The rifle he never got to use

I wrote this a little over 2 years ago for a different forum. Im new to the brotherhood so i thought this might be a good place to share it. im sure it will be moved but it is a Savage 110 so ill start here. I still use the rifle alot it is shooting small groups and is a joy to shoot.

I’m not sure how I should start this so I’m going to just jump right in. This is more of a story then something to really talk about. Last year my nephew JD wanted a new deer rifle for Christmas so being the good uncle I am went looking. I called a friend of mine at a local pawn shop and asked what he had. Being that I have been out of work for a year cheap was the only way he was going to get it. The shop had a nice Savage in 30-06 that was priced right. I went and picked it up for JD and to make sure it was going to shoot good I took it out to my range and ran 10 rounds through it. Not a tack driver but it put 5 rounds of cheap ammo into a inch and a half at 100yards. Christmas came and it was time to head over to my brothers house for the gift giving. I didn’t tell my brother what I did cause he was trying to get the money to do the same by working overtime and football games, my brother has been a cop for 20 years and has 4 kids so Christmas is a hard time for him. We were sitting in the living room when my brother got a call and had to go out so we stopped the gift giving for the time being. When Kelly came back in from his call he had a box with Remington on it. It was a new Remington 700 in 30-06 that he had saved up for and got for JD. Well what was I going to do I got the Savage out for him and told him that I knew that he wanted a new rifle so I would take this one home and build what ever he wanted out of it. About a month later JD sent me a picture of what he wanted. It was a heavy barreled 30-06 that he found on a web site. I set off to build it for him I got all the parts in around the first of August this year and got to it. The goal was to get it built and a load for deer season in Texas. It’s a 26” E.R. Shaw barrel with a 1in 10, a Stockade Woodchuck stock and a Sharp Shooter Supply trigger. I got the metal sprayed with some Wheeler Cerama-Coat and then it was baked. All was going good I was bedding the action into the stock when my phone started ringing. It was Kelly picked up the phone without looking at the time it was 4:30 in the morning and the person on the phone was crying it was brother Kelly. My nephew JD was walking with a friend down the highway and was hit from behind by a woman in a large SUV. She drove down the road half a mile a then turned around and came back. The whole time she kept saying that she looked up and he was their. The Vidor police sent her on her way and have yet to charge her with anything. JD was 17 years old and would have been leaving for the Army in January. I still have the Savage that I built for him I am going to use it for deer season this year. I put a W.O. Tac 4-14x50 scope on it and worked up a load for it that put 5 rounds into a group of .192 center to center. JD will be missed very much this year in the deer stand.

[img width=600 height=450]http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd498/losthope1978/IMG_0001.jpg[/img]

Glad you shared that brother.

I just wanted to say I am sorry for your loss, way too many sad stories seem to come out of Vidor, TX, it seems to me there is a sad feeling about the place, I drive through there on Hwy 12/ I-10 when going to Houston several times per year.

So sorry to hear of your loss. Prayers are going out for your family. Thanks for sharing the story.

Tony.

I hope JD's rifle takes a trophy buck.

Wow, im a bit speechless. Even though I dont know you or your nephew I can read in your post the same love I have for mine, so I guess, I can relate...

Prayers of comfort sent. God bless you.

that's a tough story to hear. I know that rifle is and will always be a special part of your season from now on.

No man is an island



No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as a manor of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.


uj

lost hope,

Thank you for sharing your story.

I am very sorry for your and your families tradegic loss!!


I am also heartened that you can hang onto that rifle and even enjoy it. You certainly invested a lot of time and research into it!! Maybe it's a sort of connection to him!

God Bless!


Three 44s

That story started out with love and ended tragicaly. Uncle Jacks quote fits this very well. Sorry for your loss brother. Take that rifle out and christen it with a hugh buck dedicated to the nephew. Thanks for sharing the story. It does belong here.

El Lobo

use that gun religiously brother, i have an old 9mm pistol that my grandfather had that was given to me when he died, it was his wish that i be given it when he passes, he died 4 years ago. now whenever i go hunting or to the range, i take the pistol, even if i have no intent on shooting it, i do it for my grandfather.

At his age he knew few struggles and blessed by God will not be subject to them. His pleasures now are immeasurable however I pray for those remaining that they may find comfort in their loss through his word. Praise God in all things.
When the rifle is shouldered your thoughts of him will flow and warm your spirit.

First I would like to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. The loss of JD took a toll on the family and we miss him with every passing day. My brother was the marshal for The City of Rose at the time and has had to retire since due to a severe back injury. I must apologize for the time took for me to respond to all the posts as I also am of poor health, I’m waiting my turn for a total disc replacement from an injury I received when I was in the service. I use the rifle all the time in the years since JD’s passing. She and I have taken 2 very nice 8 point bucks the first deer season and 1 nice one last year. We have also taken many other critters and a yote at 625 yards. Anytime I go to the farm or head out to my brothers house she rides in the truck with me. We found out that a few months after JD was hit and killed the DA did not want to charge her with anything. She turned out to be a school teacher at JD’s high school and had known him. I wished the woman no ill but I did ask that she know what it was like to lose someone you love so much. My brother called me a few months later to tell me that her husband was told that he had cancer and there was nothing that they could do for him. I was told that 6 months later he had passed. I have lost men and friends overseas but it’s not like losing your family. Thank you again for all your comments and posts I’m sure JD would have been on this board as well.