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I must be feeling a bit nostalgic in my advancing years. This past week I took out my first .22 which was given to me 50 yrs ago on Christmas Day in 1970. I hadn't fired that gun in too many years. It's a Montgomery Ward branded/Mossberg mfg'd 842/346, tube fed, bold action. I was also gifted a 3/4" tubed .22 scope, but had a receiver sight put on it, as that was what was needed for a rifle league I wanted to join. This rifle got ignored for many years as I went on my .22 rf quest for ultimate accuracy, which took me onward to full custom, purpose-built benchrest rifles. Having achieved the goals I set for myself in BR, I sold off most of my BR rifles and concentrated my shooting efforts on the shotgun sports. My rimfires have mostly sat idle for the last 5 years. This, my first rifle, has sat unused for probably 30 years. When I last put it away it was oiled up (can't remember what I used) but it had congealed in the action and so I sprayed the bolt with Gun Scrubber and cleaned it all up.

Putting that rifle on the bench at my club after all these years and remembering the excitement, pride and great times I had shooting that rifle with my Dad and Grandfather was a true joy. I grew up in the North Country of NY and that first winter with that rifle was very cold and snowy. With no indoor rifle range at that time and with the miserable conditions for shooting outdoors, my Grandfather set up an impromptu range for me in the basement of his ranch-style house using 3/4" plywood and sand bags. I shot off a card table he had down there. I shot so much that eventually the shots were shooting thru all that backing and pocking the cement blocks of his wall. That was when he declared that that was enough! I can still remember when I put 3 shots thru the same hole and said, "That was lucky". My Grandfather looked at me and asked, "Is that where you were aiming?" "Yup". "Then that's not luck boy, that's skill." Hearing those words swelled me up with pride and confidence, thinking, "Maybe I could be good at this?"

So began my love of the .22 rifle. I shot that rifle until I just had to have a 10/22 so I could rapidly throw bullets around. Later I wanted a higher end .22 that more closely matched my centerfire rifles and bought my Cooper 57M. That rifle shot so well that I got the itch to compete in some local benchrest matches that someone told me about and encouraged me to enter. That led to having my dedicated benchrest rifles built and competing in sanctioned matches at the Regional, National and International levels of the sport. For many years, that was my singular recreational passion, my wife might say obsession.

So, getting behind that old (but still in good shape) Montgomery Ward .22 once again and putting a few rounds downrange with it felt just so right. I found out that, that old rifle has expensive taste, as it shot the Federal Auto Match poorly but really liked the Eley Match ammo I had left over from my BR shooting days. I was center punching targets with it at 50 feet and then it didn't take long for me to figure out the holdover to hit a 6" gong at 100 yds,. I have to admit that it was a little harder to use those peep sights now than the last time I shot it. I expect it won't be long until the next time I bring it out to the range to shoot and once again think back to that day in my Grandfather's basement, 50 years ago.

Let's hear about your first .22 and whether you still have it and shoot it.

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I let my grandkids shoot my first 22 this week, a Remington 511-X which I bought in the early 60’s with money I earned chopping cotton. I originally put a Bushnell 2-7 3/4” scope on it, now replaced with a Browning branded Redfield 4X 3/4” scope. The smaller scope just looks “right” on the rifle and has great optics.

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My first 22 was a Stevens model 35 rifle. It costs around $60 in 1980. My brother and I picked up aluminum cans and worked for farmers and payed his and mine off on the lay away plan at the local gun shop. I dug it out of the safe the night before Christmas and gave it to my son on Christmas Day. We put a scope on it and sighted it in and it still shoots minute of squirrel at 30 yards!! My brother and I used to buy 22 shells a brick at a time and I recall they were a penny apiece or 1.5 cents each back then. We shot a lot of shells and took lots of squirrels and a few rabbits with them guns.

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I like to teach young newbies with a bolt action with iron sights first before going to a scoped model.

...and in today's ammo climate a single shot model is even better.



Note: Keep semi auto's away from kids until the ammo shortage is over. That's a good lesson for them too.


Gun Shows are almost as comical as boat ramps in the Spring.
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Gibby I forgot to say my son is 17 and is over 6 feet tall and has been shooting a cricket 22 with a peep site for several years and can hit a squirrel out of a tall tree with that youth gun. He didn’t want another 22 because he can hit so good with that little cricket but I thought I would give him a full size 22 since he is about full grown. You talk about preserving ammo. Let them shoot a single shot and if you shoot 50 rounds you will feel like you have done something!! Lol

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Good Morning Cooper,

Your nostalgia is showing....and it is good.

My first .22 is a Mossberg 151 M (b) semi- auto. I still have it. Albeit, i have not shot in in several years.

