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Post by 6gunsonly on Sept 30, 2021 21:26:23 GMT -5
So who and what set you on the sixgun trail? I think of a couple of people and events. My dad never owned or had any use for a handgun of any kind. He was a bird dog man with one Browning shotgun; all he needed or wanted. But one of his hunting buddies had a . 22 pistol, a single action of some variety. I've never known for sure but I think it might have been a Hi Standard Double Nine, as I recall it in my mind's eye now. Anyway, he let me shoot it at some hedge apples hanging in a bois de arc tree one day, and I was hooked. Probably the only pistol he ever owned (he's still living, 92 years old) but it certainly wasn't the last one for me. Another mentor, now deceased, was a guy a few years older who befriended me and let me shoot his Ruger Super Blackhawk and Flattop .44, Colt Python, and . 45 ACPs. Also introduced me to reloading and sold me my first sixgun, an old model Blackhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP convertible. Sadly, he and his wife died in a MVA one night after we'd left his reloading shop, where I'd stopped and picked up a few hundred . 45 bullets he'd cast for me. I was a pallbearer at their funeral, as he and I were in the Sheriff's Department Reserve together. RIP, Larry and Cheryl. Finally I recall an old retired Border Patrolman named Wilder Dresser in New Mexico who taught me the dark art of bullet casting And helped me pick out my first mold (still have it), a Lyman 429244 Ray Thompson design hollow point mold. Now I have dozens but that's the one I learned on, and it and the knowledge he imparted have served me well. So who were your mentors, and what experiences started you on this joyous journey?
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Post by longoval on Sept 30, 2021 21:43:52 GMT -5
I grew up in a home that wasn't anti-gun by any means, but we weren't shooters. I was just naturally drawn to firearms and sixguns in particular.
Since there wasn't guns around the house, some of my heroes growing up were gun writers. I especially liked (and still like) Skelton.
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brant
.30 Stingray
Posts: 326
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Post by brant on Sept 30, 2021 23:03:59 GMT -5
My pop had a 9 1/2” new model single six convertible and an old model Bearcat when I was born. I was shooting that Bearcat before most kids got a BB gun. He taught me gun safety kept me supplied with ammo. However we never hunted with them and I was about 16 before I shot a centerfire handgun. I later picked up a couple of 9mm autos and never warmed up to them. A few 38 special smiths and a 357 Blackhawk later I was hooked on revolvers. He supported me the whole time.
A few years ago I was interested in learning to load ammo. I asked a question on another forum and a gentleman answered and gave me his info and said feel free to contact me with questions. Huey gave me some sound advise and sent me some dies. I still seek his council and appreciate his friendship.
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Post by bigbrowndog on Oct 1, 2021 7:56:01 GMT -5
I grew up in Europe and so was extremely limited in firearms use, it was restricted to AFB Rod and Gun club ranges. My Dad had handguns but I never really got the chance to shoot them until returning to the US, and then his use was normally carrying around the ranch for snakes and such. I read, and read as much Askins, Skelton, and Keith as I could find, as well as Page and OConnor. In High School a neighbor was a LE motorcop, and he introduced me to handgun use and reloading, later he and my parents would purchase a SW 19 for me as a birthday present, still have it. While still in HS a coworkers husband of my moms would introduce me to IHMSA, and I used their Colt Python at my first event to take second place in Jr. division. Once out of HS I went into USAF as a weapons instructor and from there started competing in shooting sports of all kinds. During that time my shooting partners and teammates were both US and World champions, and we all mentored each other.
Trapr
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jgt
.327 Meteor
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Posts: 782
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Post by jgt on Oct 1, 2021 9:19:34 GMT -5
I never had a mentor. I did read some good books and magazine articles that helped a lot.
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Post by oddshooter on Oct 1, 2021 9:44:39 GMT -5
I started early in a little Texas town. I really didn't have a mentor and my technique sucked pretty bad. With all the cowboys on TV doing fast draw, I couldn't help myself but follow their lead. That was more bad technique.
When I was 16 and wanting into the Naval Academy, I went to a hard-azz military prep-school. It had the last 3 years of high school and junior college; serious folks. I had a regular schedule on the shooting range run by an ex Ranger who was tough as nails. My technique got much better fast. He took no guff or excuses. I respected him for the tough time he had served.
Nowadays, I look to the net. Our own David Bradshaw has become a mentor and doesn't even know it. I have printed almost everything I've read from him on this site and over on the Dan Wesson forum. His shooting technique and explanations are only rivaled by his ability to communicate. He has made a huge difference in my shooting from loading, breathing, sight picture, and follow-thru. His comments on getting a hawgleg orchestra to play the same tune have been invaluable. His experiences with the 357 Maximum and the Bill's makes him a Historian without equal.
His willingness to share his skills has made him an instructor par excellence. Even when he smacks me, it's with a soft glove.
Prescut
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jdk
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 23
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Post by jdk on Oct 1, 2021 10:07:43 GMT -5
My cousin (RIP) opened my eyes when I was around 12 or so. He was ten years older. He hunted deer with a SBH. I sold a bicycle and bought a M19, then traded for a Blackhawk, and started hunting with a .357, very successfully too! My cousin was enamored with the .44 Special due to skeeter's and Keith's writings and started hunting with an M624 when they came out. I went to an M29 6.5" after a while and have been using big bores and Contenders in the .30 cal plus category ever since.
Because of him, I began reading Skeeter and Kieth as a young teen which poured gasoline on that fire. When Taffin put out Big Bore Sixguns, it was all over!
