Happy Birthday TxHunter & Molasses.

[gamekeeper]

Have a GREAT DAY fellas . . . . . .

[Molasses]

Thanks!

I woke up early, hit the bathroom and decided not to try and crawl back into bed. Only about 40 minutes until the alarm goes off and the timer starts running for getting in to work. Got out to the kitchen and discovered that Sweet Tooth had left a really nice card with a touching additional message written inside on the table. Obviously age is starting to affect her mental state, as it was mis-addressed to me.


As far as leverguns and others go, it's been an interesting year. I was being good about keeping the credit cards paid off and not buying anything until about August. Since then, there's been a new Winchester-marked High Wall Trapper .45-70, a Remington Hepburn (.38-55), a pair of police trade-in FN 9mms, a Remington 512P with the addition of a Lyman 422 Expert scope (my VERY limited research indicates that most of these scopes are seen as a factory option on Remington Model 34s, but the two shiny, round head machine screws holding the scope base onto the barrel pretty much scream that this was installed aftermarket).

Then it gets complicated:

Someone posted here awhile back about an older Browning BLR on Gunbroker with a barrel marked P O Ackley, .257 Durham Jet and an absolute mess of a rattle can camo paint job combined with a partial sanding off of the buttstock finish. I decided to put in a bid on it for the high end of what one of those early BLR magazines goes for these days, plus a bit for spare parts to go with my .358 (just in case things didn't work out with it as-is) and ended up winning the auction for less than $300. Which lead to further communications with the seller and now I have a Remington Model 600 Mohawk with "P O Ackley by D Bellm .257 Durham" barrel markings and dressed in what appears to be a Brown stock (darned thing feels like it weighs about 4 pounds, sans scope) and a set of dies to go with the BLR. Probably the only kid on the block with one, much less two rifles in this caliber.

All of the above .257 gear finally showed at my FFL over the Thanksgiving holiday and I made it out there last Saturday to make the transfer. Got to talking and...well, remember the thread about the Browning Broadway that was on here not too long ago? No, not one of those (darn the luck), but my dealer's had a Weatherby Olympian sitting there for years and I'd never looked at it (I don't know if anyone else had in all that time, either). Just about as wide a rib on it as the Broadway, tight action and gorgeous wood. Points good, too. We worked out a price $400 lower than his asking.

Yeah, somebody just give me my sign. I should have the cards paid back down in about 4 months if I can start being good again. Riiiight.


Edited to add:

Oops, forgot the 1949 Browning Auto 5 12 gauge I also picked up back in the summer. Solid rib, Lyman Cutts Compensator and the accessory bag with two additional choke tubes and wrench.

[gamekeeper]

That sounds like a good year you're had there, ain't plastic wonderful. . . .

[Blaine]

Happy Birthday, Gentlemen...