Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hunting w/ the family hand me down?

Yesterday I cleaned up my hunting gear and wiped down the rifle before putting it back in the safe. In the back of the safe I eyed my dad's old hunting rifle, moved some rifles around and pulled it out to punch the bore and give it a quick wipe down.

I'm not sure if was nostalgia but I thought about the last time that rifle went hunting? I know that the last time I shot it was maybe in 2014 when I replaced the old Redfield Widefield that had dried seals and the nitrogen had leaked out with a Leupold 6x36 and sighted it in.

I did hunt with it in 1980 when I was home on leave but other than that I am pretty sure it just stood in my dad's gun cabinet. My dad kept all of his guns very clean, but he always put extra effort into his favorite hunting rifle, and it looked it when he gave it to me in 2012. The recoil pad is crushed and is in need of replacement, I may have the action bedded and I'll adjust the trigger down to 2.5 pounds and hunt with it next fall.

I still have a few of my dad's old handloads dated June of 1978 (150 grain Hornady Spire Points w/ IMR4895) but I think that I'll enjoy working up new loads for it this coming spring and summer.

The rifle is a SAKO L579 Deluxe in 308 WCF, my dad purchased it (and the Winchester M94 30-30 that I killed my first deer with) through the base Rod & Gun Club in 1970/71 when we were stationed in Karamursel, Turkey.

So instead of the latest and greatest offering I am going to hunt with the family hand me down next season.

Thanks Dad.

StarchedCover

That’s cool. I killed my first two bucks with my Great Grandfather’s rifle. Funny thing, he got it back in the 50’s and never shot a deer with it, weren’t many around back then. Wasn’t until the 90’s when he loaned it to me that it actually got to shoot a deer.

I have one grandfather's Winchester 1897 12 gauge, and the other's Marlin single-shot bolt action 22lr. The former I hunted with until my Dad gave me his 12 gauge Model 12 to replace it. The latter was used to kill hogs and cattle on the family farm, and has been fired by 4 generations. It is the first gun my kids shot.

Great story. Bet that old Sako shoots well though!

My father was a small collector of rifles but used two primarily, a Sako Hi-Power chambered in 270 and a Marlin 336 in 35 Remington. My memories are of Dad carrying those rifles depending on how he wanted to hunt that day and I shot a deer with the 270 when I was 12 or 14. That was the only time I had ever used it and my brother used the 35 more often. Dad shot elk, caribou, black bear, pronghorn, and more deer that I can count with it and it has been in the far north, west, south, and east. Several years ago he decided to give up hunting and wanted to give my brother and I his collection. Honestly, very few of them had any sentimental value other than those two. I was fortunate to get the 270.

This year I decided to hunt with the 270. This was the result. Not the biggest deer ever but certainly a special one. When I called Dad to tell him, he told me that he bought this rifle when he was 17 (he is now 80) used. I believe the rifle was manufactured in the mid-1950s.

Awesome rifle as well! Congrats on getting it out to hunt!

Best of luck with your dad's old rifle. It will be a very memorable experience to bag a deer with that. I inherited a .30-30 from an uncle who had deer hunted for a few years after he got home from WW2, but then his job and growing family took too much of his time, so he stopped hunting and sold his guns. Years later, as a 73 year old widower, he came across a new Marlin 30AS, a budget friendly version of the 336, and it was on sale. So he bought it on a whim but never made it out deer hunting again. After I got it I occasionally hunted with it when I wasn't using something else or was in a shotgun zone. Two years ago I finally filled a tag with it and while still sitting in the snow, on my heat seat at the base of a tree; I looked up at the sky and thanked him. I'll always remember that moment.

Sounds like a great idea!!

I inherited some decent stuff and some junk. I spent hundreds to have a friend refurbish my father in laws model 12 and now it's too nice to use. I should have spray painted it and used it for turkeys. I also got an old Winchester 25/20 that idk who it belonged to and a Japanese WW2 rifle that had been chopped on and rechambered. I got my dad's 870 16ga and an 870 12ga that I gave him. I see what others inherit and think, why weren't my ancestors more thrifty and have better taste in firearms? But if they had been more thrifty, I wouldn't care about the guns so much.

For me I have some of my late brothers firearms, one a Winchester model 12, a T/C pistol in 44 mag and one of two rifles he and I worked on, I bought the two rifles in the white and they needed finishing and bedding.
One in 22/250 and one in 243, we did a complete refinish, bluing, bedding and stock.

When done I gave him the 243 as a gift, when he passed in 95 I got it back, so will use it one day.
The others are a 303 my dad sporterised, which he gave me before he passed, and now I am getting his Parker Hale in 270 that he hunted with for years, I was pretty young when he got it, so it has to be 60 years or more old.
Looking forward to it and a model 12 he used his whole life, so it must be 80 years old.