My dad is 90 years old. He killed his first elk in 1955. He has had three elk rifles in that time, a M721 that the horse eventually bent the bbl while in the scabbard, a one season affair with a slammin', jammin, M742, and since 1970 a M77. All of them chambered in 30-06, always loaded with factory 180g Core-lokt RN. His scope is a late 60's Bushnell Scopechief 3x9 with the flip up "Command Post". The Command Post stopped flipping up decades ago. The magnification ring is frozen on 3x. He "temporarily" repaired his sling with athletic shoelace 15 years ago. The rifle is hysterical. Until this year it still had the factory hard, thin red pad on it, but because my dear old dad has shrunk a bit and was having trouble getting the rifle to his shoulder with his hunting coat on I shortened the stock and put a Decelerator pad on it. I hated to cut that all original factory stock--even as dinged up as it is. I don't know how he shot that thing with the original hard pad on it for so long.
Dad is perfectly happy to draw a cow tag most years, and most of those years he still kills an elk........
