Shot my Dad's gun the other day.

Sorry about your dad, Bam. Wish I knew what else to say in that regard.

Other than that, great post. I'm sure your son would love to know about his Granddad, and hopefully will appreciate the revo as well.

my Grandpa died a few years ago, after battling Alzheimer's and then cancer. He had a hell of a life, and loved to tell me stories when I was a kid. Being stupid and young I never listened much to those stories, and when I grew older and was more able to appeciate them, and more eager to hear them, it was already too late. I still have many, many amazing memories of the man, but the guilt I carry for not paying better attention to those stories, and those lessons, will follow me for a long time.

Don't ever forget your dad. I know that may sound strange, but I don't think people really understand how important it is to know and remember those who came before you, and what they had to give to those around them.

I am sorry for your loss. My Dad passed in 86 - still miss him, but time is your ally.

FWIW, I'd take that roscoe to the range and I'd think about my Pop every time I used it. My Dad didn't own any guns, save for his Father's 12ga. side-by (1912 Fox Sterlingworth) which I have now. My kid's going to have perhaps too many guns some day.

I learned to shoot with several of my grandfathers guns. A S&W Victory model(navy stamped) that belonged to him was the first centerfire handgun I remember shooting. I shot squirrels in the same river bottom he hunted, with the same well used 870 wingmaster he hunted with. Sometimes, dad let me use the Winchester pump .22(Model 61? it's hammerless) instead of carrying the shotgun. Dad said that grandpa could pick sparrows off the barb wire fence 70 yards away with that rifle. I've shot dove with the Franchi 48AL he owned.

I never met him, he passed when dad was around 15. At least I can hunt with the same guns he did though.

bam, i can relate, though it was my grandfather i lost this past January. see a few years ago he gave me a remington 700BDL in .308 and a winchester model 94 in 30-30. i can't even bring myself to shoot them yet, it hurts so bad everytime i think about grandpa. he taught me so much about life. and he taught me so much about shooting. he taught me before kindergarten what first graders were doing in public school. heck, between him and dad, they taught me to hit a baseball on a pitch before i ever played T-ball. then there are the important things i learned, hard work, honesty, integrity, staying true to your word. of course these things came from dad too. i remember the day grandpa died like it was yesterday. i hopped in the truck and high tailed it home but knew i would never get to say that last goodbye and that is what kills me. i walk into his home now and expect him to get out of his recliner and greet me but of course he never does. i have so many good memories of him, and that is what helps me. they say times heals all wounds but it seems as the months go by i cry more and more for him.

now i make it a point to call dad a few times a week just to BS if nothing else, and the day before he leaves for work(he is a roughneck, works seven on and seven off) i make sure i call and tell him to have a good safe week and i love him.

i know i kinda went off on this one but it helps to get it out for me. and someday when my three year old is mature enough he will go with me to the range, we will take grandpa's guns and he will get to hold what his paw paw worked so hard for. i don't know when i will be ready to shoot them myself but until then they will get brought out, oiled and held. they will be his someday, along with the good stories....

My papa passed away last August, one of the finest men ever to walk this earth. If you really want to shed a few tears, listen to Roger Creager's "I Got the Guns".

Song came on my laptop once I got the news that he was in the hopsital and there wasn't any stopping the flood that came.

oh i know, i can't listen to that song or Dixie Lullaby or anything close man...

Wow. I realize some time has passed, but this is first time I've seen your thread Bam-Bam. Thanks again for sharing (and reviving it).

My sympathies to y'all that have lost a loved one ...

Chester

This is one of several guns that I got from my Grandpa. My Dad gave this one to me, because he does not shoot it and he knows I'll end up with it anyway. My Gramps bought this gun new in 193? and took it everywhere with him. He was a Game biologist for Oregon Fish and Wildlife commision, based in Hines/Burns.



-Mark.

Bam-Bam:
A very touching post. Thank you for that.

Father's Day is never the same when our Dad passes. We lost my dad a year and a half ago. The firearms he passed along to his sons and grand sons all have a story that go with them. It is rare that we all end up in the same place at the same time, but when we do, the stories always seem to include something to do with hunting and shooting.

