36 years....

[Destry L. Hoffard]

My first double gun, Lefever Nitro Special 16 gauge. For 36 years it's been doing it's work for me. First barrel of my first squirrel hunt of the season, killed two in one shot. Never did that before on squirrels...

[wayne goerres]

Looks like a full bag limit. Where is those black squirrels.

[Bill Jolliff]

Destry,

Your Lefever Nitro Special 16 has served you well. Keep that trend going.

And if I may intrude on your thread which speaks of long service to guns we've owned, shown below is

My 12 gauge early A grade Fox, SN 7983, that I purchased 51 years ago this month from Glen Appleby of Galeton PA for $175.00.

I haven't hunted with it since non toxic shot was required for ducks and geese back many years ago but it still sees a lot of shooting.

I shot it yesterday at sporting clays and I average about 2,500 to 3,000 rounds thru it each year. The old girl still locks up tight and closes like a bank vault.

Hoping to get another 50 years out of the old girl. She's my favorite.

https://i.imgur.com/Ocr7dTO.jpg?1

[Milton C Starr]

Nothing looks better than a sxs with decades of honest hunting patina .

[Harry Collins]

Good shooting Destry! I've had a few Scotch Doubles on dove and they were a pure luck shots. I was thrilled each time it happened. I would have given anything to have seen the expression on your face when two squirrels fell. I have a friend in Freeburg, Illinois who marinates his squirt in 7UP before frying them. Whats your favorite recipe?

[Dave Noreen]

Got you beat by a bit, Jolly. Bought "Meat in the Pot" in the summer of 1966 from Chet Paulson in Tacoma. Been my go to bird gun ever since --

76089

Actually have had my Super-Fox three years longer, but I haven't been waterfowl hunting since 2004, and haven't used the Super-Fox since 2003.

76090

It is still ready though.

[Phil Yearout]

OK; first double guns...Stevens 5100 16ga (I've been told that 5100 is not really a model number, but since many folks call them that I'll go with it). Bought it at a flea market maybe 30 years ago; best $210 I ever spent and it started me down a very interesting road! Stevens guns take a lot of crap but I once took a limit of four fat prairie roosters with four shells from this (2x4, fence post, pig on a shovel; take your pick) and you can't ask much more of a gun than that. Still going strong, and I sometimes think I still shoot it better than any of 'em…

https://i.imgur.com/NNnoVqCl.jpg

[Milton C Starr]

OK; first double guns...Stevens 5100 16ga (I've been told that 5100 is not really a model number, but since many folks call them that I'll go with it). Bought it at a flea market maybe 30 years ago; best $210 I ever spent and it started me down a very interesting road! Stevens guns take a lot of crap but I once took a limit of four fat prairie roosters with four shells from this (2x4, fence post, pig on a shovel; take your pick) and you can't ask much more of a gun than that. Still going strong, and I sometimes think I still shoot it better than any of 'em…

https://i.imgur.com/NNnoVqCl.jpg

I seen a Stevens 311 16 ga Saturday in Kevins down on the used gun rack .
Had some use on it but still looked to be in good shape .

[Mike Franzen]

Destroy seeing your pic brought back a lot of memories. I was taught to hunt on squirrels using a topper jr. 410. Seems like hardly anybody hunts them anymore.

[Garry L Gordon]

[QUOTE=Dave Noreen;281153]Got you beat by a bit, Jolly. Bought "Meat in the Pot" in the summer of 1966 from Chet Paulson in Tacoma. Been my go to bird gun ever since --

Yikes! My allowance in 1966 was $.50/week.:rotf:

(BTW, what a wonderful gun!)

[Robert Brooks]

My Stevens 410 94C single shot was bought from Western Auto in 1950 and I can still hear MR A D Thompson giving me safety lessons. Bobby

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I was down at home, mostly grey squirrels down there with the occasional fox. Season opens here in Michigan this weekend though, always a chance of a black squirrel here.

I flash fry them then put them in a glass baking dish covered in chicken broth and onions for three or four hours at 300 degrees. Keep an eye on the broth level, don't let them run dry. Use the pot liquor as a pour over on rice. Good Stuff!

I usually only use paper shells for squirrels but in my recent move my ammunition horde is a mixed up wreck. Managed to find a box of vintage Winchester Western Mark 5 in high brass and they had to do.

[George Lang]

Christmas 1956, Stevens 311 20 gauge 28"M/F. Grandson now cherishes it.

[charlie cleveland]

my first gun 1957 was a stevens 311 410 double.....charlie

[Bill Murphy]

So, Milton, what is Kevin's price on a Stevens double?

[charlie cleveland]

them stevens average about 750 bill.....this of course are the ones with walnut stocks ....charlie

[CraigThompson]

I wish it wasn't so difficult to get out or I'd take a picture of the WW Greener D-40 12 gauge I bought when I was 15 .

I got it from a family friend that had an antique shop in Charlottesville and he was selling it for the wife of the local Oldsmobile dealer (whom he happened to be uhm hanging around with) . The dealer and his estranged wife were going thru the divorce thing . The dealers father had bought the gun new and I got it with a leg o mutton case for if my memory serves $450 . That was 1976 or 77 . That was what I consider to be my first real shotgun !

