# Remember When



## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

When guns were made to last generations. When guns had wood stocks and the fit and finish was something to be proud of. LostLouisianian's post on the chokes thread about his 50 year old 1100 got me thinking we need a vintage gun thread. And a story about it. 

Back around 1980 I was 18 and thought I needed to upgrade to a 12ga. (what was I thinking) I called my grandfather because I new he had guns he hadn't used in years. He said he had a model 12 and I offered to buy it from him. Well a rotten uncle heard about the gun deal and claimed my grandfather promised it to him. So I went to Sunset Sporting Goods and bought a Browning BPS. Years later while shooting some clays with my good uncle. He tells me about a model 12 my bad uncle sold the same day he acquired it from my grandfather. I was pissed. I told him the back story of how I was planning on buying it from grandpa. He said he could get it back from the guy that had it if I wanted it. I said get it. I was broke at the time but scratched the money together out of principle more than anything and to get the gun back in the family. 

Here's pics of my 1953 model 12 and my grandfather cradling It while retrieving some birds. 

This old gun hasn't seen the marsh since the early 1960's. This is the year I'm going to get some bismuth shells and my old cork dekes & do a proper vintage hunt. 

Lets hear your story.


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## Tall Tines (Apr 16, 2017)

My dad has that same gun sitting in a safe at his house. Hasn't seen a duck marsh in the whole time I've been alive. Very cool post


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

http://utahwildlife.net/forum/18-firearms-reloading/24345-billy-kid-s-revolver.html


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

JerryH said:


> When guns were made to last generations. When guns had wood stocks and the fit and finish was something to be proud of. LostLouisianian's post on the chokes thread about his 50 year old 1100 got me thinking we need a vintage gun thread. And a story about it.
> 
> Back around 1980 I was 18 and thought I needed to upgrade to a 12ga. (what was I thinking) I called my grandfather because I new he had guns he hadn't used in years. He said he had a model 12 and I offered to buy it from him. Well a rotten uncle heard about the gun deal and claimed my grandfather promised it to him. So I went to Sunset Sporting Goods and bought a Browning BPS. Years later while shooting some clays with my good uncle. He tells me about a model 12 my bad uncle sold the same day he acquired it from my grandfather. I was pissed. I told him the back story of how I was planning on buying it from grandpa. He said he could get it back from the guy that had it if I wanted it. I said get it. I was broke at the time but scratched the money together out of principle more than anything and to get the gun back in the family.
> 
> ...


That's a fancy Model 12, Jer. Many years ago I ended up buying a Model 12, don't even remember where. The Serial # indicates it was also made in 1953, just a year after I was. Full choke, of course. I've thought about sending the barrel to Mike Orlen to have it opened to IC. Probably cost about the same as a box of bismuth.


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## toasty (May 15, 2008)

paddler said:


> That's a fancy Model 12, Jer. Many years ago I ended up buying a Model 12, don't even remember where. The Serial # indicates it was also made in 1953, just a year after I was. Full choke, of course. I've thought about sending the barrel to Mike Orlen to have it opened to IC. Probably cost about the same as a box of bismuth.


Mike can tap it for screw in chokes for about the same cost to open it to an IC. He tapped a 20ga a303 Beretta barrel for me and I think it only cost $50 total.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Sunset Sports, Wolfe's, Parks, and Allied were my favorite places to frequent during the 70's & 80's.

I wonder how much that model 12 sold for brand new in 1953? Any idea?


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

That's a great story! A few years ago my dad gave me his Ithaca 37 that my granddaddy gave him as a boy in the early '60s. My dad is left handed and in those days the Ithaca was a popular choice for left handers due to the bottom feed and ejection. It's a Model 37 Featherweight with a 30" fixed full choke barrel, I haven't used it for ducks but it's my go-to pheasant gun, that long barrel and tight choke paired with copper-plated lead #5's is a deadly combination out to longer than I care to shoot. I would like to get it out into the duck marsh too, maybe I will pick up some bismuth shells for it too! Here's a photo from a few years ago with my old Chessie Sage-one of the best pheasant dogs I've ever seen, RIP










I'm also lucky enough to have inherited a pre-64 Model 70 .30-06 from my wife's grandpa, he bought it new in 1959 and I've been using it as my big game rifle for the past decade. I've been fortunate enough to take elk, deer, and pronghorn with it and it's really neat to be able to keep that rifle in the field, my wife's grandpa hunted with it for many years and took a few nice bucks with it in his day.


