A little Foolishness at my old age...

[GregT]

Gents,
I have been the proud owner of a Marlin Model 1895 (2001) CB rifle for about 3 weeks now. Part of the reason for not shooting it was the hot weather (deer flies, etc) and another was that I received a semi-finished crescent buttplate stock from Precision Gun Works that I have been working on. Due to the fitting process, the stock that came with the gun (boring) has been on and off the rifle many times. Yesterday I finished an hour or so of working on the new stock and as I cleaned the inletting black off the rifle tangs and put the original stock back on, I decided that I was going to go out to my range and put a couple of factory 405 grain jacketed loads through it, finally! With this hot weather, I rarely wear a shirt outside and never gave this a thought as I got what I needed to shoot. Loaded one round in the magazine and levered it into the chamber, aimed and..."click"! The crossbolt safety was on safe... I chuckled to myself. At this point, Fate was chuckling also! I dropped the hammer on a live round, and OMG what a horrible kick I got! It was then I realized that you NEVER shoot a rifle that is going to kick while you are shirtless as the buttplate and whatever is cast into it for just a few mille-seconds becomes attached to your skin and the rifle does all that it can to rip the skin off your body! That patch of shoulder turned red immediately and actually bled a little. It was not black and blue today as I thought it would be. This was just about as foolish as the time I caught my thumb in the breechbolt of an M-1 Garand rifle in front of witnesses. I wanted to scream so bad that time but I held my breath and watched the little geyser of blood erupt from my broken thumnail... I'll bet some of you have been there. Anyway, when I shoot that rifle with the crescent buttstock and also that half pound steel buttplate added, I will be wearing a Past Recoil Pad on my shoulder along with a shirt.
GregT

[Grizz]

Good story. That's funny right there.

Any time you drop the hammer on a 4570 it's a good time.

Oh yeah, did you miss the post-it note about PICTURES ??

[Blaine]

Before I even shot my CB, I had the stock cut and a good P.Pad fitted. It's a lamb now....

[Sixgun]

Yep, sometimes I think I'm Polish too. Your story about the GI thumb reminded me about the time I was in a hardware store playing with one of those real strong rat traps. (about 3 times the size of a mouse trap) A few of us were bs'en and I sprung the trap on my knuckles. I said to the guys, "geeze, I thought these things were stronger than that". When I got home my knuckles were black and blue and my eyes were wet from tears.------Sixgun

[claybob86]

Yep, sometimes I think I'm Polish too. Your story about the GI thumb reminded me about the time I was in a hardware store playing with one of those real strong rat traps. (about 3 times the size of a mouse trap) A few of us were bs'en and I sprung the trap on my knuckles. I said to the guys, "geeze, I thought these things were stronger than that". When I got home my knuckles were black and blue and my eyes were wet from tears.------Sixgun

Fine job. You handled that situation in the prescribed Tough Guy manner!

[Hawkeye2]

Sixgun, Tim Allen would have been proud of you.

[OJ]

This was just about as foolish as the time I caught my thumb in the breechbolt of an M-1 Garand rifle in front of witnesses. I wanted to scream so bad that time but I held my breath and watched the little geyser of blood erupt from my broken thumnail... I'll bet some of you have been there.

That happened to my roommate when we were "Plebes" at USMA (West Point) back in 1945 and he was written up with the "gig" (demerit for which he had to walk off as punishment - an hour under the hot sun in July - on concrete carrying that rifle and full backpack) - the "gig" was written up as "Unauthorized substance on glove" (it was blood). He had been a 1st Lt and one of my instructors in aviation cadets prior to our entering West Point -

Actually, it happened to many others before they got the hang of catching the bolt with the heel of their hands when, after "inspection" the rifle was tossed back to the owner - those "inspections" were brutal (but most other things were also in "Beast Barracks" BCT - Basic Cadet Training).



My next question is "What does that have to do with "old age" ? - as I come up on my 86th anniversary of my arrival on this planet - the above incident happened bfore either of us was old enough to vote -

How do you define "old age" ?

[GregT]

Good Morning!
First things first! I will photo the rifle when the the buttstock is fit and the tang screw hole is drilled. That will end part one of the job. Part two commences with the fitting of the crescent buttplate. Thankfully, the plate sets on the stock externally. No internal fitting. This could be quick or could bring along some more techniques of filing wood to learn... (There's that word, again!)
Second thing that came up was how would I describe old (or olde...) . Simple! You are old if you are too advanced in years to take the recoil of a Marlin Model 95 even with a recoil pad! Or, you are old if the recoil sets off your defibillator. Or causes you to pass a kidney stone! Or, heaven forbid, causes you to wet your pants!
One needs to remember that the recoil of a .45/70 is a totally different thing whether one is shooting a 12 pound,'74 Sharps, or a 7 pound Model 95 Marlin!
At 64, I'm having a great time and it appears that many around me here in this group are also having a great time.
GregT.

[Pitchy]

That 95 is going to hurt a lot more with the steel curved butt plate, especially being it`s a 7 lb rifle.
My 86 kicks a lot more with the steel butt plate then my CB with the shotgun style butt plate using the same ammo.
I love the look of the crescents but they do kick more or should i say you feel it more.

[Rusty]

It's never too later to fit it with a proper rubber recoil pad.