Glad it wasn’t your first gun, Larry. Otherwise you might be golfing.
Best,
Ted
My first gun was a .410 single shot, Stevens. Passed down to me by my older brother. Second one, and the first I bought with my own $, saved up from pumping gas and fixing tires: Savage 420 OU, made back in the 30's. Came out about the same time as the Marlin 90. A Savage 420 actually makes a Marlin 90 look and feel sleek. The 90 survived WWII; the 420 did not. From then on, Savage offered only imported OU's.
And my experience with the 420 might explain why I'm a sxs guy.
But getting back to new vs old guns: AyA 4/53 suffered a broken striker recently. Just discovered that my SKB (late Japanese version) is in need of a top lever spring. Meanwhile, I have a 100+ year old Parker 16 I've shot a lot this year, as well as a nearly that old Fox Sterlingworth 20ga. Both those guns acquired new wood somewhere along the line. But as far as function goes, they keep on ticking.
