Tale of an unintentional gun collector

I am not a gun collector. While I have a collection of firearms I've bought, inherited, traded for, and won at auction over the years, I don't have a specific collection of any one model or group of guns.

Or so I thought!

I recently purchased a firearm from a friend who wanted to sell it in order to help finance the purchase of another gun. I had offered to sell the gun for him and after receiving the rifle from him, I became fascinated with it. The rifle is a Remington model 81 Woodsmaster in 300 Savage caliber. Its predecessor, the Remington model 8, was the first commercially successful semi-auto sporting rifle produced in America. The model 8 was designed by John Moses Browning and functions using a long recoiling barrel-action system. No modern gas operated action here!

This particular rifle is about as old as I am and originally belonged to my friend's grandfather, who hunted with it in Maine, probably for deer and black bears. While I was cleaning it up, the thought dawned on me that I did, in fact, have a fairly representative collection of early to mid-20th century Eastern and Midwestern deer hunting rifles.

My first big game rifle purchased new back in the mid-60's was a Marlin model 336 lever-action rifle in 35 Remington caliber which has seen use over the years for deer hunting in Maine, Michigan, Georgia, and here in Alaska on Afognak Island. I had also purchased a used Winchester model 94 in 30-30 caliber thirty-some years ago from a state confiscated firearms auction. I bought the rifle sight unseen and had to replace the dented magazine tube and get the metalwork refinished, but I took some deer with it on Afognak Island when I lived there.

I purchased a Marlin model 336 lever gun in 30-30 caliber off an internet gun auction site around ten years ago just because I liked the older Marlin lever rifles without the hammer block safety. That safety modification is a "lawyer/liability" addition which I don't like and which I will avoid if possible when buying a Marlin lever gun. I haven't had a chance to hunt with this rifle yet.

I picked up a Savage model 99 lever-action rifle in 308 Winchester caliber at a gun show several years ago. The Savage 99 was a firearm design ahead of its time and was widely used as a deer hunting rifle in the eastern half of the country years ago, and probably still is.

I've wondered about how well the 30-30 cartridge would function in a bolt-action rifle. To find out, I bought a Savage model 340 variant, again from an online gun auction site about 10 years ago. It's a fun gun to shoot and functions well with fine accuracy. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but the price was right and the gun was in nearly new condition.

In addition, I have my grandfather's Mauser model 98 sporterized military rifle, still in the original 8 x 57 mm caliber, which he built and used after WW II to hunt deer in Pennsylvania and Michigan. I also inherited my father's sporterized Springfield 03A3 in 30-06 which my grandfather had built for him. Again, this rifle dates to just past the end of WW II.

I bought a Mosin-Nagant model 38 surplus Russian military rifle and modified it with a drop-in synthetic stock, a scope base, and had the bolt bent to accommodate the scope. I have maybe $200 in the whole gun. This was to be my "beater" rifle but I was surprised at how accurately the rifle shoots in its 7.62 x 54 mm rimmed caliber. This rifle is also representative of military conversions following WW II used to hunt deer.

I guess I really do have a collection of early to mid-20th century Eastern and Midwestern deer hunting firearms. Four bolt-actions, three lever guns, and an early example of a sporting semi-auto, all chambered in "classic" calibers used for "east of the Mississippi" deer and black bear hunting: 30-30; 300 Savage; 308 Winchester; 30-06; 7.62 x 54 R; 35 Remington; and 8 x 57 mm.

Don't forget the Houston High School Gun and Outdoor Show this coming weekend at the Big Lake Lions Recreation Center. I plan to be there helping at the muzzleloading club's table, so stop by and say hi if you get a chance. We can even talk guns, both old and new if you would like!

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This column is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman or its parent company, Wick Communications. You can leave Delo a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.