I believe the year is 1946 but I haven't confirmed it yet. It's a Mossberg M44US(b) .22 cal. bolt action training rifle with peep sights. It has a lead lapped bull barrel and are know to be very accurate. This particular one is in very good shape, but I do have to do some cleaning on it as mentioned in the "Surface Rust" thread (thanks again to all for your help and input!). Though the gun looks like it has been around for 65 years, it is in flawless mechanical condition. The bolt is very smooth and the sight adjusts freely. I plan on spending a lot of time with this one getting her cleaned up:
(thanks to bunkysdad for reading and replying to my PMs in regards to possibly losing this one!)
OK, this next one is not a gun I intended to buy. But, the way it came about, I had to buy it and did so without a second thought!
When the ol' boy at Cabela's saw my email about putting the M44 in the office, he remembered me. And, he remembered that I was looking over some lever action 22s when I was there. When I talked on the phone with him yesterday, he told me the rifle was safe in his office and that he had another jewel come in that he thought I would be interested in. When I got there, he was all smiles as he took me back in the office.
It's a new, but pre-owned Henry 22 lever action. A customer had bought it and had to return it (I sensed "angry wife" about this point). Anyway, the box had been opened, but the safety ties, the wrap and paper were all still in place. The rifle had never been taken out of the box. Since it literally had been pre-owned, it went onto the used gun rack for a bit less that the cost of a new rifle. He thought I would like it so put it up as well. This gentlemen has always been pleasant, helpful and a pleasure to be around everytime I am there. Without a second thought, I told him I'd take it. He then said "we're not done dealing yet". Since I was buying 3 guns at once, he dropped the total price even more. Quite a bit more actually. Thought its not the Marlin 39A I wanted, I wouldn't trade this rifle for anything. Having a guy as knowledgable as he is and working out of a large chain store and yet he still remembered me (and doing something as thoughtful as setting a gun aside) made this rifle priceless. Plus the fact that he put the other guns in the office until I could get back to the store simply on my word meant a lot to me in this day and age.
You guys will get this understand this. Ever since I was in my early teens, I have wanted a lever action 22. For one reason or another, I never had one. This was a big day for me finally bringing home a rifle I have wanted for over three decades
), but she also seemed to inherit my remarkable ability to get disabilitating headaches at the most inconvenient times too.
