I did have 2 family heirloom guns. One has been passed on to my daughter already. The other will go to my son sometime soon. The one I still have came from what can only be described as Santa Claus. Santa took the form of the man who owned the neighboring farm to ours. He ate dinner with my grandmother and aunt and her family pretty much every day. They were the other family on the farm. The man returned the favors of my grandmother by spoiling us kids rotten where no one else could. The guy worked in a steel mill and lived all alone with no family. We were his adopted family and he spent most of his salary on us I believe. It sure seemed that way. Come Christmas there would be a stack of presents 3 foot deep that he bought for us kids. Our parents bought what they could but they couldn't match what he bought. They had to buy stuff like food and heat for the 6 of us. The guy was as close to being Santa as it gets IMO.

When he died he left my dad a couple of things. His farm and a .22 Stevens 15-A rifle. Not much of a rifle really. A single shot with a stock from who knows what type of wood except I know it wasn't walnut. The thing shoots like a dream though. It's as accurate as any rifle I own. My brother hunted squirrels with it for a couple of decades and he brought home a bunch of them. When he moved out the rifle was left at dad's. By then dad had done well with his life and he owned a dozen S&W .357's or so and whatever else he wanted. And he had that rifle and a shotgun - the one that went to my daughter. When I moved out and didn't have any money for anything because I was in college dad gave me both of those guns. I still love shooting that .22. It's amazing how accurate it shoots for such a cheap rifle. And the thing should last a dozen lifetimes if people keep the rust away. It's so simple it's hard to believe anything could break.

I love that rifle more than any gun I own even though it's probably the least expensive gun I own. I did buy myself a Raven when I was in college but I look at that thing as a paperweight these days.

I've made sure my kids know how much those guns have meant to me. The shotgun has it's own story and it's just about as good as the rifle's story. Best of all my daughter is taking good care of it.

If you look at old photos lots of times the men had their prized possession with them - their firearm. Often they only had one. The only good photo I have of my grandfather on my mother's side includes his rifle. Guns meant a lot to those generations. They mean a lot to me too and I think I've instilled that in my kids too. I hope so. I know my daughter gets it. I think my son does too but up until recently he lived in a small apartment where it would have been awkward just to own a rifle even if it was a single shot .22. He bought a house recently and I'm about to let that rifle move on to the 4th generation owner. I know he will understand what it means to me and I think it will mean a lot to him because of that.

Here's a photo of Roy "Santa" Bottles and my cousin who was maybe 2 years younger than me.