1979. I bought my first bolt rifle. Remington 700 BDL in 7mm RM. It fit. It didn't cost much ($275 new). It had good ballistics. Shot sub MOA (160 Sierra BTSP, 120 Hornady SP, and 115 Speer HP...and Barnes-X). And I felt like if something happened to it I wouldn't start to cry. But that gun grew on me and taught me a lot: how to shoot a rifle with more punch than a 30-30, how to work up reloads, how to customize a rifle. So in 2002 when it started shooting wonky I didn't know what to think? 6 hours south is PGW. Dropped it in there for an evaluation. 'Your throat's burned out.' Added it up, 1,000, 15 hundred, 2K, probably 2,500 rounds plus put down that tube of some very high pressure loads...screaming ballistics...guess they don't last forever, hey? But what to do? New gun? I dunno. I had stripped the finish and cut the stock into a straight comb, and mounted ebony on the forearm and pistol grip. And I had shot several pickup loads of deer, elk, moose, and bear with it, not to mention more loathsome critters like coyotes over the decades. The rifle and I were one! It felt like putting an old dog down! In the mean time I had gone to experimenting with large bore cartridges loaded slow...45-70 and 375 H&H...freight car bullets at 1800 fps. So I didn't hesitate when PGW said they'd rebarrel it in premium SS for $900. It took them a year to get around to it...they're a busy bunch...but they did a nice job and it is clearly still my go-to gun (I have a matching .375 in a 700 Classic...can never have too many .375's!) and will last my lifetime and perhaps that of my grandkids? I shoot other calibre's much more than this sweet old girl, but when big game is at stake she always comes out of the closet first. And she has gone afield from 60 degrees north to southern Kansas and from the Pacific to the Atlantic in the US and Canada - snow, freezing rain, -40F, dry, desert, +40C, and altitude.
'There's something about loving a woman with a broken nose. You may find others more beautiful, but you will never find one more real.' --- Rudyard Kipling
View attachment 13066
How about you? Had any guns you just couldn't let go? New barrel? New stock? Refinished? Or maybe one that is just old and holds a place of honour in your gun rack?
'There's something about loving a woman with a broken nose. You may find others more beautiful, but you will never find one more real.' --- Rudyard Kipling
View attachment 13066
How about you? Had any guns you just couldn't let go? New barrel? New stock? Refinished? Or maybe one that is just old and holds a place of honour in your gun rack?
