Having a lazy morning and reading a few old topics…. and now a point of curiosity has risen in my mind:
For gun owners that have gone on to buy 10 or more long guns since their personal beginning, how many are still using their original purchase or inheritance as their “go to” selection?
I have a Winchester 1200 pump with a poly-choke that is sentimentally valued because in 1979, at the age of 12, I accomplished my first legitimate kill with it, a snowshoe hare. It was dad’s only shotgun and it felt like a cannon at the time, but I could shoot very well with it, so in 1995, I bought it from him. By this time I was raising a family of my own and began buying guns to cover possibilities, which led to research and shopping, which then led to becoming an enthusiastic hobbyist. The 1200 soon became my first “dust collector”.
Advancing to 2014, I finally moved into a country residence, which comes with steady pest control and random opportunities that must be seized when open seasons and happenstance collide! However, I found myself feeling a little guilty that my old friend wasn’t playing the same role in this new “paradise” as other, newer options were. She was still cared for and handled from time to time, but I began asking myself why I was no longer using the gun that had always been so good to me?
Since that time, we’ve put no less than 50 rounds down the pipe, she’s responsible for this past season’s last crow, and it’s an ever ready option in the front row of my safe.
I’ve retired my first 22lr and my inherited deer rifle on purpose, but the 1200 was simply left behind, lost in the wake of new things ventured.
Where are you? Are you still using the old one(s) or have they gone to pasture?
