
 
it is better when it's not like the rifle you remember, but it is the exact one, with the dings and character - can put you right back in the moments you remember it from … the best.
 
To my knowledge, I'm the only one in my family who hunted/shot much in adulthood. My brother had a few guns in young adulthood, but didn't really hunt. He had a .22 rifle and a couple of centerfire handguns for protection in the bear woods when he worked for USGS, but didn't really hunt. I'm the "designated gun nut/hunter" of the whole clan.
 
Steve Milbocker said:
My dad did pretty well in life and owned some very nice firearms. Shortly before his death last February at the age of 88 he sat down with us kids and had us divy up his collection. I’m the oldest of us kids, 64, so I got to choose 1st. But rather than go for the high end rifles and handguns he amassed later in life, oh I got a couple, but mostly I chose the guns that he started out with when he didn’t have much. The ones I remember as a boy, the ones that meant something to me. One such rifle that I always liked was this Savage 219 in 30-30. He bought it from a guy he knew at the County Road Commission. He said it had a 16 ga. Barrel as well but he never got it. The scope he originally had on it came home from Korea courtesy of the USMC. He told me it came off a 50 cal. He got a Purple Heart there so I guess he’s even:) This rifle killed a boat load of deer in the cedar swamps of Northern Michigan. I even killed one myself with it about 45 years ago. Just another good memory. Thanks for sharing it with me. View attachment 910973View attachment 910974View attachment 910975View attachment 910977View attachment 910978
Click to expand...

Most of those old scopes had reticles placed in the location that caused them to move in the field of view. Looking through the scope, the crosshairs might be over in one quadrant, depending how the mounts were installed. When I was a kid, I saw that situation in rifles on used gun racks, but new scopes when I started buying rifles in the 50's all had centered reticles.
 
Scope could have come off a M-1C. I have one myself, but it came on a Springfield 03 that I think was sporterized by Springfield Armory. The DCM buyer was a major assigned at the armory. Springfield Armory National Monument confirmed it and even told me what building/officers' quarters he was housed at. The rifle also came with a Lyman 48 sight. To give him a discount too, they left the front sight loose; which made it defective and allowed him to buy it at a reject price. I bought it off his daughter. If you have The Smokeless Era, there is a drawing of a rifle that looks just like mine.
 
Only one family heirloom firearm and my brother got it, a Colt revolver our grandfather carried as a guard for Philadelphia Transit post WWII. Brother Al traded it for a Hi-Point in 9mm.
 
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