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Post by squigz on Oct 1, 2021 11:36:59 GMT -5
My father started my infatuation with handguns. He wasn't a big hunter/user of them at all, never carried and only ever shot one deer with one to say he did. But I remember being 9 and him letting me shoot his Dan Wesson 357 and me missing the target and hitting the 2x4 and it just blowing apart. I think at that moment I was shooting the most powerful handgun in the world and it just pushed me towards always enjoying them.
Step forward many years, you enablers came along and got me to put my rifle down fulltime and realize/understand what true hand gunning is about 5 or 6 years ago. Since then I've acquired a number of revolvers/contenders from covering all the "major" calibers and most cartridges 32H&R up to 500JRH in revolvers and 8 contender barrels all different cartridge's. I now I have that the horrible decision of which one gets to go with me every hunting season.
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Post by drycreek on Oct 1, 2021 16:19:49 GMT -5
For me it was cowboy movies when I was a small child. When I got to be a teenager Elmer took over and I really began to appreciate what could be done with a handgun. Skeeter Skelton, Thell Reed, Al Goerg, and lots of others I’ve forgotten also fed my hunger for anything handgun related. The first gun I ever bought with my own hard earned money was a Model 53 S&W .22 Jet. That gun was my constant companion for about four years, and with it I took squirrels, rabbits, too many snakes to count, a couple skunks, and one coyote. In those days money was short and I traded it for a High Standard autoloader. Bad decision ! Although I still hunted with the autoloader and brought down lots of squirrels and rabbits for the pot, that Model 53 would be worth several dollars today.
Nowadays, my interest in double actions has faded and I’m mostly a SA guy, and although I don’t have any custom guns, all my SAs have had Alan Harton action jobs except for my Single Six and my OM SBH. I’ll probably never lose interest in my SAs, at least I hope not.
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Post by Encore64 on Oct 1, 2021 18:10:13 GMT -5
People have been very good to me, including mentors.
I started shooting with a much older cousin when I was 12 or 13. He was a handguns only shooter and was quite an excellent shot.
Most evenings we'd shoot at least a little bit. By time I was 15, I'd been given two pistols and bought my first centerfire revolver, a Ruger Security Six.
Forty Five years later, I'm still with it...
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Post by bigbore5 on Oct 1, 2021 21:12:12 GMT -5
I grew up on a ranch. A handgun was just another tool and no different than a pocket knife, fence pliers, lariat, or the bull whip. Just something to use for working. It was one of my Uncles that got me to really see them as more than tools with his factory engraved Smith being beautiful and a TC Contender's long range abilities. Then at around age ten he gave me a copy of Sixguns by Keith. Then I read about John Linebaugh.
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gsp7
.30 Stingray
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Post by gsp7 on Oct 1, 2021 21:54:34 GMT -5
Josey Wales
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Post by jeffer on Oct 2, 2021 1:19:01 GMT -5
My dad and an old Spesco 22 single action. Those were good times...
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edk
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,104
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Post by edk on Oct 2, 2021 7:13:56 GMT -5
My Dad had no time for me however I did shoot a Browning 22 pistol of his once at a sand pit when I was about 12 as my first experience. With no close friends or family as shooters/hunters it took me until my later 20's when a co-worker invited be to shoot his then-new Redhawk and GP100 with handloads. He had a row of Lee progressives(which I do not favor) for 9mm, 357, 44mag, and 45 ACP. He was also a kitchen table FFL that arranged my own GP100/Redhawk sixgun pair. That was my real start. Around the same time when TC was a big deal to shooters in NH and I was introduced to the TC Contender by two acquaintances that were employees. That bug bit hard resulting in a barrel count explosion that has been somewhat reeled-in. The pinnacle of that period was befriending a custom barrel maker here in NH who would dial up anything I could imagine while standing in his shop. I had to mention TCs because the relationship I described and a couple of the barrels I hold as a result are very accurate, FA precise in their manufacture, and prevent me from ever completely forsaking the Contender for sixguns. However with that said my first single action was one of the Accusport Bisleys about 20 years ago. I like Ruger SAs so much that I actually traded off my original GP100/Redhawk from total lack of use. I sometimes regret that but viewing my Ruger 3-screw 44s, New model flattops and a FA 454 makes that go away.
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Post by bradshaw on Oct 2, 2021 8:29:14 GMT -5
To mentor is to provide guidance. Especially to discipline study or practice. My riflery was mentored by a couple of special individuals of relaxed composure with specific technique. I’ve tried to pass along the essential poise throughout my shooting life. I had no handgun mentor. I adopted the coordinations of rifle marksmanship to the handgun, knowing the arm, or arms, substitutes for a buttstock. I appreciated bullseye technique for removing abstraction from how to shoot a handgun; soon recognizing the limitation of a static position. Jeff Cooper spread the word on holding the gun with both hands, as practiced in “combat" competition by Jack Weaver. Inspirational writers emphatically include Elmer Keith and Jeff Cooper.
Fundamentals of Coordination may be taught without firing a shot. Marksmanship requires a target. Without a target to coordinate technique, marksmanship remains abstract, a fantasy subject.
To mentor or to have a mentor implies interaction. An article, or book of instruction, is not a mentor.
Short of having a really good instructor, competitive marksmanship is the quickest path to skill; practice & competition. Complimenting one’s ambition to excel, three things have the weight of gold: * Excellent instruction. * Competition. * A sharpshooter for a shooting partner.
The handgun hunter or devotee of big revolvers owes it to himself and herself to borrow technique from everything that puts the bullet on target under adversity. David Bradshaw
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