My dad passed along some more of his dad's guns:

1943 Inland M1 Carbine

Very excited to get this -- it must be fifteen years since I last had this out. It's a little beat up, so it's definitely a shooter -- marked 8/43 on the barrel, H in a federal shield on the sight, M on the mag release, AI stamped on the front band, W stamped in the stock at the sling cutout, U stamped in various places on the stock. Also has stenciled rack number. Sling is courtesy RougeJSK, as are two magazines -- thanks again.

I haven't taken it apart to see what the other marks are, but I'm not a collector, so . . . . There is something whitish on the stock near the action -- I want to keep the patina of the stock, but I would like to clean it up a little. Suggestions?









Winchester 88 lever action in .243, 1958 by the serial number

I didn't know he had this, and frankly, I'm not all that familiar with this model -- seems like it was popular at the time, but is known for being nearly impossible to sweeten trigger pull and very difficult to put back together if completely stripped. I'm also not that familiar with the .243 -- would this make a decent hog gun? It seems to be in good shape, and I love the leather scope covers. Lever's a little stiff, but it probably hasn't been out of the closet for thirty to forty years, so I'll try to lube it up properly.

Oh, and I thought it'd be nice to have another magazine to carry around (they only hold four rounds), but holy moly -- starting at around $70 and more likely much more. Yikes!






Ithaca 37 Featherlight, 12 gauge, 1951 by the serial number. Dad said this was Grandmother's undesireable dissuader -- in '51, where they were living in South Daytona was actually pretty booney. Looking forward to shooting some skeet with this -- and I think my wife will actually join me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Holger Danske,

All three look great.

A buddy shot a 110 lb hog years back with a 223, one shot. With the right bullet, a 243 would be fine, most aren't 400 lbs.

I have a few older 'family' guns. Even if I don't have a specific use, still nice to have around.

nice vintage scope setup!!!

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
nice vintage scope setup!!!

Bausch and Lomb BALvar 8 -- again, something I know nothing about. Looking it up, it seems it was an above-average scope at the time and supposed to be rugged. Casually looking through it, it's not absolutely clear, but very useable, I think -- we'll see. Need to do more in-depth research on cleaning and care. And, of course, I'm sure the zero is out, so that'll have to wait until I can get to the 100-yard outdoor range (not close by).

Congrats on the heirlooms, especially the Ithaca. I know it's the least valuable dollar-wise of the three, but I'm a big fan of the 37 Featherweight. Being so light it kicks like a mule but the bottom eject is nice. You'll have to be pretty good shot to use that full choke barrel for skeet.

I love the Winchester 88. Very nice. Yes, it will transform a pig to pork quite well.

I had a Model 88 (back in the early 70s) in .284 Winchester...I only wish it had been in .308 or .243 (I still regret trading it off)...it was a great rifle. Congratulations on your "hand-me-downs"

Congrats, I would consider all three heirlooms.

My dad has a Model 88 in .358 Winchester, it was his deer gun. I've never shot it, but I like the feel of it, it feels very straightforward, a rifle for a man out to do a job. Very practical feeling. Then you try to buy magazines for it, and yeah, prepare to give up some limbs. Apparently the lips on them are brittle, I dunno if that's common to all the calibers, but maybe try real hard not to drop it.

quote:

Originally posted by Bisleyblackhawk:
I had a Model 88 (back in the early 70s) in .284 Winchester...I only wish it had been in .308 or .243 (I still regret trading it off)...it was a great rifle. Congratulations on your "hand-me-downs"

Dad has a Model 100 in .284, and that is a deer killing machine. He killed over 80 with it over the years. I use it every now and then for nostalgia sake, but the ammo is hard to find and fairly expensive.

Very nice! I just scored a 1943 Inland this week and have a 1952 Ithaca 37 Featherlight. What choke is your barrel stamped with? It should be on the left side right near the receiver.

quote:

Originally posted by PGT:
Very nice! I just scored a 1943 Inland this week and have a 1952 Ithaca 37 Featherlight. What choke is your barrel stamped with? It should be on the left side right near the receiver.

"FULL" -- and looking up what that meant, I now understand Tailhook's comment above

Please post some pics and info on your Inland. When this thread has moved along, I'll add mine to the Greasy Milsurp thread.

