I did a little woods walkin this morning with my grandpa's old Iver Johnson Champion 12 gauge. He bought it right after he returned from WWII. He gave it to me several years before he passed away. It has killed more critters than I will ever know. Something about using a piece of family history to bring home dinner.
Anyone else hunt with old heirlooms?

Cool photo thanks for sharing. I love hunting with older guns myself

Well done brother. I've got an old H&R single shot that I got as a Christmas gift over 40 years ago, I love walking around with that old shotgun. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Baker

I hunt with my grandfathers Winchester model 88.

Dunno if it's along the same lines as you are intending, but I like to use old C&R rifles, especially old Mauser military rifles, my Garands, an old Pattern 17 and a 1903A3.

Yeah- I have and old Winchester C7 .22 my good friend gave me a couple years before he died in a house fire. I couldn't find a serial # on it, but I think I got it narrowed down to the early 40's.

Allthough I don't take it out much, it's my favorite gun by far.

I was given a J.C. Higgins Model 101.7 SxS .410 when I was 14. It was my mother's shotgun.

It's, by far, my favorite firearm, it doesn't go out much anymore, but it will be making a comeback in a couple of years when my oldest daughter grows into it.

Knew that OP pic was an Ivory Johnson Champion before I read the post. I have one in 20ga that gets out sometimes for a walk around. It is the gun I started hunting with and belonged to my Great Grand Father who bought it in 1937.

I hunt with my savage 99's, one is yr 1904

I've got an old JC Higgins .22LR that my grandpa gave my dad, who gave it to me. That's the best shooting .22 I've ever had. Love that old gun.

I've got several others from the 60's that I hunt with regularly. I've also got an old rolling block Remington that was rechambered in 30-30. The barrel was cut down. It's a good pig thumper.

I have a 1956 remington model 58 sportsman in 16ga that i still shoot better than any other shotgun I have.

I have a 1906 Winchester 22 pump and a Stevens SXS in 410 that I belonged to my my grandfather I never got to meet. I got them when my mom passed away. They bring back memories of my parents and using them hunting as a kid.

I have my dad's Rem 552 that I still use some. I also have the .410 Moseberg he gave me one Xmas and will be taking my two Grandsons hunting with one day. Something about walking the woods with the old memories in hand.

Great post. I have a few old guns I use.

One is a single shot champion 12 GA. I remembered seeing it in my fathers closet when I was a kid. Probably while snooping for Christmas presents. Remembering it again, I looked in my dads closet several years ago and it was still there, rusty with a cracked stock and looked beyond repair. Asked my dad if I could have it.

This spawned some stories and what I learned is that going back perhaps several generations on my Father's side it was tradition in our family that a boy would receive his first shotgun on his 12th birthday. As well once a year the men in the family would gather for a bird hunt. My father always looked forward to his 12 birthday when he would have his gun and could go hunting with the men. This was my Dad's 12th birthday shotgun. The year it was given to him, the family bird hunt was a month before he turned 12 years of age. My grandfather refused to give the shotgun to him early wanting to stick with tradition, therefore my Dad was not to go on the hunt. I was told my Grandmother intervened and demanded my grandfather give his son the shotgun early and he did. My father did go on the hunt.

The shotgun became more than that. On hard times with farming failing in Oklahoma, my family started a journey down Route 66 to California for a new beginning. Part way my grandfather became ill with cancer and soon passed away. My father who was just a boy and my grandmother, stranded with no work lived in a barn that a farmer let them stay in. They survived by eating rotting lettuce that the farmer fed to his horses and whatever my father could kill with his shotgun. One day my father shot a crow. It was the only thing he could find and he was hungry. He built a fire and roasted it on a green stick, feathers and all. He said it was the worst thing he ever ate.

I consider this shotgun the most valuable firearm I own and restored it to shootable condition with my own hands. The first thing I did was take it out and shoot a crow with it. But I could not bring myself to roast the crow on a stick and eat it.



Next thing I did was take it on an Alligator hunt with my father. My main alligator gun is a SMLE .410 Musket, but when we got to my Dad's alligator, I instructed my son to set up to pull the gator in for the shot and told my Father I was going to retrieve something special from the boat for him to shoot his alligator with. The look on his face was priceless when I pulled out his old shotgun from the case. And more priceless was watching him shoot his alligator with his old gun.

Sniper John, that is an awesome story. You are right about it becoming a most valuable firearm by it's family history. That would be the first non-living thing I would rescue from a burning house.

It's funny your family has the tradition of buying the boys first shotgun at age 12. That is the same in my family! In fact, I still have my first shotgun, a Winchester 37A youth in 20 gauge.



I bought my boys their first shotguns at age 12 too.

I hunt with My Great Uncle's Pre '64 Winchester Model 70 Featherweight .243 from time to time....

those are awesome guns.

My grandfather recently gave me his old model 97 winchester 16 ga shotgun. He has hunted his whole life with it. Im hesitant to shoot it because it was mfg in 1901. Id love to hunt with it, but im a bit nervous to.

Got a 1947 Rem.22 Scoremaster. I've hunted everything from barn rats to rabbits to tree rats. Have had several 22's in the meantime but always grab that one first. My dad trapped gophers in Minn. for bounty to get it. Bought it new.

Also have an old 30-30 '94. I've had it over 25yrs. and it was old when I got it. It's been my primary deer gun until this year. My eyesight just needed a scope.

The first Friday in Ocotber is the day my dad and I go on our annual squirrel hunt. I always use my Grandpa's (mother's dad) Stevens 67E 20ga. I love that gun and can't count the squirrels I've killed with it.

I try to get my inherited model 99 out once or so a year to hunt. Great guns.

JC Higgins 30.30


Same Rifle

Opie had the same champion you posted. I started dove hunting with it.

matt

Can't wait to blast a hog with my old 91/30 Mosin.
Got the bayonet too, case they rush me . . . .

My first gun was an old 20 guage single shot shotgun. I killed my first old gobbler 40 years ago with it. My plans are to kill one next time I go with it. I think that will just be kinda cool if all goes to plan. I have lots of memories with that old gun.

I know a group of men that hunt an MLD mule deer ranch south of Alpine and they all shoot the octagon barrel shaped lever action WInchesters. It is sort of neat until someone shows up with a scope and they start making fun of you, but I guess it is all in fun.