Rim fire addiction

[cbore]

The first weapon I remember shooting alone was my Great Grandfather's single shot 22. Myself and my 2 Cousins would stay with our Grandparents in the Mississippi Delta for several weeks each summer. The 3 of us (ages 12/11/9 me the oldest) would walk 3 miles to my Great Grandparent's house after stopping at the General store where we pooled our money for a box of 22. Pappa would loan us his old single shot which had a notched kithen match for a rear sight. The 3 of us would then spend the day on the creek (called a boag in the Mississippi Delta)

As I got older I would ride with my Grandfather as he went to farm ponds and shot turtles. My first 22 of my own was a Winchester 190 with a Weaver V22, 3/4" tube. Several years later got a model 490 put a Weaver K4 on it still one of my prides.

All was good for years as I worked in Law Enforcement then later overseas. Then when returning home I bought a Ruger 10-22 from the pawn shop to restore. Overmold stock, bull barrel, Power custom trigger, replaced extractor and firing pin were some of the changes. Then outfitted with a 3-9 BSA. This seemed to do the trick especially for late season squirrel hunting with my Father and Uncle.

Then one day I found a Marlin 25MN in 22 magnum. I did a stock refinsh and reblue the barrel and receiver then was all set. I added a 4-12 BSA with Weaver mid range mounts. This one is deadly still.

Well when the 17 WSM was announced I knew I would have one. Took a while and even longer for the ammo to get affordable. Got a Savage B Mag and put a 4-16 Leatherwood scope on it. Added a recoil pad because the stock was to short for me. This guy prints a great group at 200 yards with little hold over.

Bottom line rim fire might not sound glamorous but the are great fun and affordable. I really like the slow firing of an accurate bolt action best seems more rewarding. A 125 yd shot with the 22 mag is as exciting as 600 yd with my 308. Yep I got the rim fire addiction.

 

[KSDeputy]

I was the oldest of three boys. We grew up in Dallas, but had a ranch in east TX. When I was 10, Dad bought me a brand new Winchester .410 pump shotgun. When I was 12, my brother got the Winchester and I got a brand new Remington .12 ga. semi-auto shotgun. Not long after, I was given a Remington model 552 BDL semi-auto .22lr. I still have it in the safe, like brand new, not a scratch on it. We were given the task of shooting turtle heads off, as they came up for air. They ate the baby fish eggs and ruined the lake. My brothers and I were some awesome turtle killers. We could take a head off, some 50-75 yards away. To kids our age, this was an awesome challenge, and our Dad loved to fish. Needless to say the better shots we were, the prouder Dad was of us. We enjoyed doing it, and felt like we were saving the fish to eat. I feel sorry for the kids of today. Dad taught us firearm safety, hunting, fishing, and gigging frogs. We ate dove, quail, fish, and the most awesome frog legs. I recognize how fortunate we were growing up with a Dad who was an outdoorsman, few kids today have the wonderful opportunities we had. Parents do not teach their kids firearms safety, most do not know it themselves. This, and losing GOD from our lives, have decimated our society. We must have HIM back in our lives if we ever stand a chance of rebuilding our nation, making sure we learn firearm safety, and become a nation of laws once again.

 

[cbore]

You right

Bill I am the same, my Grandparents town had 600 people and my home town has 1,600 now. Sill rural south as THEY like to refer to. A 15 yr old with best friends in April shooting together can't be beat.

Over 60 now but still going and loving to shoot and teach the young ones.

I didn't mention I even now have a 10 mo old squirrel dog (Mountain Fiest) and she and I have a new fall/winter season and the old 22 ahead. My way to unwind from work and life

 

[VaTom]

Shot my first rifle at Boy Scout Camp about 1963. A single shot bolt action 22 - don't know what brand. Later Dad bought my brother and me a Remington 572 Field master pump. He would take us to an abandoned rock quarry where we shot up cans and bottles.
Have a fondness for 22s. Only started collecting when I retired. Have a 15-22, marlin golden 39A, marlin model 60, S&W model 63, and a Ruger SR22. Looking to add another soon. Don't know what happened to the Field master all those years ago but looking to buy one soon for sentimental reasons.

 

[Fishinfool]

.22's is like potato chips......One just ain't gonna do it.

Larry

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I have an old Marlin model 80 that I bought from a school buddy many years ago. It had one of those tiny 3/4" diameter Weaver scopes on it. The trigger is horrible, but I learned how to overcome that. Shot many shells through it. Finally replaced the scope with a 3 x 9 Bushnell last summer. It will still shoot straighter than I can hold.
Bought a 10/22 last summer, it just fits my wife and she can out shoot me with it. We love our 22's.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[C J]

I grew up about as rural as you can get well off the paved road with only my house and my grandmother's house on the farm and an elderly lady living in a small shack just beyond our farm. Dad was into shotguns. He liked to hunt quail. He bought a trap machine which was rare in the late 50's and early 60's. We had a great place to shoot in the back yard. We had people come from hundreds of miles away to shoot at our house. It was great.

He finally sold the trap machine and not much later he bought a Marlin 60. This was very early in the run of that rifle. I thought it was the most beautiful thing on earth.

Before long we were hunting squirrels with that rifle. Then came other .22's. We spent a lot of time shooting and hunting. I spent a whole lot of time frogging too. We had frog leg frying parties that lasted 3 days with tons of frog legs and everything else and lots of great music. My dad was the dancer of the crowd. We had a lot of those parties and went to a lot more.

We went on camping trips with neighbors. One had been a sharpshooter in WWII. He spotted a groundhog at a good 600 yards and told us to watch as he shot it. All we saw was the groundhog going back down it's hole. It popped up again and my brother, who was maybe 13 at the time, asked if he could shoot that M1 at it. Same thing. Rolled back down the hole. But my brother swore he hit it. After some laughter my brother vowed to prove it. So off he went through about 500 yards of deep plowed ground plus another 100 yards before the field started. When he finally got there he pulled two dead groundhogs out of the hole. Both had hit their target on the first shot and my brother never having shot that rifle.

We went frogging in a thunderstorm that night and got more frogs than ever. My flashlight died while we were walking down a shallow creek about an hour before the end of our trek. I just navigated by the lightning.

We were country kids through and through. We could shoot in almost any direction because no one lived near us most ways. We did a lot of shooting. Still do when I can.

 

[Frank46]

My uncle had a 600 acre dairy farm in Honesdale PA. After I got out of the navy used to visit him and my Aunt Margret and Aunt Helen and aunt Dolly.Then there were the cousins. In the summer we shot groundhogs and in the winter we tried for deer. All the Aunts and Uncles are gone now so it's up to the cousins. Drank ice cold water from an artesian well, as well as from a tiny creek on my uncles farm. TV was the furthest thing on my mind. Great times and not as often remembered as I would like. Thanks for the memories. Frank