My actual FIRST gun , I bought a used Winchester 67 in 1968 when I was seven for the astronomical fee of $15 my pop refinished the stock and my grandfather cold blued it and the local gunsmith recrowned it .

My first shotgun was an H&R Topper 12 gauge 32" full that I received when I was 8 . The folks gave it to me for Xmas , they got it at the Best store in Richmond VA if I'm not mistaken for the grand total of $35 tax included .

When I was 12 in 1973 I went to Clark Brothers in Warrenton VA and bought my first centerfire rifle a nice new Remington 700 BDL in 243 with a nice new Bushnell Scopechief IV 2.5-8x and a walnut stocked NIB Ruger 10/22 . The 243 was $174 , the scope was $40 and the 10/22 was $59.95 . I worked all summer stuffing envelopes for my mothers company to make enough for the 243 and 10/22 , initially I was saving money for a Honda 125 dirt bike and the folks though it would be safer for me to have guns atleast they'd be around when I was shooting LOL's . I didn't know or realize this until later in life .

[Milton C Starr]

So, Milton, what is Kevin's price on a Stevens double?

It was $599 I believe .

[Bill Murphy]

I was thinking maybe $5999.00.

[Milton C Starr]

I was thinking maybe $5999.00.

They did have a Parker repro 20 ga for 6400$ but I seen one just like it on GI for 3500$ . It felt like it never been fired took some gorilla strength to break it open :rotf: . First time Ive ever seen or held a Parker in person even though it was a repro .

[Jerry VanHorn]

Christmas ..1959..Stevens 311 20 gauge..26"..M/IC..Still have hang tag..$68.50 at Whitmers in Clay City, In. Has been restocked to straight grip ..XXX wood... by Dennis Smith..

[Tom Hawkins]

My first gun purchase at 14. It has never failed, even though the finish is gone now, it is still resides close to the front of the safe for bad weather days. The best 50 bucks I have ever spent.

[Richard Flanders]

First gun purchase at 12. 1962. Mossberg mod. 42M? bolt action .22 for $35. Very straight shooter. Took a lot of tree rats with that one, and at some crazy distances with the 6x scope I put on it. Still have it in my basement here. Wore out the sear system and a repair is a tad difficult since the bolt can't be taken apart.

The first double gun I shot was my grandfather's VH12 in 1964, that my brother still has. First shotgun purchase the same year - a mint 20ga Mod 12.... for all of $45 !!

[Garry L Gordon]

First gun...a Sears .410 (the kind with the push button opener). It's still in the family with one of my nephews. That little gun killed lots of squirrels.

[Chris Robenalt]

Bill, I too own an early 1910 A grade 12. It's factory barrels are 26" IC/MOD. I've shot quail and dove with her throughout the years. I own a few Phillys in all gauges, this is my favorite. Over the years I've fit 28 and 30" barrels to her, but I'm always shooting those quick 26 inchers. She's a keeper!

[Ed Norman]

When I was 11 years old, (1964) I asked my dad if I could earn enough money that summer would he let me buy a shotgun. I knew better than to ask my mom, dad was a little softer in some ways. Dad said yes, mom found out later in the day and said no, I didn't want an argument (dad seemed to lose those more than win and this was important) I asked my Uncle Lewi to intervene and he told my mom that I was only looking at a little 20 gauge, not a full sized man sized 12 gauge. He explained to my mom that a 20 gauge was generally considered a "kids gun" a starter gun etc. I even showed my mom the difference in size in the shotgun shells. She finally relented, I raked leaves, weeded gardens, scraped a lot of lead based paint off of houses. (that explains a lot about my behavior:) I ended up with a mossberg 20 gauge pump with 6 shots and the safety on top so if I ever had any left handed friends that wanted to shoot it they could. ( I only had one left handed friend) I wore that gun out, finally the barrel mushroomed when I was in my early 20's. My first wife got me a browning o/u 20 gauge, my brothers father in law was a gun dealer, and he got it in on trade. She saved up for months to get it paid off in time for next hunting season.

[tom leshinsky]

My first shotgun Stevens mod 94 tenite stock 20ga single bbl when I was 14 (1949) from a fellow schoolmate for $14, still have and shoot it every year just for the hell of it.

[Henry McRoberts]

First shotgun of my own was a Browning Double auto in 12 gauge also called a Twelvette as I recall. That was in about 1956/57. It was a used gun but in great shape. Prior to that I used one of my fathers M12s in 20 gauge. I believe they were also produced in 20 gauge. I wish I still had that gun today. The two shot feature would make a great Grouse gun.

[Bill Murphy]

Henry, the Double Auto was a 12 gauge gun, and a nice one. If it had been made in 20 or 28 gauge, Browning wouldn't be able to keep up with production. Jerry Van Horn, we need pictures of your gun.

[Phil Yearout]

A bit off topic, but someone on the 16ga forum just bought the crispiest Stevens 5100 16ga I've ever seen...

http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22553

[todd allen]

My first gun was an Eastern Arms single shot .410 that my Grandfather gave me in 1966. I was an armed and dangerous 13 year old, and the local squirrel population was on notice. The reality was that very few game animals fell to the mighty little .410, but the days afield are some of my fondest memories growing up in rural So. California.
This gun now hangs on the wall in my home office. I like to think back on the days of my grandparents on the farm, and imagine Grandpa using this gun to run off chicken thieving varmints.