The last gun of 2010

Friday, Dec 31, 2010. I drove up to $LakeShoreCity in the early afternoon in order to look at and probably purchase a Remington 572. (And perhaps a shotgun as well, more on that later.)

I had originally told the seller that I would try to make it up Thursday - but that didn't pan out due to my wanting a bit of sleep. I emailed him Thursday evening and apologized and told him I'd be up Friday if it was convenient for him. He agreed, gave me his phone number, and suggested I call before leaving to get directions and to give him a rough time frame.

I did so, and headed out... TomTom and I had a bit of a disagreement on how best to get there; the highlight of that was a "Go straight on" direction ... past a "DEAD END" sign. I instead chose to take the turn on to the "SEASONAL ROAD NO MAINTENANCE DEC 1 - APR 1" road. It was, indeed, unmaintained, but passable. Fifteen minutes and several miles of 4wd later, I was back on normal roads and heading the right direction.

The gentleman selling the 572 had listed several guns, and on the way up I had resolved that if he still had one of them (a VERY nice Ithaca Model 37 16ga) I would pick up that one as well.

I arrived right when I'd estimated, shook hands, and was introduced to the seller's "good friend who I haven't seen in five or six years". I looked over the 572, which showed a bit of its age and needed a thorough scrubbing, but was otherwise in good shape. The seller let me try a couple rounds through it just to make sure it fed properly and would go bang.

I handed over the money, and said, "By the way, you also had an Ithaca 16ga listed... any chance you still have that?"

He smiled and said, "Yep. I HAD it listed. JimBob here (indicating the friend) just cleaned me out of most everything I had. I only saved the .22 because you asked about it, figured you'd get first dibs on that one."

The friend is apparently giving that Ithaca to his grandson for a 14th birthday present. I hope the young man knows what a fine shotgun he is getting and treats it accordingly; cynicism and memory of myself at 14 suggests that by the time this young man is old enough to vote the Ithaca will have been neglected and abused.

I also have a bit of a sour taste on an "old friend" who's been off the radar until there are good prices on some very nice guns... but such is the life of being a day late, I suppose.

I brought the 572 home, figured out how to disassemble it, cleaned it thoroughly, and have put just a couple rounds through to double-check function. The barrel - which is essentially free-floating - has a tiny wobble to it, and I'm debating how best to address that. A "shim" of some sort is the best idea I have, but I'm not sure what material would work best. I'm guessing it needs to be only a few thousandths of an inch thick...

In any case, on with the pictures!

The scope came with the rifle; it's a Weaver Marksman fixed 4x scope with absolutely crystal clear glass.



The rifle is pre-1968, as it has no serial number. The only evidence of age is the date code stamped in the barrel. Using this page, I figured the barrel to have been manufactured in October 1959. The rifle is now entered in my C&R book...



One of the wonderful things about the 572 is its ability to feed essentially ANY .22 round (non-magnum). Short, long, long rifle, shotshells - all work fine. A .22 CB Short in this - often known as a "gallery round" is a wonderful thing. If you're teaching a youngster to shoot and they're flinching from the snap of a HV .22LR, drop a few rounds of .22 short in this and have at it! They're so quiet that you can often hear the firing pin drop; they're really no louder than an air gun. I expect I'll be stocking up on shorts soon...