just had to share the joy of a new gun with someone...figured you guys would due


got home today from college for the weekend...usually come home every weekend so nothing out of the ordinary...

i open my bedroom door and immediately look on my bed because that is where mom and dad put my mail throughout the week and i see a gun laying there with a card...

hmmm my birthday was a couple weeks ago and they got me a GPS for my truck....what could it be?? dad gave me a pile of guns over the years but never with a card....what can it be??

i immediately seen it was a semi-auto shotgun...

upon closer inspection, a winchester model 50 12 gauge!!

hmmm maybe grandma gave it to me? nope..full choked barrel..hers is a modified...

better open the card....mom and dad bought it for me for my college graduation which is in a few weeks....but i guess because im leaving for the summer they figured they would give it to me a bit early to play with and enjoy...

why a winchester model 50? you might be asking...not a super rare gun...not very fancy guns...

well, when i was VERY young i started taking care of my grandmothers guns. they were left behind by my grandfather and her 2nd husband also left a few...like 8 long guns total...i would whipe them down and keep them oiled a few times a year ever since i could which was real young....well, at 12, i borrowed my grandfathers m88 in 308 and killed my first deer. then i started borrowing my grandfathers m50 12ga with modified barrel...i borrowed it pretty much every season....i killed a fall turkey with it, a pile of squirrels, bunnies, pheasants, doves, and my favorite...a pile of ruffed grouse. i always had a kinda natural ability for wing shooting...but that gun just connected with me...when i shot, something usually died...could been the fact that it was the only semi i hunted with and it wasnt uncommon for me to send 3 shells down range...but when your busting brush and limbs and hemlocks etc, the first 2 shots are usually knocking down the brush for the 3rd to connect lol...thats the biggest thing with rabbit and grouse hunting is you can often see them but not hit them because the brush in the way...

but i always loved that shotgun. my family and my grandma moved in together for a while and we kinda left on somewhat not so good terms...nothin huge just didnt really work out and dad told me make sure i left all her guns there....i asked her for the m50 and m88 several times...asked for them for birthdays and Christmas etc....no go....they are both my grandfathers...noone else in the immediate family hunts or takes care of the guns....but i honestly dont believe i will see any of the guns...both the sons are money hungry sharks and i wouldnt be surprised if they were sold already...i havent seen the guns since we left...

anyways, thats the story on why dad decided to buy me the model 50.

i have 4 other shotguns but dad knows i dont like wingshooting with any of them...only 1 is somewhat suitable and its a 28" mossberg 500 that i just hate carrying...going to turn it into a slug gun eventually...last year i actually carried my 870 with a 21" barrel(turkey gun) grouse hunting...

cant wait to shoot the new toy tomorrow!!! i dont know if i have any clays laying around or not...but im definently shooting it! kinda worried about the full choke...but the way that modified barrel used to shoot, im not sure it will effect me a ton...

kicking around the idea of getting screw in chokes for it...and also refinishing the stock...but i dont know...its an original winchester...ran the serial # and it was made in 1958....really isnt in bad condition...stock isnt that dinged but could be refinished....bluing wear is minimal..loading port is slightly wore but for the most part its in good condition...probably 80% give or take id say...