I just bought a remington 721 in .270 cal built in 1949. While inquiring about it, the owner responded, ''by your s name, i think we have some thing in common''. Before i looked at the complete end of the email i sent him back an answer, and a description of where i was in VN. Then, i spotted his name on the end of the original response he sent me, when i asked about the rifle condition. We had a company reunion in Va in 2006 my brother went back with me. Well, i met this guy, he was a former Marine Recon member, and we all hit it off, and we hung out together for pretty much the whole reunion. Really enjoyed his company. So, fast forward, i got really interested in this old war horse, and it looked like a fun rifle to buy, clean up, but, leave the patina totally as is. I'll clean and oil the stock, but, the barrel and action will remain the same, kind of a brownish color. "surface rust'', He said, the inside of the barrel looked good with a hawkeye . So, i won the bid, now after all these 12 yrs, this rifle is in a way that the 2 of us reconnected after all this time.