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Pumpgunner said:


> That's a great story! A few years ago my dad gave me his Ithaca 37 that my granddaddy gave him as a boy in the early '60s. My dad is left handed and in those days the Ithaca was a popular choice for left handers due to the bottom feed and ejection. It's a Model 37 Featherweight with a 30" fixed full choke barrel, I haven't used it for ducks but it's my go-to pheasant gun, that long barrel and tight choke paired with copper-plated lead #5's is a deadly combination out to longer than I care to shoot. I would like to get it out into the duck marsh too, maybe I will pick up some bismuth shells for it too! Here's a photo from a few years ago with my old Chessie Sage-one of the best pheasant dogs I've ever seen, RIP
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Great story & pic! Those model 37's have huge following.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

paddler said:


> That's a fancy Model 12, Jer. Many years ago I ended up buying a Model 12, don't even remember where. The Serial # indicates it was also made in 1953, just a year after I was. Full choke, of course. I've thought about sending the barrel to Mike Orlen to have it opened to IC. Probably cost about the same as a box of bismuth.


Lots of folks locally can open the choke. I would use McKnight if you're not interested in having screw in chokes put in. I've had a number of conversations with Mr. Orlen over the years and he is the absolute master of threading and converting to removable chokes. I have 4 barrels that will go out to him in the spring.


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

I had Briley thread an old O/U with thin wall chokes. It was full & mod choked. With old guns you would think by opening the choke or adding screw in chokes that the pattern would open up. Well this gun still shoots tight.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

toasty said:


> Mike can tap it for screw in chokes for about the same cost to open it to an IC. He tapped a 20ga a303 Beretta barrel for me and I think it only cost $50 total.


I have too many choke tubes as it is, fixed IC will be fine.



Fowlmouth said:


> Sunset Sports, Wolfe's, Parks, and Allied were my favorite places to frequent during the 70's & 80's.
> 
> I wonder how much that model 12 sold for brand new in 1953? Any idea?


In 1956 MSRP was $94.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

paddler said:


> I have too many choke tubes as it is, fixed IC will be fine.
> 
> In 1956 MSRP was $94.


Call McKnight, he did one of mine and it patterns very well. He's here in SL area. Very good prices


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

paddler said:


> I have too many choke tubes as it is, fixed IC will be fine.
> 
> In 1956 MSRP was $94.


According to an inflation calculator that I found online, $94 in 1956 is the equivalent of $843.25 today-pretty decent chunk of change!


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## Luhk (Aug 16, 2017)

Mine was a full Choke Model 25 Winchester. I wanted a 12 guage so bad I would have sold my teeth to get one. My grandfather took me into several pawn shops before taking me down stairs and giving me one of his. I have treasured this shotgun. I am glad I only shot Number 4s out of it so the choke didnt blow clean out the end. I killed a whole lot a ducks with that thing.


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## GooseGoose (Sep 21, 2017)

My Dad was a 16 gauge guy. He had a Model 97 16 gauge with a full choke. I remember it kicking like a mule when I was younger, but not too bad when I got older. My brother still has it.

My Dad bought my sister a SxS 16 gauge Springfield at a pawn shop. She hunted and hunted with that gun. One time she accidentally pulled both triggers which knocked her over, but she got right back up and still hunted. She let me have it a few years ago. I took it to a Scout trap shoot and shot 22/25 on a gun I hadn't shot in more than 30 years! More luck than anything! Fun stuff!


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Great thread. I love hearing how near and dear our memories are with family members when hunting or using a shotgun / rifle that was given to us.

Here is my shotgun memory that I posted up a few days back: http://utahwildlife.net/forum/18-firearms-reloading/182089-my-first-shotgun.html

It reminds me of this song:


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## izzydog (Jan 18, 2008)

Great story, Jerry. Glad you were able to track it down. I have a similar story about a very old Model 12 and 94 that were used for many years in Canada by an old timer trapper and hunter that were given to me when I was 16 and "brought over the border" when security wasn't quite the same as it is today.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

My story:

The gun is not in my possession, and may never be, but it is my late-grandfather's Browning A5. My grandmother purchased it brand new as a first wedding anniversary present for him back in 1951. My grandfather took meticulous care of his possessions, and this gun is in incredible condition - not a scratch or a spot of rust on the thing still to this day. My grandfather passed away when I was two, so I don't have any memories with him. I have never heard, not from my grandmother, not from my father, or any of my father's siblings one negative word about my grandfather - from their view, he was perfect. Even though I never got to meet him in this life, his example has been a guiding beacon in my life when I came across a rough time or had to make a hard decision. While highly unlikely, it sure would be cool to inherit it one of these days!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Before all the dumb internet forums*



paddler said:


> That's a fancy Model 12, Jer. Many years ago I ended up buying a Model 12, don't even remember where. The Serial # indicates it was also made in 1953, just a year after I was. Full choke, of course. I've thought about sending the barrel to Mike Orlen to have it opened to IC. Probably cost about the same as a box of bismuth.


Before the internet we would take full choke shotguns and open them up to IC by shooting a box of 5 deer slugs thru them. Cost about $2 back in '69.

