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first gun when I was in my teens now 66


muffin
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You all need a little lighthearted laugh now and then so here it is First gun I ever shot anything with was a Cooey 12 bore yes it did open when you fired it local gunsmith could not fix it although he used to make stalking rifles

Anyway I would love to have a pop with one again contemplated buying one but 50 to 70 quid seems a bit steep to have a pop saying that if I bought one it would not have to be a self opener and no pits or not many. The other gun I have had for decades is a 410 Topliss of Papplewick Notts shot many rabbitts and squirrels with that but dont use it much I suppose if I had had a Cooey back of the cupboard I would not be after one

What was your first kill made with

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I bought a single 12 bore from the Exchange & Mart in 1958 for £3.10shillings, I was 11 years old at the time. And it was purchased with money I had saved from doing 2 paper-rounds.

It accounted for many a hare and pigeon, no rabbits as Myxomatosis had broken out five years previously in 1953.

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My dads Browning pump action .22lr and a rabbit.

I have and still regularly use a Browning Pump Action .22LR and what a nice light and accurate rifle it is. With it's SAK moderator on it the rifle is so quiet you can almost hear the firing pin strike!

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At about 12 I think, I seriously got the bug for shooting and suchlike but didn't own any guns (including air guns) or even know anyone who did or who shared my interests.

 

I beat my first rabbit to death with a stick, it was white and - in hindsight - someone's escaped pet!! I also accounted for several young crows that I found in random fields that couldn't yet fly and got their heads pulled off (I still haven't quite got the hang of wringing necks) along with a nest full of pigeons who were near big enough to fly - my method was to hold the head and throw the rest of the body downward which inevitably removed the head, I still do this as it works fine. I dread to think what a psychologist would make of my "misspent" youth.

 

I moved on to a black widow catapult that accounted for a pigeon in a nearby country park but far from cleanly and learned the fine art of snaring rabbits on railway property (I obviously still had some growing up to do!)

 

I think my first kill with a gun was with a baikel b3f .22 air rifle, firing down an embankment, the pellet entered the ear and achieved a very clean kill (I later worked out that was about the only way that particular rifle would kill anything!).

 

A friend of mine's first shotgun was a baikel 12g o/u, he'd owned it for about 15yrs when one day he "broke" it, as it opened both firing pins went and the gun destroyed itself leaving a purple bruise on his side as big as a dinner plate and shot embedded in his companion's (thankfully steel toe capped) boot!

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Pigeon from about 10 yards, in around 1967-8 when I was about 12-13, with my brother's old Original 50 .22 air rifle. It has been in the loft since about1970 and he recently gave it to me, I am trying to get it renovated, just for nostalgia's sake.

 

First shotgun at about 18, a Greener Mk 2 with Martini action and changeable chokes, lent to me by a friend's brother on his farm, for vermin control. Got a similar gun now, but going to sell it, nostalgia's OK, but it's no gun for clays... Great memories though..

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With my dad aged 11 with a 12 of english origin borrowed from the farmer - Baikal O/U and then on to my first single barrel 'Argyle' what a gun that was for hares - if you could open it 9both hands) then an ancient hammer gun which must have weighed all of 9 lbs and then to my beretta. Along the way we also 'borrowed' the farmers .22 browning pump rifle and used 'short' rifle cartridges to despatch rooks/crows etc. Still pleasant memories all of 50= years later.

 

The oddest gun I shot was a full choke Baikal single barrel with a stock cut down by the farmer - maybe 13 inches in length but I saw him shoot geese which seemed 80 yards up with it and drop them stone dead. I still like the taste.

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  • 4 weeks later...

6/7 yrs old .177 diana mod 5 air rifle then at 10/11 yrs old a webley falcon .22 air rifle, then at 16 a single 12 bore russian shot gun unable to pronounce name still classed as RUSSIAN SHOTGUN on my certificate. Then before my father passed away his guns added to my ticket which is AYA 12 bore s/s, single BSA 12 bore semi-hammer ejector and 410 Italian single folding shotgun with moderator fitted. One year ago my uncle asked me if I wanted his two guns which was a 10 bore single muzzel loading percussion cap shot gun and a 16 bore s/s shotgun. My latest items being a RWS LR 20 pcp air rifle and a Logun S16 pcp takedown rifle. The only rifle that is not in my ownership is the 1st one the .177 diana smooth bore air rifle.

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First Gun i ever shot was in the mid 70's when i was about 5 years old, it my Fathers Webley & Scott Osprey .22 Air Rifle, it has a side lever cocking action / fixed barrel. It now sits in my cabinet next to my other guns. When i put it next to My Daystate Air Ranger its amazing how far Air Rifles have come.

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BSA Air Sporter S in .22, Great gun, First kill was a hare at 30 yds, straight through the eye with open sights, (over 40 years ago, but I can still remember it and visualise it as yesterday), When my son was young I sold it because he was grabbing at everything and in those days there were no security worries over air rifles. I sold it for £20.00, almost a weeks wages then. I have other air rifles and guns now but I would like to have it back.

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1st gun was a Webley Mk III air rifle. A nice gun spoiled by a very poor trigger - which despite repeated visits to Webleys (took it back to the factory myself in the 1970s) including a full rebuild and all new parts in the trigger - remained poor. Replaced with a lovely Weirauch HW77 that I still have.

 

1st shotgun was a William Powell 12 bore (18th birthday, 38 years ago) - lovely gun which again I still have.

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BSA meteor that my dad bought me then a Webley tempest i used to throw bread in the garden and sit in my bedroom window the starlings got nailed good style ha ha ha, no one batted an eyelid the bloke next door used to ask me how many of the greasy flying vermin i had shot each time he saw me, the rest is history ha ha ha

 

Atb

 

Flynny

Edited by flynny
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I've had many air rifles and shotguns over the years but one only brings nostalgic memories. It was an original model 15 in 177, being just thirteen years of age prohibited

by both my parents from having any type of gun, it was my pride and joy. rats, feral pigeon and woodies all passed at their peril. it lived under the mattress for a long time, the

part that pains me is the fact I can't even remember who I sold it to.

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