I have several NIB rimfires that are to be shot also, as I am outta control.

However, along with the many Annie's- Kimbers -etc, I still shoot the "boys" rifles and have a great appreciation for them.

The Winchester "boys" rifles especially. The 69's , 72's, 74's, 75's ( can't really call the 75's boys rifles) there are others. Including the pumps and 63's....all

good.

I never punched as much paper as you have....and that is somewhat regrettable. My target shooting is generally relagated to sighting in.

Although, I belong to 2 ranges and have the ability to shoot a bit at home. I guess I am always ready to grab another rifle or pistol, and move on.

Lately, I have been shooting a Colt Anaconda Realtree .......which is not a rimfire.

Maybe, time to dig out the Mossberg.

Best,

Chuck

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Found the receipt...A little off on the year /price. My first .22 was a Remington Nylon 66 in Mohawk Brown... paid for with a $8.00 a week paper route... 1969 about $48.0. Still have it👍😊[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Last edited by EQFD193; 01/01/21.

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My first 22 is really my older brother’s first 22 and he still has it. When I was in college he let me take it with me when I moved off campus and was out in the country a bit. It was a Winchester 67 clone but I can’t remember who’s name was on it at the moment. I got really really good with that thing thanks in no part to being young and have above average eye site. My first personally bought 22 rifle was a Marlin tube fed bolt action “Centenial” I bought used from the original owner. That Marlin had some nice walnut and shot ok, not great but more than the task at hand demanded which was hunting. My favorite 22 right now is my Ruger M77/22 SS in walnut or Marlin 39A. The choice varies by day.


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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.

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Originally Posted by MadDog4298
Gibby I forgot to say my son is 17 and is over 6 feet tall and has been shooting a cricket 22 with a peep site for several years and can hit a squirrel out of a tall tree with that youth gun. He didn’t want another 22 because he can hit so good with that little cricket but I thought I would give him a full size 22 since he is about full grown. You talk about preserving ammo. Let them shoot a single shot and if you shoot 50 rounds you will feel like you have done something!! Lol


You have a good son.


Gun Shows are almost as comical as boat ramps in the Spring.
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OP said 1970

It was xmas just a year or two later I found a .22 under the tree, with a 3/4" scope. An Anschutz sporter.

I always bring that one out when I teach new shooters, probably over 100 people have fired their first ever shots on that rifle, as recently as this past sunday when we took my wife's church group to the range...

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First .22 I shot was a S&W M41. Still have it, 51 years later.

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My first 22 was a hand-me-down Winchester 1906 and I am third generation to own it. Although, I purchased several 22 rimfire rifles afterwards, I still have it and enjoy plinking and shooting varmints with it.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


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Nice ^

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That’s a beauty roundoak...
Poole and long arm you both started off fairly high on the hog!😂


She never made it past the bedroom door, what was she aiming for...?
She's gone shootin..
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My first was a Savage 23A.

We lived in Reno, 1960. My Dad's territory was northern Nevada and parts of northern California.

He gave a gentleman a ride back to Reno to go to the VA hospital, who stayed with us several days while undergoing outpatient treatment. This older gentleman and I (8 years old) struck up a friendship and after returning home he sent me the rifle.

I still have it, killed many rabbits and snakes and giant bullfrogs with it. This thread is inspiring me to dig it out of the safe. Great stories, keep 'em coming.

Regards,
Bob.

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First 22s I recall ever shooting were a pump, a lever, and a
contender.

One of the fondest memories is being at the range with my father and brother shooting off the bench at 25 yards with the contender. We were young...don't recall the exact age.

Dad set us up on a bench with a box of Blazer and a couple sand bags...under the forearm and under the pistol grip. Our hands were so small and weak that we could barely reach around the barrel break lever to open the chamber.

Dad taught us we could give it a little lift and we'll placed drop on the sandbag to break things open.

Flung many rounds down range. One at a time.

First 22 I owned was a Christmas gift...a 10/22

Parents would let me drive the 2.5 hours with one of the brothers and a few friends to familiar BLM land with a brick of Blazer each.

Walking the fire roads plinking at anything of interest.

Good times.

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I couldn't hope to get anything as expensive as a .22 for Christmas when I was a kid. Bought my own, a Marlin model 989M2 with money I made from my trap line and shoveling snow. Still in good shape for it's age. Still use it regularly and it still shoots good.

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Originally Posted by longarm
First .22 I shot was a S&W M41. Still have it, 51 years later.


You were spoiled early.


Gun Shows are almost as comical as boat ramps in the Spring.
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My first 22 was a Remington 512 that my parents bought my sister and I in the late 50's. I also still have it and shot it recently. I will gift it to my grandson when he gets a bit older.

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