doubleh
Member
When I was lots younger and less experienced I would loan them to friends. Then one "friend" borrowed my Single Six to go "rabbit hunting". What he actually did was go to his girlfriend that had moved back in with her parents and had broken up with him and held them hostage for a time before breaking down and giving the gun to her father who called the police. I knew nothing of this of course and it was long before the days of instant social media. When my gun didn't come home and I couldn't contact him I finally called his father and he told me the story. The police wouldn't return my gun although I had proof of ownership. They would only give to his father. Why I have no idea and could not get an explanation. His father was a good guy and picked up my gun and returned it to me. I've never seen or heard from the so called friend again.
That experience wasn't enough for me. I'm just a dummy I suppose. A few years later I had built up a very nice little 22 WRM rifle and I loaned it to my wife's younger brother to go rabbit hunting. He actually went rabbit hunting but after several weeks I asked him to return it and after several more weeks I went after it. It was full of sand and my mother-in-law told me he had shot a hole in the floor board of their pickup with it.
Fast forward several years and I had built my wife a nice 30/06 rifle for deer hunting. This brother asked her if he could borrow it to go elk hunting and she loaned it to him. I was not happy but kept my mouth shut. Same deal as before. We finally had to go after it. The stock I had built had a huge gouge on one side. He used his horse for a rest to take a shot from. In the ensuing stampede the rifle got stomped on and horseshoes are not kind to wood. He offered to make it good. Good for him. He told me he had bought an identical rifle and he would buy me a new stock blank for the wife's rifle and he would keep the stomped one and put it on his rifle. I didn't even answer him. I just walked off.
Now I have one grandson that I will loan any of my guns to and another that I will loan a certain few to but that's it. They have accumulated enough of their own now that they never ask for a loan anymore. We do manage to go shooting together now and then and shoot each others guns.
That experience wasn't enough for me. I'm just a dummy I suppose. A few years later I had built up a very nice little 22 WRM rifle and I loaned it to my wife's younger brother to go rabbit hunting. He actually went rabbit hunting but after several weeks I asked him to return it and after several more weeks I went after it. It was full of sand and my mother-in-law told me he had shot a hole in the floor board of their pickup with it.
Fast forward several years and I had built my wife a nice 30/06 rifle for deer hunting. This brother asked her if he could borrow it to go elk hunting and she loaned it to him. I was not happy but kept my mouth shut. Same deal as before. We finally had to go after it. The stock I had built had a huge gouge on one side. He used his horse for a rest to take a shot from. In the ensuing stampede the rifle got stomped on and horseshoes are not kind to wood. He offered to make it good. Good for him. He told me he had bought an identical rifle and he would buy me a new stock blank for the wife's rifle and he would keep the stomped one and put it on his rifle. I didn't even answer him. I just walked off.
Now I have one grandson that I will loan any of my guns to and another that I will loan a certain few to but that's it. They have accumulated enough of their own now that they never ask for a loan anymore. We do manage to go shooting together now and then and shoot each others guns.
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