lefteyedom
Member
Reading a 742 Woodmaster's thread this morning I was struck by how many folks have inherited this rifle from their fathers. My Dad died in 2005, being his only son I received his firearms (thanks to my sisters).
Most of my Dad’s life he was a poor Mississippi school teacher with a wife and three children. Guns were luxury he hardly afford but over time he acquired the three gun battery. A shotgun, deer rifle, and the squirrel gun that rested in the gun rack he made.
His first love was a double barrel 12 gauge bought the year I was born (1964). He made a deal with Mom and a shotgun and washing machine where bought on credit at Sears. A 742 Remington 30.06 was bought the day before deer season 1974 at the local hardware store. He didn't tell Mom about it and there was hell to pay. Something do with rent? Somewhere along the way a Zebco 202 and tackle box was trade for a beat up Marlin model 60. Dad spent untold hours refinishing the stocks with mixes of Birchwood Casey's and Tung oil till the plain wood of the stocks glowed. He could not afford a Browning but he could make his stocks the envy of deer camp.
In my father eye's his 742 Remington was the greatest rifle since the M1 he carried in the Air Force. A 100 yard Bullet hole in Eisenhower dollar was proof enough for him. He took great pride in telling that his double-barrel never jammed like our rich doctor's Browning Auto 5 did. I beamed hearing my uncle tell of how mad the game warden got when he found out Dad was not shooting an unplugged pump but a lowly double barrel with two shell between his fingers! How many squirrels and rabbits fell before that open sight .22? I don’t known but rabbit and dumplings is a fine meal and fried squirrel is better than Chicken.
I ponder sometimes how many of my rifles that cost more than the total of Dad’s three gun battery. Yet none of them instill in me the level of pride my father took in any one of his. The true value of a gun like beauty is in the eye of the owner. Today my Father’s three gun battery would sell for about $750 or less on Gunbroker but they are truly priceless to me.
I would gladly trade all of my rifles for a single shot 410 and the chance to go squirrel hunting in the Mississippi Delta one more time with my old man.
Most of my Dad’s life he was a poor Mississippi school teacher with a wife and three children. Guns were luxury he hardly afford but over time he acquired the three gun battery. A shotgun, deer rifle, and the squirrel gun that rested in the gun rack he made.
His first love was a double barrel 12 gauge bought the year I was born (1964). He made a deal with Mom and a shotgun and washing machine where bought on credit at Sears. A 742 Remington 30.06 was bought the day before deer season 1974 at the local hardware store. He didn't tell Mom about it and there was hell to pay. Something do with rent? Somewhere along the way a Zebco 202 and tackle box was trade for a beat up Marlin model 60. Dad spent untold hours refinishing the stocks with mixes of Birchwood Casey's and Tung oil till the plain wood of the stocks glowed. He could not afford a Browning but he could make his stocks the envy of deer camp.
In my father eye's his 742 Remington was the greatest rifle since the M1 he carried in the Air Force. A 100 yard Bullet hole in Eisenhower dollar was proof enough for him. He took great pride in telling that his double-barrel never jammed like our rich doctor's Browning Auto 5 did. I beamed hearing my uncle tell of how mad the game warden got when he found out Dad was not shooting an unplugged pump but a lowly double barrel with two shell between his fingers! How many squirrels and rabbits fell before that open sight .22? I don’t known but rabbit and dumplings is a fine meal and fried squirrel is better than Chicken.
I ponder sometimes how many of my rifles that cost more than the total of Dad’s three gun battery. Yet none of them instill in me the level of pride my father took in any one of his. The true value of a gun like beauty is in the eye of the owner. Today my Father’s three gun battery would sell for about $750 or less on Gunbroker but they are truly priceless to me.
I would gladly trade all of my rifles for a single shot 410 and the chance to go squirrel hunting in the Mississippi Delta one more time with my old man.
