Will be 79 in 4 weeks. Due to divorce I was sent to the farm to live with my grandparents. Granddad gave me a Daisy BB gun when I was 6, and he and I went hunting together. I was the dog, but when I would get a rooster up, he would never shoot. I found out later that he could not see well enough to hunt, but was being nice to his only grandson. At age 8, he gave me his shotgun, which is a 12 ga. Hopkins & Allen. I took a great number of squirrels and rabbits with that old gun. I still have both the Daisy and the H&A. They still work, and it would grieve me very much if I lost them.
Calling Old Timers To The Firing Line
- Thread starter madmag
- Start date
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
I'm a young guy reading this thread.
Well, young compared to you old goats.
Great stories of old family treasures here.
I hope your grandchildren treasure them like you do.
Well, young compared to you old goats.
Great stories of old family treasures here.
I hope your grandchildren treasure them like you do.
My first handgun purchase was in 1960 @ age 16.
(Not the first handgun I possessed, but the first I bought with my own money)
Purchased at the local Sears Roebuck store.
I had to choose (My saved-up $ were limited) between a new Browning SA .22lr rifle @ $68.00 and a new Hi-Standard Citation .22lr pistol for $ 79.00. I went home with my first handgun. Kept it for many years until a burglar took it away in 1993, if I recall correctly.
Best,
Will
(Not the first handgun I possessed, but the first I bought with my own money)
Purchased at the local Sears Roebuck store.
I had to choose (My saved-up $ were limited) between a new Browning SA .22lr rifle @ $68.00 and a new Hi-Standard Citation .22lr pistol for $ 79.00. I went home with my first handgun. Kept it for many years until a burglar took it away in 1993, if I recall correctly.
Best,
Will
Maximus856
New member
It's pretty cool to know some of the guys on here were around when the Springfield '03 was still standard issue. "young person technology" bringing a wealth of "old" time knowledge.
Max.
Max.
I’m 65 ½ (man, what I wouldn’t give to be 65 again!)
My parents bought me a Marlin 144LSA .22 target rifle when I was 13. I shot that gun in Jr NRA competition for years and got my Distinguished badge with it. I still have it.
Except for the times when I was in college or stationed somewhere with no competitive shooting available, I’ve been a competitive shooter all my life. I mostly shoot pistol and have 21 handguns. I used to have some shotguns, but I kept trading them for handguns and ran out about 1969. I have 8 or 9 rifles.
My newest:
My parents bought me a Marlin 144LSA .22 target rifle when I was 13. I shot that gun in Jr NRA competition for years and got my Distinguished badge with it. I still have it.
Except for the times when I was in college or stationed somewhere with no competitive shooting available, I’ve been a competitive shooter all my life. I mostly shoot pistol and have 21 handguns. I used to have some shotguns, but I kept trading them for handguns and ran out about 1969. I have 8 or 9 rifles.
My newest:
Maximus856 said:
Well, kinda...at least for me. The M1 was standard issue, but the sniper rifles were 03's. I was lucky, it was peace time. My actual carry was a .45ACP grease gun. I had to carry (20) 30 round mags. of .45ACP in a shoulder pouch. Hard to imagine the guys that had to lug that around in combat.......same ammo and mags fit the Thompson Sub.
Stevie-Ray
New member
I couldn't agree more. I'm not quite as old as some here, but I'm really hearing the "old fart" jokes even at 55. And I got my Ruger RST-6 new for less than a hundred bucks even in 1979. I started with a Stevens model 34 bolt-action .22 in 1968 for my birthday, though I cut my teeth 3 years earlier on a Mossberg 352 and was forever hooked. I still have and shoot the Stevens, and can, when time permits, spend a leisurely day at the range shooting that for practically nothing. Below is my RST-6, my first pistol and still a fine gun. $92
I'm only 71 and I still have the Model 24 Winchester 20 Ga. shotgun I got for christmas when I was 12 years old.
