Your first firearm
 

I remember my first real gun like it was yesterday. There was a sporting goods store a short bike ride away called Beech & Heuman's in Jackson, MI. It was a place where in the mid 60's a kid could look at guns and big game mounts on the wall. I wanted one of those new plastic stocked Remington Nylon 66 .22's. A friend of my fathers who was a shooter and a hunter went with me on several occasions and he suggested a real gun with a wood stock, preferably a pump as I knew when it had a live round as I had put it in the chamber. I bought a Remington Field master 22 pump. I still have that gun. When it was time for my little brother Joe to get his first gun he got one also and now I have that as well. Today the Nylon 66 might be worth more than the pump gun but I wouldn't trade it for one.

Stevens 16 ga single shot, then soon after a Savage 22/410 with lyman peep sight, then Nylon 66, later Rem 1100 12 ga and Marlin 30-30. Still have all except the 22/410 wish I had that one too.

First Parker VH 16 30" poor condition bought in pawn shop, don't miss that one.

Mine was a no name brand youth model break action 20 gauge. Killed more then a few dove with it. I thought it was cool because it had camo on the action--didn't realize at the tender age of 10 that it was CCH.

Winchester model 67, .22, single shot. Still have it and use it regularly.

Model 24 Winchester 20 gauge serial number 26,497. It is 26" and bored cylinder and modified. I would like to have it back if someone knows where it is. I think the fellow who bought it back in the late fifties was from Texas, but it was sold in MD.

.22 marlin bolt action I got in 1972 and still have it and still shoot, it I just shot my 3 rd porcupine of this year with it last week . They have been killing my acorn tree out back:cuss:

Field Grade LC Smith 20ga. My mom was PISSED that Xmas morning, but my dad cared not a lick. The barrels seperated on me at the muzzle before I knew about shooting low pressure, etc. That resulted in barrels being reblued, and the fellow who did that used a torch to redo the colors on the locks. I didn't know any better for over 20 years, but now it makes me sick to look at it. I have tossed around the idea of having it properly redone. If so, then it might one day become my nephew's first.

Mine was a Monkey Wards Model 100SB. It was a single shot 20 gauge made by Savage(Stevens?). It was the summer of 1972. I vividly recall how little fragments of primers would find their way into the skin on my trigger finger!

If do not count my Daisy BB gun, it was a Winchester Mod. 69A bolt action target model with a heavy barrel and a sling. I was about ten years old. It was later fitted with peep sights so I could shoot Jr. small bore, then a Weaver scope for small game.
I recently gave it to one of my nephew's sons. I shot thousands of rounds (50 cents per box via some NRA deal) and never had a malfunction.

My first shotgun was a pump Remington 870 16 G, it had a second shorter barrel that was choked Mod. I quickly moved to my grandfather's Mod. 12, nickel steel, with a 12,000 serial number. I still have that gun, but it is on it's going to my nephew when we meet up in a few months. My grandfather bought it when he lived in North Dakota and that 12 really saw some action. Sadly, no SXS in my family. We drove Fords and shot Winchesters...

I was a late bloomer. First was a Rem 1100 12ga in 1992. That was followed shortly with my first double gun, a Stevens 310 .410 ga.

This Weatherby Mark XXII was my 1st, it was under the tree when we got home from church services on Christmas Eve in 1965.

I was given two guns by my grandfather. The first was a .22 cal. Stevens Favorite with a half round/half octagonal barrel. I believe I was around 10 at the time. The second was a Mossberg bolt action 20 ga. I was twelve then and my dad and grandfather let me hunt with them that year. Sadly, both of those guns were lost in a fire.

My first gun was a Winchester Model 67 .22 LR. My Father's Uncle, my Great Uncle Art, was a gunsmith in North Seattle. Art oil finished the stock, fitting it with an ebony forearm tip and a grip cap, and checkered the grip and forend. He also fitted a Mossberg scope. My Model 67, along with my Mother's early "finger groove" Model 67, my Father's Remington 16-gauge AE-Grade double (P136036) and a .44 calber H & R Model 1905 were stolen from my Father's house in 1978.

Winchester model 70 bull barrel in 243 Winchester. First double only marked US armory steel.

Wayne that m70 is a hell of a first gun:bowdown: I know where there's a nice one in 220 Swift that's for sale. What to do, what to do????

Iver Johnson Champion 410 single barrel in 1947.

stevens model 311 double barrel 410 given to me by my father in 1957 i was 10... charlie

Winchester Model 121 bolt action single shot 22 was from Santa on Christmas morning 1967. It was a tack driver then and is a tack driver now. Probably my most valuable gun.

Remington 870 Supermag. I got it for Christmas when I was 15. The gun is ugly as hell and the wood looks like it was made from a 2x4 from lowes but I still love it. There is always something about your first gun.

