When someone smiles

So I'm at the gun club the other day with my best bud, putting a few rounds downrange with a variety of handguns/rifles and one of the club officers (who was doing some much needed and thankfully improvements/construction to the outdoor ranges), comes over to chat after I'd asked him if he wanted our spent brass (of course he did) and we started talking about lever action rifles. I asked if he had any and he said no, but that he was looking at a Henry Big Boy in .44 Magnum with the Octagon barrel, well, I just happened to have with me my Henry Carbine in .45 Colt so I said " Here put some rounds downrange with this. I'll load this up and let me know what you think. It's as smooth as silk". After the very first round he turned and smiled. And after that I knew that he was going to snag that .44 magnum.. Anyone else had an experience like that?
.

 

I had to have a Remington 700 after shooting my buddies SPR.
Same buddy ran out and bought a HiPower after shooting mine.

 

I can tell you I had one hell of a big smile when I got my Henry Big boy in 45/70. The first time I shot it, it was like -4°F and I only popped off 4 rds and was hurried. But the 2nd time in the spring, I shot it off hand, unsupported at about 90 yards at a 10" Steel gong and put 4 rds dead center of that gong using the semi Buckhorn sights. I fell in love with that gun then and there and it's a gun that I would have never bought for myself.

My grandmother's ex husband, who was my psuedo-sort of-grandfather growing up, hadn't seen him in almost two decades, about 17 years and one day he shows up to my house totally unannounced, completely random, 7am, my head is spinning. I'm like "good to see you after all these years, but what the hell are you doing here and at 7am while im trying to get out the door to work". He said he wanted to go to a gun shop with me and I graciously declined the offer because I had a job to be at and wasn't gonna go off on some last minute adventure with my grandma's estranged ex.

Anyway, long story shorter, he shows up at about 9pm that Friday night with a brand new in box Henry, Hard case and a box of ammo and said he wanted me to have it and that he'd always meant to get me it. Very strange, I tried to turn it down but he wasn't having it. He seemed genuinely very happy to give it to me. A few months later he flipped his motorcycle into a ravine and is a paraplegic now. Sad, weird, dunno what to make of it all but I love that Henry and I get a smile every time I shoot it and think of the randomness of how I came to have it.... just basically fell out of the clear blue sky into my lap. He said "I wanted to get the best thing I could think of because I'm proud of ya"....... make of that what you will....

 

Enjoy it!

But that is seriously random. No explaining people.

 

Kind of just the opposite...

I was at an indoor range and I happened to notice the gentleman next to me struggling to keep his brand new, just out of the box Ruger SR9c on paper. During a break he asked me if I could try shooting his gun so he would know if it was the gun or him that was having troubles. He loaded up 5 rounds and gave me the gun where I proceed to put all of them in the black at 20-25 feet. Handed back his gun and didn't say another word to him.

Now I don't want anyone to think I was showing off, or that I'm such a great shot. I'm definitely not! I'm just an average type shooter but that gun sure put a smile on my face! It also made me make a mental note to check out this little Ruger 9mm. next chance I got!

 

A guy at the gun club. Who was new to guns, Was a shooting hand gun. I was shooting rifles. He said wow that can reach out. I left him shoot it. He said to his wife i need a rifle! He had a smile ear to ear lol.

 

Oh and to me, the best smiles come from kids. When a kid shoots a gun for the first time, you can see their interest and anticipation and when it's finally time to set up behind the rifle and take thir first shot, heart thumping, a lil tremble, focus and then "thwack". That .22lr hits the lil Steel plate or popper and they turn to you with the biggest smile.... that's priceless.

It's a milestone I'm sure lots of us can remember and appreciate, taking our first shots with a real gun and the smile that follows.

 

I've had a couple with the same gun, 1st was a local family range I was fortunate to get invited to everyone was shooting ARs and bolt guns when I brought out my SA Garand and a couple of teenage kids showed interest, when I handed them a full clip I thought they were going to wet themselves, the other was at a public range with a new (1st day) RO and he was all giddy and couldn't believe when I handed him a clip and said go till it pings

 

My Ruger PC 9 did that…twice.
My buddy Mike shot it, then went out and bought it.
Next trip my buddy Bryan shot it, same thing.

