Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Shooting my first .22 - 50 years later

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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👍😊

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.

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.

You have a good son.

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...

Poole

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

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.

Nice ^

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

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.

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.

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.

You were spoiled early.

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.

The first .22 I ever shot was my dad’s Remington 33 single shot. I still have that rifle more than 60 years later, along with his Winchester 94 .30-30 and J. Stevens Springfield 16 gauge side by side shotgun.

The first .22 that I owned was a High Standard Military Citation with a 5-inch bull barrel. Still have that one, too, more than 50 years after receiving it.

You've done a good job holding onto your stuff!

Got my first gun for my 7th birthday - a Winchester 67A boy's carbine. (never owned a BB gun)
Shot matches with it, while in junior high school - and LOTS of jackrabbits! Been several thousand rounds down that old barrel - probably well in the tens of thousands.
If I want to shoot it now, I have to ask our daughter - she asked and I gave it to her years ago. Her kids shoot it more than I do - and that's just fine!

My first 22 was the first gun I ever bought...a Ruger Mk II. I bought some walnut thumb rest grips and used ti hunt rabbits with it. People who shot it offered a lot more money that I paid for it because it seemed so accurate.

Anyways, as my sons were born...I bought them each their own Ruger Mk II's so they could have when they grow up. When it came time to give them out, my youngest chose mine over his NIB un-shot stainless version. He thought mine was cooler...So he has it now.

The same thing basically happened with our 10/22's too.

My first rifle was a Mossberg 22 in about 1963, but I can't remember the model. Had a T shaped bolt handle, tube feed, fairly heavy, and came equipped with target peeps, a hooded front sight, and was grooved for a scope. I scoped it up and had a couple of great wood chucking years. Shot well, but I was ignorant at the time as to ammo effects and lacked a mentor as well. Loaned it to a very close hunting friend though, and it was stolen from his rig. Have not seen a similar model since. Had it not been stolen, it would still be in my possession.

Do have a Winchester-06 I acquired from a mentor as a deathbed bequest. Probably about 85% condition as Win rebarreled it in the early 1970's. Can't bring myself to use it though. History was he acquired it in Colorado as a birthday gift in 1936. On day two, he went out unaccompanied for an after school shoot and lost privileges for the following year. That exchange also came with a Stevens 410 single and a Harrington/Richards 22 handgun all treasures that I hope to pass on to some deserving kid. Sadly, my own has no interest and a felony on his record as well.

Look up the Mossberg 146B. Some of those came with T handles and receiver sight.

Cooper57m:



That's it to a T. Thanks for the info. I will start looking for a replacement.

Just held one a while back as part of an appraisal. It is not for sale and I found very little about them. But I did find this one:
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/883935468

I had a shotgun and a 270 before I got a 22. It was a Nylon 66 and I still have it. About 1970.

I'm still shooting my first .22 more than 50 years later too, Eddie....

I found a Nylon 66 with SN 21147xx, my 1st .22 rifle, under the tree on Christmas 1969. I've probably shot 20K rounds through this rifle with only one spot of trouble, when I tried to shoot some of that wax covered Russian Junior-brand ammo in the sea-green boxes. With any good grade of ammo, the Nylon 66s were damn close to 100% reliable.

My first .22 that was mine alone I got in 1972. I had been chopping corn out of bean fields in central Michigan for a few days.(I was 11 soon to be 12). When I was done I was in the farmers living room to get paid when I noticed a dusty .22 on his wall in a rack. I said I'd take it instead of getting paid cash. My mother who was there to pick me up agreed when the farmer asked her if it was ok. Then he also gave me a $10 bill and a box of 50 shells. Carried it in my arms the whole ride home. Stepped out of our car like a conquering hero. It was featured in one of Field & Streams old "Gunfight Friday "segments on their magazine website. It's a Remington 511-x scoremaster that everyone calls the squirrelmaster around here. Wears an old Weaver wide angle 4x or a Leupold 4x depending. Reblued it once in the late 90's and it needs it again.

More .22 stuff: Years ago, my late Uncle had given me a Springfield 87A semi-auto that he found at a garage sale. It needed some work and once I fixed it up it was supposed to be for my son. However, after finding a magazine tube and some other parts it needed at Numrich, when I took it to the range it went full auto on me a couple times and jammed - a lot. So, it was stuck in the corner of the safe and forgotten about. Just recently on ebay I came across a guy selling trigger groups for the old 87As and I ordered one. I'm hoping that will fix the problem of going full auto.

