My father's guns

[daytime dave]

My father passed away unexpectedly two and a half weeks ago. He only owned two guns. They were seldom used. My grandfather had a bait and tackle store and for about a decade, also sold guns and ammunition. My father said my grandfather, his father in law, was a good salesman. My father would have never gotten any guns except my grandfather told him he might need them on his small farm.

What did he need? A .22 and a 20 gauge shotgun. As time would tell, they did come in handy to dispatch pests, but these guns rarely saw the light of day.




I discovered these guns as a young teen. The ammo was always stored in the "back room" and the guns were tucked in the corner of the closet in their cases.
Dad wanted to dispatch a pesky woodchuck that came out around sundown. The .22 did it's stuff and then after a lot of pleading, I was allowed to target shoot a bit.

The .22 is a Marlin 989 M-2. It was an M-1 Carbine look alike. It's also the only Marlin in my collection. I have always liked this gun. I have researched it over the years. It has a Weaver scope on it and retains the rear sight too. It only has one 7 shot magazine. I dated it to 1974.

[daytime dave]

The shotgun is a single shot Harrington and Richardson 20 gauge. I really like the color case hardening on it. I was going to use it to do the old yellar thing with our dog, as dad couldn't do it. It turns out that the dog died just before I came over to do the deed. I did use it a few years ago to dispatch a crow that was picking the corn plants out as they started to grow. His friends didn't come back. The shotgun dates to 1965.









They are a bit rusty in spots and scratched in places. I'll oil them and clean them and put them away. I'll take them out once in a while give them some use. As I ponder it, these were pretty good choices for the small farm that turned to a hobby farm when I was a small boy. The cows were sold when I was in the first or second grade. They were tools for dad to use. Now they are fond memories for me.

[tractortad]

A pair of nice "old tools" - sorry to hear about your dad.

[Henry88]

Love the wood heat shield on top of the Marlin.

[Les]

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad, Dave.

The CCH on the shotgun is superb.

[Cofisher]

My condolences for you loss, Dave. Been there.
I raised my boys with a 20 quite like that. Had to cut the stock. They were kinda runty kids, lol.

[North Country Gal]

Sorry to hear about your father, Dave. Our condolences.

Those two guns are actually collectible in some circles, now, especially the Marlin. Most of those M1 Carbine look-a-likes got heavy use. Glad you still have that one of a kind rear sight for it. Have seen that sight sell for over $100 on auctions.

[Sir Henry]

Sorry to hear about your dad.

That Marlin is great looking and I love vintage Weavers and the V-22A is one of my favorites. Interesting that he chose to scope an M1 Carbine look alike as it wasn't known as a long range shooter.

[JEBar]

very sorry to hear about your Dad .... the 989 and Topper, have no monetary value, they are way beyond that .... they are priceless

[Jdl447]

image.jpeg (1.5 MiB) Viewed 6003 times

This was my fathers first firearm, a Remington 510 target master. It's pretty accurate but the trigger is horrible.
He passed in 2011 at 84. He said his mother got it at a filling station with green stamps when he was 12, so that would put it at a 1939.
I refinished it 5 years ago.