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Old March 10, 2013, 12:24 PM   #76
OJ
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Got this .22 single shot rifle for my 6th birthday - we lived WAY out in the country - I was nearly 16 when my folks moved to the city and I found out there were other ways to make a living besides being a cowboy. Before I got my own gun, I was shooting my mother's .410 double barrel shotgun.



My wife gave me this one for our twenty-fifth anniversary eight years ago -





Life continues to be good -
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Old March 10, 2013, 01:08 PM   #77
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Dad bought me one before I was born.
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Old March 10, 2013, 04:47 PM   #78
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11B training at the Ft. Benning School For Wayward Boys, August 2002. Loved shooting then, still do now.
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Old March 10, 2013, 05:48 PM   #79
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I don't remember the first time I shot a gun. My dad used to take us out plinking with the 22. When I was older I got a 410 and wounded birds all over the farm.
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Old March 10, 2013, 06:53 PM   #80
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coey 22 single shot when 5 told to shoot the pack rats that were getting in the eaves of the house 30-30 when i was 10, 725 270 at 13 hunting was for food and to kill pests and for the cash brought in by guiding european and American hunters first big game was a moose when my father would not get out of his cot told me to shoot it or waik him when coffee was ready i was 9 he drove through town telling everyone i was hooked still have the coey and 30-30 wish I had never got rid of the 725
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Old March 10, 2013, 06:57 PM   #81
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that is one very nice rifle is it a 405??
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Old March 10, 2013, 06:58 PM   #82
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I wasn't introduced to firearms until I decided to apply for a license. No one in my family is anti gun, but none of them owned guns either. In fact I am the reason my father owns guns and shoots today. Soon after I turned 21 I took the safety course and convinced my father to do so to. Got my carry license and have been hooked since. I live in an anti gun state so I have the opportunity to take alot of new shooters out to the range to shoot a gun for the first time.

Although I will add my toy box as a kid was full of replica wood and metal rifles that actually had the actions cycle and a bunch of metal replica cap guns. Needles to say everyone wanted to come over my house to play after school. Must have scared the hell out of the neighbors to see a 5 year old running around the streets of Boston with a replica pump action shotgun that actually cycled. Would never fly today.
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Old March 10, 2013, 07:05 PM   #83
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Nobody in my family was into shooting although I always had toy guns. My dad had a .22 from when he was a kid. He took me out to shoot it in a gravel pit a few times when I was in Boy Scouts so I could get my Marksmanship Merit Badge, about 7th grade. I went to camp that summer and won 2nd place in the shooting competition. I pretty much got into it on my own after that, going rabbit hunting with my buddies in the summer. Bought every gun I own after I got out of school. Now my sisters call me Uncle Bubba (but I know whose house they'd show up at if things went South).
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Old March 10, 2013, 07:12 PM   #84
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I kind of had to introduce myself.

The process continues, I imagine it will go on for as long as I do.

Right now, I'm working out how to do a trigger job on a BLR... Last year, I worked out the mystery of installing and adjusting Mauser double-set triggers.

It keeps me busy when the weather is not good for shooting, etc..

Last week I bought a Glock C29 - because I dunno squat about Glocks, and needed something for CC.

Last edited by PVL; March 10, 2013 at 07:32 PM.
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Old March 10, 2013, 11:40 PM   #85
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Age five...enter the 9 in. barrel Ruger single six convertible. In the holster it hung far past my nee. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. To this day you can hit empty .22 cases from 15 yrds with it. Next was my CVA .32 cal squirrel rifle. A lefty of course.
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Old March 10, 2013, 11:54 PM   #86
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When I was about 11, my uncle let me shoot his black powder .44 revolver...he thought it was funny. After my wrists healed, I took up skeet shooting with my grandfather. My first rifle was a 8mm Turkish Mauser. I don't know, I think it just clicked, my desire and my wrists.
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Old March 11, 2013, 12:03 AM   #87
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How did I get into firearms? Right, well... I must have been 11 at the time. So I was with my family at a corn maze upstate NY when someone there, was, I guess looking to make some money. So me and my Grandpa were doing something, and this guy goes and asks my mom if any of us would be "interested in shooting some clays?"

For some reason, my mom who wasn't a fan of firearms (she grew up in the streets in Brooklyn where only the punks would carry guns around), so she wasn't anti-gun, just intimidated by them, I guess. Well, she wound up saying yes. So the three of us, along with another family, two parents and two kids, followed this guy to a little open field surrounded by a wooded area.

He had a nice (what I assume to be high end) launcher, made shooting the clays very quick and easy. I believe the shotgun was a Remington VERSA MAX if I remember the color scheme correctly. The synthetic model with the grey around the grip and um... (forend?).

