Posted on 01/21/2024 3:48:56 AM PST by marktwain
Reloading is one of my main hobbies.
Doing it for 40+ years.
Dad and my brother and I mostly reloaded shotshells when I was very young. We killed a lot of quail and dove. Really good memories. From time I was around 12 (got my first shotgun about that age) we were hunting with a number of his hunting buddies. They were of my dad’s generation and my grandfather’s generation.
Every year we would have a community bird fry when dove season opened. Don’t remember the date. Whole community would hunt, Make a day of it. Then the ladies would cook them. Long tradition.
I liked quail a lot better than dove. They were a lot harder to hunt, but for extended family in a good year it was worth the trouble to keep a bird dog. My brother and I were very good with a shotgun at early age.
Dad was an armorer in WWII, but he started hunting early as a kid too. I have a Springfield trap door 45-70 that was my dad’s grandfather’s. He carried one in the Spanish American War. A short War. Not sure the one I have was the one he was issued. It is possible, they discontinued using that rifle after the SA War. It was long range and deadly, but bolt action rifles convinced the military it was time to upgrade.
My dad’s grandfather gave it to him when he was 3. When dad came to visit his grandfather, he knew what door the rifle was kept and would drag it all over the house (my grandmothers story). So his grandfather told dad’s mother that if she didn’t mind he would like her to take that rifle home for Pete (dad’s nickname). So that is how he came by it. It will still shoot, I replaced the firing pin (with original pin) when it became mine, it is one of the things that my father specifically left to me in his will (silly, but he wanted it that way.)
10-15 years ago I began collecting reloading equipment for all the calibers that my family members used. It took a while, but I’m not buying much now.
Though...I didn't end up with a Springfield 45/70 😆
Also have a John Buckingham 12 ga hammerless Damascas barrel shotgun, it was my dad’s grandfather’s. That is another project, It functions but the breech latch has some looseness because of wear on a square bolt inside the action. And it has a broken firing pin on the right barrel. It was pretty modern when it was made. Knowing the ownership, it was somewhere between 1889 and and 1924. (my guess is between 1915 and 1924)
There are proof marks to look for and bore of chamber is another indicator.
So I have old projects and I have new builds. smile.
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