Then, a couple days ago while perusing Gunbroker I came across a Belgium Browning T-Bolt Deluxe model from 1966 that was a salt gun that Browning completely repaired/restored/restocked in 1991. The gun was then put away and never shot. It looks perfect with the box and all the papers. This was the rifle I lusted after as a young teenager. Many a night I spent watching TV with a Browning catalog on my lap opened to that page. I won the auction. It'll get scoped with a Burris HBR 6X32.

Hey hunts nice posed pic of the 62a and the feral mini lion have to start calling you Don the terminator lol. Mb

Mike was a Marlin 81-G, bolt action with a tubular mag. As a youngster, used it for squirrels, rabbits, raccoons - also killed a bunch of feral hogs with it. Over the years, I refinished & checkered the stock, "browned" the barrel & action, & tried several scopes on it. Just got it out & looked it over - meeds to be cleared up, oiled, & shot!

Great old rifle!

Mike Holmes

When I was 7 or 8 my dad taught my older brother and I how to shoot with a Rem 552 speed master and a Marlin model 60 with the squirrel holding a nut on the grip. Neither were mine but were always available. My first gun was a Remington 870 Wingmaster magnum 20 ga with a 30” full choke barrel....imagine grouse hunting Northern WI with that! Anyway, I bought a deer rifle when I was 16, had to give my dad the $ to buy it at a gun show.

Which brings me to my first 22. I felt the need to get my own and when mentioning that to a friend of my dad’s he told me to get a T-bolt. I must have been 18 as I looked around the gun shows til I found one and bought it. Topped it with a Leupold 4X rf special and tried all sorts of ammo in it. Found a few that it liked including green tag and win power points. After that the squirrels paid dearly every fall and it is still to this day one of my favorite activities. Every fall when the weather is about right I spend a good day in the woods sneaking through the timber shooting a limit of squirrels with head shots.

The rifle was sold quite a while ago as I had my heart set on an Anschutz sporter and bought a 1710. Not sure it shoots any better, but that’s what I wanted. Later I tried a CZ 452 that didn’t measure up so I had Dan Muller turn one of his excellent rimfire barrels to a matching contour and I rebarrelled the CZ. Now that one shoots as well as the anschutz and either one is just as likely to go into the woods with me. Good memories with all of them!

About my only regret is when I was shopping for my first 22 a dealer had a pristine Kimber Super America with a Leupold 4X rimfire scope on a table. I remember figuring out how I could afford the $600 price tag but in the end just couldn’t swallow spending the money...man was that little rifle beautiful! That must have been in 1989 or so.

Interestingly, the T-Bolt that I just bought is coming out of WI. I know Dan Muller. I first met him when he was working for Rock Creek Barrels as their barrel lapper. He's a perfectionist. I've had both Rock Creek and MullerWorks barrels on my benchrest rifles. I won the 2015 IR50/50 Unlimited Nationals with a Stiller 2500X with a Rock Creek barrel.

Yep, Dan is a hell of a barrel maker. I used to visit him quite often and learned a lot from him.

Savage-Anschutz 141 bought in '66. Only change over decades has been to replace the little .22rf Bushnell scope with a VX2 3-9 EFR.

No idea how many cases of .22 it's shot up, but still used for youth activities, range time, killing woodchucks, crows, barn pigeons, red and gray squirrels, nuisance beaver, porkies, and one rabid skunk managed to brain without getting sprayed.

If cleaning harmed .22rf barrels this one should be wrecked. It still puts 5 CCI SV or Sub-HP into 1/2-3/4" at 50 yds.