Also have a Stevens Model 85A .22 semi auto I bought with money from my paper route when I was 11. Times have sure changed. I went to the local hardware store, picked out what I wanted from a catalog. A week later I gave the store owner the money, he gave me the gun, and I rode my bike home with it.
Of course I had a Daisy Red Ryder when I was about 9.
Also have a Stevens Model 85A .22 semi auto I bought with money from my paper route when I was 11. Times have sure changed. I went to the local hardware store, picked out what I wanted from a catalog. A week later I gave the store owner the money, he gave me the gun, and I rode my bike home with it.
Of course I had a Daisy Red Ryder when I was about 9.
Stressfire
New member
Another young pup reading this (27), and gotta say you old guys always have the coolest stuff
All kidding aside, great pieces of history and family on here
All kidding aside, great pieces of history and family on here
603Country
New member
I just turned 64, and I'm not totally worn out yet, but maybe I'm close to worn out. I started with the same fine weapon that many of you did - the Red Ryder BB gun. I shot it so much that I had one BB gun for shooting and two for parts (yes, later I did become an engineer). From the BB gun I moved up to a Stevens single shot 410 and my Grandpa taught me how to squirrel hunt with it. After that, Grandpa must have decided that I wasn't a safety risk, so he taught me to shoot his Stevens 22 bolt action, which doesn't appear to have a model number or serial number anywhere I've looked on it. Grandpa was a WWI rifle and machine gun instructor, so his shooting instruction was exactly what I got later in the USMC (though he was nicer about giving me the lessons). After I 'graduated' from his training, he bought me a Stevens 87D 22 semiauto that I have now passed along to my oldest grandson. Then I moved on to centerfire rifles, with lever action Marlins first, then a BAR, then bolt actions. I've often wondered if I ever got to be as good a shot as Grandpa, but I'll never know. I will tell you that he was deadly with his Model 12 Winchester in full choke, but I never got to see him shoot a centerfire rifle.
Since we are showing some of our older guns I will attach photo of my 12ga. Browning Auto Five, made circa 1936.
There is a story behind this gun. I was my wifes fathers gun. One night my wifes mother thought there was a burglar in the basement closet of their walk out basement home. She took the Auto Five and put the stock against the basement wall to absorb the recoil and shot through the basement closet door. She then ran back upstairs......why run when you have a 12ga. Auto five in your hands. The recoil broke the stock. I had to replace the stock and the closet door. Notice in the photo the stock and forearm really don't match.
The police were called. No burglar found, but the police assured her that if there was a burglar they were real sure he/she would not return.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=64987&d=1291392993
There is a story behind this gun. I was my wifes fathers gun. One night my wifes mother thought there was a burglar in the basement closet of their walk out basement home. She took the Auto Five and put the stock against the basement wall to absorb the recoil and shot through the basement closet door. She then ran back upstairs......why run when you have a 12ga. Auto five in your hands.
The recoil broke the stock. I had to replace the stock and the closet door. Notice in the photo the stock and forearm really don't match.The police were called. No burglar found, but the police assured her that if there was a burglar they were real sure he/she would not return.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=64987&d=1291392993
Major Dave (retired)
New member
I'm 70 and my first guns
were a pair of 22's my mother and father bought when they were dating, about 1935ish.
Actually Daddy bought both of them when they were "courting". Seems going rabbit and/or squirrel hunting was one of the things they would do together on a "date".
His: Rem Model 24 semi-auto chambered for 22 Short, only. Breakdown barrel. Magazine port in the side of the buttstock. Capacity 10 rounds. Splinter forearm on the stock. A John Browning patent action. Now available as a (pricey) Browning semi-auto, with a much beefier stock, high gloss finish, and available in three or four levels of engraving on the action, IIRC.
