Let's see your old Crusty's

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  • Bigtanker

    Cuddles
    Emeritus
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    24   0   0
    Aug 21, 2012
    21,688
    151
    Osceola
    I'm pretty sure you have that one (or three) guns somewhere at your place that have been used and or abused. Maybe it was grandpa's old rifle that you pulled out of his garage and it was rusted but still shot. Maybe it's the shotgun that sits behind the barn door. I'd gather that these guns aren't worth more than $100 or so. But they serve a purpose and do it well.

    Today I brought home the .22 bolt action that my dad had as a young teenager. He upgraded to a semi-auto with a scope as iron sights are just too fuzzy at his age. It's a J.C. Higgins. It's not in horrible shape but it spent many years in non-climate controlled rooms, ready to pick off a critter. It has basic iron sights. But this thing shoots. Really good. I was hitting a 3"x 6" plate at 100 yards just sitting at a bench. I even did it standing a few times.

    MVIIhCp.jpg



    So lets see your beaters. If they have a story to them, tell us. Pictures are a bonus!
     

    red_zr24x4

    UA#190
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    4   0   0
    Mar 14, 2009
    28,792
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    Walkerton
    I have a JC Higgins double 9 which is a High Standard Hombre.
    Its a .22 s/d action that looks like a single action but the cylinder swings out.
    My dad bought it in the 60's gave it to my cousin in the 70's. At some point it broke and either him or his dad tore it apart.
    It sat in a box until about 2010 when my cousin gave it back to me.
    Thanks to Numrich, its back together. It shoots ok. Mostly I let the grandkids shoot it. Bluing is wore thin.
    It locks up tight but when the cylinder is open there's some wobble.
     

    Jaybird1980

    Grandmaster
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    5   0   0
    Jan 22, 2016
    11,929
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    North Central
    IMG-20200903-093520140-HDR.jpg


    I baled enough hay, shoveled enough horse stalls, and mowed enough grass the summer I turned 13 to come up with the $80 needed to buy this beauty. It's a E.A.A .22lr and I may as well of been John Wayne with this thing. I have other crustys that were granddad and my dads, but this one is all mine.
    I really should find someone to give it a tune-up so I can give it to my boy, so he can wear it out all over again.
     
    Last edited:
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    28   0   0
    Oct 3, 2008
    4,184
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    On a hill in Perry C
    Very early Winchester model 67. Bought in a Georgia pawnshop in 1985, for $16. Looked like it hadn't been cleaned since it left the factory in 1934, stock had no finish, metal was rust browned. Cleaned out 50 years of crud and lead fouling and found quite a shooter. Plus with a 27" barrel, who needs a suppressor? :):
     

    indy1919a4

    Master
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    41   0   0
    Jan 7, 2011
    2,009
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    We have a beater in the family that has put more Rabbit, squirrel and possum on the table then the Kroger has meat on a good day.

    My Great Grand dad got this Zulu shotgun from some previous family member. Never did know who. Anywho he hunted the guts out of this thing. I remember anytime going over to his house he was stewing or fring some critter or critters he got..

    Well the years past and Grandad hunted with it and when his memory started failing, he left it in the barn and forgot where he put it. By the time uncle 3 toes found it the wood rot got it pretty bad. So he bolted and wired the barrel to a wood stock that he had. Now this stock is a real blessing because with the recoil pad it makes it softer to shoot, but it does not line up well enough so the trigger and original hammer would work anymore.

    So he tied a hammer to it so you can smack it on the firing pin to shoot the gun. Now you would think that would make it hard to hunt with. But my uncle was always bagging some critter. And to be honest I have nailed a few myself with it. Its not as hard as you might think. It's no worse when aiming a hand cannon and lighting it with a fire rope. The big pain is carrying the hammer in your belt while you are walking in the brush..

    So finally after my uncle got put away, I got it. Where as I do not shoot it alot, he did leave me with a fair amount of reloaded ammo for it.





     
    Last edited:

    Bigtanker

    Cuddles
    Emeritus
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    24   0   0
    Aug 21, 2012
    21,688
    151
    Osceola
    We have a beater in the family that has put more Rabbit, squirrel and possum on the table then the Kroger has meat on a good day.

    My Great Grand dad got this Zulu shotgun from some previous family member. Never did know who. Anywho he hunted the guts out of this thing. I remember anytime going over to his house he was stewing or fring some critter or critters he got..

    Well the years past and Grandad hunted with it and when his memory started failing, he left it in the barn and forgot where he put it. By the time uncle 3 toes found it the wood rot got it pretty bad. So he bolted and wired the barrel to a wood stock that he had. Now this stock is a real blessing because with the recoil pad it makes it softer to shoot, but it does not line up well enough so the trigger and original hammer would work anymore.

    So he tied a hammer to it so you can smack it on the firing pin to shoot the gun. Now you would think that would make it hard to hunt with. But my uncle was always bagging some critter. And to be honest I have nailed a few myself with it. Its not as hard as you might think. It's no worse when aiming a hand cannon and lighting it with a fire rope. The big pain is carrying the hammer in your belt while you are walking in the brush..

    So finally after my uncle got put away, I go it. Where as I do not shoot it alot, he did leave me with a fair amount of reloaded ammo for it.






