First gun you purchased

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RMorrison
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First gun you purchased

#1

Post by RMorrison »

Well the fly rod (thought that was ‘tackle’ but what do I know) thread went the way of the dodo.

Let’s talk about the first gun you bought for yourself. Did you save up at a high school job or was it with your first real paycheck? Was it a .22, a shotgun, maybe a little .22 pistol. Maybe it was super fancy.

For me it was a Stevens Savage single shot full choke 20ga. I saved up my money from a summer job at 14 yrs old and bought it at Gemco in Chico, CA for about $60. Still have it. Not great for upland but not a bad duck gun.
Last edited by RMorrison on 03/18/20 16:11, edited 1 time in total.

snorider
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Re: First gun you purchased

#2

Post by snorider »

I was lucky to have been provided with plenty of sporting arms by my father. The first gun I purchased myself was a pawn shop bought 870 "Wingmaster" 3" 12ga I paid 85$. It was a gun I shot ridiculously well. I sold it to a lab-mate in graduate school when I discovered I much prefer shooting a sxs despite the fact I shot the 870 with better success. I still think about that gun and the truck load of pheasants it brought to hand.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. T.R.

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blackdog
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Re: First gun you purchased

#3

Post by blackdog »

The first gun I purchased with my own money was a used Ithaca 16ga. featherlight. I still have it. I’ve harvested pretty much everything from small game, birds, and deer with it. Good all around gun.

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mer
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Re: First gun you purchased

#4

Post by mer »

Government sized 1911 45ACP, on a Dec 7. Seemed appropriate. I can neither confirm nor deny if I still have it or any others. Trigger makes me smile to this day.

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fisherman911
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Re: First gun you purchased

#5

Post by fisherman911 »

The first gun I purchased was an Ithaca "Super Single" 12Ga. that I bought at age 14 with money from my trapline and a little help from my Grandfather.

PYochim
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Re: First gun you purchased

#6

Post by PYochim »

Smith & Wesson 686 with 4" barrel in a .357 magnum. It is still my favorite.

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jhuskey
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Re: First gun you purchased

#7

Post by jhuskey »

Learned to hunt with a H&R hammered single shot 20 gauge, modified choke. It was a gift from one of my Dad's co-worker golf buddies. When I could afford to buy my own shotgun after saving up work money, I bought a gently used Remington Model 1100 in 20 ga. with modified choke.

sisqflyfshr
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Re: First gun you purchased

#8

Post by sisqflyfshr »

A Winchester Model 12 in 16 gauge. I was still in high school and all my buddies had 12 gauges. No one could mooch shells from me! This was back in the early 1960's. Sold it a few years ago as I don't hunt anymore...it was still hard to part with.

red 1
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Re: First gun you purchased

#9

Post by red 1 »

Ok this was 40 years ago and I live in the country for context.
I was in grammar school 4th or 5th grade the neighbor was having a tag sale. I bought a rusted 16 gauge Ithaca Model 37 Featherlight pump shotgun for small money. Less than 20$ I am sure had to borrow some from my mom. Gun had a busted firing pin and had some rust issues. My uncle cleaned it up with something, probably that good old #9- miss the smell, reblued it, and replaced the firing pin. Believe me that was one light quick swinging gun. Miss it. It moved on years ago.
I want to be buried with my favorite rod.
I hear the Styx River has Fish.

red 1
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Re: First gun you purchased

#10

Post by red 1 »

RMorrison wrote:Well the fly rod (thought that was ‘tackle’ but what do I know) thread went the way of the dodo.

Let’s talk about the first gun you bought for yourself. Did you save up at a high school job or was it with your first real paycheck? Was it a .22, a shotgun, maybe a little .22 pistol. Maybe it was super fancy.

For me it was a Stevens Savage single shot full choke 20ga. I saved up my money from a summer job at 14 yrs old and bought it at Gemco in Chico, CA. Still have it. Not great for upland but not a bad duck gun.
My buddy had the same gun but 12 gauge. I can still see him standing in the woods with a covey of grouse exploding practically from his feet. He would swing on to one, and another would burst from the brush almost under his nose. This went on for I think 3/4 birds, before I poached one from him with my Ithaca pump.
I want to be buried with my favorite rod.
I hear the Styx River has Fish.

PYochim
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Re: First gun you purchased

#11

Post by PYochim »

sisqflyfshr wrote:A Winchester Model 12 in 16 gauge. I was still in high school and all my buddies had 12 gauges. No one could mooch shells from me!
What a great idea.

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prairieschooner
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Re: First gun you purchased

#12

Post by prairieschooner »

For many years the only shotgun I had was my father's Savage 775a in 16ga. The first gun I actually bought was a side-by-side 16ga Stevens 5100. I still have it, but that was the start of a dangerous obsession :evil .
I spent most of my money on shotguns, fly rods, guitars and banjos. The rest I just wasted. (Apologies to W.C. Fields)

St Vrain Angler
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Re: First gun you purchased

#13

Post by St Vrain Angler »

Mine was a Mossberg bolt action .410 purchased with birthday and Christmas savings when I was 11 (1954). I had nicer and finer ones later, but none that made me as happy.

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wineslob
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Re: First gun you purchased

#14

Post by wineslob »

Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag, all my others were hand-me-downs.

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wineslob
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Re: First gun you purchased

#15

Post by wineslob »

Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag, all my others were hand-me-downs.

Webfly
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Re: First gun you purchased

#16

Post by Webfly »

Red Ryder.

narcodog
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Re: First gun you purchased

#17

Post by narcodog »

I bought my first gun in 1964, it was the year graduated from high school and I was working in a service station for $.85 an hour. I was 18 and went into Atlanta to "Deans Firearms" on 10th street. I looked at a Remington 650, I think, in 308. The sales person talked me into a 700 30-06, good choice. The fellow that sold me that rifle was KIA'd in VN. For years I remembered his name but it escapes me now.

Bee
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Re: First gun you purchased

#18

Post by Bee »

I was given a Browning Sweet Sixteen for my sixteenth birthday. I became obsessed with grouse hunting and duck hunting and by the time I was 23 I saved enough to buy a Browning 12 gauge -Used -Superposed for $250 (a steal even in 1970). I have that gun today , and the Sixteen, and several other SPosed in various guages. I do love my 870's for ducks and turkeys though

Bee
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Re: First gun you purchased

#19

Post by Bee »

I was given a Browning Sweet Sixteen for my sixteenth birthday. I became obsessed with grouse hunting and duck hunting and by the time I was 23 I saved enough to buy a Browning 12 gauge -Used -Superposed for $250 (a steal even in 1970). I have that gun today , and the Sixteen, and several other SPosed in various guages. I do love my 870's for ducks and turkeys though

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DrLogik
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Re: First gun you purchased

#20

Post by DrLogik »

My first gun was a Fox-Sterlingworth 20 gauge side-by-side that belonged to my late Uncle. He gave it to my dad before he died and my dad gave it to me when I was a young boy but I didn't get to use it until much later.

The first gun I bought was a Remington 870 12 gauge and I bought it in 1978 and still have it. It's had literally thousands of rounds through it and still looks in good shape. I used to reload my own shells back then too and that made it cheap to shoot! Ducks, geese, partridge, dove, quail all came readily with that gun.

That Fox was used on my father's family farm to put food on the table during the depression. It will never leave our family.

Here is the Fox-Sterlingworth with an old family decoy and the flag that draped my Uncle's coffin. He was a WWI vet wounded in the Battle for the Ardennes (I think).

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