I have never wanted a gun before. But a gun can be a handy tool to have when one lives in Alaska. I am happy to exercise my Constitutional right to bear arms--wait, that sounds like I want bears to hug me--and am now the proud and happy owner of a Savage 24 series "Over & Under." This is a long rifle that has .22 barrel on the top and a .410 shotgun barrel on the bottom. It's a one shot at a time, nothing fancy, classic rifle that is at least 30 years old, and probably older.
The fellow I bought it from used it as his "survival rifle" when he used to fly bush planes. "A big gun for shooting bear isn't much good if you go down and you need food. It doesn't help you to blast the rabbits to smithereens," he said. Hey, that makes sense to me!
Last year I had a Steven's model of the same rifle and used it and really enjoyed it. I gave it back when the squirrels went back into the woods and did their little hibernation and stopped stealing my insulation and chewing, peeing and pooping on my house.
I'm all set with two boxes of the requisite ammo and plan to have some fun target shooting at the firing range one of these days, or down at the quarry. I know some of you will have a hard time hearing this, but I have to redraw the boundary lines for those squirrels, as they have returned, albeit a lot later this year, and are back trying to destroy my house again. That insulation and this house are what keep me and the dogs warm in the -20° to -60° winter, and I can't have that safety compromised. They have hundreds of acres of forest and I have two. I don't even mind them as long as they stay away from the house. I think they are freaking adorable and it's not easy to shoot them, but that's what I have to do if I don't want them to continue living under my floorboards. Sofia has been madly trying to dig through the floor to get to them under the house. My carpet is shredded beyond saving.
Anyway, I'm very happy to have found this particular model rifle as it isn't all that common. It's nifty, lightweight, and very simple. And in the case of needing a "survival rifle" I am now covered.
