Firearms that bring out the inner child in you

A

American Eagle

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Is there a particular firearm that beings out your inner child? Does a particular firearm brings out your childhood dreams of being a cowboy, soldier, James Bond, or some other historical/fictional character? If so, let's hear it. :D

Cowboy guns do that for me :cool:

I recently started shooting black powder pistols, and every time I fire my revolver and smell that powder in the air, I can't help it but to be transported to my childhood dreams of being an American cowboy.

Now I know that these are foolish dreams, specially given that I am Cuban by birth and would never look like an American cowboy now matter how hard I try. If I wanted to be true to my heritage (I am 7/8 Spaniard and 1/8 French by descent) I should probably be content with a matchlock rifle and Conquistador gear.....but something about American cowboys and cowboy guns just brings out the inner child in me. Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Excuse the red mark on my forehead. I ran into my the edge of my bedroom door last night (long story :eek: )

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Ditto.
Modern guns maybe more useful and effective, but the guns of the old west have my heart, too.
Judging from their popularity, we ain't alone, pard.
 
Assuming that is your picture,what makes you think you do not, much less cannot, look like an American cowboy? I cannot see a single disqualifying feature.
 
I don't know about wanting to be a cowboy 'n such, but two guns that give me a warm fuzzy little boy feeling with I play with them are my Remington Model 25 in 25-20, and my Nagan 1895 Revolver in 7.62X38R.

Neither have any practical use but are a heck of a lot of fun to play with, plus the added benifit of loading for those two guns.
 
Why grow up / Inner Child

After shooting a full auto AK, a ZSU-23, and a Barrett 50, heck, I don't think I'll ever grow up.:D
 
Now I know that these are foolish dreams, specially given that I am Cuban by birth and would never look like an American cowboy now matter how hard I try. If I wanted to be true to my heritage (I am 7/8 Spaniard and 1/8 French by descent) I should probably be content with a matchlock rifle and Conquistador gear.....but something about American cowboys and cowboy guns just brings out the inner child in me. Hey, I can dream, can't I?
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NONSENSE!!! Cowboy isn't a race, its a lifestyle. But you might find it interesting to note that some of North Americas first cowboys were from Spain.

This is from a National Geographic article I found online...

"They were called caballeros, says Donald Gilbert Y Chavez, a historian of the cowboy's Spanish origins.

"One of the highest stations you could have in life was to be a caballero," said Chavez, a resident of New Mexico whose lineage can be traced to the Don Juan de Oñate colony, the caballero who was among the first cowboys in the U.S."
 
Cambeul, that is indeed a picture of me striking a pose with my Pietta 1858 New Army. All I was saying is that I don't think there were any Cuban cowboys, or too many of Spanish and French blood for that matter......but that sure never stopped me from dreaming about the Wild West when I was a little boy.

Oh, and I have a friend who has a Walther PPK, and he says it brings out the James Bond in him :D
 
ruger 10/22...

Im dying to get a smoothbore flintlock, to explore my inner child.

that should be a common prescription from psychiatrists...

"were gonna start you off on a peacemaker, and if that doesnt work we have a combo 10/22 .410 medication. If youre still not getting results well try a full auto MP5."
 
For me it's a snub .38 with the exposed hammer. I remember watching the Godfather as young kid and while I found the movie to be really boring, confusing and slow (at the time) but I always loved the scene where fat clemenza is showing Michael the revolver before the big hit.
 
NONSENSE!!! Cowboy isn't a race, its a lifestyle. But you might find it interesting to note that some of North Americas first cowboys were from Spain.
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Exactly. It goes against the grain of what most people think the west was like, but the predominant ethnicity of cowboys after 1865 was.... African. From 1865 to the mid 1880s, most ranch hands, cowboys, cattle drivers, and horsemen were freed slaves, that had gone west for the good pay, and an escape from the repressive South. European cowboys were actually the minority. They were out numbered by nearly any other immigrant 'race' you can think of. (With a lot of Spanish blood mixed in.)

Only a North-European descendant should wonder if they will ever look like a true cowboy. ;)
 
For my 14th birthday my parents got me a Remington 511. It was my first real gun, and a couple of months later, for Christmas, I got a scope to put on it. A few years later I foolishly traded that rifle for something else and regretted it ever since. Some how I managed to hang on to the scope, though.
Over the years I looked for a replacement for that gun, but the only ones I found were either in really bad shape, or didn't have the grooved receiver. Then one day at a gun show I saw a guy walk by with one. After a brief negotiation it went home with me.
Now all I have to do is pick that rifle, pour a little Hoppe's #9 on a cleaning patch, and I'm a kid again. That's it with the original Weaver C4 scope.
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Oh my God, I want that Johnny Seven. When I was growing up we didn't have anything that cool. All we had were the huge water guns....Super Soakers....I believe that's what they were called.

And Larry, that Remington 511 sure looks like a beauty. I'm glad you were able to get back your childhood memories. :D

Thank you all for the information. Makes me want to go buy a Colt Peacemaker and a Winchester 1873, and to find out where the nearest cowboy shooting competition or show to where I live is located. It would make a nice hobby to get away from the stress of work.

Of course, being a "cowboy" of Mediterranean ancestry does have one advantage, once I turn olive in the sun, I don't get sunburned like my friends of northern European extraction. A nice feature if you are going to toil in the desert sun. :D And I do eat cheese and drink wine, though I suspect that's probably the French in me :eek:
 
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My Marlin 39A seems to have that effect on my son and me. We take it too the range along with other guns and we end up shooting far more than anything else. Great fun...
 
Bench shooting rimfire rifles often reminds me of Scout Camp. A modified Saiga 12 with a 20 round drum doesn't remind me of anything but popping off 20 rounds in a row sure talks to my inner child. :)
 
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