Your story reminded me that my first post was in error! This was my first pistol. I was about 14 or 15. The gun used a cap meant for cap guns and would lob a BB about 10 feet. A bit further with some powder from a fire cracker in the barrel behind the BB
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I had the same gun, I thought it was smaller than BB (.177) . IIRC it seemed to be like # 8 or smaller bird shot.
My brothers got that for me, at what age I don't remember but a few years later they got me a SS BP percussion pistol. It could actually hit the side of a barn if you were standing inside!
The first pistol I bought when I was 18 (1972) was a Colt GM 45.
When I got home from the gun store (Leslie Edelman's) my father was waiting and told me they wanted for me to call them ASAP. We had shotguns in the house but he was not really a "gun guy" I guess after his cousin shot him while rabbit hunting, he had a different outlook
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When I called the store, they begged me to please bring back the gun, I, at the time did not know a FFL could not sell a pistol to anyone under 21.
I thought they would have picked up on the fact because I had a NJ pistol permit with my dob on it.
So I returned the gun and had to reapply for a new permit, I then bought a Ruger MKl bull barrel from a friend of mine, still have it today.