nakneker
Gold $$ Contributor
The other day I was thinking about how my interest in firearms began. My family had firearms but they didn’t reload or shoot competition, we used them around the ranch, more like a tool than anything. My grandpa was a product of the Great Depression, shooting hundreds of rounds for fun was against his nature, something I understood more later in life but didn’t really understand at the time.
When I would walk home from Junior high I would pass a shop called Cash and Carry. It wasn’t a Pawn shop but was more like a trading post. I use to stop in and talk to the owner, Eb Lewis. He was one of the most interesting guys I’ve ever met and for whatever reason we struck up a friendship that would last till he passed some 25 years later. I was enthralled with knives and be had quite a few, mostly used knives he would trade for. I would trade for a knife every 3-4 months and then trade it back for another knife, no dollars were exchanged, he was just being nice to me and cared enough to teach me to trade a little. I was too young to buy firearms but he had a good selection of used firearms. When it was just me and him and he didn’t have to wait on customers Eb would take the time to show me the more interesting rifles and pistols he had on any given day. He had an old Octagon Winchester lever 25-35, a model 71 deluxe in 348 W, an old Colt lightning in 38, several neat rimfires and on and on. Over the years quite a few firearms came and went and I would get to hear all about them and he would let me handle them under his supervision. I think that’s where my interest in guns and knives really began.
My Uncle hunted more than Grandpa and I spent many a day working with him on the ranch and cutting wood in his Ford F250, 1976 with a 390 long block. Uncle Frank was a frugle man but he had some neat rifles, a couple pre 64s in 243 and 270, a Sako vixen 222 and he had some basic stuff too, it was all interesting to me. I would listen to him tell me what he knew and then go hit the drug store and buy outdoor magazines and gun magazines, something I miss.
When I got my first paying job I bought a couple 22s and then finally got my hands on a new Ruger 10/22, I can still smell the smell of the oil on metal when I unboxed it back at home. I shot tens of thousands of rounds through that gun.
I try to remember all those guys, family and friends, who took the time to befriend me and mentor me in the hobby and other things too. My Dad was MIA from the age of 6 till we met later in life when I was a 36 and I think about all those community members who cared enough to take me with them shooting quail, to the trap range, big game hunting, small game, plinking….. I try and be the guy to help other people learn about firearms and hunting, anything outdoors. Young or old. I’m not sure I can pinpoint where my interest came from, I think it was more a group of men who were happy to spend some of their time with a young boy that had an interest in what they liked and enjoyed. It’s been a life ling hobby and a lot of fun.
A little long, my apologies.
What got you started, where did your interest come from?
When I would walk home from Junior high I would pass a shop called Cash and Carry. It wasn’t a Pawn shop but was more like a trading post. I use to stop in and talk to the owner, Eb Lewis. He was one of the most interesting guys I’ve ever met and for whatever reason we struck up a friendship that would last till he passed some 25 years later. I was enthralled with knives and be had quite a few, mostly used knives he would trade for. I would trade for a knife every 3-4 months and then trade it back for another knife, no dollars were exchanged, he was just being nice to me and cared enough to teach me to trade a little. I was too young to buy firearms but he had a good selection of used firearms. When it was just me and him and he didn’t have to wait on customers Eb would take the time to show me the more interesting rifles and pistols he had on any given day. He had an old Octagon Winchester lever 25-35, a model 71 deluxe in 348 W, an old Colt lightning in 38, several neat rimfires and on and on. Over the years quite a few firearms came and went and I would get to hear all about them and he would let me handle them under his supervision. I think that’s where my interest in guns and knives really began.
My Uncle hunted more than Grandpa and I spent many a day working with him on the ranch and cutting wood in his Ford F250, 1976 with a 390 long block. Uncle Frank was a frugle man but he had some neat rifles, a couple pre 64s in 243 and 270, a Sako vixen 222 and he had some basic stuff too, it was all interesting to me. I would listen to him tell me what he knew and then go hit the drug store and buy outdoor magazines and gun magazines, something I miss.
When I got my first paying job I bought a couple 22s and then finally got my hands on a new Ruger 10/22, I can still smell the smell of the oil on metal when I unboxed it back at home. I shot tens of thousands of rounds through that gun.
I try to remember all those guys, family and friends, who took the time to befriend me and mentor me in the hobby and other things too. My Dad was MIA from the age of 6 till we met later in life when I was a 36 and I think about all those community members who cared enough to take me with them shooting quail, to the trap range, big game hunting, small game, plinking….. I try and be the guy to help other people learn about firearms and hunting, anything outdoors. Young or old. I’m not sure I can pinpoint where my interest came from, I think it was more a group of men who were happy to spend some of their time with a young boy that had an interest in what they liked and enjoyed. It’s been a life ling hobby and a lot of fun.
A little long, my apologies.
What got you started, where did your interest come from?