Hers: the Winchester "gallery" gun, i.e.,Model 62, pump action, exposed hammer, chambered for short, long, and/or long rifle, interchangeably. Round barrel. Magazine is under the barrel. IIRC magazine holds 18 Shorts, or 12 Long Rifle shells. Never used Longs, so don't know mag capacity of those. The forearm of the stock is used to cycle the action, and is of the "corn cob" configuration.
Both of them had open iron sights, and still do.
I still own both of them, and shoot them at the range about twice a year. Haven't hunted with them in decades.
Started hunting with these, mostly the Rem M24, at about age 12, with my primary targets being Blue Jays. My daddy paid me a 5c bounty for every "jaybird", because they ate off his pecan trees. He had 52 budded papershell pecan trees on the 8 acre patch of land we lived on. He claimed a jaybird woud eat a "peck" (1/4 bushel) of pecans each year.
The price of a box of 22 Shorts was 41c, so 8 jaybirds just about paid for a box of 50 rounds (break even point). The other 42 rounds was where I could make my profit. I averaged 45 birds per 50 round box. - about $1.85 profit per box.
My first shotgun was a 20 gage pump by Western Field (Montgomery Ward). I was 14 years old, and got it for Christmas. There was a 40 acre city lake about 1/2 mile south of our land, so my best buddy (who got a 20 gage bolt action Mossberg for Christmas,and I commenced to harass the local flocks of mallards and pintails.
My buddy's Mossberg had an adjustable choke, so the next summer I earned enough money as a caddy at the nearby golf course to buy a Poly Choke, complete with a muzzle brake. I had to "one up" my buddy.
Doves were on my short list of shotgun targets, along with ducks. I'm still a pretty good dove shot, averaging one down in three shots.
I still own that first 20 gage, but now use a very pretty Rem Model 870 twenty gage Lightweight Magnum Wingmaster with the most beautiful figured wood stock I have ever seen outside of custom guns.
My first center fire rifle was a sporterized M93 Mauser chambered for 7X57. Bought it from my childhood buddy, for $40, when we werein our early 20's. He bought it from Sears, in original military configuration. Then he bought a left hand rollover Monte Carlo stock, partially glass bedded it, and tried to drill the barrel for a scope mount. So, it was a work in progress, but since I was left-handed too, I took the deal he offered -$40. I paid another @40 to a gunsmith to install a Timney trigger, bend the bolt handle down to clear a scope, replace the drilled barrel, full length glass bed it, and mount my Weaver V9 3-9x40 AO scope on it.
Shot a small bull elk with it using Norma 150 grain bullets. Also shot a prairie dog at 245 paces with 110 grain Norma ammo.
Couldn't shoot anything but (mild) factory loads in it, so traded it (with cash to boot) for a modern strong action bolt action in 7X57, in a leftie action.
Got only $150 in trade for it. Buyer said the Timney trigger and the Weaver scope were the most valuable components. But for me, memories - priceless!
were a pair of 22's my mother and father bought when they were dating, about 1935ish.
Actually Daddy bought both of them when they were "courting". Seems going rabbit and/or squirrel hunting was one of the things they would do together on a "date".
His: Rem Model 24 semi-auto chambered for 22 Short, only. Breakdown barrel. Magazine port in the side of the buttstock. Capacity 10 rounds. Splinter forearm on the stock. A John Browning patent action. Now available as a (pricey) Browning semi-auto, with a much beefier stock, high gloss finish, and available in three or four levels of engraving on the action, IIRC.
Hers: the Winchester "gallery" gun, i.e.,Model 62, pump action, exposed hammer, chambered for short, long, and/or long rifle, interchangeably. Round barrel. Magazine is under the barrel. IIRC magazine holds 18 Shorts, or 12 Long Rifle shells. Never used Longs, so don't know mag capacity of those. The forearm of the stock is used to cycle the action, and is of the "corn cob" configuration.
Both of them had open iron sights, and still do.
I still own both of them, and shoot them at the range about twice a year. Haven't hunted with them in decades.
