I've got my Great-grandfather's Marlin 1893 .30-30 take-down rifle that he carried through most of his 40-year career as a Texas Ranger. We've been able to document that he killed at least one bad guy with it: a fugitive murderer that he and his partner cornered in Arkansas.
He gave it to me before he died and urged me to use it. The bore is badly corroded to the point that it won't stabilize jacketed bullets any more, so I used to shoot unsized cast bullets in it. The barrel/receiver lockup is sorta loose now, so that plus the bad bore makes for shotgun patterns. So, haven't hunted with it.
Been thinking about having the barrel relined and having the barrel/receiver juncture tightened up again so it would be more usable. That's what Great-granddaddy would have wanted. He didn't believe in having guns as wall-hangers.
Bring enough gun and know how to use it.
Know that it is not the knowing, nor the talking, nor the reading man, but the doing man, that at last will be found the happiest man. - Thomas Brooks (1608-1680)
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