Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Old school, effective “junk.”

Love that Krag.

not a gun, but I have one thing that I think is pretty cool and definitely old school hunting..
when I started College, a friends mom had been raised on the UP of Michigan...I thought you being from Michigan there Brinky
you'd have a mild interest in it...her dad made his living as a logger on the UP... and his times not working, in the dead of winter
he would make his living, hunting game and selling the meat...

This was in the teens and the 20s.. it was a red heavy wool plaid jacket, t was bought new right around 1900..
she had it in the closet, and when her son graduated high school, she asked him if he wanted it..
he didn't want near it... so she eventually asked me if I would like it.. I said hell yeah.. I loved the history on it..
her son thought thing looked stupid...

Still have that coat.. got it in 1970... when it was about 70 years old then...it has a big area on its back side.. that is part of the coat
a compartment to put small game... a button on each side, but its from the shoulder blades down to the belt line.. when I got it, It still had old dried blood in it.. and smelled like it.. I had it dry cleaned...

use to wear it under my orange cover jacket, when I hunted northern MN back in the 80s.. thick wool, and it sure was warm...

I always have several "loaners". These are old school rifles that are generally CRF, accurate with a fixed old school scope. Some just are inexpensive but they do go out when they need a gun that is minute of moose accurate, heavy so that they don't kick and just say something. I also have one set up for a-holes.
This old Husky Hipower in 30/06 with weaver K4 was the one that my dad hunted for the last five years of his life.

This 1917 Enfield is a nice sporter in 25/06 built by Glen Gregory. He ran a trading post in Tanana and would build rifles for his close friends. I bought this at the Bill Stoecker auction for 250.00. It isn't checkered and weighs about 10 lbs but it points nice and would be a very nice rifle for somebody who is recoil sensitive.

These two Brownings are also loaners. On the right, I bought the Browning Hi Power FN 30/06 (1958 manufacture) for $250.00. It is the a-hole rifle. The Stryker scope has zero eye relief and Browning kick. On the left is an Abort with a Redfield Revolution scope in 30/06 that I bought for $300.00 about two weeks ago.


I have other loaners but these are definitely old school with the exception of the Abort.

This is the mule eared Gun Room guard, ticked off I took some rifles out.

Perhaps a curious perspective but the first CF rifle I shot was a M1 Carbine when the design was less than 25 years old. The first CF platform used a lot was the M16. That design is is pushing 60 years old. So, what’s old school? It doesn’t matter. Only thing that does matter is whether or not one can hit the target, whatever and wherever it is.

My flintlock still works.

I have an old 38-40 I’ve killed a couple of pigs and a doe with it. It was made in 1884. Is that old enough?

Toby comes to mind!

I guess my Marlin 60 is old school. It is not the best design, and compared to the whole array of options in .22 lr, it's probably considered junk by a lot of people. I like not having to keep track of magazines, but I don't like having my hand in front of the muzzle while loading. It was the first gun I ever bought, and if I was doing it all over again I'd get a 10/22 instead. Still, the Marlin is fun to shoot and I can kill stuff with it, so I guess it's effective.

Killed a bunch of stuff in Africa with a 50’s steyr 30-06 with the butter knife style bolt.

The PH reckoned it had killed about 1000 animals since he got it graduating high school in Rhodesia from his father.

The cz I had to use afterwards was completely rubbish in comparison.

I don't have it but my deceased FIL had a Arisaka actioned rifle in 300 Savage. He said they used Springfield take off barrels, cut and rethreaded the barrel and chambered to .300 Savage. It was in some kind of stock. maybe Richards Micro Fit since we are in SoCal. My FIL killed a lot of deat with that rifle. His initial investment was $3. I also have my wifes aunt and uncles rifles. One is in a cut down military stock and one is in a hammered aftermarket stock. .257 Roberts built about the same way. I don't know what barrels they are but they killed a lot of deer with those guns too.I'd ber I could get more money for the all steel Lyman sights alone than the rifles.

Neither are real old, but old school.
The action in my 30TK dates to 1948, and the ammo to 1895.
The 39M to 1891, about 90 years before my rifle was built. It fires 22 shorts introduced in 1857. Although the more powerful long rifle only dates to 1884. I like to shoot Vipers, which I believe have been around a few years themselves. Hits hard without blowing up. HV shorts and CB caps too.

There's a sporterized 03a3 30-06 with polished receiver, jeweled bolt, weatherby-esque stock, and green barrel in the family, that maybe I'll trade into some day. Think it should be effective on big hogs at a distance.

1916 Spanish 93 Mauser. Now a 257 Roberts. Shoots like a dream.

004 by [url=https://www.[bleep].com/photos/32811344N02/]

Tom,

Some years ago I had one in 270 Win and it shot crazy well and I liked its simplicity. I traded it for a mint OM 4 5/8" Ruger 45 Colt BH that I still own.

Great collection you have there!

Thanks DS. Like one of my tag lines says, hunting with wore out guns before it was trendy! 😁.

Ok I know its not a rifle, but it’s my nightstand gun and it is still effective even tho it was made in 1921!

My grandfather was a Fudd to some here.

He hunted with a Marlin 36 in 30-30. Open sights, no sling, reload was a
curse word. As long as his compatriots lived, I would here about the shots
across a 10 acre field. He smoked Pall Malls, and carried pine knots to
build a fire if he got cold. Hunting clothing was work clothes and his brown small game vest.

That Marlin and Mossberg 22 killed a pile of deer, feeding a couple families
over several decade. Not a couple steaks to brag about venison. Deer meat
was a major protein source.

I have the 22, my Daughters love to shoot it, and hear about "Your Pap".
if I could get that Marlin, it would be my most valuable rifle.

Along the same story of old hunting coats I have a pair of Woolrich red plaid hunting pants from my grandfather which has the lace on the pants legs below the knee for the
16 in or 18 inch laced up hunting boots so common for the period. The hunting pants came with his old Savage 99....

Winchester Extra Lightweight, 45-70, circa 1910

Granddad hunted small game most of his life, but only hunted big game twice. The first time was Missouri whitetail at age 84. He used Uncle's .270 to drop his deer. The second and last time was also with Uncle's .270. He said it was "too much work" and gave it up. He was 87 at the time.

Granddad taught my brothers and I how to shoot. I grew up shooting his Remington Model 24 and loved it. (It is a JMB design. Granddad purchased it in the early 1930's for about $20. The forearm is a custom he had made, never knew why.) Figured I would not live long enough to inherit the Remington so my first big purchase when I got out of the Service was a Browning of the same design. My girls grew up shooting it. I inherited the rifle in 2014, three years after Granddad passed away at age 100.

The High Standard Model C (center-right) was also something I shot a lot as a kid - every chance I got, which I didn't think was often enough. It was Granddad's tractor gun. He used it to shoot critters burrowing into the dirt on the sides of the creek that ran through his farm. The pistol was purchased around 1948 for about $20.

Not much is known about the High Standard Sport King-M (lower right) other than that model was only manufactured from 1977 to 1983. Granddad had been off the farm for years by then.

All three firearms still shoot - and do so very well. Someday they will be passed down to my daughters or grandkids.

The Browning Buckmark (lower left) was something Browning sent me when they could not fix my Challenger. I paid $50 to have the Challenger fixed. Nice fix!

Nice collection of old guns. Can you tell me the difference between a Rem 24 and a Rem 241? They look to be the same, but it's hard say from just a photo. The Rem 241 is considerably bigger than the Browning gun, but it too wears the Browning patent.