Rich Coyle
Well-Known Member
Savage 110 .30-06, Leupold 3-9X. Winchester 180 silvertips. I was eighteen. I made payments to the sporting goods store. That was 1962.
I completely forgot about dynamite, we used to buy it by the case at the local bait shop.Many people today do not realize that prior to the GCA of '68, we could go into hardware and other stores and simply purchase a firearm and take it home. Or like my brother, order one from a catalogue and have it delivered to the country mail box.
Similar to when farmers could buy dynamite from the hardware store to blow beaver dams.
The summer I was 17, I was lucking enough to acquire a 40 hr/wk state sponsored job with our local high school at the then minimum wage. Much better pay than farm work. That summer break I and a friend cruised the country dirt roads, bridges, dumps, etc and shot 22's almost every weekend. Earlier, I had purchased a Remington 572 pump, and by the end of the summer break, I counted the empty cardboard 500rd "brick" boxes I had opened and flattened out and kept in my bedroom. I had acquired 21 for approximately 10,500 rds shot that summer. Mostly, 22LR's but a couple were shorts for their added capacity in the 572's tube.In the early/mid70s my Mom bought Dad a brand new Marlin Model 60. Of course, my brother and I knew where they kept it and every now and then, we'd sneak in and oggle over it- knowing better than to play with it.
Dad was a great teacher of shooting and gun safety and by the time I was 10 I was hunting squirrels and wood chucks on my own.
We had some city transplant neighbors who were a little nervous about me shooting by myself but I was always very careful.
I wish I knew how many hundreds (or thousands) of rounds I ran through that thing!
As much as Dad (I think, anyway) liked when I was occupied with shooting that .22, he only ever bought them a box or 3 at a time. Then, a few days later I'd ask for more.The summer I was 17, I was lucking enough to acquire a 40 hr/wk state sponsored job with our local high school at the then minimum wage. Much better pay than farm work. That summer break I and a friend cruised the country dirt roads, bridges, dumps, etc and shot 22's almost every weekend. Earlier, I had purchased a Remington 572 pump, and by the end of the summer break, I counted the empty cardboard 500rd "brick" boxes I had opened and flattened out and kept in my bedroom. I had acquired 21 for approximately 10,500 rds shot that summer. Mostly, 22LR's but a couple were shorts for their added capacity in the 572's tube.
If memory serves, I think we purchased those bricks at about $6 each from a nearby Gibson's store, and that summer was one of my most memorable for its shooting, having a little money, eating large burgers from the local dairy bar that were $1.50 for the plate of home fries, dressed burger and a Coke, and having much fun with a good friend.
22wrf is a great cartridge sir way to go! My dad's friend had one when I was a kid. He could shoot squirrels farther than we could with our 22lr'sMy most memorable firearm is my 1890 Winchester my father gave me when I was 9.
It had belonged my grandfather who had given it to my dad when he was around 10.
Dad had re barreled it to 22lr from 22wrf because between him and granddad they had shot out the barrel.
It had headspace issues as the receiver was worn and when firing it made a loud crack if you didn't keep the pump for end pushed forward with pressure against it.
I don't have any idea how many 1000's of 22lr I put through that gun, but it was a lot. It was my constant companion and went with me most of the time.
When I graduated high school dad gave me a Ruger 10/22 sporter, and I retired the old Winchester.
About 20 years ago I found an original model 1890 22wrf barrel that had a good bore and re barreled the old gun back to original chambering, I don't shoot it much but it's one gun I will never sell.
Great gunI worked the summer at an auto parts salvage yard pulling parts when I turned 13 and when the Summer was over bought my first gun...870 wingmaster...still my favorite.
The same here I was 9 years old, I still have that old Winchester 67-A That year was 1954... Cheers.Dad gave me a Winchester 67-A single shot 22 for Christmas, I was 12. I taught my daughter to shoot with it. At 15 he gave me a Browning 20 ga. A-5, It's going dove hunting with me today. He wanted me to start deer hunting with him at 16 and he gave me a Remington 700 BDL .270 Win. It unleashes my 142 gr bullets at 3150 FPS. So many memories, I miss my Dad but now shoot with my Grand Daughter.
I saved up my hay baling and corn detasseling money to buy an 870. It replaced my Dads Stevens model 59A bolt action 410 in the duck swamp.I worked the summer at an auto parts salvage yard pulling parts when I turned 13 and when the Summer was over bought my first gun...870 wingmaster...still my favorite.