So the guy charged us like $1 a shot, I shot about 15 rounds, my mom shot about 5 and my grandpa shot about 5. That was actually a lot of money looking back considering how cheap birdshot was, and still is!

After this, I started to be semi-interested in firearms, but it would not be until about 3-1/2 years later that I wanted a gun of my own. I had already been shooting air rifles for a year or two at that point, (A Daisy 840 Grizzly, then moved up to a Daisy Powerline 901). So finally, after convincing my mom to go and purchase it (of course I'm underage, still am), I had my long-awaited Marlin 795. Since then, we've bought quite a few more guns, but nothing gets shot more than that Marlin 795!

A while back, my mom was wondering how I turned into such a gun nut, as she is still reluctant on owning firearms, but she knows she raised me to be responsible, I guess she just trusts me. I jokingly told her that she made a "grave error" 5 or 6 years ago, when she let me shoot those clays But it is what it is, and I don't think I'd go back to "gun-less" me. I enjoy shooting so much, and I don't think I'd ever see it any other way, no matter how vilified we become, but I am faithful that one day, some of this ignorance will fade, and others (who are on the fence) and even anti-gunners will at least understand why we love this one general activity that many do on a weekly basis. The problem? I don't understand myself!
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Old March 11, 2013, 02:29 AM   #88
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I got into guns I think as young as I can remember. Not because anyone around me had any or a army guy telling stories. But because how cool I percive they are. I noticed a lot of people making fun at me for making things into shapes of guns. Its my passion to enjoy firearms, more of something difficult to explain to most. I just have so much interest and fascination in all projectile devices. Guns are to me plain awesome. I know I like guns more than most all soldiers who use them. Guns are complex machines, I take great interest to the precision and craftsmanship that is put so dilligently into them.

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Old March 11, 2013, 03:56 AM   #89
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raised on a farm and they were always there,tho to my dad they were just tools like a axe or pitch fork.we raised alot of buck wheat and the deer would raise hell with it and my father and older brother and i would shoot them,i had to hold the light untill i was 9 then i got to shoot. eastbank.
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Old March 11, 2013, 09:21 AM   #90
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Clint Walker...

I was agnostic towards gun ownership but saw an NRA special on TV and Clint Walker was the host. In the show he spoke about the meaning of the second ammendment and convinced me that my thinking was wrong.

The was in Vermont in 1982 and I've been a gun owner since.
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Old March 11, 2013, 09:24 AM   #91
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When I was teething, my father let me chew on the cool steel slide of the 1911 he bought from the army when he was discharged in 1945. It sure eased the pain of teething. Then he would rub bourbon on my gums. It was the start of two of the best pleasures in life.
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Old March 11, 2013, 11:03 AM   #92
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Posts: 37 that is one very nice rifle is it a 405??
It's a 30-06. Originally came out in .405 and 30-40 Krag - similar to 30-06 which hadn't been invented then. Teddy took three of them in .405 and one in 30-40 Krag on his Africa hunts.
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Old March 12, 2013, 05:36 AM   #93
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My dad introduced me to firearms when I was about 8 or 9 at the Harvard Sportsmens Club in MA., then my Mothers brother fostered the Hunting spirit in my soul, when I was 16 years old. I have been involved in the shooting sports ever since. My son's learned to shoot at 5 with the BB gun .

I am now a Firearms Instructor and a Life Member of the Harvard Sportsmens Club. Cliff
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Old March 12, 2013, 06:52 AM   #94
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My step dad would use me as a bird dog when I was little. It was my job to go into the brush an flush the birds, it was great fun.
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Old March 12, 2013, 07:14 PM   #95
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My dad financed my BB gun era and that lasted a few months and I was completely over firearms. Then when I was 13, he grabbed me and said "come with me". We headed down to the hardware store where he bought a Winchester Model 37 16 ga shotgun, the first gun ever for our household, and the only one he's ever purchased. Now he did some time in the NC guard to help with his college costs, but he never hunted. He did okay in the guard with a rifle and thats where he developed an admiration for firearms, but he had no desire to recreate with one. He got me into fishing too, but he didn't care to fish. He joined a fishing club, and I fished from the dock while he socialized. By this time golf had been discovered and he was hooked on that. I still have that Winchester. I've played my fair share of golf, but there's not one golf related item in my house. I hunts and I fishes, and I thank my Dad for introducing me to both. RIP Dad, you did good by me.
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Old March 12, 2013, 08:22 PM   #96
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My parents weren't 'gun people', but they kept this POS .22 revolver, that was in about 3 pieces and had electrical tape as a grip, in a box above the refrigerator. As soon as my parents started leaving my brother and I home by ourselves, of course we got it down and played with it. We put it together, but I honestly don't even think it would have worked. That was my introduction to guns.

