Firearms memories

[Big Ugly Tall Texan]

I don't know why, but just now my mind was awash with the memory of the first time I ever handled a Mauser rifle.

It was 1967 and I was 14 years old.

I was working weekends at the Marshall Livestock Commission in Marshall, Texas, and was making 30 or 40 bucks a weekend - pretty good money for a 14 year old kid in 1967.

Deer season was coming on and I had decided to buy a rifle. Before that, I had used a bolt action Mossberg 20 gauge loaded with slugs.

I went into the Gibson's store in Marshall and they had a rack of Mauser Model 93s in 7x57.

The ones with full military stocks were $15 and the ones that were sporterized were $21.

I bought a sporterized one and a box of 50 FMJ cartridges. Actually, my father bought it and I paid for it.

I can't tell you today what grain the rounds were or even if they were boxer or Berdan. The FMJs were cheaper and I was thinking bullets were bullets, so that's what I picked out.

We were living in Leigh, Texas, back then and my parents took me to a public dumpsite near Uncertain on Caddo Lake.

I didn't have earplugs or even know what they were, so the first time I touched off one of those 7x57 rounds it was LOUD. The water-filled discarded paint can I shot must have jumped 20 feet into the air. It was bootiful.

I remember I turned to my father and said, "Now I know how you guys won World War II. After the first time the Germans shot these rifles, they were deaf and easy to sneak up on."

My ears were ringing and hurting but I had a wall to wall grin and so did my father.

I have been in love with Mauser rifles - particularly Model 93s in 7x57 - since that day.

It wasn't long before I found a gunsmith who tapped and drilled the action and altered the bolt for $25. I bought a four-power scope and that has been my preference since... a scoped Mauser. My current version is a heavily sporterized Yugo in 8x57 with a 6-24x40 scope.

[taurusute]

My first rifle was actually a British .303 Enfield that I purchased while in college. I believe it was around 1966. I remember just as you BUTT the first time I fired it. My roommate and I went out to an old abandoned strip mine and popped off a few rounds at an old car. I also had no ear plugs so I can relate to the loudness.

[Jake3501]

My first firearm other than air-rifles was a Stevens .410/.22 over and under an uncle gave me at age 11 in 1959. I had a lot of fun with it, however I had to replace the selecter bar a couple of times and the .22 firing pin. It taught me to never dry fire a .22. My first experience with a big bore was with a Swiss K-31 that I sporterized at age 15 in 1964, and I was amazed at how much of a cannon it was. Too hard to get ammo for in those days, and I traded it for another, a Swedish 6.5 that came with 50 rounds. When I ran out of the 50 rounds, I traded it for and H & R 9 shot .22 revolver that misfired ever now and then. I Wish I still had all of them.

[Robby]

1950, hunting rabbits with a 22lr, military style rifle with full wood, almost to the end of the barrel (in one piece). My uncle, would spot them sitting for me and tell me where to shoot, even if I could not see them. I got about 3 my first day, I was 9 years old.

[airwrench]

Tube fed Marlin .22. Big fun. That was followed by a Stevens 12 ga. side by side.

Been a kinda shotgun guy ever since.

[Jake3501]

I was a shotgun guy more than anything else, but used to go wing shooting 10-15 times a year.

[chicharrones]

I remember the first time I ever fired a handgun. I grew up with rifles and shotguns, but my dad didn't have handguns (that I knew of). Like many others, I only used hearing protection at a gun range.

I was 20 in 1985 and one of my friends (28 years old) took me and some others out to fire his AR-15 and a Dan Wesson .357 magnum revolver. We were in a field so no hearing protection. I touched off that first round of .357 and my ears shut off. Holy sh--------t. I finished the cylinder only not to look like a girlie man, but my ears were cryin'.

Earlier that day was also the first time I fired an AR-15, but it is a vague memory compared to that Dan Wesson screamin' in my brain.

[MisterNoisy]

My first gun was a .410 Savage break-action, and the first thing I ever shot with it was a tennis ball. I still have that gun, though it was in the care of my brother for some time (15 years), and is (as a direct result) in need of a full strip and refinish/reblue.

[.452dia]

The first centerfire rifle I bought with my money was a 7 MM Mauser. I bought it from K-Mart back in the 70's. They had them in a barrel setting in the sporting good dept. I think they were about $29.99. I went through the whole barrel finding the best barrel and stock but that was one fine rifle. I later sporterized it and hunted deer for years before selling it.

[Bruiser 160]

My first rifle was a Stevens .22 single shot. That was about 1965 or 66 I was around 5 years old. My older brother gave it to me. I wish I still had it so I could have given it to my son.