Replaced my favorite rifle

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sugarmaker

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IMG_1310.JPG IMG_1497.JPG IMG_1500.JPG By family tradition, I bequeathed my favorite rifle to my 14 year old after he made a 220 pace offhand shot on a walking deer, facing him. Exit is visible on the deers flank, entry was on opposite brisket, deer ran 50 yards without any lungs.

He now owns his grandfathers beat up old late 60's 700ADL 30-06 which I shot my first deer with. It wore the Redfield in the pic for many years until it failed a few years ago and I reluctantly changed it to a vx3 2-7. The weaver base was hand tapped crooked and the recoil pad is no work of art. The forend is warped and the water damaged finish pulls on my whiskers, but this gun has great meaning in our family. The kids have named it "orcrist the deer slayer". My youngest understands what he has inherited.

So... great excuse! I wanted a gun purpose built for Maine/ VT deer hunting, 250 yard zero hold shooting, bad weather proof (we still hunt in cold pouring rain / snow per tradition), easy to use in thick woods, carry for 7 hours and still be ready for a 2 second opportunity, sit on 10 acre field / cut until dusk, etc...

I wound up with this Kimber Adirondack .308, barely used at $1100, i added talley lows, leupold ultralight 2-7, my own sling. Loaded and ready to go at 5.5 lbs, 5 lbs 3.5 ounces gun/scope alone. I bedded the action, otherwise left it alone. Now its off to the range, we'll see how she does. It will never equal the old gun but I think we're goung to get along well.
 
I've a similar story. I still have my grandpa's rifle, though, as I have no son to pass it on to and my daughter wouldn't appreciate it. When I pass on, the ol' girl's destiny is up to the Lord, I reckon. Whom ever winds up with it will not appreciate it the way I have. It's killed many deer, couple dozen for me and I don't know how many the ol' man shot with it, a lot.

Mine's a Remington M722 short action in .257 Roberts. I had it re-blued about 25 years ago and it still looks good. I refinished the rather plain stock and I had the front sight taken off at the same time as the re-blue, always got in the way of that Weaver 3-5x KV it originally had on it. Yeah, that Weaver bit the dust for a second time, so I put a Bushnell on it which still rides it. I've thought about getting a new Weaver for it, but the old steel tube El Paso Weaver wouldn't match, just the name and the company is owned by Outters now, not even the same company.

So, similar to your story, but a bit different, my current go to rifle I've owned for about 20 years now is a Remington stainless M7 in .308, a light, handy rifle and it wears a Weaver 2x10x40. It's perfectly at home in the woods, in a box blind, or overlooking a New Mexico canyon. It's a 3/4 MOA rifle, not bad for a soda straw barrel. :D I didn't buy this gun, though. I won it as a door prize at a local gun show. Entry was five bucks. :D But, I'd been wanting one for a while reading about the gun in various magazine articles. It's still my go to hunting rifle, but it'll be a while before it's taken as much game as my old 722.
 
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