Smooth bore .22

[GaryM]

I guess I'm lucky having grown up in New York City and not having firearms with which to put my life in danger. There were otherways of course such as playing on the roofs of appartment building and throwing snowball off those same roofs at buses and autos passing below!

[DUMBDOG]

Why would growing up around firearms put your life in danger? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[GaryM]

I'm only basing that comment on Pat's story about haveing quick draw contests with Speer Target Ammo.

[Pat]

Hey Gary, while dumbdog has you down, I'll kick you. How did fast drawing on each other with Speer target ammo while wearing motorcycle helmets (with full face shields) and jackets, endanger our lives?

And oh by the way, that ain't the way I heard it! You are from the era of zip guns, Sat night specials, and all that "New York" gang violence, right? Don't try to fool us, we saw "West Side Story." You, you... later day Sal Mineo!!!

Apparently around here some of the kids used to have fights with .22 shorts, for fun. Wore heavy jackets and "no aiming away from the jacket." Now that is dumb!!!! When I was a kid (and friends from other areas like Chicago etc) we used to choose up sides and have BB gun fights. After hearing. "you'll put someones eye out" enough times, we wore swiming goggles or dive masks and never got in close.

We also used potentially lethal archery equipment in later grade school and junior high and on but never in all this did any kids of my acquaintance actually get hurt directly from a weapon. No, we didn't shoot at each other with bows but it wasn't unusual to stand well apart and have a buddy shoot at a target near you then you collect the arrows and shoot them back to a target at his end. In theory I suppose someone could have been shot by a wild flier but at the ranges in question the guy at the target end would have to stand there like a post and ignore the incoming arrow. We didn't do William Tell.

Hey Dumbdog, what do you think of this reformed New York gang member getting all warm and fuzzy (thinking?)

What, am I the only guy on the forum that made guns out of water pipe that fired marbles propelled by firecrackers?

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[DUMBDOG]

All that I can really say is that I am glad to have grown up on the North Dakota prairie where the only gangs were all those gophers and we became quite good shots with a single shot 22 with open sights and did our best to decimate the local population of those little striped gang members. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[GaryM]

Now, Now! Don't get all hot and bothered! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

It's just my recollection from my childhood that if doing quick draw with helmets and leathers is a good idea, and I admit it sounds pretty safe, somewhere along the line it might tend to be escalated to a higher level. It's certainly seems as safe as paintball though.

And I will admit to making a zip gun or two. But I sold them as I didn't have the nerve, or a safe place to shoot them. A brass barrel bolt makes a dandy receiver section. And the end of the bolt is easy to file down for a firing pin.

Guess I was worse than I remember!

[Pat]

DumbDog, When I was stationed at Minot AFB North Dakota there were lots of what we called ground squirrels. They were indecisive about crossing the road and frequently got hit. Then their bretheren would come out to canabalize the dead and get hit. So there would often be a pile of dead ones rather than just isolated examples.

Several of these had hunting accidents at the base firing range where I (being in the same squadron as the range training guys) had permission to raise the red flag and use the range when it wasn't in official use. We had a lot of seagulls too but didn't shoot those.

I always thought as a youngster growing up that a .22 single shot with iron sights taught marksmanship much better than any repeater, by a wide margin. Similarly, single shot shotguns seem to encourage better concentration than repeaters and hence better marksmanship. In either case if you only get one shot, you tend to make it count.



[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Hey Gary, not hot or bothered here, HI HI, I just couldn't resist the "opening" you gave.

So you were only the armorer for the "JETS" and didn't actually use your product? I never progressed beyond the firecracker musket in home brew DIY arms till I made working black powder cannon miniatures and my .75 cal mortar.

I bought a non-functional .75 cal muzzle loading flintlock pistol and drilled out the flash hole and shot it for years (still have it). One of my few ventures into gunsmithing. It had such a poor frizzen that it was quite marginal in ignition so I converted it to a match lock. Uhh yeah, I substituted a small block of wood for the flint and driled two holes in the wood block to accept a couple kitchen matches with part of the wooden stem removed. When yo fired it the matches would strike the frizzen, ignite, be broken, and then be thrust into the pan where ignition was assured. I virtually never had a misfire.

This was a great anti-flinching training tool. Stoke it up as an 11 ga shotgun with #6 or 7 1/2 shot and shoot at cans tossed up into the air. Of course it had no sights so you just point it at the can, following it through its parabola till it neared the top of its arc then squeeze off the shot. The sequence of events went like this: 1. the trigger releases the hammer, 2. the hammer flies forward smashing into the frizzen and ignighting the matches and the primer powder in the pan, 3. the primer flashes off sending some of its sparks through the touchhole, 4. the powder in the barrel ignites, 5. as the powdeer in the barrel burns it sprays smoke and fire out the touch hole with a hiss, 6. eventually pressure builds up and the burn rate accelerates till the charge explodes.

To recap: click, flash, hiss, boom. Several opportunities to flinch. To be successfull you have to continuously aim while pulling the trigger and then continue to aim following through, keeping the weapon on target while the gun goes through its repertoire of actions (click, flash, hiss, boom)

Some folks could never conquer their flinching but most could begin to hit reliably within several tries.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[egon]

Second hand information.
In the area where we have the " FARM " it is alleged the youngsters of the past were given a few rounds and if they came back with game they got a few more rounds.

Egon

[Pat]

Egon, You rumor monger! Actually, I can confirm that practice as not being an isolated event or a practice common in only your farm area. I have heard similar from Mississipi, Oklahoma, and other areas.

When a boy growing up at home before going into the Army for WW-II, my uncle hunted with a slingshot and according to my mom provided a lot of rabbits for the family table. He didn't have a gun or money for shells but the Army changed all that and put him in anti-aircraft artillery in Europe.

When I was 5-6 I recall going for walks with him. I carried my trusty Red Ryder signature model lever gun in .177 cal (smooth bore, by the way) and he carried a slingshot. I can still recall standing on a bridge over a creek shooting at small stones, picking the ones in contrasting colors to more easily indicate the intended target. I did fair for a child but he was a marvel with that slingshot. But then I was easily impressed. I already thought he was magic or nearly so because he knew the "SECRET" of carving airplane propellers for the crossed sticks I nailed together and called airplanes.


[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]