Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How did ya come up with your username???

lol,...only if you've never worked in tobacco.

Tongue in cheek.

I think this is an easy one to figure out.

Our boxer.
We named him Dillon.
His papers called him Buck.

From a gal at work!

A couple of years before I discovered the Campfire, and joined the group, I had wandered into a large gun store that stocked lots of used rifles, looking for something that I had been lusting after: a Savage M-99 in 250 Savage. I had recently inherited my Grandfather's Savage M-99 in 30-30 Winchester. That sparked my interest in the Savage lever-actions. The more I learned about them, the more interested I became in acquiring one in 250 Savage.

Another rifle I had on my want list was a sporterized Springfield 30-06. A friend had one, and I liked the Mauser features and I particularly liked the practical, knurled knob on the end of the bolt to facilitate uncocking the firing pin. I just thought it was a cool idea, and I liked the look.

So, this particular day, I walked into the gun shop and asked the man behind the counter if he had any used Savages in 250 Savage in stock. He said, "Why, yes I do. I have a nice one you may be interested in."

I naturally expected him to produce a M-99 lever-action. Instead, he handed me one of the lightest, trimmest, little bolt action rifles I had ever held, and it had every appearance of being a miniaturized Springfield, right down to that knurled knob on the end of the bolt. I was informed that it was a first-year, Savage Model 1920, made in 1920. (Trimmer and finished better than the version introduced in 1926). It was well used, but had obviously been well taken care of. The bolt slid back and forth as smooth as glass. The price was reasonable and I bought it without hesitation.

I had a lot of fun working up loads for its slow-twist barrel. A friend who was a retired gunsmith created a scope mount that anchored into the rear sight dovetail so that I could mount a scout-scope on the rifle with out any drilling or permanent alteration to the rifle. The rifle's best load used the 75 gr. V-Max bullet and would consistently group just a little over an inch for 5 shots at 100 yards using the scout scope, in spite of the fact that the rifle had a very worn throat, and lots of light pitting the full length of the barrel. (I already had a Hawkeye Borescope in my gun room). I shot many ground squirrels with it in a rocky burn area where most shots were in the 50 yard to 125 yard range. I became a big fan of the 250 Savage cartridge, eventually acquiring my M-99 as well as a Rem M-700 Classic. (My modest collection today also includes 3 Springfield Sporters in 30-06. One is a Sedgley. So, that itch eventually got scratched, too).

So, when I joined the Campfire, that nifty 250 Savage Model 1920 was what had been keeping me busy in the loading room and at the range. It is still a favorite of mine.

It was on my Father in Laws funeral bulletin when I signed in. 1935-2012

Mine was my Navy rating and rank, and my last name, OpticalMan Chief. It was a small, specialized rating that worked on everything that the Navy put glass in (except eyeglasses!) Binoculars, NVS, optical gun sights, compasses, sextants, stadimeters, alidades, big eyes and submarine periscopes. In 2000, the rate was disbanded and the Navy started using more modern binos that were not meant to be worked on, farming everything else out to DOD contractors. I guess I could have snagged a job at the east coast periscope repair facility, but Newport, RI? No, thank you...

Mine is Complicated.......

I was working at the submarine mast and antenna shop at MARMC in Norfolk, I think that's where we sent the periscopes.anyway thats where I was when I signed on here the first time. I was a Colorado resident in The Navy. the best horse I ever rode was owned by a company and his identifying brand was 1135. So that's how my name was made.

In Spanish Alamosa means Cottonwood tree.
Sometimes I will camo up my duck hunting kayak to look like a floating alamosa i.e. cottonwood.

I'm a dentist in a small town in rural Alabama. Thought it sounded pretty good when pronounced.

Blatantly stolen from Varmint_Al who maintained an awesome shooting/varmint hunting website. Was BAT_Boy for several years until I sold one of my BAT actioned custom rifles to a fellow in TX. I had 5 such rifles at the time and when he told me that he owned 13 BAT rifles already, I dropped the moniker because I felt unworthy of the name.