Finally got that mod. 70
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 6:42 pmI bought my first hunting rifle the summer that I was 14 yrs. old. Since the previous fall, I had devoured every major firearm makers catalog and had narrowed it down to a mod. 70 or a Rem. 700 in .243. I had been borrowing a friend of my father's Marlin 336 for 2 years and my dad had said if I got a summer job and paid for it myself, it was fine with him. I stacked lumber at a sawmill, and as difficult as it was to keep up with grown men sometimes, knowing what I was working for made it a breeze. I finally had settled on the mod. 70 and actually worked an extra week to be able to get it. When the big day came, I think I was vibrating in the car seat all the way to the sporting goods store in Savannah. When we got there the mod. 70 .243 I had lusted for was gone! The prospect of waiting 2 more weeks seemed impossible, so I left with a Rem. 700 ADL and used the difference to also get a Weaver VX-7 2-7 32mm scope with the rectangular objective and was a pretty happy camper. I'm 58 yrs. old now and that mod. 70 never left the back of my mind. I've owned some nice guns in the insuing years, but never a mod. 70. About a month ago I had just returned home from my childhood hunting buddy's funeral and was sitting thinking about things in general when I heard myself tell my wife; I'm going to run over to Bass Pro Shop for a little while". Well I did, and I don't know exactly how it works, but for a little while I was that 14 yr. old kid again, and the most beautiful mod. 70 FN featherweight .243 I had ever seen followed me home. I think it may be,as Humphrey Bogart said, The start of a beautiful relationship.