Last week while perusing ebay I came across a guy selling a Mossberg S330 receiver sight for a nice buy-it-now price. This is the receiver sight that was meant to go on their Mossberg 340 series rifles. My M-W Mossberg 346 had a cobbed up receiver sight that was put on by a "gunsmith" about 49 years ago. It was some generic, crude sight that fit my gun's receiver contour but both holes didn't match up to the ones drilled on my rifle, so he only put one screw with an oversized head on it. It worked and held zero but looked awful. So, I jumped on the S330 sight and it came in yesterday. I took off the old sight and put on this correct sight, that was in great condition. I eye-balled the sight and gave it a rough adjustment and headed off to the range this morning. Sighting in at 50 feet, using a 1" orange dot on a white backer, I was amazed to see that first shot center-punched the target. I never get that lucky!! The next 4 shots made a 5 shot .221" group.That's about as good as I can shoot these days with a peep sight and a rifle that isn't a target rifle. I like to have one .22 sighted in for short range for shooting squirrels that are smart and athletic enough to get past the squirrel baffles on our bird feeder poles and manage to scarf up all the sunflower seeds. This will do nicely.

This week I did some more work on my old .22s and received and shot the 1966 Browning T-Bolt I recently bought.

My M-Ward/Mossberg .22 always had a real heavy trigger pull (6 lb) and many years while trying to figure out how to lighten it up I took apart the trigger/safety group and lost the tiny safety detent ball that tightens up the safety lever and gives it a nice click upon engaging it. I finally got around to getting the proper sized detent ball from Numrich and a new retaining clip that tightened it up nicely and it once again has a nice feel and click. That rifle is now all done and is the way I always wanted it to be, however, I never did figure out how to lighten up the trigger. I just learned to deal with it.

I also got a Weaver mount and rings that fit the old Springfield 87A. I put on an old Weaver steel K4 4X scope and shot it at 25 yds. It won't set any records but it shot better than I expected. That ol' click-clack gill gun action sure is fun to shoot.

Today I picked up the T-Bolt and quickly put on a 6X Burris target scope and hit the range. Again, I sighted it in at 25 yds shooting over 1 wind flag and shooting Eley Match ammo, it shot really well. It was a cold and windy day today and after figuring out the proper hold-offs for a couple recurring conditions, I was hitting the X dot on an IR50/50 target fairly routinely.

Earlier this week I also shot my custom IR50/50 Benchrest Sporter (Turbo sporter action, Shilen barrel, Pippen Maple stock, Jewell trigger) and shot it for the first time in 5 years. Shooting at 50 yds at the IR50/50 target with Eley Match ammo I shot a respectable 248-10X in breezy conditions shooting over 2 wind flags. I was a little rusty, so 8 of the 10 Xs come in the final 10 shots after getting reacquainted. It was fun and satisfying week.

I learned to shoot with my dad's Marlin model 99 (precursor to the Model 60). He still has that .22 with a fixed 4 power scope on it. I'm sure my brother and will have to thumb wrestle over that one when the time comes as we both learned to shoot with that .22

I purchased a Marlin Model 60 from the local gun store right out of college and a short while later found another Marlin Model 99 just like dad's at a gun show. Think I paid $80 for it?

I passed my Model 60 down to my son but the extractor has gone out on it (or maybe the spring). Just need to order parts to get it running right again. Everything else on it still looks new.

First .22LR was a J.C. Higgins 25, semi-auto. The 25 was a re-branded High Standard A10? as I recall. I once heard it referred to as a 'gill gun' since the left side of the receiver has what looked like gills to vent gasses. Shot the living daylights out of that rifle. Unfortunately, it 'disappeared' while I was in the USAF. Every once in a while I go looing/searching for a replacement, but my luck just hasn't been up to par.

I guess I shot my first .22 when I was 8 or 9, I had a friend whose father would take us and let us shoot. I remember my first shotgun blast very clearly! I didn't get my own .22 until I was 27 or 28 a Marlin Model 881. That was the first gun my niece ever shot. Her son is 4, I'm considering looking for a Winchester Model 67 for his first time shooting, then he'd get it when I'm gone. My Winchester Model 69 would be OK too, it's my personal favorite, although I've just acquired a Model 57 I haven't taken out yet.

I got a Stevens Model 73 by saving S&H Green Stamps that my mother gave me when she bought groceries - can’t remember how many books it took but we turned them in for the rifle - it was 1973 and I was 10. Never really liked that rifle - it was accurate enough but never extracted right….even had a local gunsmith change extractors out. About a year or two later my brother let me use a Remington 572 that I shot a few cases of ammo through. Still have the 73 Stevens and am actually putting a new walnut stock on to replace the old birch stock that I attempted stockwork on back in the late 70s . Hopefully when I’m done with it I’ll finally figure out the extraction problem……or not!?

