Just think of our World now!

KHornet

Well-Known Member
That picture could have been me, but in the early 50''s, and all
with single shots!

Paul
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I think the ML is a 2 band ....... The names gone again , it was the 1820ish replacement for the Brown Bess 69-78 cal smooth bores some were choked like a Fowler but the those were much longer .

Enfield? I don't know my early military arms very well, but that sounds right.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Kevin, I got my Sears/Marlin .22 bolt gun when I was in the 9th grade. Used to go hunting
for squirrels with a friend, at his grandmother's place a couple of hours south, out in the
country. A real treat for a kid from the suburbs, at that time, moved out in the country by
10th grade, from Va to Fla. Navy brat.

Bill
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
Enfield? I don't know my early military arms very well, but that sounds right.

I hit the high points . I did get to shoot a real Fowler , 11 ga I think , at a gathering of BP shooters . Enfield is what I was thinking , there were of course dozens of others and variations . Also individual makers that copied many designs some of which can't be identified without a detailed look .
 

Cherokee

Medina, Ohio
My first real gun, JCH s/s, followed by Ruger's 22 SS a little later for the High School gun club. That was in the 50's in a non-gun family.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Today, they might get shot, sadly. Besides that, we had a few weeks in HS when
'bean guns' were popular. Plastic PPKish thing, pour it full of Navy beans and pull the
trigger, the shot reasonably accurately, and fairly fast. Could hit at 10 ft easily, and
slightly painful. FUN in the hallway between classes, multiperson shootouts. Teachers
only got involved and stopped it when the beans all over the floor were making a mess
when crushed and such. Playing with toy guns in the hall was not problem. Just no littering.

Bill
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Kid a little shorter and wearing cowboy boots and that could have been me in the early-mid '60s. Long guns would have all been Winchesters. Short gun I see on the bed would have been a Colt.
About that age I was shooting mostly 22s with a 25-20, 218 BEE and occasional 38 SPL, 45 ACP, 9MM shotgun (Garden Gun) and 410 side-by-side.
 

Ian

Notorious member
My mother went to elementary school briefly at Weslaco and both her parents taught school there in the early '50s before moving to Harlingen.
 

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
When my FIL got of the service in 1946 as soon as he got on the street he went and bought a Winchester 30-30 carbine carried in openly on his shoulder in Philadelphia! Then boarded a Greyhound bound for Scranton with it in his lap!
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
In those saner times, a gun was just a tool, not a threat.

People are crazy now, about guns and other things, too. Esp on the coasts.
But, walking down the street, even here in KS with a .30-30 on your shoulder would
probably get you at least a visit from the police. It IS legal, though. I suspect in most
states in the first tier on either coast you'd spend jail time.

Bill
 

Intheshop

Banned
I grew up shooting so no biggy there but....

Gotta say all my boys enjoyed the outdoors and shooting. Highly respectful of firearms because they were shooting bows from about diapers and knew what they were capable of say by the age of 5 or 6.

Firearms were more work..... it meant very serious practice. They all shot a buttload of handguns.... and 22 rifles. But they weren't allowed to wander around with them but bows? They'd each grab one and a bunch of arrows and we wouldn't see them for hours. The Wiemeraner would be with them but still,we had no real idea where they were. Pretty big woods behind the house....

Poor kids and parents these days..... if technology doesn't rot their brains,being cooped up inside afraid of what someone is gonna say or call the authorities or the boogeyman......
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Open carry is legal in KS, used to be some municipal ordinances against it, those got removed
by the state, and even though some cities fought and complained, apparently it is now clear to
the PDs that they better not be hasseling folks. The key is how well the police actually tolerate
it. In Phoenix in the middle 80s, with a group attending the IPSC National Championships, we were
amazed to discover folks carrying openly. We asked around, found it was fine. And tried it out a
bit with our IPSC holsters and gun. Found that nobody batted an eye. No idea of the current
situation in AZ, maybe the same.

I have only seen a single open carry in Walmart a year ago. Nobody paid any attention.
I prefer the discretion of not having everyone know I am armed.

Bill
 

KHornet

Well-Known Member
The problem with open carry, and we have it in Ne, it the difference between rural and urban people and perceptions. Carry open in a city of any size and you are asking for a problem in all probability due to perception of the population, many of who are not gun owners. Carry open in urban/rural areas and perception changes in most cases, particularly in rural areas, as the majority of the population is armed, well armed. It is in reality an issue of city vs. country. Sancutary cities present a good example of perception of the population being anti gun. It is far easier to carry conceled .

Paul