Stay safe.

 

I with Dusty about the kids. Those smiles, hollers of "I hit it" and general excitement make it all worthwhile putting in the time with them. I'm down to my last one. She just turned three and it won't be much longer.

 

There used to be a small outdoor range just north of the NYC line in Westchester Co. owned by the Westchester Co. police union on a utility right of way. Since closed down due to idiots doing what they do.

They allowed LEO's to shoot free there, so lots of off duty officers from different agencies would show up. General public could also pay a nominal fee to shoot there.

I was shooting an original Winchester '73 in .38-40 at 25 yards, doing okay with it. A shooter next to me took an interest in it, I offered to let him try it. He put 5 rounds in a tight group first time shooting it, better than I had done. He smiled, enjoyed shooting it. He looked like he might be LE so I asked him where he worked.

Turns out he was a sky marshal. Great shooter, but I guess you need to be in that position. Put a smile on my face also to see what the old gun was capable of.

 

One of my stories goes in sort of the opposite direction like bannockburn's.

One Saturday when I was about 19 or so, two brothers (they were brothers to each other, not to me) and I went to a local skeet shoot advertised as a "turkey shoot" by a local country bar called Piney Steak House. The deal was that everyone shoot round after round of clay target doubles that the bar owner threw in any fashion he could think of to make them difficult to hit. The last man standing in each round won a frozen turkey. One of the brothers (both of whom were my regular shooting buddies) had just bought a new Remington 3200. For some reason I didn't take a shotgun with me that day, but just took some ammo with the agreement that the brother and I would both shoot his new 3200. The event offered 12 turkeys, one for each of 12 shooting rounds. I won 6 or 7 of them, and the brothers split the rest. I really liked the 3200 -- it seemed like I couldn't miss with it -- and managed to get myself one within a few months following the shoot. I still have it to this day.

 

I get a big smile every time I take a new person shooting. especially kids. Or the occasional female whos brother or spose thought it funny to have them shoot their Magnum louden boomer. Give them a 22 or one of my ar's and watch the smile as they start ringing steel.

 

I have found the same to be true..... People in general are often enthusiastic about the shared interest, friendly and more than happy to swap their gun to you to try, etc....

 

My wife had a big smile when I completed a lightweight AR build for her.

 

The parents of a 10 year old boy gave him permission to shoot my 1851 Navy percussion revolver. I capped it and coached him about cocking and pulling the trigger on steel plates 5 yards away. He rang all five. I shook his hand and said, “Now you’re a cowboy!”

He smiled all the way back to his parents.

“He said I’m a COWBOY!”

One of my best memories.

 

Friends of my wife's godson. Nice couple, he is tall she is petite. He came with a 12ga 870 and a Glock in .45 but when I handed her my little rem pump 22 with 15 rounds that smile was followed with 'more please!'

 

I’ve never shot the SR 9/40 compact, but I’ve never heard anyone ever say they didn’t like the way those guns shoot.

I’m buying the next one I see…

 

yup, teaching a youngun to shoot and they are going through the paces and doing okay on paper with the 22LR. Then you put out a few well shaken soda cans and watch the reaction when they nail them. That visual is also a good safety lesson on the destructive capability of firearms. Worth teaching that day 1 even with a 22

 

Happened to me...the smile. Old friend showed up at camp with an original 1886 in 45-90 that his grandfather had brought with him when he emigrated from Newfoundland in 1904. Had been "misplaced" somewhere in the family for many years but he'd finally taken possession (oldest remaining sibling). At the time, it had a bad sear and a cracked buttstock. What a beauty, but no shooty. Thought about that gun a lot over the following year, and come October I get a call that the gun has been repaired and is coming back to camp...but no ammunition. So I got onto the interweb and found some (Buffalo arms, I think). Anyway, the day finally arrived and what a blast to shoot that old girl. They had to pry my fingers off it, but couldn't do anything about the smile. Same friend gifted me a BLR when he was done using it. I suspect that 1886 might be a bridge to too far...

 

My avatar is the first official range trip with my son. Not including someone’s backyard. He definitely had a grin. But didn’t like my AK. Loved his Henry 22 w subsonics.