Funny story from the range.

[BigBore44]

 

[wiscoaster]

There's just something so damn American about kids and guns. Maybe it's the way the nation was born. Maybe it's the nation's Wild West history. But we grow up with guns as part of our society and culture. Taking them away also takes away what makes us American. So I have to share my "kid-influenced-by-guns" story: when I was a sub-teen I spent a week or two for a few summers farmed out to one set of grandparents or the other. On one side there was a bachelor uncle who had served in the Army in WW II and had some rifles. He was also at that time a "junk dealer" (1950's - 60's definition of "junk", not today's) in their small town. The best part of my week at that set of grandparents was when Uncle John took me along to hunt for junk at the local town dump because he also took along his .22 rifle and he taught me how to shoot rats with it. But would my parents let me have a rifle? Noooooo. Since becoming a "grown-up" I've more than made up for that!! Yes, I definitely think introducing a kid to guns in the proper setting is a very good thing to do for the kid.

 

[NVcharlie]

When I was 15 my Uncle Bill took me to the range to shoot his .458 winmag. After my first round I looked at him with a huge smile to see him frowning. That scope left me with a permanent reminder of that day. It cut me pretty deep but I learned to keep my eye relief. With blood streaming down my face I asked if I could shoot another... He said yea but was worried about my mothers reaction. I shot half a box then moved on to the .338. I sill have the piece of brass that left a great impression on me. Mom was not happy but I was!

 

[Bfh_auto]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Once upon a time I was that kid picking up a big, to me, piece of brass. I can recall being young enough to think a .30-06 case was the biggest, baddest, dangerous game round there was. Back when I thought all rifle rounds were more along the lines of 22 Long Rifle ammo.

My grandfather sold elephant rifles. When he died my father kept the ammo.
As a kid I lined up the cartridges by size starting with 218 bee up to 8 bore.
It was years before I realized the size of the cartridge wasn't everything...

 

[bannockburn]

My Dad was very active in the American Legion and was in charge of the Color Guard. I use to accompany him on many occasions when they would fire a salute using blank ammo from their Krags, '03s, Enfields, and eventually their M1s. I use to collect my fair share of brass as did some other kids who happened to be in attendance at the time. You would think that someone just tossed a bunch of gold coins in the grass from the way the kids use to scramble to pick up the brass!

 

[Bfh_auto]

There's just something so damn American about kids and guns. Maybe it's the way the nation was born. Maybe it's the nation's Wild West history. But we grow up with guns as part of our society and culture. Taking them away also takes away what makes us American. So I have to share my "kid-influenced-by-guns" story: when I was a sub-teen I spent a week or two for a few summers farmed out to one set of grandparents or the other. On one side there was a bachelor uncle who had served in the Army in WW II and had some rifles. He was also at that time a "junk dealer" (1950's - 60's definition of "junk", not today's) in their small town. The best part of my week at that set of grandparents was when Uncle John took me along to hunt for junk at the local town dump because he also took along his .22 rifle and he taught me how to shoot rats with it. But would my parents let me have a rifle? Noooooo. Since becoming a "grown-up" I've more than made up for that!! Yes, I definitely think introducing a kid to guns in the proper setting is a very good thing to do for the kid.

Rat shooting is a great pastime. We did it with a pellet rifle and daisy red ryder.

 

[KeithK]

Great story, when I was shooting my Armalite 50 a lot there was always someone who would appear wanting to know what that explosion was, I always kept some military surplus ammo for these occasions and offered them a shot or two. The grin was undeniable, and if they shot the Fifty I always gave them a round without a primer as a souvenir of the occasion. That 50 BMG grin is the best, I just came across some of those souvenirs cleaning out the reloading bench, guess it's time to go shoot the 50 again.