I resurrected an old Vintage 3 gun, gun rack that my late Dad got as Christmas Present from my late Mother back in the 60's. I remember that Christmas morning with the family, and how proud my Mother was when Dad opened the box, and how it made him smile! So hanging in my shed for over 20 years,covered in dust and mildew, I decided to see if I could give it some new found LOVE.
This came from Kmart back then, in a box that had to be assembled. When I brought it in, I found it pretty loose and dried out, as Dad never glued the joints, and just used the 1" #6 brass screws it came with to put it together in the predrilled holes. So after dismantling it, and sanding the old brown painted finish off, it was a little iffy if I could save it, let alone use it?
Well after a couple coats of stain on the unknown wood, (the left riser and right riser were both different types of wood), the 2 coats of stain to try and disguise the different wood, then 2 coats of spray Satin urethane. I decided to make a trip to the hardware and find the needed fasteners and felt protectors to line the risers for the guns to rest on,,,, AS WELL AS WOOD GLUE. This rack needed a lot of love, so I bought 1 1/2" #6 brass screws, to replace the 1" it has had in it. Then I found some felt adhesive pad, used for floor protectors for furniture, about 6" X 12" to cut the strips to protect the rifles stored in it.
Well that worked, this ting is strong enough to hold up to 3 12# rifles, but even my HW77K doesn't fit the narrow notches in the risers. I still need to get a couple nobs for the slide out "pellet storage draw", as well as change the top left felt pad to a longer one to match the right one. I then screwed it into the wall directly thru the head board into two studs with 1/4" x 2 1/2" brass ornamental large head torx drive screws.
This started as an Idea to save my Dad's old gun rack that he was happy to have, and it became quite a gratifying project. It took me down memory lane in many different ways for the three days I worked on it. It became more and more important to make it as nice as I could, and keep it the same primary rack it was when my Dad opened it that long ago Christmas morning, and as I did, I continued to see his, as well as Mom's smile, and it reminded me how much they loved each other and how little it cost to share that love!
So thru all the emotional glory this brought, I found it only fitting to put it to use where all coming and going can see it. As well as use it for three of my most prised springers, the R10 Beman, the HW50s above it, and on top will reside the HW30s. In order of the most shot from top to bottom. And it will remind me everytime I grab one of them of the two most important people in my life,,,,, Mom and Dad!
It's not Ashland or Broyhill Furniture, but it is so much more to me. I think both are smiling down knowing they are still loved and still giving from there heart. It will hopefully someday offer the same love and memories to one of my grandkids! As to me it is now much more than an inexpensive piece of box store furniture, it's a precious piece of family history!
, I also received 800 13.5gr varmint knocker slugs, Dale was very speedy with the delivery and I am highly appreciative as I'm out off .177 ammo currently