![\"Closeup](\"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/images\/miscphotos\/shotgun_close.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI recently took possession of a 1960s-vintage 12 gauge single-shot shotgun, formerly owned by my father-in-law, who says the gun was shot only a few times. This was partly because the unchoked barrel made the gun pretty uncomfortable to shoot, but he also wasn’t a hunter. So, the gun has been rusting away in a closet for decades.<\/p>\n
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It’s a Stevens Model 94 manufactured by the Savage Arms Corporation. According to this article<\/a>, Savage turned out more than a million of these shotguns, starting in the 19th century, in a variety of gauges. They were inexpensive, and by the time this particular model came into being, “inexpensive” was an acceptable synonym for “cheap.” What looks like a nice walnut stock is actually grade-A genuine plastic. These shotguns generally sell for around $100-$150 dollars in the aftermarket.<\/p>\n I’ve cleaned the gun a bit, although as you can tell by the first photo, it’s still rusty. Somewhere along the line the bolt that tightens the stock loosened, and I can’t tighten it so there’s a wiggly gap (that’s a highly technical gunsmithing term, I’m sure). In short, this shotgun is no longer destined for shooting. So, I’ve removed the firing pin, and I want to “repurpose” the gun.<\/p>\n Here’s where you come in, oh gentle and creative Gazetteer. I need your ideas for turning this gun into yard art, either as a standalone piece or something that will hang on a brick wall. I could always just mount it as is and stick a flower in the muzzle, but that’s awfully cliched (although perhaps age-appropriate for a hippies-vintage gun) and I’m sure you guys can come up with something better. The only caveat is that it has to be something that I can actually do…so try to think like a third-grader.<\/p>\n And, seeing as how today marks the 12th anniversary of the Fire Ant Gazette, I figured we should make this a little more special than usual, so if you have the “winning” idea, I’ll immortalize you on these pages as a character in a short story. (Eventually.)<\/p>\n So, if you can think of some creative uses for a shotgun that has a little sentimental value, but none otherwise, please share them via email. Thanks in advance, and may the blast be with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently took possession of a 1960s-vintage 12 gauge single-shot shotgun, formerly owned by my father-in-law, who says the gun was shot only a few times. This was partly because the unchoked barrel made the gun pretty uncomfortable to shoot, but he also wasn’t a hunter. So, the gun has been rusting away in a… Continue reading Contest! Turn this shotgun into yard art!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-firearms","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9252,"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037\/revisions\/9252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Model](\"https:\/\/ericsiegmund.com\/fireant\/images\/miscphotos\/shotgun_wide.jpg\")
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