i was in one of the small, local gunshops i frequent...picking up a matched pair of stainless taurus model 62's (can you actually believe i'm getting started on my christmas shopping in september?!?!).
some old gentleman walks in...he has a very bad limp.
harold, the shop owner, whispers to me that this guy was wounded on the last day of ww2...his jeep hit a mine in an area that was supposedly cleared of mines!
after being introduced to the gentleman (83 years old and very hard of hearing, in addition to the limp) he hands harold an old savage .410 bore, pump action scattergun...and a pile of parts!!!
it seems the gentleman's great, great grandson took the thing apart and they couldn't get it back together again.
well, harold knows i wrench on guns...and harold does not work on guns (he sends all his smith work out). so...he hands the gun and parts to me and says, "here, you fix it!".
aaarrrggghhhh! what do i know from 1950 savage shotguns!?!?!
well, out of respect for the old veteran...who kept saying what a great piece the old savage was...i decided to make an attempt at putting the old, worn friend of his back in one piece.
man! that savage was unlike anything i ever wrenched on...and yet the principles learned from other firearms kept me making steady progress. it took me 20 minutes to figue out how to get that damn ejector back in the receiver...AFTER i spent 20 minutes figuring out WHERE it fit in the puzzle!
action bar release...check.
tension spring and keeper spring...check.
safety bar...check.
magazine tube and action bar...check.
stone the hammer burr...check.
spray it down and wipe...oil and wipe...check.
drive the trigger group/housing pin back
in...check.
receiver screw...check.
i cycled the action and checked the safety function and tested the action bar release..
everything worked as it should (big sigh of relief!)!!!
the gentleman tried to pay me several times, but finally settled for a beer for me and one for him from harold.
as he drove away, i kept thinking how much pleasure that little .410 had given this guy for all those years after he came home the war.
i hope he gets to enjoy it for the remaining seasons he has left.
then i realized...i had been so into the workings of that savage, i had no clue that over two hours had passed since i set down at harold's bench!!!
sorry harold and crew...i gotta run!
i didn't get in the door to the house untill 7:30pm...expecting wifey to be a bit miffed that i eas late for supper. funny thing...for some odd reason and without an explanation, she wasn't the least bit irked at my poor timing.