Seeing the photo made me go look in the gun safe. I knew I had a 16ga bolt action but I forgot who made it. It is a H&R model 120, 16ga. About 30+ years ago my father in law let me borrow it so I could go rabbit hunting. Some old farmer had given it to him in payment for some work he had done. The stock was cracked right behind the bolt. The tube magazine bracket had been welded by the farmer back to the barrel. It was a really rough looking gun. I checked the bore and as near as I could tell it was straight and no distortions where the weld was located.
I took the gun and some low brass shells out in the country with a friend. We tied the gun to the proverbial fence post and put a long string on the trigger. We stood on the other side of the truck and fired the gun. No problem. So we tried another shell while it was still tied to the fence post. As I closed the bolt the gun went off. Good thing we were always keeping it pointed in a safe direction. No more shooting for the day. After getting it home and looking at it, the cracked stock had let the action slide back enough that the trigger had pressure on it in the "pulled" position. If I pulled the barrel/action forward, I could cycle the bolt and never have it fire. But if I pushed the barrel/action toward the butt end of the gun, it would fire when I closed the bolt. I tried a hose clamp around the stock, which I thought was fiiting for the current appearance of the gun. But it still didn't seem to work consistently. So I found a place I could order a replacement stock. When it came I sanded and oiled it. I was surprised how nice it looked. The gun worked great. I used it that season and then for Father's Day I returned it to my father in law with the new stock. He was surprised.
About 10 to 15 years later he gave it to one of my sons. We took a file to the weld and cleaned it up with some cold blueing. My son has used the gun some, but it is mostly remembered now as his grandpa's gun. My father in law passed away about 8 years ago. Thanks for the picture and posting. It has brought back some good memories.
