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Passed Guns and Their Stories

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Dawg25385:
So we celebrate Christmas on my side of the family on Christmas Eve, always have, and always at my Grandparents house. It’s very special for Grampa to host. Well they’re getting up in age, and my grandma’s health is deteriorating rapidly. So as we finished up with opening packages, my Grampa stands up and says ‘well I have something to say’. He starts to get emotional, and says ‘we’ve been talking, and have agreed its time to do something we’ve been putting off for quite awhile.’ Of course, we’re all like WTH is going on!? And grampa walks into the back room. He comes out with a rifle. His 300 WinMag. And he starts to tell us that the time has come for him to pass along his hunting rifles, since he won’t be using them any longer, and he wants us to have them (myself, and my uncle, since my dad doesn’t shoot or hunt). The winmag goes to my Uncle. Next trip out, he brings his Remington 7400 30.06, and hands it to me. This is it here.

 
Next trip out, an old lever action 300 savage, to my uncle. Then, he comes out with his beloved Winchester 94, 30-30. At this point he’s bawling. He holds it out towards me, and says that his dad gave it to him when he was 12, which would have been 1943 I believe. Was really tore up about it, obviously it meant the world to him. We hugged and he cries for close to a minute. Absolutely gorgeous gun. Excellent condition. This is it here.

 
Next trip out, he is carrying a small revolver. He said it was his grandfathers. It’s a US Revolver Co 38, circa 1915-1920. He said when he was a boy, he always knew it was in the sewing table drawer. He then handed it to me.

 
So it was a really amazing moment, I knew of these guns, but it was surreal of him to give them away. Especially the 30.30, as I knew how much it meant to him. He said half a dozen times, ‘now you take good care of that.’
 
 
 
 
But there’s more to the story. The next morning, my wife and I packed up from my folk’s house, and were ready to hit the road to go spend Christmas Day with her side of the family. We’re just about to pull on the freeway, and my dad calls me. ‘Are you on the freeway yet?’, no I say. ‘Can you pull over real quick?’ he asks. So I do, and he tells me that grampa had just called him, frantic. He was having immense separation anxiety over the 30.30, was up all night, etc. He was ashamed to say, but he needed it back. So, I turned around and took it back to my dad, to give back to grampa. I told him, ‘dad, this is and will always be grampa’s rifle’. So, grampa has it back, but whenever he decides, I’ll take care of it, and it will always be in the family.
 
Thinking about it, I’m not sure if I’m connected like that to any of my guns, or any material thing like he is to that rifle… Probably the only one that I couldn’t ever part with is my other grampa’s Savage Model 24 I got it when he passed.
 
Anyway, thanks for reading. Wanted to tell that story, about some really cool old guns with lots of history.                         
 



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Bob Smith:
At some point in time that old 30/30 and all the memories it holds will be in your hands to protect and one day pass along. What a nice story Kyle.

stlaser:
Super cool!

I have one of those stories too where there are some tears shed over a gun passing from one generation to the next. Thinking maybe there should be a thread about guns handed down........

Sammconn:
Awesome story. Glad you shared!
And when the time is right for him to pass it to you again it will be yours to be the keeper of and pass along one day.

Dawg25385:
That night I asked him how many deer he's killed with the 30-30... he kind of grinned and replied "a few". Which is to say, a lot.


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