First gun was a savage single shot 410 when I was 10 or so. Only used that gun for a couple years. Then for Christmas my dad got me a Ithaca model 37 20 gauge. I still have the Ithaca my dad I believe still has the 410.

Rich the guy I traded the winchester still has it but he passed it down to his sun. I tryed to buy it back in May of this year but no go.

Rich, My first gun was a JC Higgins bolt action 16ga, My father bought it for me when I was 14, that was a long 58 years ago, It did the job on rabbits and river floating on drizzly days for squirrels. brings back a lot of memories, unfortunately I do not have the gun any more, Gary

Mine was a Model B ,Fox 12 Ga .in 1966 ,I was 11 Years old ,went with my Buddy on our bicycles to a local sport shop " Kissel Sporting Goods , that was run by Bob and his wife Bea ! Mrs Kissel told us of a man that came in and wanted to sell her a Fox 12 Ga. and gave us directions to his home about six miles from the shop ,she said he wanted too much for the gun and she didn't buy it ,she didn't mention what he had wanted for the gun ! We headed out to find him with my $75.00 I saved up from mowing two neighbors yards and weeding their gardens that summer . We arrived and eventually the man came to the door ,we ask about the gun and he said he had to get 50 bucks for it ,I jumped at the deal and home we headed ! Imagine today if someone sold an 11 year old a gun !!!!!!!!!:eek: The stock broke from dry rot a few hunting seasons later and was eventually sold at a yard sale , it's seldom ,I think about it but when I do I wish I still had it !

A lot of us have regretfully traded away or sold our first gun. It almost happened to me as well. I've had the gun sickness for a very long time and I happened on a Browning Sweet 16 with a 28 inch vent rib, round knob, long tang and made in Belgium. This would have been in the late 60's or early 70's and even then I knew a Belgium Browning was worth having. Well I traded that Remington 22 and some cash for it. Days later I was lamenting my deal in that I had traded my 22. Grandma stepped up and gave me the money to buy back the 22. Several years ago the Sweet 16 (which was the last of my A5 collection) was part of a multi gun trade with Steve Barnett for a Parker. I can't remember what I traded it for exactly as the sickness is ever progressive and the trades get obscured by the sands of time, BUT I still have that Remington 22!,

First gun
 

I bought my first real gun from my cousin. I was about 11 years old. It was a Nylon 66, a tube fed 22 long rifle that was loaded through a butt plate tube. I think I paid about $35.00 for it. I shot a box of shells almost every day for what seemed like years. It never missed a beat. I really wish I didn't sell it.
Dave

I grew up in Parma, MI. I remember Beach & Heuman's, out on the Western end of Jackson "The City of Action"--Old Ralph "Woody" Woodhurst worked there, after the downtown Smith & Winchester Hardware Store & Mill Supplies down their gun and sporting goods dept. I bought a Winchester M77 .22 LR repeater from B&H, shot a lot of junkyard rats with it on Saturday afternoons too!!

Parma isn't far from Jackson. My parents are still there but there's no action in Jackson anymore. I only go there to see the folks. I used to do some Pheasant hunting around Parma back in the day.

My dad's Savage 775a 16ga autoloader. There was a .410 single shot that actually belonged to my oldest brother that I carred but it wasn't mine. Dad never actually gave the Savage to me; he just started saying it was too heavy for him and he'd rather carry the .410. When I was about 12 my dad lost an eye in a hunting accident and never hunted again. As was my dad's way there was never any formal presentation; it was just understood form then on that it was my gun. And yes, I still have it.

I had a Iver Johnson 410 single barrel with a hammer that put blisters on my thumb because the spring was so strong and I practiced cocking it on the rise whenever I had opportunity. I took my first rabbit with it at the age of 9, walking along side my dad.

It was handed down to me from my brother, who was 14 years older than myself. It was given to him by my Uncle Sam, a lifer U.S. Marine; I didn't know him because he died in the early days of WWII. The gun was stolen in the 70's, I wish I still had it today!