The Slow Road Read Online Free PDF

and Millie ruled out the high dollar semi-auto main battle rifles because of expense, and the lightweight combat carbines because of their less versatile cartridges. Jasper wanted something in a versatile, powerful cartridge that would do for hunting, but had at least moderately good defensive capability. Alvin suggested a military surplus bolt action, but Jasper found an alternative on his own.
    He narrowed the rifle choice down to either a used Savage 99 lever action in .308 Winchester or a used Marlin 1895 Cowboy lever action rifle in .45-70. As much as he liked the old west appeal of the Marlin, and the short and medium range power of the .45-70, he decided on the Savage 99. The .308 was more versatile, and according to some of the preparedness forum entries on the internet, it could use an adapter to shoot .32 ACP pistol rounds for small game that the .308 was too powerful for.
    He paid a bit more for the gun than he wanted to, with Millie’s approval, but there just weren’t that many around that were for sale. People with Savage 99’s seemed to really like them and didn’t want to sell.
    Jasper didn’t know how lucky he was to find the rifle with an original Pachmayr Low-Swing side mount scope mount. The original scope was fogged and would have cost more to repair than the used Bushnell scope Jasper got in another deal. Again, due to his research on the internet, Jasper had a receiver sight added to the rear of the action to use with the existing front sight when he wasn’t using the scope.
    For the two duck and goose hunting trips, Jasper, with Millie’s help, picked out a twenty gauge Stoeger side-by-side coach gun. It would be Millie’s last ditch defensive arm and she wasn’t too sure she could learn to use a pump and a semi-auto was out of the question.
    Having talked to their Minister, Millie and Jasper decided that recreational shooting was okay on the Sabbath, so they took a couple of Sundays in a row to learn to shoot both weapons, in plenty of time for Jasper to go on the hunts.
    Though they went hunting fairly close to where they lived, it was easier and cheaper to stay overnight two nights to get in two full days and one partial day of hunting. It was well that they had the time, for it wasn’t until the Monday of the deer hunt that Jasper got his doe.
    Alvin helped him dress it out, and it was with some pride that Jasper took the dressed meat home to Millie for her to finish cutting up and freeze. She had studied up on the internet while Jasper was gone, just in case. Jasper would prefer to have jerked most of the meat, but they just weren’t in a position to do it, so it went into their small freezer.
    The duck and goose hunting went great. Jasper was able to get his limits each day. They were able to keep the field dressed birds in Alvin’s ice chest until they got them home. The birds, too, went into the freezer, which was full by Christmas. Jasper had gained a great deal of confidence about being able to supplement their food supplies by hunting. The following year Alvin had invited Jasper to go rabbit and squirrel hunting with him.
    The Stoeger shotgun would have been adequate for the rabbits and squirrels, but Jasper wanted Millie to have something besides it with more firepower. He found a well used Ruger 10/22 through the newspaper ads and picked it up cheap. The stock had been broken, and the barrel was rusty. Millie and Jasper invested in a new barrel and stock, along with a few factory ten-round factory magazines.
    The rifle had come with an even dozen high-capacity magazines. Jasper checked the prices on the internet and smiled when he got the price down to less than a third of what everything would have been new, even considering the new barrel, stock, and magazines. The guy was craving a new Bushmaster M-4 and was selling everything else he could to get the money for it. Jasper picked up a couple of nice field knives and a very good compass in the deal.
    Jasper and Millie put back