.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

http://utahwildlife.net/forum/18-firearms-reloading/15306-how-pick-favorite-gun-2.html

,


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

wyogoob said:


> http://utahwildlife.net/forum/18-firearms-reloading/15306-how-pick-favorite-gun-2.html
> 
> ,


I remember that great thread. Great story


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Speaking of vintage guns. There is a beautiful vintage Remington model 31 with a vent rib on utah gun exchange.


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## Bret (Sep 7, 2007)

Great Thread!!! I love these old guns. I just acquired a Mod 12. It's a 1918 model in 12 gauge with a 2 1/2" chamber and full choke. The old full chokes were really really full! It's a pretty cool old gun. I have wanted one for a long time. I am pleased to have it.

This is a write up I did about my fathers 1953 Browning Superposed 12 gauge 28" Barrels Full over Mod that was just passed on to me last spring and what it means to me. I plan to shoot it in the uplands a little bit this year. I would just paste it here but the pictures wouldn't come through.

I hope you like it.

http://settertalesandmallardcurls.blogspot.com/


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Great write up Bret. And wonderful photos.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

Very nice story, Bret. Glad you got that Superposed fixed. Back when I was in high school, late 1960s, one of the prominent citizens in our small northern California town, called Lincoln, shot a Superposed. Only one in town to the best of my knowledge. His son was a year behind me in school, he would go with his dad to a duck club in the rice fields nearby. I remember that not only did his dad shoot a high end gun and was known locally as an excellent caller, but his son wore a Pendleton shirt to hunt ducks! That was inconceivable to me, as Pendletons were quite expensive. Even if I could have afforded one, I certainly wouldn't have worn it in the marsh. But, since duck hunting was mostly done on private clubs, and we couldn't have afforded that, either, no worries.

Great to hear old stories of old guns and old times.


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Bret's story has me wanting to share one more. 

It was a few years after my uncle beat me out of the model 12 that I was later able to my hands on. One day mom tells me that grandpa needs you for something. My first thought was oh hell what project has he got for me now. He has had me cut down his neighbors trees and haul them away. Or rearrange the rocks in his creek or dig up stumps. He was a character to say the least. I asked mom what is it this time? She says I think he has something for you. I think she told him how angry I was over the model 12 scenario years before. I get to their house and they sit me down. Grandpa was all business and my grandmother was the sweetest lady ever. He pulls out a gun case that had 20ga written on it. He says this is willed to your mother. When you take it home it is hers to give to you. If she wishes. (Oh and she wished it to me). He opens the case and pulls out a beautiful 20ga Superposed! 28" barrels with a solid matte rib. It was my grandmothers gun that she used for hunting ducks in the 50's. I reassured them that it fell into good hands and that it will taken good care of for many years to come. 

I get the gun home and I don't know what I have. I didn't know how to take it apart. So I call Fred our neighbor down the street that shot a Superposed for ducks. He had taken me duck hunting to his club a few times. I show Fred the gun and it he opens it up to look at it. His eyes get big and he reaches for his reading glasses. He says holy $hit kid. With a big grin says I'll trade you every gun in the house for this one. I asked what do you mean? He says it has a three digit serial number. I asked again what does that mean? He says this is a oldie. 

I took the gun up to Browning to date it and get some history on it. The gentlemen told me it was made in 1949 the first year they made the Superposed in 20 gauge. It was sold to a gun store in Ogden. That must be were my grandparents bought it. 

This little 20 is grim death on pheasants and just as deadly on doves. Nothing points like Superposed. 

Every time I pick up this gun I think of My dear sweet grandmother hunting ducks with my grandpa.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

JerryH said:


> Bret's story has me wanting to share one more.
> 
> It was a few years after my uncle beat me out of the model 12 that I was later able to my hands on. One day mom tells me that grandpa needs you for something. My first thought was oh hell what project has he got for me now. He has had me cut down his neighbors trees and haul them away. Or rearrange the rocks in his creek or dig up stumps. He was a character to say the least. I asked mom what is it this time? She says I think he has something for you. I think she told him how angry I was over the model 12 scenario years before. I get to their house and they sit me down. Grandpa was all business and my grandmother was the sweetest lady ever. He pulls out a gun case that had 20ga written on it. He says this is willed to your mother. When you take it home it is hers to give to you. If she wishes. (Oh and she wished it to me). He opens the case and pulls out a beautiful 20ga Superposed! 28" barrels with a solid matte rib. It was my grandmothers gun that she used for hunting ducks in the 50's. I reassured them that it fell into good hands and that it will taken good care of for many years to come.
> 
> ...


What the hell, Jer? You need to load some bismuth for that and take it to Canada. Or out on the ice. Sweet gun!


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## F.A.L. (Nov 4, 2016)

Prefer a older gun over a newer one any day!


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