Felt a strong need to feel like I was nine again and took this one to the range the other day:
- Rem 511 1.jpeg (134.61 KiB) Viewed 683 times
Remington 511 mag fed repeater. If any of you guys remember my Brother from another mother, Kenfu1911 from the old forum. . .both of us parted company from the sporting goods store where we met working in the early 1990's, and in the early '00's, I helped him get hired as my replacement at the smaller gun shop that I was about to leave for my current job. During the overlap, this rifle came in used on my day off.
When Kenny said "Look what came in yesterday. I think I'm gonna buy it"
My reply: "OH NO YOU ARE NOT!!"
The reason for this? My ACTUAL first rifle:
- 9-57 Rem 510.jpg (22.99 KiB) Viewed 683 times
This is the Model 510 Targetmaster solid-bottom single shot version that belonged to my late uncle, the eldest kid in the family. Produced in September of 1957, he, my Dad, and probably a whole lot of other Boomer kids shot the bejeezus out of it through the late '50's and into the '60's. My uncle didn't have his kids until well into my teens, so this rifle ended up with my Dad for me to learn on. He had a local gunsmith do some repairs (sear wouldn't hold the striker - scary!), and I got to graduate from the BB gun to this some time around 1980. It made the move with us from IL to CA in '84 and was probably THE tangible link to the more rural aspects of my early upbringing.
By the time I was "adulted", the poor thing was pretty well worn out (the sear wasn't holding again), but the sentimental attachment was strong. Long story shortened, I ended up having the barrel re-lined and re-did a good bit of the lockwork (pain in the ass - Remington was definitely in "solid state" mode on these things). It is now in the hands of my late uncle's son who has two small boys of his own. Some projects are just projects; that one was a moral imperative. It's where it belongs.
So a little more of the 511 I was shooting the other day:
- Rem 511 2.jpeg (197.21 KiB) Viewed 683 times
- Rem 511 3.jpeg (43.9 KiB) Viewed 683 times
One of the "problems" with my original 510 is that model has an "auto reset" on the safety: when you pull the bolt to the rear to eject your single empty case, the safety lever gets pulled to the "on" position. Not a problem - maybe even ideal - on a kid's first rifle, but when you've grown up and branched out to other things, having to remember to take off the safety every shot can be REALLY annoying. The repeater versions built on that same action thankfully do not have that problem, so the 511 lets me get the nostalgia out of my system without the M-Fing of the safety bittering the experience.
But my 510 story isn't quite done. Maybe 8-10 years ago, I picked up Dad and we made a drive to one of the gun shops we frequent at the outer edge of our normal cruising range. What just so happened to be on their used rack was this:
- Rem 510-X 1.jpeg (106.03 KiB) Viewed 683 times
Remington 510-X. Identical to the "Ancestral .22" with the exception that Remington was installing the same sights they were putting on Nylon 66's. This one is basically like new out of the box, and for all I know might have been unfired up to that point. After marveling over what was in my hands for a few moments, I walked across the shop to where Dad was doing his own thing and handed it to him without a word.
He held it, dumbstruck, for about 15 seconds with a whole lot of stuff obviously flashing back through his mind. Then he blinked himself back to the present and said, "Well, I guess we pretty much have to."
So there you go; the story of the rifle that made me. My thinking is if you've got pics and stories of your own, this might be the place. Enjoy!
