|
Post by cas on Oct 16, 2016 23:49:19 GMT -5
My father's first handgun, bought around 1954 while in the service stationed in Maine. When he was stationed in Japan he tried to get my grandmother to send it to him so he could have it engraved. But dad said she "didn't want me to have a gun" so she wouldn't send it. (he always laughed noting that they had Garands, M1 & M2 carbines, M3 Grease Guns etc. etc. "...but she didn't want me to have a .22") She sent him the cylinder stuffed in the toe of a pair of new baseball spikes and he had it engraved for $5.00 So that was the first handgun I had exposure to. Dad periodically let me handle the guns to satisfy my curiosity, he would take the cylinder out to hold and "aim" the gun. I was shooting .22 rifles from such an early age that I couldn't even guess what age that was, not long out of diapers. When I was probably around 7 he started letting me shoot the H&R, which in all honesty I didn't do a lot because I didn't really like it. Looking back I think it it was because my arms were short and the gun was so close to my face that I didn't like the noise and the blast. As a kid I would wear ear muffs to shoot cap guns. Just hated noise, still do.
|
|
|
Post by jimtx on Oct 17, 2016 2:03:43 GMT -5
Wow, I love all the stories. From the time I could walk I just loved guns mainly sixguns! My Mom & Dad weren't into guns, I had no grandfathers, and both grand mothers were gone by the time I was 8. One day bugging my parents, my Mom said to my Dad show him, I think she said it so I'd shut up about guns, my Dad open's up a metal propane torch box in it was a S&W model 36 chief's special snub nose, it smelled of Hoppe's #9, an original box of Winchester super X 158gr lubaloy bullets was in there along with Hoppe's bottle and cleaning stuff(I still have all this stuff) The gun was in a Geo Lawrence leather inside the pant holster, form fitted to it with a leather covered clip. I was in heaven, I was 9 my Dad took me soon after to the now long gone Creekside Gunshop in upstate NY, they had a free outdoor range, I shot at 25yards and hit everything I aimed at with that snubby. I carried the gun for years in NY, now here in TX it's loaded in the safe always. When my oldest son, then my youngest son turned 9 I took them told them the stories and let them shoot it with those same bullets from that box. Now only one left is my daughter and she's almost 8, I can't wait for her turn! My Dad got the gun bc a restaurant he worked at was very secluded and he used to close up at night by himself, a disgruntled employee killed another guy there he was robbing so my Dad got the gun to carry when he closed everynight, it costs $100 new from the really long gone State Street Gunshop in Rochester NY. I have hunted, target, and competition shot since I was a kid, in my teens I stated reloading and doing my own gunsmithing. I read G &A from the time I was 8 until I switched to Handloader and Rifle mags. Because of NY's hunting laws I started handgun hunting in my teens due to Ross S., Jim Metcalf, Taffin& Brian Pierce.
|
|
|
Post by Rimfire69 on Oct 17, 2016 7:32:33 GMT -5
As a kid, I helped out my older brother in law on the farm for the summers. The year I was 10 I got a new single six for my summers wages, I think it was about $125.00 at the time, from then on all wages were taken in .22 shells. Its been a life long obsession from my earliest memories, and gets worse as I age. My boys are young and I see them getting hooked hard already, thats fine with me.
|
|
|
Post by Robster on Oct 17, 2016 9:20:19 GMT -5
jimtx,
I miss the old Creekside gun shop, that place was awesome!!
|
|
|
Post by jimtx on Oct 17, 2016 10:33:21 GMT -5
jimtx, I miss the old Creekside gun shop, that place was awesome!! Right, a real shop, guns all over you could pick and take out and shoot, I was in high school and shot an uzi, HK's,etc The old world guns smith, they knew their stuff and would fix stuff usually right there, and don't get me started on the deals and rare guns that always seemed to be available. I bought my first gun there a Mossberg tube fed 22 it's all I could afford the 10/22 was more than I had, wouldn't work out of the box, no matter what ammo, they tried a few more off the shelf, none would work, guy handed me a ruger 10/22 grabbed some ammo went outside to the creek and emptied it like an FA. I was a very happy 15yr old.
