Our son was graced with a CO2 operated air rifle when he was nine or
ten, can't remember the brand but it was .22 caliber and was a
humdinger. He brought back lots of wild Rock pigeons and squirrels from
his hunting jaunts and also a pheasant once. What the heck a pheasant
was doing running around in a cow pasture in SE Texas I don't know. He
moved up to a regular .22 rifle when he was fourteen and got his first
deer rifle, at fifteen. I think it was a 6mm Remington, daughter's first
deer rifle was a .250 Roberts built on a Mauser frame with a store
bought barrel. I built both the deer rifles for them in my gun shop.
Alas, after they grew up they've never hunted again and I sold their
rifles for them. Seems they liked the money more than the rifles.

I got my first .22 rifle at age 5. A Winchester 1906 pump gun, could use
shorts, longs, and long rifles in it. Gave it to son when he went off to
college and sure as shooting, someone hit the trailer he was renting and
took that rifle and his Remington pump shotgun, not to mention his TV,
stereo and even a good bit of his clothing. That .22 was a really nice
gun. When I came home from the Navy in 1960 I finally plugged the barrel
at the back end, poured it full of mercury, then plugged the muzzle. Let
it sit a week and then poured out the mercury and all the lead that had
stayed in there for years and years. Sure did shoot better after that.

George

On 07/04/2016 11:03 AM, George Shirley wrote:
Our son was graced with a CO2 operated air rifle when he was nine or
ten, can't remember the brand but it was .22 caliber and was a
humdinger. He brought back lots of wild Rock pigeons and squirrels from
his hunting jaunts and also a pheasant once. What the heck a pheasant
was doing running around in a cow pasture in SE Texas I don't know. He
moved up to a regular .22 rifle when he was fourteen and got his first
deer rifle, at fifteen. I think it was a 6mm Remington, daughter's first
deer rifle was a .250 Roberts built on a Mauser frame with a store
bought barrel. I built both the deer rifles for them in my gun shop.
Alas, after they grew up they've never hunted again and I sold their
rifles for them. Seems they liked the money more than the rifles.

I got my first .22 rifle at age 5. A Winchester 1906 pump gun, could use
shorts, longs, and long rifles in it. Gave it to son when he went off to
college and sure as shooting, someone hit the trailer he was renting and
took that rifle and his Remington pump shotgun, not to mention his TV,
stereo and even a good bit of his clothing. That .22 was a really nice
gun. When I came home from the Navy in 1960 I finally plugged the barrel
at the back end, poured it full of mercury, then plugged the muzzle. Let
it sit a week and then poured out the mercury and all the lead that had
stayed in there for years and years. Sure did shoot better after that.

George

Hi George,

GUN SHOP !!?!?! Why! Why! You! You! You!

Okay, second greatest profession. (First would be fishing
guide.)

I work for 1-1/2 gun manufacturers. (1/2 as I think the
recession got him.) Love to go visit them guys.

I own two very nice weapons, but never shoot them as when
I have any free time on my hands, I go fishing.

And yes, fishing is a form of hunting.

Play this for SWMBO (from a safe distance):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwRrKaq0IyY

-T

My SWMBO just laughs.

On 7/5/2016 9:13 PM, T wrote:

Hi George,

GUN SHOP !!?!?! Why! Why! You! You! You!

It was something I enjoyed and was good at. I also worked an eight to
sixteen hour swing shift so had plenty of time to do it. Both my kids
worked in the shop when they were young, daughter cleaned the shop each
afternoon, son did whatever needed, mostly casting lead minie balls.
This was during the sixties when the Civil War reenactments were going
on heavily and lead balls sold well. Still have all the molds and the
small lead furnace, nowadays I make lead sinkers for fishing. Have about
30 lbs of lead in a cabinet in the garage. All the grands and great
grands that like to fish come over and Granpa gets to indoctrinate them
into outdoor sports instead of computer games.

Okay, second greatest profession. (First would be fishing
guide.)
Did that occasionally too, we had a camp on the beach of the Gulf of
Mexico. Fished there from a young age until a hurricane ate not only the
camp but the land it was on.

I work for 1-1/2 gun manufacturers. (1/2 as I think the
recession got him.) Love to go visit them guys.
Then you should know that all men know everything about guns and women,
at least they think they know it. G

I own two very nice weapons, but never shoot them as when
I have any free time on my hands, I go fishing.
I won't say how many or what they are but there's a lot more than that
in the gun vault. I did get rid of my original Civil War weapons and one
from the American Revolution. Guy came by with the right amount of money
and we were both happy.

And yes, fishing is a form of hunting.

Play this for SWMBO (from a safe distance):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwRrKaq0IyY

-T

My SWMBO just laughs.
Mine did too, she used to go fishing with me but she's a fine artist and
sat around doing sketches or watercolors. I don't remember how many
portraits of me fishing she has. She even went out with me once when she
was six months pregnant. I had built a plywood fourteen foot long, four
feet wide boat and put a gasoline lawn mower engine in it. Would kick
along at about three miles an hour and was just right for small creeks,
could run in less than a foot of water.

Life is a lot of fun if you let yourself go. Get out and have fun, leave
the environment clean, don't trespass (at least in Texas), be
innovative, live well, die well.

George