I bought my first bolt action rifle, a 7mm RM in 1976, a Bicentennial Ruger 77 with a 4-12x Redfield. Paid $175 for the rifle and $130 for the scope, at Doc's Gun Barn in Pocatello ID. I was 20 years old at the time, now 63. They let me look through 6 boxes of them to get one with the wood I liked the best. I've taken about 20 bull elk, half a dozen cows, and a heck of a lot of deer with it. The last animal it has taken is a mountain goat in 2006. The gun has been through several scopes thru attrition. It has lapsed into a graceful retirement as a back-up, replaced for elk by a Savage semi custom 300WM, for deer a Tikka 260 Rem and a Savage semi custom 6.5 x 284. Lots of memories and will be the last gun I ever part with.
