In 1955 I was a 15 year old who knew just about everything. I had been devouring all the hunting/fishing and firearms magazines and books I could find since age 12, and had joined our local shooting club. All I needed was a suitable pistol, then I would enter their matches and take home all the trophies. So, my dad took me on a shopping trip to Cedar Rapids. There, in a down town sports shop, I found my first true love. A used Colt Match Target Woodsman .22 pistol. I just knew it was a winner. Best yet, I had saved enough money to get it and some ammo too. Dad had to sign, but the gun was mine. I couldn't wait to try it out. Dad took me to the country to try out the gun. The gun worked well, never mind I couldn't hit much. Once I was in competition, I would settle down and shoot bulls eyes all day. To make a long story short, it was quite awhile before I won any matches. I did get so I could hit squirrels, rabbits, snakes and other critters when I wanted. That old Colt kindled a life long love affair with handguns. I have owned maybe hundreds in my lifetime and eventually became a passable marksman, even on Ariel targets, and I owe it all to that old Colt.
Beautiful weapon, Ike. I think we've all had our favorite gun. When I was about your age, my aunt lost her wedding ring in their back yard. After days of searching, she told me if I could ever find it, she would buy me the .22 rifle I wanted. Took me a couple days, on my hands and knees, but I found it. I think I enjoyed that gun more than any I have had up to now, except my handguns.
Thank you Dave. I paid $65 for that old Colt. It had a low serial #. My research showed it was built in 1939. I wish I still had it. Back in the late 1950's and early '60's, I bought lots of guns for $10-20 apiece. However, in 1958 I was only earning $1 per hour. Later it still took most of a days wages to buy a $20 gun.
@Ike Willis, from what I understand, a rank of Marksman means you are a sharpshooter. I have no orientation in target shooting although my father-in-law has many trophies that he had won in competition. But to think that you were just 12 years old, I wonder why your father did not push you some more to be an Olympic caliber. In target shooting competitions, there are only 2 names that I usually read. In my younger days, we have the olympian named Arthur Macapagal. He was the son of our president. In the more recent years, the name Tac Padilla is the most popular. He is the son of a rich Chinese businessman. So there, you can only be good in target shooting if you have the money to buy bullets.
Even though I used the term "marksman", in my case it only meant that reasonably good, under ideal conditions. By no means was I a professional. Wish I had been, though.
True that, Ike. I think just about everyone got their marksman award in the service. This is one of my favorite guns. A 1953 Berretta, 22LR. I love to shoot it although it is very heavy compared to my 9mm and .380. Damnit. Says picture is too big. I don't have this problem on my other forums. Sorry.......
@Dave Sun , if you use the Photolab app, it will resize the picture so you can post it for us. There are plain borders, so you do not have to make an actual frame if you do not want one (although some of them might be pretty cool with the picture of your gun). I got my first gun when I was in junior high, so I was probably around 14-15 at the time. We had a local rifle range, and some of the former service men would teach us kids how to shoot once a week. They used older military style .22 rifles, big and heavy. We really enjoyed learning, and at that time, I was actually a pretty good shot, and did well in the competitions that we had with other groups of kids. Since I enjoyed it so much, my Grandpa Bailey gave me his old single shot .22 with a peep sight. I cherished that little rifle, and especially since it was a gift from someone that I dearly loved. In the fall, when my dad and grandpa went deer hunting, they would often take me along with my little rifle, and I hunted for squirrels and pheasants. Early morning was the best time for grouse and pheasants, since they would still be perched up in the trees, and as long as I shot the bottom ones first, I had a chance of getting more than one before they got flustered and flew off.