Rich:

Thanks for this thread, as it is, by my measure, one of the best.

It is interesting to see how many members who now (I would guess) have nice Parker collections started off with very basic shooters.

Patrick

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!

My grandfather bought me a new Marlin Glenfield .22 single shot. Shortly thereafter, a very nicely finished used H&R Topper in .410. This was around 1966. Both were under $20 each, and I still have them. The .22 has some stock finish loss from the OFF! insect repellant I used squirrel hunting. I used the shotgun last summer to put a water moccasin living under my barn out of business.

I started out with a Mossberg bolt action .22 borrowed from my uncle who was in the Air Force. After a year or so when he returned stateside from a tour overseas he wanted it returned so that he could teach his son to shoot.

I had saved for my own .22 and bought a Remington 581 bolt action and a Weaver V-22 3-6 power scope. That combination depleted the flocks of song birds and black birds around the farm. Oh, the stupid things we did as kids! I also shot a woodchuck with it which required me to empty the 5-shot magazine into it. I sold that and other guns when I was buying my first car. Nearly 40 years later I replaced that gun with a nearly new Remington 581 which I topped with a Redfield 1-5 power scope.

I also recently filled another childhood memory with a Winchester Model 52C like the one I shot on our high school rifle team. Imagine that, a high school rifle team. That was in Coudersport Pennsylvania during the 70's. The school long ago gave up its rifle team but the experience I gained from it served me well a decade later as a member of the Marine Corps Rifle Team, the Big F-ing Team.

I grew up hunting with my dad's Ithaca M37 12 gauge. At 16 years old I bought my own shotgun, a Savage Fox Model B 12 gauge with 24" barrels and 3" magnum chambers! That was wicked on rabbits and a couple of fast rising pheasants. The Fox-B was also sold off to raise money for my first car... I have no desire to add another of those to my collection but I do caretake for three Super Foxes and a handful of Ansley's other creations. Then there are all those Parker Brothers doubles to include a few big bores..

Mark, Not that unusual. Bunnell High School my old high school still has a small bore and air rifle team. Even here in Connecticut. Trouble is the results are never published in any of the local papers.....:banghead:

First gun
 

Mine was a glen field mod 25 22 or I got it for Xmas when I was 11. Still have it, I started my son and grandson on this rifle wouldn't sell it for anything.

My first was an old Hopkins and Allen single 12 ,rickety old thing I bought from lawn cuttin money ...20 bucks I think it put me back ,I was 13 or 14 at the time but legally up here you have to 16 to own a firearm ...I never put too much thought in it .

About a year later my mile a minute mind ,came up with a jackass plan ...I got the hacksaw out and cut a pistol grip tang from 1/4 plate ,cut off the original and welded the new one in place ,re set the guts and made a set of grips ...the barrel was cut to 14 inches and a new short forend made...the ammo was high brass Imperials ,cut and emptied and topped off with a 12 bore round ball cast from my great ,great granddads musket mold ...I have never shot anything more uncomfortable ...bloody thing would almost cartwheel me ,but every 14 year old kid in town thought that I was a genius ...looking back with a shaking head and a big smile ,I think ignorance is bliss,and obviously blind luck was on my side !!!

After Daisy & Benjamin air rifles, my first 22 was a Winchester 77, centerfire a Winchester 1894 25-35, shotgun an LC Smith 12 gauge. I have fond memories of time spent with those guns but all have been traded up for much nicer guns that I would rather own, something I continue to do.

Iver Johnson 410
 

You are right about the stiff springs. It required both my thumbs to cock, especially with cold hands.

Good memories indeed
 

We hunted the Bradley farm, and also the farms on Stepladder Road- near the Mullican meat packing operation, also the Glasgow farm- but as my father was a machinist at Aeroquip in Jackson, and his boss, Mr. Hurst- was good friend of the Deputy Warden at the Jackson Prison Farm- so we got permit passes to hunt there every Fall-

My father did a lot of "government work" for Mr. Hurst, who was a mechanical genius and was always "inventing" new fittings for the aerospace industry. His parents came over from Germany after the war, and he had a fine collection of Merkel and Krieghoff shotguns. I doubt if you could even find very many in the Jackson Co. area that remember Aeroquip, or Sparks- Wirthington, Crankshaft Machine, Lefere Forge or the big Goodyear tire plant- the old saying "The world takes what Jackson makes" is now ancient history.

Marlin Golden Model 39 .22. Traded it off eventually to help finance a Browning Auto-5. Traded that off for a Remington Model 1100. Regretted having to trade those two guns and have only traded a couple of others in the past 55 tears. As someone once asked, "What happens when you trade a gun?" Answer - "You don't have it any more!".

My first real gun was an Eastern Arms .410 single shot, that I got from my grandfather atage 12. I still have it, btw.