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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 (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 bumped the granite crystals, which individually were as large as dimes, sharp as small knife-points, and clustered closely.. .. 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?
In my case, back in the days when both money and brains were in short supply (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 bumped the granite crystals, which individually were as large as dimes, sharp as small knife-points, and clustered closely.. .. 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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