Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire What’s your favorite gun from childhood till now

My first step up from Be Be and pellet gun, Still have it and as accurate as ever....

1911. Only handgun Dad owned when I was a kid.
He let me fire it a few times when I was 6 or 7.
I was ruined ! 🤠

Still have it. It’s an old Remington Rand WW-2 surplus model.

One of Browning's best, IMO.

I got one with the steel receiver when they just hit the shelves, the magnum receiver. I have a 26" 2 3/4" barrel, 28" 3" barrel, and a 20" 3" cyl shotgun barrel with sights. It's killed a lot of upland game, waterfowl, and two deer. It will be part of my estate.

The Abrowning A5 magnum dad bought for when i was born. Have used for most everything a shotgun can be used for over the years. I have taken dove, quail,ducks,geese,turkeys,rabbitts,squirls, fox,coyotes,deer, and lots of clays have broken. Not the best tool for some of those jobs but it has never let me down.

have both. Colt is over a hundret yrs. old. Les Baer is REAL nice.

My rem. Nylon 66,had it 50 years now. And at one time or another killed about everything with it!

I had a Yamaha 80. My one buddy had a QA-50 and my other buddy had a Trail 70.

My dad won some money at a floating crap game in Idalou, TX in 1955 and he used it to buy a new .22 Ruger Single-Six. I still have it. It’s got the hard checkered black
grips with the black eagle on em’.

That would be my Anschutz 141 M .22 WMR that I got for Christmas in 1964. With a Weaver B4 rimfire scope I could nail woodchucks out past 150 yards. In my teenage hands that .22 mag was a serious killer. Over the years it's accounted for about every kind of varmint available to me as well as a ton of squirrels and at least one deer that I can recall. Today it's got a much better scope but is still accurate and still gets out once in a while. When I kick the bucket, it will stay in the family.

My hand me down model 37 Ithaca 16 gauge would be another, but it was lost in a duck hunting mishap right before I went in the Navy. I killed my first grouse, first duck, first deer with that gun as well as a multitude of snowshoe and cottontail rabbits. I don't think there's a better, more elegant repeater than a 16 gauge model 37.

Loved mine! Probably my second favorite Childhood gun.

Browning T-Bolt 22 and Interarms 243

Savage 99 300-Sav

Only guns from my childhood till now would be my dad's single shot Winchester Mod. 67 .22 and his Iver Johnson Champion, a 16 ga. break open single shot. The Mod. 67 is an early one, (first year I believe), with the finger grooves in the fore end. They came out in 1934 IIRC and he got it used around 1938 or so. Brought home lots of rabbits that my grandmother used for stew meat because beef was expensive. The Iver Johnson was his pheasant gun from about 1939 until he went into the Navy in 1943. It got loaned to an older cousin in the late 50's - early 60's and it was presented to me in 1967. Had it restored in 1978 with a re-blueing, re-casehardening, and a few other things. They both live in my safe to this day and get some use on rare occasions.

The first ones were Savage 24 22lr/410, Marlin 39 22lr, and an Ruger MK1 22lr.

First centerfire Wimchester 30-30 trapper, still have it. It was cool but when I was a child my parents had some elderly friends who had a farmhouse and I happened to see an Winchester model 71 he owned that was his hunting rifle. From that day forward the 71 was the most beautiful rifle I ever seen and have always wanted to get one.

the one I'm using at the time.

I am somewhat surprised at the quality of guns some of you had in your childhood.

Mossberg 42M. Have had it since about 1972. It is stupid accurate and my first firearm.

Dream gun as a kid was a 1911.

Roger we bought that 42M from an old man off of Up River Road all of those years ago.

Got a 94/22 around 8 years old or so. Shot the hell outta that gun. Still have it.

Remington 788 in .308 Winchester. The Old Man bought it for me when I was 14 years old. My first honest to God Deer Rifle. (I’d used borrowed guns before)
I started hand loading for it at that time on my older brother’s press.
Killed my first buck, and quite a few more with that gun and my own handloads.
When I turned 18, I fell in love and got married.
Best place to start a family, was the Army, so there I went.
I was stationed at Ft Lewis WA, so needless to say, I couldn’t go hunting in Pennsylvania. Not that I didn’t think about it.
I called Dad to see how it went.
“Well,” he said, “I killed a nice 8 point on the mountain the first day.”
“Oh yeah, where at?”
“Over in that hollow below The Big Rock.
My favorite spot. I’d killed my first buck there.
“What was you shooting?”
“That .308 of your’s’
Chit, my gun, my spot.
Christ, Dad, that deer had my name all over it!”
“Well, I’ll send you a couple cans of meat.” “By the way, do you wanna sell that gun?”
I said “No.” Who wants to buy it?”
“Bill M saw it when I was shooting it in. He really liked it.”
“Well, tell Bill it ain’t for sale.”
“That’s good” he said, “That means I can use it till you get home.”
When I got out and back home, I bought a 77 Ruger in .30-06. That 788 was The Old Man’s gun the last 25 years of his life. I cried when I brought it home.
I still shoot it, and I take it hunting now and then, just for the memories.
When I die, it’ll go on to the third generation of Oldhams to use it!
Hopefully my grandchild can use it. It’s a shooter!
7mm

About any .22 rifle, use them more than centerfire anymore. Cheaper to shoot, and quiet enough to not draw attention.

Really don't have any guns around that I just don't like.

Have had my Remington 581 .22 since 1970 and it's still a hoot to use.

2007 or so I picked up a Sako/H&R .222 at the cabela's in Kansas City. Love that rifle.

Just a few years ago I bought a Ruger LCR in .22 and it's my go everywhere, and do everything handgun. Sorta...