When I was about 15, my grandfather got my brother and I BB guns; which made my dad irate. When I was about 16, the first two guns I ever shot were a Colt 1911, and a full auto Thompson .45 that my uncle had from the Sheriff's office where he worked. Talk about a baptism by fire. My parents divorced when I was 17, and my dad moved out. We lived in the country, and I remember my mom waking me up one night because she heard a noise outside. Being the newly ordained 'man of the house', I had to do my investigation with the only weapon I owned at the time, a compound bow. I remember telling myself I would own a gun as soon as I was old enough. When I turned 18, I bought two shotguns, then a year later bought a rifle. I got into the police academy at 20 years old, so that's when I started buying handguns. My collection exploded to around 50 firearms, but I've since whittled that down to about half of that now.

Because of my experience as a kid, my daughters have all received their own .22 rifle at the age of 4, and they've been taught to use every firearm in the house. I don't want their introduction to guns to be like mine.
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Old March 12, 2013, 11:31 PM   #97
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It seems my life was backward - first gun of my own the .22 rifle - didn't get a BB gun until after my Korean War service. I had owned (still do) a Winchester 04, .410 and 16 DB shotguns, a couple of 45-70 rifles and .410 pistol - gift from one of dad's friends - had to register it the following year - most expensive gift I've ever received.





Great for an 8 year old boy - 12" barrel with no choke single shot - effective range not over 20 yards and not easily concealable- ATF thinks it is in the same class as a Tommy gun - wait - they have reclassified it as a "Curio & Relic* but won't take it off the list and if one is found to have an unregistered one, the fine is $10,000 - plus, there is no way to register one now even though there are several revolvers that shoot .410 shells on the market that have much shorter barrels - don't require registration because they have rifling in the barrels.

In contrast, one can buy a Tommy Gun - though it is expensive - but the are registrable.

This is the land of the free??? and nationally as well as in Colorado - efforts are being considered by legislative bodies to severely infringe on our 2nd Amendment rights when they could - and should be solving real problems.
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Old March 13, 2013, 12:31 AM   #98
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Well the first time I ever held a gun was shooting a javelina in South Texas, and of course my dad didn't bother to tell me when you look through a scope you don't put your eye on it. I still want to know how he explained the black eye to my mom. After that he got me a single shot .22/410 that you could switch the barrel out on. Between that and a Ruger 10/22 he got me a couple years later I probably put enough rounds through them that if I found all the brass I shot I could probably buy a car. After shooting his Mini-14 the .22s got boring real quick so I quit shooting for a while and after Obama got elected again I was ****** off and went and got a S&W Model 28 because I figured he was going to try and ban guns and I should better have something, and after shooting the a gun for the first time in probably 10 years I went off the deep end and now I'm completely obsessed with guns. But I remember hating my 410 because I was little and it kicked to bad for me, and I got my first 12 gauge a month ago and after a 100 round box of those bulk 12 gauge shells from Wal-mart I realized I've completely changed my mind with recoil. Now I want a 10 gauge too.

Also the closest I've ever come to having a BB gun is my cousin having one and shooting me with it and I dug the BB out of my arm with a knife so I wouldn't have to tell my parent and get in trouble.
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Old March 14, 2013, 04:57 AM   #99
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I have to say OJ that's a great set of pics. I wish I had got into shooting at a younger age. Of course my childhood photos with a .22 would have consisted of parachute pants and and some Nike pumps... maybe a double tape deck boom box in the back ground for recording your favorite songs off the radio... but all the same none the less haha.

I also hope when its time for me to retire I will be able to sit on my porch with a firearm as pretty a that with a smile on my face. Seems you have it figured out haha.
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Old March 14, 2013, 10:20 AM   #100
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Posts: 174 I have to say OJ that's a great set of pics. I wish I had got into shooting at a younger age. Of course my childhood photos with a .22 would have consisted of parachute pants and and some Nike pumps... maybe a double tape deck boom box in the back ground for recording your favorite songs off the radio... but all the same none the less haha.

I also hope when its time for me to retire I will be able to sit on my porch with a firearm as pretty a that with a smile on my face. Seems you have it figured out haha.
Thanks for the kind words - my wife gave that Hi Grade Winchester 95 for our twenty fifth anniversary eight years ago -I admit to "helping" her find it - we husbands are obligated to help our wives any way we can.

I just clicked in on GA and - wow - there it was . I phoned the dealer in Flint Michigan and sealed the deal - for less than the price listed in my 1996 GD - new in box - unfired - with manual. Miroku made 8000 in 1995 as century models - half of them in Hi Grade My theory is it was part of the estate of a serious collector whose survivors just wanted a quick estate deal and had no idea of its value.

All my wife got for #25 was a little diamond ring and she still thinks she got the best of the deal - women - gotta love'em -



Yep - I admit to being happily retired with the world's best wife - I have other friends on the deck who share my snacks with me -



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