Started hunting with these, mostly the Rem M24, at about age 12, with my primary targets being Blue Jays. My daddy paid me a 5c bounty for every "jaybird", because they ate off his pecan trees. He had 52 budded papershell pecan trees on the 8 acre patch of land we lived on. He claimed a jaybird woud eat a "peck" (1/4 bushel) of pecans each year.
The price of a box of 22 Shorts was 41c, so 8 jaybirds just about paid for a box of 50 rounds (break even point). The other 42 rounds was where I could make my profit. I averaged 45 birds per 50 round box. - about $1.85 profit per box.
My first shotgun was a 20 gage pump by Western Field (Montgomery Ward). I was 14 years old, and got it for Christmas. There was a 40 acre city lake about 1/2 mile south of our land, so my best buddy (who got a 20 gage bolt action Mossberg for Christmas,and I commenced to harass the local flocks of mallards and pintails.
My buddy's Mossberg had an adjustable choke, so the next summer I earned enough money as a caddy at the nearby golf course to buy a Poly Choke, complete with a muzzle brake. I had to "one up" my buddy.
Doves were on my short list of shotgun targets, along with ducks. I'm still a pretty good dove shot, averaging one down in three shots.
I still own that first 20 gage, but now use a very pretty Rem Model 870 twenty gage Lightweight Magnum Wingmaster with the most beautiful figured wood stock I have ever seen outside of custom guns.
My first center fire rifle was a sporterized M93 Mauser chambered for 7X57. Bought it from my childhood buddy, for $40, when we werein our early 20's. He bought it from Sears, in original military configuration. Then he bought a left hand rollover Monte Carlo stock, partially glass bedded it, and tried to drill the barrel for a scope mount. So, it was a work in progress, but since I was left-handed too, I took the deal he offered -$40. I paid another @40 to a gunsmith to install a Timney trigger, bend the bolt handle down to clear a scope, replace the drilled barrel, full length glass bed it, and mount my Weaver V9 3-9x40 AO scope on it.
Shot a small bull elk with it using Norma 150 grain bullets. Also shot a prairie dog at 245 paces with 110 grain Norma ammo.
Couldn't shoot anything but (mild) factory loads in it, so traded it (with cash to boot) for a modern strong action bolt action in 7X57, in a leftie action.
Got only $150 in trade for it. Buyer said the Timney trigger and the Weaver scope were the most valuable components. But for me, memories - priceless!
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"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?" - Satchel Paige.
I'm 61 and my grandparents and most of their siblings were all born in the 1890s. I've actually carried my great uncle Ed's nickel plated 1884 S&W .38 break top. And my grandfather's IJ .32 for a day until I realized it wasn't reliable.
I grew up around guns. Every family had them it seemed. And my father was a State Trooper when I was born.
My first gun was a BB rifle my grandparents gave me for Christmas in 1955. I never really needed a gun of my own as a kid, there were always plenty around for plinking and hunting thanks to my uncle the gun trader.
I'm 61 and my grandparents and most of their siblings were all born in the 1890s. I've actually carried my great uncle Ed's nickel plated 1884 S&W .38 break top. And my grandfather's IJ .32 for a day until I realized it wasn't reliable.
I grew up around guns. Every family had them it seemed. And my father was a State Trooper when I was born.
My first gun was a BB rifle my grandparents gave me for Christmas in 1955. I never really needed a gun of my own as a kid, there were always plenty around for plinking and hunting thanks to my uncle the gun trader.
John Wetzler
Inactive
MadMag
I am 73 and still have my first rifle the Winchester Model 57 22LR and I believe I was about six years old when I started using it. My dad was in the Army then WW11 when he gave me the rifle. I have always been an expert shot because of having my model 57.
I am 73 and still have my first rifle the Winchester Model 57 22LR and I believe I was about six years old when I started using it. My dad was in the Army then WW11 when he gave me the rifle. I have always been an expert shot because of having my model 57.
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