Grandpa's Rabbit Gun

[Bubba Fett]

In 1950, my great grandfather (mom's grandpa) bought a 12 gauge shotgun at Sears for $24.88.  

Some time in the late 50's, he gave it to his son (my grandfather) to rabbit hunt with.  And by all accounts, he did just that.  Frequently.  Even after someone stepped on it in the 70's, and he had to wrap 2 rolls of electrical tape around the stock to keep it together.  Then, in 1976 he put it in his bedroom closet after a hunting trip and never took it out again.The gun sat in the back corner of that closet until August, 2017 where my grandmother found it and passed it on to me.  I never met the man, but I'm proud to own a part of his life.

The gun was covered in rust and brown paint when it was handed to me.   Steel wool and Hoppe's solvent solved that problem.  The broken stock was beyond my ability to repair.  Ebay solved that problem.  I'm going to look into repairing the original stock at some point in the future for display.

 

The gun was recalled by J.C. Higgins after an issue with the locking lugs failing on the bolt, so I won't be shooting the gun much.  But I'm still glad to be able to shake hands with Grandpa whenever I open the gun safe!

[Ronald_55]

There is no gun more precious than one handed down multiple generations. Great to see it get a little restoration. Enjoy it even if you never shoot it.

[i1afli]

Wow...that's a real multi-generational shotgun. Great story. Thanks for sharing. 

[MP5_Rizzo]

I have several hand me down family guns, JC Higgins, Stevens, Glenfield and insert store brand name of choice here.  While not much value $$$ wise they are some I will never let go of unless someone offered me an astronomically amount of $$$$$$$ and I'm sure that's not going to happen any time soon.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Be careful about shooting those, definitely nothing "high brass". They were actually recalled at one point because the bolt lugs will shear off sending the bolt into the shooter's face. Yours may or may not be part of the serial number range.

[RED333]

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

[n0rlf]

I have a couple from my dad. My wife has her grandfather's old Winchester 1897 12 gauge. Lots of love for those old guns.