|
|
|
Post by Robster on Oct 17, 2016 10:37:51 GMT -5
When they shut down, a bunch of the employees opened a new shop in Victor called Pro Gun Services..........closed. I need to get out of this state.
|
|
|
Post by jimtx on Oct 17, 2016 10:44:05 GMT -5
When they shut down, a bunch of the employees opened a new shop in Victor called Pro Gun Services..........closed. I need to get out of this state. What Pro gun closed? your kidding me, They were the only real shop left when I was there. The guys from Creekside Pat & I forgot the others name used to work there, Paul Martin was the gunsmith who owner it. But he was getting ready to retire probably anyways. You need to flee the oppression of that communist state.
|
|
|
Post by Robster on Oct 17, 2016 10:54:13 GMT -5
The one on Rt. 96. Just off of the thruway exit 45. And yes, it is the one that Paul Martin was involved in. That was a GREAT gun shop. I used to make excuses to go to Rochester just to stop there.
|
|
|
Post by jimtx on Oct 17, 2016 11:08:02 GMT -5
The one on Rt. 96. Just off of the thruway exit 45. And yes, it is the one that Paul Martin was involved in. That was a GREAT gun shop. I used to make excuses to go to Rochester just to stop there. Talk about deals, my OM BH came from there for $150. I bought a lot of guns from there over the years.
|
|
|
Post by bulasteve on Oct 17, 2016 11:27:15 GMT -5
My Dad hunted and fished to live during the depression but only kept a joy for fishing in his later years. He came back from WW2 with no further desire to shoot or hunt. He at least did not discourage me, I got the appropriate .410 and .22 Glenfield at the appropriate ages. After a quick backyard safety speech and test firing. He turned me loose ! I bought an Ithacagun M37 12ga Deluxe w/slug barrel too, with my trapping money when 15. Mom signed everything. On my 21st B-day went down to Buckeye Sports and bought my first handgun, a 5.5" Ruger Single-Six convertable. Then came a CVA Navy .36. That first SS got traded for a 6.5". That got traded for the Bulldog44spec in my pocket right now. Another SS was bought. Then various BH, a RH, and such. A couple more M37's are hiding out here too. Some years were spent bowhunting, others backbacking/climbing. Have always done some fidhing, it's the start of steelhead season here right now.
|
|
|
Post by bulasteve on Oct 17, 2016 11:54:49 GMT -5
I remember my SBH was 218 bucks. My 10/22 was 129 bucks.
|
|
woody
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,116
|
Post by woody on Oct 17, 2016 20:19:39 GMT -5
jimtx, I miss the old Creekside gun shop, that place was awesome!! Don't forget who came from Creekside? Doug Turnbull. Now his shop is awesome and they are great to deal with. . A must see if you are in NY. Tim from Progun opened up a shop where Clyde had Liberty Guns on 332 in Farmington. I'm not impressed with his shop. He was always a tool to deal with so I always avoided dealing with him. Neal for Progun went to work for Beikirch's in E Rochester when they started selling handguns. Got fired and arrested. Stole more guns than he sold!!!! I forgot what happened to Pat from Progun? He wasn't around for the last few years there. I liked him. He was always nice when he worked there and Creekside. I never liked Creekside. Crooks and over priced. But for sure a very nice place to go look. They had nice stuff. Good place to look at or try something and go buy it somewhere else if it was a new gun you were looking at. I've heard a bunch of stories of them taking advantage of people not knowing what they had etc. They tried to burn a buddy of mine on an original Henry rifle he wanted to have appraised for insurance. He knew what he had and wasn't going to sell it but they offered him next to nothing for it.
