Have you ever had one of those days???
 

So, I woke up around 10:00 this morning and thought would do a little shooting today. I opened my gun safe and started digging my way towards the back of my safe when I discovered that I had a new rifle I have not shot at all. Wow!!! All of a sudden I am having a great day. It's kind of like Christmas coming a tad early. Anyways I had forgot about her and by the way her name is Thumper. I remembered picking her up sometime back and setting towards the back of my 48 gun gun-safe. Thumper is a .58 cal TOW customized Renegade with a GMB. Really the only part that is Renegade is the lock, triggers, and but plate. I thought I would share my good fortune by telling y'all about a having one of them days. :confused0024:

Yes I have done the same thing. I was taking a insurance survey of the firearms and marking them off as I picked them out, checked serial numbers, etc, and suddenly found a .50 caliber flintlock T/C Hawken on the shelf. I must have purchased it, and stuck it on a back gun shelf. It was even labelled so I knew what part of the rack it went in, and where I purchased it from. So I too got to shoot a new to me rifle. This was a while back and I have sense shot the devil out of the rifle. I purchased it so I could fit Green Mountain Barrels in a .50 Hawken instead of my .54.

Well that happened to me once too. At least that's what I told my wife. She saw me with a nice little 20 ga SxS and asked "When did you get that?"
I said "I don't know where it came from. I found it nestled in between two 12 gauges. I don't know what's going on in that gun safe. I think they might be breeding in there!"

Sheesh, you guys have biiiiiiig safes....
I only have 2 b/p rifles of which one is a custom .451 in 1:24 twist, proudly South African made rifle. A Mkonto inline based on the J Pauley's British Patent #4026 of 1816 and I don't even get a chance to properly sight her in.

Shoot O' dear - I would call that one of those really really really good days....

Had to turn your pic over so I could digest it...



Dang nice find... and it has in history earned it's name "Thumper"

I think I may need to go through my gun safes and inventory what I have now on hand. Lately I have ran through a lot of rifles. I bought 7 or 8 in the last 2 weeks but have sold a few as well. I just can't pass up a good deal. Thanks SL for rotating the pic. The stock on that rifle is a little thicker than a regular Renegade stock. She will have to wait awhile before I get to shoot her. Gonna be out of state for a bit. Gonna head over in to WV with my .36 rock lock and chase some bushy tails with my dad and a couple of friends. I attached another pic so y'all can see the differences in the stocks. Anyways it's a great day to be me...lol

Bronco, I never thought of telling wife that when I was married. Now that's funny. Wait a while and slip out and pick up another 12 ga and you can always tell her that the 20 ga grew up...lol

Nope, haven't laid in bed until 10 in decades, usually up drinking coffee and getting the day started by 5:00..

When Uncle Sam said I was retired I took it to heart...lol... Actually 10:00 is purdy early for me to get up. I play music at night so I don't get to bed until around 6:00 AM. However, that allows me to satisfy both my addictions guitars and guns.

Well Slowburn, I'd say that's a darn nice way to start your day! :happy0001:

I known I have several center fire shootin' irons in my safe that I've never fired, but here's what I found to be coincidental when I read your OP. I bought a NIB never fired T/C .58 Hawken rifle 1-1/2 yrs. ago today on 4/14/14 (some of you may remember I posted a few pics) and had never fired it so today I thought... what the heck, I might just take that .58 out this afternoon and throw some .570 round balls through it. It seems everyone else on here has been shooting their big bores lately so maybe that's what got me in the mood to shoot it. Besides, I might just use that during part of our early doe only ML season which starts the 17th.