PennDog

Cooper57: Our family was poor but I distinctly remember my father loading me and my two brothers up in his 1949 Chevy and driving us into Seattle's "Skid Road" area and taking us into Kauffmans Pawn Shop.
Father was looking to buy us boys our first 22 Rifle.
He settled on a used $11.00 Remington 511 Scoremaster.
Even though my older brother was urging that dad buy us a used $17.00 Winchester Model 69 - not to be though.
I have posted this before - during that shopping trip at Mr. Kauffmans store I made the faux pas of asking him why he had numbers tattooed on his left arm. Father backhanded me (I was 8 or 9 at the time in 1955 - 1956) for my innocent , unknowing blunder.
15 years later as a young police officer walking the beat there on skid road I befriended Mr. Kauffman and bought several guns from him over the next two decades - I never did mention my earlier indiscretion.
Still have the trusty old magazine fed Remington - humble as it was and subjected to MUCH use and not enough care by my younger and older brothers as well as myself, it shot/shoots rather well.
Time flies - almost as fast as bullets it seems.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

First rifle i ever shot was a Remington model 121 FieldMaster 22 pump that my father purchased right before Pearl Harbor. My father was a decorated WWII Army vet and he helped me shoot that rifle when i was 5 years old. It was way too big and heavy to do much. I was hooked.

When i was in 4th grade he gave me a new single shot 410 shotgun for my birthday.

When i was old enough, i used the Remington A LOT. had a Weaver B4 scope mounted on it...the mount anchored on the side of the receiver and held the scope over the center of the action just high enough that i could also use the iron sights. Worked well. had it zeroed for about 60? yards.

My father tossed out compliments like they were man-hole covers. That rifle helped actually get a compliment about my shooting skills.... probably the only one i ever got.

We were shooting at beer cans at a sand pit. Buddy John and i were shooting real well with our 22 rifles . We filled some cans with sand and stood em upright or end on. About 40 yards. We hit all of them easily. One of the cans standing there had a rock laying flat on top to keep it upright. The rock was about a half inch thing and about the size of your hand.

My father said, " why dont one of you guys do something to impress me."

So I told him, "I am going to shoot the rock off that can." Part of my father's reply mentioned BS and that talk was cheap. lol he watched with the binoculars.

One shot later the rock went flying. My father's comment was generally not repeatable in mixed company. :-)

That night at supper my mom asked him how the shooting went. and he said "Mom, the kid can shoot."

that was about 60 years ago.

The rifle and the shotgun are still in good shape. the scope is not easy to see thru. Both work well.

My son has shot them both. and soon, if i am lucky i will help my grandson shoot the Remington.

They will stay in the family, of course.

Fifty years ago last week, I got a Marlin 60 for my 13th birthday. I've still got the old thing, but unlike you guys's rifles, mine doesn't shoot for beans any more. I've cleaned it and cleaned it, but it sure doesn't shoot nearly as well as I remember. I still drag it to the range every now and then, and give it a chance, but it always disappoints.

Funny, I don't recall any rabbits or squirrels, or raccoons for that matter, ever complaining about it's poor accuracy.

I left it with Dad while I was in the Army, and he used it pretty hard on his trapline and around the barn. Oh well, I've got scads of other .22s nowadays, and all of them shoot pretty well. I'll keep it around for nostalgia's sake, and maybe give it another chance sometime. I must have killed a traincar load of small game with that old thing.

Bringing up this old thread. The first 22 I ever shot was my Dads Winchester 55 single shot automatic. I remember sitting on his lap shooting in a wet almond orchard shooting 22 shorts. My Dad adopted two boys over the years with my step Mom as my Dad couldn’t have anymore kids. Wasnt even supposed to have me.
Time passed and he always said he wanted each of us boys to have the same rifle. So here and there I found 3 and put them away. My Dad passed a few years ago at the age of 69. When dividing up Dads guns I made sure that my brothers received the ones he used, including that 55. Then I made a gift to one of those brothers another 55. Letting him know that Dad wanted all his boys to enjoy the same type of rifle. We all learned on that 55 and it had killed a pile of critters. And for the other 2 sitting in my safe, well those will go to my grandson’s one who got to know great grandpa. Knowing that they too have a gun just like their grandpa’s

my first .22 was a Marlin/Glenfield 25 7 shot bolt action rifle with a Weaver .22 variable scope, still have it and it still works fine, also ahve the .22 rifle cleaning kit that we bought with the gun at Sears in 1968.