|
|
|
Post by jimtx on Oct 17, 2016 20:36:53 GMT -5
jimtx, I miss the old Creekside gun shop, that place was awesome!! Don't forget who came from Creekside? Doug Turnbull. Now his shop is awesome and they are great to deal with. . A must see if you are in NY. Tim from Progun opened up a shop where Clyde had Liberty Guns on 332 in Farmington. I'm not impressed with his shop. He was always a tool to deal with so I always avoided dealing with him. Neal for Progun went to work for Beikirch's in E Rochester when they started selling handguns. Got fired and arrested. Stole more guns than he sold!!!! I forgot what happened to Pat from Progun? He wasn't around for the last few years there. I liked him. He was always nice when he worked there and Creekside. I never liked Creekside. Crooks and over priced. But for sure a very nice place to go look. They had nice stuff. Good place to look at or try something and go buy it somewhere else if it was a new gun you were looking at. I've heard a bunch of stories of them taking advantage of people not knowing what they had etc. They tried to burn a buddy of mine on an original Henry rifle he wanted to have appraised for insurance. He knew what he had and wasn't going to sell it but they offered him next to nothing for it. I love Beikirks I knew those guys for years, I got great deals there. The guy in Farmington was useless, he never had anything and your right about him. Auggie's in Spencerport, he was a great guy, shop was a disaster, but his prices were up & down. Neal I can't remember who that was, young or old guy? Tim was cool I bought my OM BH from him I cant believe pro gun closed. Pat used to go to Africa hunting he was cool to deal with. Sorry cant get the italic to turn off for some reason. The guy I couldn't stand at pro Gun was the one who had gto everyone he killed someone while doing security work now that's a "tool"!
|
|
woody
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,116
|
Post by woody on Oct 17, 2016 21:11:59 GMT -5
Don't forget who came from Creekside? Doug Turnbull. Now his shop is awesome and they are great to deal with. . A must see if you are in NY. Tim from Progun opened up a shop where Clyde had Liberty Guns on 332 in Farmington. I'm not impressed with his shop. He was always a tool to deal with so I always avoided dealing with him. Neal for Progun went to work for Beikirch's in E Rochester when they started selling handguns. Got fired and arrested. Stole more guns than he sold!!!! I forgot what happened to Pat from Progun? He wasn't around for the last few years there. I liked him. He was always nice when he worked there and Creekside. I never liked Creekside. Crooks and over priced. But for sure a very nice place to go look. They had nice stuff. Good place to look at or try something and go buy it somewhere else if it was a new gun you were looking at. I've heard a bunch of stories of them taking advantage of people not knowing what they had etc. They tried to burn a buddy of mine on an original Henry rifle he wanted to have appraised for insurance. He knew what he had and wasn't going to sell it but they offered him next to nothing for it. I love Beikirks I knew those guys for years, I got great deals there. The guy in Farmington was useless, he never had anything and your right about him. Auggie's in Spencerport, he was a great guy, shop was a disaster, but his prices were up & down. Neal I can't remember who that was, young or old guy? Tim was cool I bought my OM BH from him I cant believe pro gun closed. Pat used to go to Africa hunting he was cool to deal with. Sorry cant get the italic to turn off for some reason. The guy I couldn't stand at pro Gun was the one who had gto everyone he killed someone while doing security work now that's a "tool"!Was he totally bald? That was Neal. He got Beikirch's for a lot of money but claims to be some sort on minister!!! I don't know the last time you were at Beikirch's. Hans owns it now and the first thinghe did was start selling handguns. Best guys to deal with and they always have what you need. Everyone that works there knows they stuff from experience. Not just what they read or making it up. Even when things got tough to find they seemed to have at least something for powder you could use and made sure their regulars were taken care of. They have a ton of handguns and come across some nice stuff. Next time your in NY make sure to go to Turnbulls. Awesome showroom with some unbelieve leverguns,SXS etc. My all time favorite gun shop was Andy Foster's in Waterloo. Always had nice stuff and easy to make a deal with. I bet I bought 100 guns from him over the years. Sorry to see him pass away.
|
|
Snyd
.375 Atomic
The Last Frontier
Posts: 2,392
|
Post by Snyd on Oct 17, 2016 22:11:15 GMT -5
.... My dad passed it on to my son, then a sergeant in the Army Reserves. We lost my son 3 years ago so that gun resides in my gun vault. Shot it last week on my son's 31st birthday. Thanks for bringing it out for us Tim. Grace and Peace to you and yours. Perry
|
|