My Dad grew up pretty poor. A new gun from Sears was a big deal. In 1968 he won a 760 in 30-06 from the Deep Creek Lake VFD fund raiser. Shot my first deer with it. After Dad passed I kept it just because it was his. Finally sold it a couple years ago. I have his 03A3 with the original bill of sale, $14. I don't shoot it much, but I'll never sell that one. The 760, I don't miss.
This deserves a good 760 story.
I learned a lot about hunting bears from a fella that was crippled up pretty good. He'd worked for the railroad and some thieves wanted him to help them steal from the company and when he refused they worked him over with some iron pipes. Years later when we hunted together he was always setting up so he could intercept a bear crossing a two track dirt trail somewhere. Somewhere he could hopefully drive to since he wasn't able to get out in the steep ground well.
Well, he shot a 760 in 270. I thought that old pumpgun was just a novelty. Then one day we had our evening hunt planned and he showed up with that 270. He wanted to watch a piece of road where we had determined there was a good bear crossing at 5 every evening on his way to water. I dropped him off there and went down the canyon a mile or so to a spot where there was a monster bear. We had seen this bear twice and I had taken some hair off him at 236 yards with a 300 Winchester magnum, but he made good his escape.
Partway through the evening I heard Steve shoot so I climbed in the old Toyota and buzzed down to where I'd left him. He was huffing and puffing and told me the story of how the bear had come to the edge of the dirt road and looked down the bank and Steve had shot him with that old 760, THREE times! I swear he fired that old corn shucker so fast all three shots blended into one sound. We found the bear about 100 yards below the road piled up, deader'n hell.
I was so impressed with his ability with that old 760 I tried one the next season. It weren't for me but I can see how in the right hands those things are deadly.