Mine's a '43 as well but the shop I bought it from put it in a repro Paratrooper kit. They did some antiquing and distressing on the kit so at first glance, I didn't realize it was not a real Para. Good thing he's honest, eh? I got it for a song because he deals in milsurp and his normal customers wouldn't touch it (it was from an estate sale and he had put it together for the previous owner as a wall hanger).

quote:

Originally posted by Tailhook 84:
Congrats on the heirlooms, especially the Ithaca. I know it's the least valuable dollar-wise of the three, but I'm a big fan of the 37 Featherweight. Being so light it kicks like a mule but the bottom eject is nice. You'll have to be pretty good shot to use that full choke barrel for skeet.

I've got my Dad's old 16 GA Ithaca Model 37 Featherlight (early '60s). I took it out to the clays range and shot a few. The instructor came over and showed me something I didn't know- if you keep you finger down on the trigger and cycle the action, the shotgun will fire every time. Very spooky.

On the Winchester Model 88 (and Model 100)...the following website is very detailed and very informative...

http://www.leeroysramblings.co...del_88_100_info.html

Numrich Arms AKA Gunparts Corp shows magazines listed for the 88 and 100 in .243/.308...

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/ad/1270140.htm

On the Ithaca 37...

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/M.../PartsList-34028.htm

I was at my father-in-law's hunting camp last week and got to try out the M-1 carbine and the Winchester 88 -- as well as bring out the Garand.

The Carbine was as much fun as I remember and worked perfectly with the Korean mags I got. There's an indoor range here with a rifle bay, so this will get shot a lot, even if at short range.

The Garand was fun, too, but I was having trouble with the clip ejecting with rounds still in it -- I don't know if I wasn't seating it properly or what, but I'll have to track that issue down.

With both, I realized that my fifty-two year old eyes ain't what they used to be.

The .243 was fun, but I now understand the complaints about the heavy trigger, 'cause it is. And I hardly ever shoot bolt guns and was a little surprised that I felt the kick of the .243 more than that of the Garand, which fires a lot bigger bullet. The .243 also seemed louder. Still, lots of fun, but I don't know that I'll be using this all that often with that really heavy trigger. Scope was nice though (see above comment re aging eyes).

quote:

Originally posted by Holger Danske:
The Garand was fun, too, but I was having trouble with the clip ejecting with rounds still in it -- I don't know if I wasn't seating it properly or what, but I'll have to track that issue down.

That's a common issue, most often caused by a worn out clip latch spring. You can get a new spring for a couple bucks, and it's an easy fix: http://garandthumb.com/replace...ing-on-an-m1-garand/

quote:

And I hardly ever shoot bolt guns and was a little surprised that I felt the kick of the .243 more than that of the Garand, which fires a lot bigger bullet.

Yep. Bolt guns typically have more felt recoil than semiautos. It's also lighter than the Garand, whose 10+ pounds of weight helps to further soak up the recoil.

Those 88s are really starting to grow on me.

quote:

With both, I realized that my fifty-two year old eyes ain't what they used to be.

I'm most sympathetic. I've gotten to the point where I'm starting to calculate the cost of optics and mounts into the question of "what will a rifle cost".

Yep, it kinda sucks. Even though shooting the Garand at distance is getting challenging, I'm not willing to try to put an optic on it nor the Carbine.

My one-day rifle is an M1A or other semi-auto M14 version, but as that purchase hovers somewhere in the misty future in which my eyesight will have probably further deteriorated, I may have to reconsider because it seems it's difficult to get a decent optic (that stays put) on one.

quote:

Originally posted by Holger Danske:
I may have to reconsider because it seems it's difficult to get a decent optic (that stays put) on one.

It's not too difficult to put an optic on a Garand, Carbine, or M1A.

Whether you're looking for a magnified optic or just a red dot, Ultimak makes very high quality forward optic mount rails for all those platforms. And while they kinda ruin the traditional look of the rifle, installation is fairly straightforward and doesn't require any permanent modifications. They're a drop-in part that clamps onto the barrel and replaces the handguard.

Carbine:
http://ultimak.com/M6.htm


Garand:
http://ultimak.com/m12.htm


M1A:
http://ultimak.com/M8.htm