Mine was a cooey 750 single shot, had a rabbit engraved in the stock, grandma gave it to me one Xmas, eventually I traded it to my dad for an old 1903 Winchester he had.
He was to give it back to me later, the bugger sold it to someone we knew instead.
I was not happy he did not keep it in the family.

My first .22 was a Winchester 67 that Geoff Bowers had for $10. He was older and had a Yamaha motorcycle that always needed gas. I still have it propped up beside my hospital bed
for dispatching varmints such as snakes and armadillos. No telling how many rounds have been thru it. Got several more including grandfathers with the finger groove stock. Used to buy them cheap and refinish them. Later got an Ithaca 49 that I had drilled & tapped for a Weaver side mount and 4X scope. We would ride our bikes to a sileage pit and waylay grackles by the hundreds. Later had Remington pump and semi auto, Win 190, Win 69, Ruger 10/22s, Marlin 81s. My favorites in old age are CZ 452 Trainer and a custom SS Ruger 10:22 with a Green Mountain fluted barrel built on the cheap with eBay parts. 22s are my most used firearms.

I have my late fathers model 67, nice accurate rifle.

I have my first 22 rifle. A Ruger 10/22 Deluxe Sporter, given to me by my father in 1979. I shot it today in fact.

My first was a Sav/Anschutz 141. Think it cost $82 in 1966. Paid for it delivering newspapers.

Over 56 years it's killed woodchucks, crows, pigeons, rabbits, gray and red squirrels, beavers, starlings, roosters, rats, chipmunks, porkies, and one rabid skunk.

Took four red squirrels on the feeder from a bedroom window, just since Christmas. Last was two days ago.

My 1st 22 was a Model 77 Winchester semi-auto with tube mag that a girlfriend bought for my 19th birthday almost 50 years ago. It was great fun but a pain to keep functioning without regular disassembly for a good cleaning. Cleaned it up real good & sold it to a collector a while back.

The 1st 22 I ever shot, around 1960, was a JC Higgins (Marlin) bolt action that I now own since the old man passed a few years ago. It still shoots minute of beercan at 50 yds, open sights, with whatever crappy ammo I run thru it, & does a bit better with Norma TAC. The stock finish has seen better days, but I hate to mess with it.

My first and only 22 is a ruger 10/22 that I got for my 10th birthday in 1975. I think my parents paid $89 for it. I did eventually have to replace the recoil spring because it got to the point where it would only cycle cci mini mags. I have also replaced the recoil rod with one with the extended bolt handle and replaced the trigger assembly with the ruger BX trigger.

I don't check this forum often and was surprised to see this old thread reactivated. It's fun to hear about everyone's first .22s and their start in the shooting sports. There must be something about this time of the year that gets me thinking about old .22s Last month I purchased a Winchester 190 like the one my uncle had, that I first shot. It brought a smile to my face when I shot it and found that like my uncle's, this one also shot a little to the left with the open sights. I found it in a small gun shop and when I saw it, I had to have it. It's in pretty good shape and cleaned-up nice. I was at the range today shooting my old (late 40s) Springfield 87A. I've continued to work on and upgrade this old .22. It gives me something to do on these winter days.

Nice wood on that. Looks like you're planning on shooting some onions.

Lol

I got my first 22 rifle for Christmas in 1962. I thought it was going to be a single shot Remington, but dad had choose to get me a Model 511 Scoremaster instead. I still have it, and still shoot it. It has always been the most accurate 22 rifle I've ever had, and I've shot a bunch of stuff with it, including a deer. I'll never part with it.

Wow that is some nice wood. I need to pull mine out to look at it. Lol didnt sound right. Anyways I dont remember ever seeing a 121 with that nice of grain.

I recently took my new to me grandkids out shooting. Well the boy was looking through one of the safes and sees a Win 62.” Wow what is that?” He is 10 he learned what a pump gun is! Lol. Even though he has a Marlin 60 he and his twin sister wanted to keep shooting the pump.
Maybe there is hope for the younger generation to like wood and steel and pumps

My first was a Remington 550 bought in the mid-60's. It never was very accurate but I
shoot it now and then "just cuz".