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I'll bet that we have all done this- bought a new gun/pride and joy/immaculate firearm.. taken it to the woods or range and somehow proceeded to accidentally/negligently scrape it and leave an indelible mark on the wood or the deep, rich almost black bluing....
In my case, back in the days when both money and brains were in short supply:oops: (personally speaking) I took my brand freakin new Browning BLR .308 on a hike atop the Rampart Range west of Colorado Springs.. at that time, 45 years ago CS was less than half the size it is now and the upper reaches of Rampart Range were very secluded and hunting and shooting by local residents was no problem. Anyway, a gun-buddy and myself were up there climbing boulders and checking the area for elk or deer. I was scurrying across a very rough red granite boulder as large as the house I was living in at the time- rougher than diamond files... and the rifle slipped in my grasp and:eek: bumped the granite crystals, which individually were as large as dimes, sharp as small knife-points, and clustered closely.. :mad:.. the foregrip and barrel right by the front sight took a bit of a scratch which became a gouge when the granitic crystal hit the wood...
Yours Truly quickly recovered the situation and prevented any further damage to the BLR.. but my pride was dinged forever after when I look at that sad piece of personal history....
A wee tad of cold blue of some sort covered the scratch on the barrel somewhat, and a dab of polyurethane stopped any further injury to the wood, but it is gouged for good grrrrr!!!....
Alas- : To add insult to injury, we didnt get any deer or elk that day either!
I know that things like this happen, probably to most anyone who crawls around thru the forest and over hills and boulders.. a few years later, after doing some reading and suitably reinforced by Mel Tappan, I began investing in military small arms and Ive been thru a few- but never again have I bumble-fingered another firearm like that! Thereafter, my "hunting gun" purchases have all been used- where a minor ding simply serves as a "price modifier" to bring down the sale price.
OK, as the churchmen tell us, "Confession is good for the soul"... what have all ya'lls done in a similar vein?
 
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I never much cared for something perfect.
Holster wear, dings, scratches. It's all good, it a mechanical tool that causes small explosions.

If it's perfect I won't want to use it.

I bought a new truck once, first camping trip a friend hit it with a softball, never bought new again,
 
Scratches , dents , dings are all part of the gun's history.
While I really don't like to see 'em happen... As long as it happened through honest use and not abuse then its a bit easier to live with , at least for me.
Andy
 
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I'll bet that we have all done this- bought a new gun/pride and joy/immaculate firearm.. taken it to the woods or range and somehow proceeded to accidentally/negligently scrape it and leave an indelible mark on the wood or the deep, rich almost black bluing....
In my case, back in the days when both money and brains were in short supply:oops: (personally speaking) I took my brand freakin new Browning BLR .308 on a hike atop the Rampart Range west of Colorado Springs.. at that time, 45 years ago CS was less than half the size it is now and the upper reaches of Rampart Range were very secluded and hunting and shooting by local residents was no problem. Anyway, a gun-buddy and myself were up there climbing boulders and checking the area for elk or deer. I was scurrying across a very rough red granite boulder as large as the house I was living in at the time- rougher than diamond files... and the rifle slipped in my grasp and:eek: bumped the granite crystals, which individually were as large as dimes, sharp as small knife-points, and clustered closely.. :mad:.. the foregrip and barrel right by the front sight took a bit of a scratch which became a gouge when the granitic crystal hit the wood...
Yours Truly quickly recovered the situation and prevented any further damage to the BLR.. but my pride was dinged forever after when I look at that sad piece of personal history....
A wee tad of cold blue of some sort covered the scratch on the barrel somewhat, and a dab of polyurethane stopped any further injury to the wood, but it is gouged for good grrrrr!!!....
Alas- : To add insult to injury, we didnt get any deer or elk that day either!
I know that things like this happen, probably to most anyone who crawls around thru the forest and over hills and boulders.. a few years later, after doing some reading and suitably reinforced by Mel Tappan, I began investing in military small arms and Ive been thru a few- but never again have I bumble-fingered another firearm like that! Thereafter, my "hunting gun" purchases have all been used- where a minor ding simply serves as a "price modifier" to bring down the sale price.
OK, as the churchmen tell us, "Confession is good for the soul"... what have all ya'lls done in a similar vein?
upload_2017-9-19_4-29-16.jpeg

I got outa life with my old Japan made BLR perfectly unscathed.
However, I totally snow angeled my precious Model seven onto some big basalt boulders. I'd rather not talk about it.
 
I'm pretty good with stuff....

Except that time I accidentally shot a squib out of a Henry 357 and bulged the barrel. Still haven't gotten it fixed because it shoots fine.
 
IMHO if you hunt here on the west side then at one point or another you will slip and fall and probably put a ding in your rifle. I did it to my dads 270 when I was 18 years old. He wasn't very happy but it was better than me going over a big enbankment. :rolleyes: That moss on rocks and logs can get slick not sure what to tell ya! :D
 
If it gets a scratch or ding from being used as it's intended, Im just fine with that. I do get a little peeved when say I ding my AR build in the process of assembling it. I get over it fairly quickly though.
 
I think I've put a scratch into most of my guns. I try to be careful, some times I goof up, and over decades, that amounts to a lot of times.
I don't have a story to match the OP's, although I do have some doozeys to tell with different tools in my tool chest: shorting two legs of 480vac; snapping a pipe wrench on a 4" gas line; a chunk of steel out of a ball peen hammer. Then there are the scars.....
 
The wear on a firearm has a story. And when you're a third generation owner like me. Some of those dings were from me as a kid, hunting with them. And the worn blueing shows how much use and enjoyment they brought my dad and hid dad. I'm glad their not trashed. But I'm not changing a mark on them. I'm adding to them. :)
 

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