I confess to having an attraction to rifles whose purpose is to do many things. You know, that one rifle that is not perfect for any one job, yet will do in a pinch almost anything asked of it?
Sometimes it's my Mauser based Scout rifle in .308 with the little 2.5X Burris EER scope. It's killed far more big game than any of my dedicated "hunting" rifles, and has spent time in a pickup bouncing down ranch roads, in the deer blind and in the mountains as a back up on elk hunts. Other times it's my Savage Model 24 .22LR/.410 which great for slipping through the creek bottoms looking for squirrels, puttering through the pastures in search of cottontails, shooting turtles in my stock tank and even turkey hunting during spring season.
But I've always felt the need to keep a rifle in the house for feral dogs, hogs that roam too close and coyotes and bobcats that find my free-range chickens tempting. In about 1972 my dear old Dad gave me an H&R Topper that came with a 20 ga. barrel and a .22 Hornet barrel. A few months ago I finally realized a years long dream of acquiring a 30-30 barrel for the little rifle. This was followed by the installation of a Williams WGRS sight, little load development and then sighting in, after which she took her place in her new home, the laundry room gun rack.
Early Saturday morning I was awakened to my wife telling me there was a coyote in the front yard. By the time I got to the other end of the house to the rifle, she had made down the driveway north of the chicken coop, but it wasn't far enough...
35W
Sometimes it's my Mauser based Scout rifle in .308 with the little 2.5X Burris EER scope. It's killed far more big game than any of my dedicated "hunting" rifles, and has spent time in a pickup bouncing down ranch roads, in the deer blind and in the mountains as a back up on elk hunts. Other times it's my Savage Model 24 .22LR/.410 which great for slipping through the creek bottoms looking for squirrels, puttering through the pastures in search of cottontails, shooting turtles in my stock tank and even turkey hunting during spring season.
But I've always felt the need to keep a rifle in the house for feral dogs, hogs that roam too close and coyotes and bobcats that find my free-range chickens tempting. In about 1972 my dear old Dad gave me an H&R Topper that came with a 20 ga. barrel and a .22 Hornet barrel. A few months ago I finally realized a years long dream of acquiring a 30-30 barrel for the little rifle. This was followed by the installation of a Williams WGRS sight, little load development and then sighting in, after which she took her place in her new home, the laundry room gun rack.
Early Saturday morning I was awakened to my wife telling me there was a coyote in the front yard. By the time I got to the other end of the house to the rifle, she had made down the driveway north of the chicken coop, but it wasn't far enough...
35W