Good eye. I slipped on wet rocks one year and dropped it. It went skidding down the hill to a stop. After that, I stripped the stock, steamed out the dings and finished it with rubbed oil. Now it is much more easy to maintain. I leant it to a cousin one season and he fell off a beaver dam with it and it got wet. He was afraid he ruined it because the wood looked grey. One coat of oil after it dried out and it was good to go again.Dam that thing is in really good shape . you must have refinished the stock or you were a well behaved 16 year old.
I don’t see Ruger making them like this again. I like the tube mag in the older ones. It works like a shotgun and never fails. The only issue I have had is with soft pointed handgun bullets that fail to ride up the feed ramp and shells that are too light to clear the ejection port and stove pipe. Those LEVERevolution shells work great in it. Accurate and lots of punch.
These days, the guns that sell have synthetic stocks, rails, and detachable mags. I’m sure it would end up being marketed as a defence rifle that accepts 10 round handgun mags and would be restricted or prohibited inside of 6 months.
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