Well, a friend called around 1:00 and asked if I could help him round up and load some cattle he was sending to a sale so I didn't get home until darn near five but I decided to shoot for a bit anyway. My target backstop was out at about 40 yards so I hung a target with a 3" bull on it and rounded up my gear. I loaded up with 70 gr. FFg, a .020 pillow tick patch, and .570 ball. My first shot was about 2" high of the bull and about 1" left of center. I swabbed with a moistened alcohol patch and shot again, this time in the bull at 10:00 with my next three shots hovering in a nice little cluster all in the 10 and 11:00 portion of the bull. I'm going to shoot it some more tomorrow and play around with a load a bit, maybe make a sight adjustment, but so far I'm happy.

Incidentally... when I finished shooting and was picking up my gear, I heard what sounded like deer moving through our brush lot. Several minutes later there were 7 does that came out and just a few minutes later a small buck (which I believe was a 6 pt.) came out. They all milled around for about ten minutes or so then went into the neighbors corn. Oh if they only knew!!!

BPS

really like that nose cap!

Me too. I was wondering if you could purchase one for the rene?

BPS- Not sure what the twist rate is on your .58. But my GM barreled Renegade just chews up 100 gr of Goex FFg under a .575" RB and .020" pillow tick patch lubed with olive oil. I think you read my recent post that showed 5 balls making a huge ragged hole in my target at 100 yards. And that was with a T/C peep sight.
It is all ready to head up the camp on Sunday after church to try and put the smack down on a big fat doe one day next week too.

Don't let Hillary hear about them guns!!! She may want to take 'em away!?!?

Bronko...

I have never checked it but it's probably 1:48 like most of the factory barrels were. I'm not gonna invest in a peep for it, it's gonna stay in factory original condition. Probably shouldn't have fired it, it would be worth more down the road.

Good luck during your up and coming week at camp!

BPS

Can't say when the last time I stayed in bed until 10 and I sure as a hell know I never found a gun in my safe I didn't know I had. Are you guys for real?

You must be a young whippersnapper RCIII. :biggrin: Some of us old retired farts stay in bed until 10 whenever we feel like it, and I for one feel like it about two mornings a week.

I've never found a gun I didn't know I had. But I do have one around here someplace (a .50 NEF Sidekick) that I haven't run across in a while. I'm pretty sure I didn't give it away or sell it though. :s2:

Well considering I shoot most every firearm I buy as soon as I get it cleaned up and thoroughly checked over (like a kid at Christmas :D ) I can't say that I "found one I didn't know I had" BUT at my old age and the amount of firearms I do have I can certainly say I'm pretty sure I have forgotten a few like the wall hangers (old milsurps that are a little too iffy to fire but have some history) or some of my collectibles that even just modern black powder would make me a little nervous to shoot them (A couple of Walkers in original condition).

I used a Sidekick for years and it never let me down:



I have always used a 300 gr. XTP and 85 grs. of Pyrodex but upgraded my bp to be able to shoot BH209. I use 95 grs of BH209 now. For eight straight years I have taken a deer with this gun. It is now my back up gun. Simple, no frills gun that works every time!!!

Speaking of antiques, I have a couple. I'm not the kind of guy to fondle them, but shoot them. My last acquisition, Trapdoor carbine:



Is one of my favorites. I ended up shooting some BPCR rounds (.45-70) instead of the reduced loads the army came up with way back when, (.45-55). It amazes me how accurate this old gun is!!!

Now I don't forget I have guns in my safe, I just haven't shot them in a while and it becomes like christmas when I rap them from the safe.

Man, that brings back memories rafsob. Back in my much younger days (and long before restrictions on mail order sale of cartridge guns), Trapdoors were dirt cheap in the ads in Field & Stream, Sports Afield, etc. But no one wanted them back then. Wish I had bought a dozen.

Sleeping till 10:00-not in a long time. Finding a gun in my safe I didn't know I had - never. Are you guys for real????? LOL

Real easy to sleep to 10 if you go to bed at 1 a.m. Pretty sure I'm for real. At least I looked real in the mirror this morning. :s2:

I'm 61 but just don't get to sleep that late. Maybe someday when I join the retired group but even then I doubt I'd sleep that late. 8:00 is late for me.