Guns with “Soul”

Classics….  

In a world of plastic injection molding, MIM’ed steel, aluminum and spray paint, the craftsmanship and svelte designs of times past stand out.  The days when slick handling, smooth operating, simple yet durable  🔥 💪’s (word the FB bans us for) were understood and valued by accomplished marksmen and women who relied on them daily.

When I was 15 a model 68 about the same age as this one (built in 1934-35) was offered at a local yard sale for the equivalent of about two hours labor at minimum wage today.   At the time it was what I earned in two weeks after school at the local printshop.  20 🦌’s

This is a model 67.  The only difference between a 67 and a 68 is the sights.  The 68 had a very efficiently designed peep sight mounted forward of the receiver opening.  The 67 has a standard “notch” type rear sight and a beaded front. 

That 68 was a regular companion anywhere I went that varmints might need croaked, a grouse brought home for dinner, or just some fun plinking at targets.

The 27” barrel is  quiet with regular high speed 22, very quiet with Standard Velocity, and almost silent with CB Caps.

I learned a lot from it and it’s still with me 50 years later.  

Whenever I see one available locally (like today) those memories are stirred back to life and the glorious days afield of my younger years seem like not so long ago.   A box of Mini Mags in my pocket and an afternoon in the mountains was a perfect life.

There is something about blued steel and walnut that has soul….  All you have to do is pick this up, run your fingers over it, feel the smooth wood and polished steel, work the crisp action and experience the fit when it’s brought to the shoulder for this to speak to you. 

We need more craftsmanship today.  It’s not numbers that has brought about the decline, (they made half a million of these with manual machinery).  Some of it is the cost and willingness of labor.  Some of it is the loss of artisanship among the labor force.  Today we want CNC to do the work.  We want to push a button and see a part created without skill or a discerning eye.  

There are still some classics being built today by skilled laborers.  Men and women who pour their souls into raw materials, fashioning them into objects that will inspire imagination, serve well for the purpose intended, and create a lifetime of enjoyment and memories.  

Next week, when we go to SHOT, as we walk through a sea of plastic and metal plumbing projects called “builds”, where the new model is defined by the color of Cerakote applied to the finish and form is more desired than function, my eye will be drawn to classics….   Classics that work and will keep working for decades, many centuries to come.

Andy