PA Farmer's Guns

This Stevens single-shot was my father's first gun, my first deer-hunting weapon (on loan from Dad), and the only firearm in the gun cabinet that I insisted was mine after Dad passed away.

Sure, I've got some "museum guns" that might be as old as these and probably more valuable, money-wise, but these family treasures hold more history to me than a Springfield or Garand which may or may not have seen action. This 16 gauge Stevens has dispatched many a copperhead or ground hog around the barn, as well as a stray kitten stricken with distemper.







My grandfather kept this Ithaca 16 gauge side-by-side in the kitchen corner, with a margarine dish full of shells atop the cabinet next to it. It's claimed several snakes and critters down by the barn, as well as a rattlesnake coiled inside a frying pan in the cellar pantry. My grandmother was equally proficient with it.








I'm not sure about the history of this simple 16 gauge; it had spent decades in the home of my grandfather's cousins and came into Dad's possession after that generation passed away. We've been warned not to fire it.

These guns have something in common: they're no-frills, utilitarian tools for the low-budget farmer.