16ga.com ~ View topic - "Friends" that treat your guns improperly?

Joined: 19 Jun 2004 Posts: 1480 Location: Mpls, MN.

The older I get, the more scratches and what not I seem to put on my own guns!

K357, there are few people who think a Mossberg 500 is nice looking. But, I'm one of them. They are easy to work on, easy to shoot, and economical. I have better guns, but, none that actually work any better than these. I own two, both 12s, and they get a fair amount of use. I've been looking for a 16 gauge version, but, not hard.

Mike's Dad was a lout. Mike said he saw him six or eight times while he was growing up, and the only things in his estate were this gun, a belt, one and one half bottles of cheap hooch, and half a carton of Pall Mall straights.
Mike gave me the gun after his five year old found it, right after he got it, and in a rage he dumped the two jugs down the sink, and threw the smokes and the belt in the trash. He said it was liberating to cut his ties to his lowlife Dad. The memories didn't fit in with where he wanted to be, and to go with his kids. Mike initially came down wanting to borrow a hack saw, and was going to cut it in half and throw it in the trash, but, decided he could give it to me, instead!

That said, the gun is in a different orbit with me. At the last Ruffed Grouse society fun shoot I attended, over at Metro Gun Club, a mistake got the event scheduled on the same day as skeet league night. A few guys switched to trap, to keep the skeet fields open for the league guys, and I ran home to get a couple of guns more suited to trap than skeet. I put my Darne away and I used my King's Ferry Ithaca 37 12 with a 30" barrel (it doesn't get loaned out) and anyone who wanted could use the black Mossberg. The Mossberg got a good work out at that event, and one guy wanted to buy it off me after he ran 25 straight with it. The gun is a big, heavy, old tank, and it is easy to get a good rhythm going with it on a trap field, for most guys. I told him "It isn't for sale, and it's a long story why not, but, thanks, and I'll keep you in mind if things change".
Out of a bad family situation, the old gun gets decent use with decent folk, today, and is under lock and key at my house, rather than waiting to be a tragic element in a sad story.
Mike is remarried, owns his own home, and is a great mechanic. I see him all the time. He hasn't seen the gun, or said anything about it since he gave it to me, just like he asked.

Best,
Ted

Joined: 15 Feb 2015 Posts: 13 Location: Santa Fe Trail, ks

Add pocket knives and pick ups to the list.

Moved to a nice neighborhood, hated it. But I was still torn between restoring my late fathers 79 Golden eagle Jeep PU and was using it as a third vehicle.

We had several things to do and my wife said go buy a new truck. Solid black, grill guard roll over bars bumpers. Sharp. The plates on the old jeep expired at this time.

I had a new neighbor, he had a pickup and sold it a week or so after we moved in, it was new but had dings and scratches. HE was an IT guy, just drove a pickup. HE came over and asked to borrow my brand new truck to go get gravel and mulch for their new yard. Saturday morning he banged on my door early. I handed him the old Jeep keys, he gave me a blank look, said I want to use the new one, I said I saw your new one neighbor, the jeep is fine. He used it all day saturday, made quite a few trips, I noticed a new scratch on the rear wheel guard.

The next morning he brought the keys over, he was upset, said HEY did you know the licenses was expired on the Jeep. I said yep, HE whined about coulda got a ticket etc. I said yep, but the new ding on the old jeep is not on my new truck. We later became friends and he knew I would not take any BS from him. And no he never asked again.

Joined: 20 Jan 2015 Posts: 59

Nobody asks to borrow my guns... Might be a penchant for light triggers at least on the rifles(I dont 1.5-2lbs is an issue for a hunting rifle) But my friends all have to many guns as it is, so not much of a need to borrow.

When I was 7 years old my father bought us a new Marlin 39a, That would have been in late 1952. Five or six years later he loaned it to one of my uncles. When we got it back it had numerous rust spots. Needless to say we never loaned it or any other gun out again. I also do not loan my tools or lawn care equipment, it all has a definite lifespan, and I paid for it's use, not to give it away to someone who does not care to get and take care of their own. If they need something they can go buy it or rent it.