re: What is ur "old faithful" gun and how long ...

I got a Remington 700 BDL Custom Deluxe in .30-06 for my 14th birthday in 1975. It was on-loan (luckily) to my best friend in North Dakota when I lost all of my other guns in a 1999 burglary. I'm not much of a big-game hunter, but I've killed deer in California, Nevada, Texas, and Louisiana, and deer and pronghorns in Wyoming while spending quality time with my brother and now-deceased father. It's all I'll ever need in a rifle and has tremendous sentimental value.