Well, when I was 13 my grandfather gave me his 20ga Stevens-Browning pump shotgun. It used to sit in the cabinet behind the kitchen door. Full choke, 28" barrel.

I killed 3 partridge (ruff grouse) with it that year. I only had to walk off the lawn behind the house to start jumping birds (our own property).

The next year, when I was legally old enough to hunt small game, my father drove me to town because I wanted the barrel shorter and a more open choke. LeFever & Sons were located there at the time and I was asked what I wanted done to the gun. I told the gunsmith I would like a 24" barrel with an improved cylinder choke. He took out an inside diameter measuring tool and checked it with a micrometer and said they could do that.

I killed 9 partridge with it the next season and many more in following years. My brother used it one winter, we always hunted birds in deep snow on snowshoes and he killed 33.

Eventually it started to not feed correctly at times so we decided to sell it. Should have kept it. To this day I have never seen another Stevens-Browning pump shotgun. The take down procedure was to turn the magazine tube to loosen, and the from half slid down and out from the front of the receiver. There were 3 or 4 straight machined grooves on each matching half that slide together and locked in place with tension when the mag tube was tightened.

This is my Grandpas gun he bought it new in 1905 when he was 15 and then left home and walked from the area around Buffalo NY to Saint Paul Mn, those bolts in the stock were put there after he butt stroked a troublemaking drunk and broke the stock and the gun smith wanted 2 dollars to fix it so he went home and put those bolts in it and it’s been that way for well over a hundred years

The sad thing is that the gun was sold after my dad died along with a bunch of other things to help pay bills and I thought it was gone forever so I was shocked when I seen it standing in the used gun rack at my local gun store, and just when I had enough to buy it to so it finally came home where I hope it will stay

My dad bought me a Remington 742 in .308 when I graduated from high school in 1970 I hunted deer with that rifle for over 50 years. I killed over 40 white tails, a mule deer in Montana, and a Coues deer in Arizona. I killed my 2 biggest White tails in Saskatchewan with it. It finally gave up the ghost last year like they all do failure to eject fired rounds a lot of memories in that old rifle.

I sure wish they didn't do that
I have a 742 I bought when I was 14 , shot a few deer with it bit just a few as we seldom hunted in a rifle zone. I run M1 loading for it to not batter it up with full power 30-06.
as I know it has a life span of not that many rounds but it sure points fast.
picked up a 760 a friend had after he passed so I have something else that points fast to make memories with.

I mount a copper Trap Tag under there!

Pete

Thought I’d add this and story behind it when I was 10 I started trapping and carried my dads 22 rifle and scratched it up so him and mom bought me this RG 22 revolver at a pawnshop for $35.00 and gave it to me on my 11th birthday I carried it everywhere and all the time you should have seen the looks I got at 11 12 and on up walking into Walmart with it on my side but that was back in the day I’ve killed numerous caught critters with it along with cans snakes and frogs and a lot of just shooting it’s been a fantastic pistol and the memories it brings back when I pick it up and hold it my mom and dad are gone now but it just brought me to tears taking it out of its resting place to take picture of it makes you think about all that has come and gone thanks for reading this I’m gonna wipe my tears away now

Dad would write a brief history of the gun; when he bought, what he paid for it, how many deer, bear, elk, moose, he killed with it etc. then he'd roll it up and stick it in the hole in the stock that accesses the bolt that fastens it to the receiver.

He'd do it when he was getting ready to hand to down to me. He did a few right before he died too.