The first .22 I shot was a Sears branded Winchester 190 semi-auto that my Uncle had. My father was laid up in a hospital recovering from a back fusion and my Uncle (by marriage, not a blood relative) would pick me and my brother up just about every Saturday morning and head off to the gun club. He gave us each a box of shells (and they did cost $.50 a box) and some paper targets or cans to shoot at and he would go off to the skeet fields. When the ammo was gone, we would walk over to the skeet fields and watch him shoot. He was pretty good and later taught me how to shoot that game. That little Winchester shot a little to the right, but it didn't have easily adjusted sights (they had to be drifted out) and since it wasn't my rifle, I learned Kentucky windage. I shot my first game animal (a snowshoe hare) with that rifle, again by aiming just a little left.
My brother got his first .22 that year earlier in 1970 for his birthday , a Marlin bolt gun with a detachable mag, and we were supposed to share it. Due to his back problems, my Father was out of work for much of that year and money was very tight. I wasn't expecting a .22 of my own any too soon. Later, I learned that my Grandfather helped out with the purchase. I think my MW .22 cost around $30 then, which equates to about $200 today. It's hard to imagine.
