One that made the round trip and finds its way home.

[Cowbaby]

Sometimes if you live long enough life is just too strange to be real.
The old junker somehow is finding its way back home where it all started.
A model Winchester 190 that used to be my brothers. My mother scraped pennies in the 70s to buy me and my brother 22s when we were kids. My brother died in Dallas when he was 22 and I was in the service.

I had a childhood best friend in TX. who I went fishing a lot with and we as kids traded tackle and such. I never knew what happened to my friend and lost contact with him when we grew up. He found me last year on Facebook and I haven't seen him in 40years after losing touch. Crazy fool made a business out of what we did as kids, trading tackle and now has his own business in Louisianna.
Now the strange part. I was telling him about a 22 I had and he sends me these pictures and said this used to be your brothers gun he traded for before he died. He said he wanted to give it back to me.
Its has a broken stock. is missing the feed tube and needs restored.
Its not worth much but it means the world to me. It made me cry seeing it remembering my brothers crazy smile when he made a shot with it.
I am going to put this puppy back better than it was and I don't care what it costs. I never knew what happened to it after my brother died. Never even thought about again really. It came back home somehow after a 40 year round trip.
I don't even know what else to say.

 

[Catt57]

That is awesome and wonderful!

Here's a stock.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Winchester-Model-190-stock-/383997390338?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

 

[rockchalk06]

That's fate right here. Fate and a really good friend.

 

[dlbleak]

Great story. I can’t wait to see how it looks when you’re finished with it.

 

[dennishoddy]

What a great story! Congrats on getting the rifle back and looking forward to the restoration. [emoji106]

 

[Catt57]

Sometimes if you live long enough life is just too strange to be real.
The old junker somehow is finding its way back home where it all started.
A model Winchester 190 that used to be my brothers. My mother scraped pennies in the 70s to buy me and my brother 22s when we were kids. My brother died in Dallas when he was 22 and I was in the service.

I had a childhood best friend in TX. who I went fishing a lot with and we as kids traded tackle and such. I never knew what happened to my friend and lost contact with him when we grew up. He found me last year on Facebook and I haven't seen him in 40years after losing touch. Crazy fool made a business out of what we did as kids, trading tackle and now has his own business in Louisianna.
Now the strange part. I was telling him about a 22 I had and he sends me these pictures and said this used to be your brothers gun he traded for before he died. He said he wanted to give it back to me.
Its has a broken stock. is missing the feed tube and needs restored.
Its not worth much but it means the world to me. It made me cry seeing it remembering my brothers crazy smile when he made a shot with it.
I am going to put this puppy back better than it was and I don't care what it costs. I never knew what happened to it after my brother died. Never even thought about again really. It came back home somehow after a 40 year round trip.
I don't even know what else to say.

View attachment 196201 View attachment 196202

Might be cheaper to get this and use it as a donor rifle,

https://shop.soonerstatepawn.com/It...i-Auto-Rifle/c61c50bf8afb4fe896906d31fc5ea342

 

[Cowbaby]

Might be cheaper to get this and use it as a donor rifle,

https://shop.soonerstatepawn.com/It...i-Auto-Rifle/c61c50bf8afb4fe896906d31fc5ea342

I might get a 290 stock and dress it up a bit. I am most likely going to spend more than its worth but sometimes that is ok. Found a feed tube for it and that's $38 alone.

I have a stack of heart walnut lumber that has dried for two years but its 1 inch and I would have to Laminate a couple together. Plus I have built one full length stock out of a 3 pronged cherry stump once and its not a job for the timid.

Most likely something about like that first one you posted off a 290 would be fine.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Great story. You must provide pics of work in progress

 

[Cowbaby]

Great story. You must provide pics of work in progress

I just got the pictures yesterday. I don't even have it in my possession yet but its a done deal. He is that kind of friend. When we were just poor farm kids we were always trying to horse trade sporting goods, camping, fishing,hunting around and he was one tough haggler. Kinda trained us for adulthood I guess.

Now, if he or I ask it's just a done deal. We have ripped each other off so many times it's like "Here take it ya bastige". He was asking if I had any recurve bows. Yep, and done, its yours. Now we just give each other whatever the other one wants. I have a LOAD of custom painted high end fishing lures. 2 bricks of 22 shells, a bucket of shotgun slugs, this gun and god knows what else coming.

He has a custom ocean sized Penn reel I restored he wanted to display in his shop, a recurve bow. about 20 graphite rods and whatever else he decides he needs. If he wants the keys to my truck I will just have to find another one. One and only one BEST friend. (I hope he hates my truck). lol,

He is going to come up and see me again after the crappie run down there.

But I will post some photos when I start. I was just trying to remember what happened to my own childhood 22. Can't remember, to many ago. I got a bolt action Glenfield 22 and I was always jealous that my brother got an automatic. Kids.

 

[HoLeChit]

Man I love a good story, and this is the best I’ve read in a while.