Your Colt Diamondback is just such a link to your father and your son. Instill your father's values in him as your dad did you, add the little Colt, and you have a close tie that will bind your family tighter together with every trip it makes to the range. There is something about felt recoil and the scent of burnt gunpowder that make it seem as though it was just yesterday....

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=321741&highlight=Poper

Just a link to my dad for your perusal.

Poper

I was a child when my father died. There was no insurance and mom sold his guns so we could eat for a while. Such is life.

This photo is from 1949 or 1950 and shows him on the side of a Missouri road shooting what has to be a 1st Generation Colt SAA with a 7.5" barrel. One of the guns she sold later on.





The only guns I had passed down was granddad's Remington .41 O/U derringer and grandma's H&R top-break in .38 S&W with pearl stocks that was in about 99% condition. They were stolen in 1986.

I have numerous guns that have sentimental value to me, but I have no children. They will be sold by my widow.

My condolences on your father's passing. I would shoot that D'back from time to time but then I shoot all of my guns.

Bam, so sorry for your loss. I lost my father to lung cancer as well many years ago. My son has his old Wichester Model 12 pump gun. Every time I look at it I smile a little remembering pheasant hunting with him and my brother in western Kansas. Treasure the memories.

My dad passed in 2002 and since my brother doesn't shoot I got all of dad's guns. Create a new Father's Day tradition, take it out evry Father's Day and shoot it. If you have kids, when they get old enough take them along. When the time is right give it to one of your kids. Make it a family heirloom. Treasure it and pass that treasure on so another generation may treasure it to.

Sorry for your loss.

Came close to loosing my dad last year (stroke).
Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful that he is still around.

When I was 10 years old my father took me to the range with him for the first time and taught me how to shoot a 22 rifle. He had also brought his Mauser to zero in for his first and only deer hunt and he let me fire it. It kicked like a mule and the scope dinged me over my eye but I shot it again and hit where I aimed.

That fall my dad shot his first deer with that rifle and was the last time he hunted. Forty six years later my dad passed away and his Mauser was passed down to me.

I have shot for years but never had the opportunity to hunt but I made the decision that I would take a deer with Dad's rifle. Last year on my first hunt I shoot my first deer and decided that I would not wait until my death to pass this fine rifle to my son. I've introduced him to hunting and this season he will shoulder Granddads Mauser for for his first deer.

I'm sure my dad will be looking down with pride at the heritage that he has left.

I really do miss him.

Glock9

BamBam-31:

Thanks for reminding us (sons and daughters)...

Happy Father's Day to all!

I have my Great Grandfathers Springfield 1873 and my Grandfathers Springfield 06 he brought back from WW II and made it his deer rifle. Both hold a very special place in my heart for obvious reasons. Good to know the tradition will continue with others.

I'm lucky to still have my Dad, even though he lives in Australia & I rarely get to see him. He never had a great interest in guns but always encouraged me with mine. When he came to the USA to visit about twelve years ago I took him to the range & he got to shoot my No. 4 Lee Enfield .303 which he got a kick out of as it was the same model rifle he used when he was in the British Army back in the early 1950s, though he said his favorite gun from his military days was the Bren. He's had a couple of mild strokes in recent years which, along with advancing age, are beginning to take their toll but he continues being a good husband, father & grandfather. I'll never sell my Enfield, just because of the memories it brings back of that afternoon at the range all those years ago. Father's Day in Australia isn't until September, & I'll call him then, but I've enjoyed reading this thread & the memories of my Dad that it has helped bring back.

Good post Bam Bam
huff is right if you still have your Father spend time with him while you can. My Father has been gone for about 6 years now.

Thanks for bringing this thread back. I'm going to get on the phone now and give him a ring. I've got guns from both of my grandfathers and many stories to go with them. I, too, get a little misty when I hear Creager's "I got the guns". I still miss those guys.

Happy Father's Day everyone.

Jeff