Mother Bear
Member
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2012
- Messages
- 1
In 1957, my father aspired to be a marksman in the USAF. He had not yet entered service so a Mauston WI area recruiter encouraged him to purchase a Winchester. My father, being a young farmboy with little experience in firearms went to the only sporting goods store in Mauston and bought what he could afford and as all good farmers do, made good with the rest. He purchased a new break action .410 Model 37. Admittedly, it wasn't the wisest purchase for someone interested in pursuing military marksmanship but it did teach him to make all his shots count. My father went on to be a very prolific marksman in the USAF. The Model 37 was the only gun he ever owned or purchased. This gun had a storied career of protecting the family and our livestock for the next 50 years. In 2010, his grandson, having similar hopes and dreams of his grandfather, went on to join the local gun club, partake in hunter safety and shooting leagues and like his granfather, proved himself as a good shot. My father recognized this skill and passed his beloved and very well preserved .410 on to my son. In February of this year, my daughter's ex-boyfriend, a ruthless sociopath, robbed us of virtually every valuable item we possessed and pawned them for pennies on the dollar at a number of pawn shops and gold buying establishments. Among those family valuables, a Remington 10A 12 ga. that was carried by my grandfather when he used to run moonshine to Chicago and of course, the .410. The 12 gauge was sold at "an antique action" by the purchaser, Watertown Trade and Auction and the .410 was sold to his friend, Russ Wildes of Ixonia WI. The .410 was 90-95%, had two holes drilled and fitted into the stock for a sling and my father believes he may have engraved an identifier on the stock as well. Both of these guns mean a lot to my family and I'm trying to recover them as law enforcement has proven that they have no interest in recovering two unregistered firearms. My Wildes claims to have sold the .410 to a man he referred to as "the .410 man" (I have significant doubts about this statement but I'm going to throw it out there anyway) in March of this year at the Waukesha WI gun show. Any intel provided leading to the successful recovery of the 410 will be rewarded.