    That is awesome on so many levels.
     

    KJQ6945

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
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    4   0   0
    Aug 5, 2012
    37,538
    149
    Texas
    This is probably the crustiest one I currently have. It’s a 115 year old Winchester 1892 saddle ring carbine, and from the looks of the left side of the rifle, it has more miles on a saddle than probably any of us on INGO. The right side isn’t horrible, but the left has seen better days.

    8Mzfgdv.jpg
     

    Eddie61861

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Sep 9, 2020
    8
    1
    Richmond
    We have a beater in the family that has put more Rabbit, squirrel and possum on the table then the Kroger has meat on a good day.

    My Great Grand dad got this Zulu shotgun from some previous family member. Never did know who. Anywho he hunted the guts out of this thing. I remember anytime going over to his house he was stewing or fring some critter or critters he got..

    Well the years past and Grandad hunted with it and when his memory started failing, he left it in the barn and forgot where he put it. By the time uncle 3 toes found it the wood rot got it pretty bad. So he bolted and wired the barrel to a wood stock that he had. Now this stock is a real blessing because with the recoil pad it makes it softer to shoot, but it does not line up well enough so the trigger and original hammer would work anymore.

    So he tied a hammer to it so you can smack it on the firing pin to shoot the gun. Now you would think that would make it hard to hunt with. But my uncle was always bagging some critter. And to be honest I have nailed a few myself with it. Its not as hard as you might think. It's no worse when aiming a hand cannon and lighting it with a fire rope. The big pain is carrying the hammer in your belt while you are walking in the brush..

    So finally after my uncle got put away, I got it. Where as I do not shoot it alot, he did leave me with a fair amount of reloaded ammo for it.






    That looks like something straight out of the old mad max films, absolutely love it
     

    rob63

    Master
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    20   0   0
    May 9, 2013
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    We have a beater in the family that has put more Rabbit, squirrel and possum on the table then the Kroger has meat on a good day.

    My Great Grand dad got this Zulu shotgun from some previous family member. Never did know who. Anywho he hunted the guts out of this thing. I remember anytime going over to his house he was stewing or fring some critter or critters he got..

    Well the years past and Grandad hunted with it and when his memory started failing, he left it in the barn and forgot where he put it. By the time uncle 3 toes found it the wood rot got it pretty bad. So he bolted and wired the barrel to a wood stock that he had. Now this stock is a real blessing because with the recoil pad it makes it softer to shoot, but it does not line up well enough so the trigger and original hammer would work anymore.

    So he tied a hammer to it so you can smack it on the firing pin to shoot the gun. Now you would think that would make it hard to hunt with. But my uncle was always bagging some critter. And to be honest I have nailed a few myself with it. Its not as hard as you might think. It's no worse when aiming a hand cannon and lighting it with a fire rope. The big pain is carrying the hammer in your belt while you are walking in the brush..

    So finally after my uncle got put away, I got it. Where as I do not shoot it alot, he did leave me with a fair amount of reloaded ammo for it.






    I'm going to go out on a limb and assume there surely has to be a story about the time you let Doggy Daddy shoot it?

    I can add these two, but they seem kinda lame now.

    WjyQH0X.jpg
     
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    indy1919a4

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    Jan 7, 2011
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    I'm going to go out on a limb and assume there surely has to be a story about the time you let Doggy Daddy shoot it?

    Look DD really freaked out when I asked him to test fire Ricks 50 cal that Awan fixed up for me.. He was so cowardly at the range that he got some perfect stranger to test fire it. The whole affair was very embarrassing. Think Anthony Quinn when he was being interrogated by the Germans during the "Guns of Navarone". God I can still hear his whines and sobs in my ears .. And the gun looked like this...

    rimg.php


    I ask you whats the chance of me Getting DD to shoot that shotgun.. Beside.. Lets just be cold about it, Uncle 3 toes tested it for me.. No need to get DD involved.
     

    rob63

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    May 9, 2013
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    I ask you whats the chance of me Getting DD to shoot that shotgun.. Beside.. Lets just be cold about it, Uncle 3 toes tested it for me.. No need to get DD involved.

    All good points. Probably not a good idea to let him have a hammer anyway.
     

    indy1919a4

    Master
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    41   0   0
    Jan 7, 2011
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    All good points. Probably not a good idea to let him have a hammer anyway.

    Plus DD can act pretty high-toned at times.. He really looks down his nose at you if a gun your shooting is not just perfect.. No Trigger, a crack in the barrel, not the right ammo, no stock, the bolt does not close all the way and DD can really make you feel small for shooting it..
     

    NKBJ

    at the ark
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    4   0   0
    Apr 21, 2010
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    My crustiest is an 1888 8mm bought from an ad in the Rifleman for $35.
    After playing with it a while in 1981/1982 got Richard Hoch in Montrose, Colorado to put one of his cast barrels in it with 12" twist and make a mold to suit. A .32 caliber rifle with a long sight radius and the mold made by the barrel maker...

    There was a shooting range on the northeast side of Harris County, TX built into the back of a beer joint. It was a good rifle to have if you wanted to make bets.
    :)
     
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