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Your first shotgun


ditchman
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My first gun was a hammerless folding single barrel 12 bore bouth C.O.D. from Elderkins dastardly awkward thing to carry when broken as far as I can remember. SOld it after a year when I bought a double barrels 12 bore Army and Navy hammer shotgun from a gamekeeper friend.

Used it pretty much for most of my shooting career and am just back from our last club shoot of the season 16 pheasants and one woodcock, my contribution being two pheasants and a woodcock, all first barrel kills and a couple of clean misses. The gun is labled K quality , which I take as Keeper quality , round action and top leaver and with an immaculate wood to metal fit. A very elegant piece, and yes the smell of those paper cases- even just when you opened a box of shells never mind firing them.

 

Blackpowder

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My first gun was a hammerless folding single barrel 12 bore bouth C.O.D. from Elderkins dastardly awkward thing to carry when broken as far as I can remember. SOld it after a year when I bought a double barrels 12 bore Army and Navy hammer shotgun from a gamekeeper friend.

Used it pretty much for most of my shooting career and am just back from our last club shoot of the season 16 pheasants and one woodcock, my contribution being two pheasants and a woodcock, all first barrel kills and a couple of clean misses. The gun is labled K quality , which I take as Keeper quality , round action and top leaver and with an immaculate wood to metal fit. A very elegant piece, and yes the smell of those paper cases- even just when you opened a box of shells never mind firing them.

 

Blackpowder

 

 

 

 

Do you remember the smell of eley grand prix paper cased cartridges that were varished...the smell just wafted out of the box when you opened it..Hah, we are daft as a brush.

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My first shotgun was a Greener single barrel, must have been bought for me by mt Dad around 1982/83 - I remember it cost us about £35.

 

I can remember my first shot as well, dad got me to walk ahead of Him through a corn field one summer as He had seen some pigeons going in, as they went up I fired, dont think I even aimed, and down came 3 of the blighters :good: I was a chuffed little lad I can tell You.

 

It meant a lot, as My father wasnt a shooter,didnt have any interest, but got the licence etc just so I could shoot :good:

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My first shotgun was an old double barreled (SxS) 16 Bore which I paid something like seven pounds and ten shillings for. It had big old silver plated hammers on it and lots of engraving and was made by Robert S Garden of London. I really loved using that shotgun but my Dad went and sold it (No doubt to buy himself a few beers) when I joined the army - I never really forgave him for that! :no:

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Mine was a Bettinsoli Diamond, which cost me £595 split between myself and my Dad. Within a few months I bought a Pump action (In my signature), followed by a side by side then I sold my Bettinsoli and got my Onyx. Dad bought the 391 just after I had my pump action.

Edited by cant hit rabbits 123
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My first shotgun was a lanber sporting delux which I still have, the wife uses it now as I have a silver pigeon, its 11 years old its had thousands and thousands of carts through it and is still as tight as the day it left Spain lol

Edited by jmoz82
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Do you remember the smell of eley grand prix paper cased cartridges that were varished...the smell just wafted out of the box when you opened it..Hah, we are daft as a brush.

Yes nothing like it, I can remember when still an apprentice in the 50's buying a complete 100 4 x 25 boxes at half price for pigeon shooting supplied by one of the government rabbit clearance schemes at the time. Thought it was riches beyond compare.

 

Blackpowder

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5th. May, 1962. My first shotgun, an Italian s/b 'Fusil Special' by Gardone, arrived by mail order. It had a ventilated rib and looked ahead of its time. I can state the very date, because I still have the green ten-bob (50p) Licence that I dashed to the Post Office to buy. The gun cost just over £20. Being a left-hander, I missed many a shot because my trigger-finger often pushed the safety to 'on' as I prepared to fire. Over the years I owned three of these guns.

 

Today, I still have one, and the missus uses it with a 'Four-Tenner' insert. She is left-handed, too, so I removed the simple transverse safety and fashioned a left-hand safety from a piece of 12mm x 3mm B.D.M.S.

Edited by Floating Chamber
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Mine was a folding Belgium 410 sbs pitted bores from black powder that my dad gave me I'd used other and this but this was mine now. Dad was given it at 7 or 8 as he gave it to me on my 8th birthday, I carried it all day with the box of shells I bought from pocket money from beating on a walked up day I didn't see anything to shoot at all day but it didn't matter I had my own gun. Still got it hardly used for years now having spruce up since my son was born in August.

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An old Ward hammer gun that was my Uncle's. I used it when he took me shooting as a kid and gave it to me when I was old enough to have my own gun, thirty odd years ago. Still in the cabinet. Once the cottage is finished i'm going to have it tidied up, deactivated and put it over the fireplace in the kitchen.

Edited by JR1960
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I started shooting clays, skeet predominantly, in 1977 at Bedford and District GC, long shut now after a High Court battle with the local council. My first gun was a Miroku 800S skeet gun bought from John Eastaff's gun shop when it was located at Elstow storage depot, the gunshop was part of his builders merchant business. I've still got an 800S although not my original gun.

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Hi the first gun I shot belonging to my dad was a G E Lewis side by side twelve bore hammer jobbie that allmost broke my shoulder at the tender age of 12.

my first kill was a milky doe and I still check the exact spot even after 40 years when I pass it

I still have the gun and often wonder does it have any value apart from sentemental?

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Breda 3" 4.10 folder. Christmas Day, at some point when Thatcher still lived at No 10 and pre the 2+1 semi-auto law. The trigger pull is so heavy you tend to shoot about 3' high. Soon got a brilliant BRNO sxs 12g, but I still have the Breda. It is like new, and my kids and girlfriend will be learning with it next, and I expect to teach my grandchildren with it also. I will fix the trigger pull one day... and the barrel shortening thread shows just how tight they are choked when new, it's almost a 4.10 rifle! :lol:

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My first was a single barrel 12g of italian origin, you broke the gun by pulling the trigger guard back, I got a whole package cleaning kit 4 boxes of cartidges, and a game bag(gas mask bag lol) for £20.00 and my then boss bought it for me, it kicked like a mule and the first thing I shot was a hare, and I still have all the old style licences issued to me somewhere in the house.

I progressed to a single barrel Baikal with an ejector I thought I was the mutts lol then numerous SxS Baikals then on to under and overs lol Ive waisted thousands on guns lol

We lived on Baikal cartridges, you could illuminate a field at night apart from deafen all the nearby villages, Red rival carts and Blue rival, Sellier and bellot and the the one that always killed me, Polish made, Powam Pionchi(I think thats right) rolled turn over and akin to black powder lol

Happy days

Alan

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My first was a single barrel 12g of italian origin, you broke the gun by pulling the trigger guard back, I got a whole package cleaning kit 4 boxes of cartidges, and a game bag(gas mask bag lol) for £20.00 and my then boss bought it for me, it kicked like a mule and the first thing I shot was a hare, and I still have all the old style licences issued to me somewhere in the house.

I progressed to a single barrel Baikal with an ejector I thought I was the mutts lol then numerous SxS Baikals then on to under and overs lol Ive waisted thousands on guns lol

We lived on Baikal cartridges, you could illuminate a field at night apart from deafen all the nearby villages, Red rival carts and Blue rival, Sellier and bellot and the the one that always killed me, Polish made, Powam Pionchi(I think thats right) rolled turn over and akin to black powder lol

Happy days

Alan

 

 

 

 

I remember the sellior & Belliott cartridges, used to buy them in packs of 10, they were all stuck together with wax and only half of them went off !

 

QUESTION !! is it true that Holland&Holland used to buy the barrell tubes from Baikle as the steel used was a superior quality, something i was told once.

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