Post by bobwright on Dec 8, 2012 20:42:35 GMT -5
As I sit here I can think of four childhood memories that piqued my interest in the handgun and "warped" my personality to what it is today.
I'm no longer sure of the order, but here they are:
My brother, much older than I, brought home a Mauser Model M1910 in .25 ACP from WW II. I was very young, maybe eight or nine years old. We, my Dad, my brother, and took it out at the earliest opportunity to fire it. Despite my confidence that I would show them up with my uncanny marksmanship, our tin can target remained untouched after forty nine rounds of firing. (One live round went into my pocket, the first round in my cartridge collection.) I determined that day that I would learn to shoot a handgun, and to shoot well.
Next was my first gun book, the Daisy Red Ryder Handbook. There was an illustration of a revolver in that book that I did not recognize. (It was a Colt M1878 DA revolver.) I determined then that I would learn everything I could about handguns.
One Sunday afternoon, against my mother's wishes, my Dad took me to a rodeo. The guest star of the rodeo was cowboy star Ken Maynard, who put on a shooting exhibition. But during an intermission, my Dad took me to the concession stand for a coke and hot dog. There I saw a cowboy wearing a gun belt and carrying a "red handled gun." I determined then to have a revolver with red grips.
And a friend of mine, a Methodist, invited me to go to a kid's party sponsored by his church. The party was held at a member's house, in what seemed to me a mansion. As the party got on, the girls gravitated to the sewing room with the hostess, while the boys sort of drifted into the den with the host. In an attempt to inject some life into the party, the host passed around his prize Colt .45. The gun was a Colt Single Action, 7 1/2" barrel. The gun was dual-tone: the gun was nickel plated except for the cylinder, hammer, and ejector rod housing, which were gold plated. Grips were ivory, carved with the steerhead design, with a red stone set into its eye. I determined then I would have a handsome single action revolver.
That's my story.
Bob Wright
