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The "We All Started Somewhere" thread...
- Thread starter sirhrmechanic
- Start date
I could shoot any pic you wanted.
Just give me enough rounds and Mona Lisa would appear if you squinted.
Just give me enough rounds and Mona Lisa would appear if you squinted.
My first precision rifle was a Remington 778 in 30-06. I was in high school and the movie “Shooter” had just come out. My interest pivoted hard from AKs and ARs to precision rifle. I found it in the local gun shop for $300 used the week before Christmas. It had the original cheap wood stock, internal 3 round magazine, pencil barrel, a Harris bipod, unknown rings and a Redfield 3x9. I shot it for years, buying all the surplus M2 ball I could afford. No one told me what match ammo was. The local IWLA wouldn’t let me shoot prone so I shot it from a bench. The rifle would hop all over the place every time you pulled the trigger, but I didn’t care. I was thrilled with 3inch groups and the occasional dead groundhog.
Age ~10. Early '70s. Walked the roads picking up returnable coke bottles and sold them to the local grocery store for a nickel apiece. Finally had enough to go to the local sporting goods store and bought the brand new Benjamin mdl 347 .177 "pellet gun" for $40. Studied the "Benjamin Beacon" newsletter and catalog and discovered there was a peep sight available. Bought that and it was on with the squirrels and rabbits around here for the next 5-6 yrs. The entire gun was brass other than the bolt and trigger assembly.
This was my second Daisey, first one had wooden stock and pump.
Use to pick pecans shoot them on a fence my grandpa had then pull the bb’s out of the fence and use them over and over almost like reloading.
I was about eight at the time.
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First personal rifle? Ruger 10/22, bought it in 9th grade with money from my first hourly paying job. Previously I was feeding my dad's circa 1950s Sears Roebuck single shot .22 with ammo I received in kind for irrigation sprinkler moving, bush hogging and hay bale throwing. Considering the price of a brick at the time, I was real cheap labor then.
First precision rifle? M40A1, of course. After seeing one of my old pay statements from back then, I was even cheaper labor.
First precision rifle? M40A1, of course. After seeing one of my old pay statements from back then, I was even cheaper labor.
First rifle was m700 BDL in .25-06 (early 70's build). Leupold 3x9. Different scope now but still shooting awesome.
First precision rifle m700 VSSF in .220 swift. Topped with Tasco custom shop 8x40x50. Terrible scope. But the rifle would give me dime sized groups with handloads.
First precision rifle m700 VSSF in .220 swift. Topped with Tasco custom shop 8x40x50. Terrible scope. But the rifle would give me dime sized groups with handloads.
Nice lady, lets call her Alice, where I was taking lots of handgun classes after I got my CHL invited me to watch a match. Someone there wanted to see how trainable I was at rifle..after two days with them I bought an AIAW w/S&B scope.
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Mid 90's, I bought my first real rifle, i had air rifles and 22lr since I was a little kid.
Winchester model 70- 30-06 with a Simmons scope on it. Still have the scope, it's a little 3x9. Sold that rifle a year or so ago, but I still have my dad's, which became my brother's, and is now mine, 270 feather weight model 70. She's a sweet little rifle and I would never sell it.
Winchester model 70- 30-06 with a Simmons scope on it. Still have the scope, it's a little 3x9. Sold that rifle a year or so ago, but I still have my dad's, which became my brother's, and is now mine, 270 feather weight model 70. She's a sweet little rifle and I would never sell it.
Actually, all the rifles I bought for myself once old enough were sound. Even glass, early-mid 80's Leupold was top shelf. I remember mid 90's a friend and I were buying Leupolds by the 6 pack from some couple in IA, we dubbed them "Flakos". They would put an ad in The Gun List for Vari X III's. We'd just clean them out whether we had use for them or not, maybe turn a few.
My shortcomings were bipods, my first were versa-pods for AR's, wobbly pcs of shit. My first bipod for a hunting rifle was some 30 buck pile, not even caldwell quality, i mean who the fuck would pay 80 bucks for a Harris. A lighter 260 Rem folded that POS in half.
In prairie dog towns, we used these things, on the hood or roof of a PU, back then the hoods of PU's weren't over 5 feet tall. Bipod really wasn't needed.
My shortcomings were bipods, my first were versa-pods for AR's, wobbly pcs of shit. My first bipod for a hunting rifle was some 30 buck pile, not even caldwell quality, i mean who the fuck would pay 80 bucks for a Harris. A lighter 260 Rem folded that POS in half.
In prairie dog towns, we used these things, on the hood or roof of a PU, back then the hoods of PU's weren't over 5 feet tall. Bipod really wasn't needed.
Grunig & Elmiger .308, Internationale Matchwoche, Zurich Switzerland, 1981. Bought it at the match, direct from factory rep for $800. Part of a cancelled order by an African nation. Match director got me some Lapua match ammo, first time I had ever seen Lapua.
Remington model 700 BDL in 270Win. from JC Penneys, and Redfield 3-9X from a sporting goods store at the other end of the mall.
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If you want to shoot it, call Buffalo Arms. They carry cases for it and you can backorder them if they are out.
Ask for Don and say MK20 from Snipershide told you to call. He knows me.
So last weekend while hanging out at Precision Rifle Expo and drinking some adult beverages and eating boiled peanuts... the conversation turned to Harris Bipods (go figger...) and Tasco scopes. And to all the 'laughable' gear that everyone here... laughs at.
Naturally... I could not help but point out that when I built my first 'precision' rifle in 1988... the choice of stuff available was, well, not as simple as it is today. First, there was no Internet with great Snipers Hide threads full of Gear Reviews, Stuff for sale and compare/contrast info. We had Shotgun News and the Gun List... and maybe small ads in the back of Shooting Times or The American Rifleman. Maybe, if you were really 'in the know' you had a photocopied catalog from Choate Machine and Tool (who remembers them?) Oh and ordering was by phone with a credit card, or in some cases, mailing off a check and waiting for your gear to come back a couple of weeks later. Maybe also find stuff at a big gun show. If there was one in your area.
Plus, as a group/hobby, precision shooting was pretty limited. You had your varmint shooters. And you had your benchrest shooters. And you had your military snipers... but those folks were all secret squirrel and stuff and nothing was 'posted' for all to see. So there was no 'community' sharing info, etc.
Sooooooo... when you wanted to start precision rifle shooting, you were in a vacuum.
Anyhoo... this led me to point out that 'where it all began for me' was a Remington 700 Varmint in .223... Which cost a ton of $$ in 1988 in BDL format. IIRC over $800! And it was beautiful. Put on a Harris Bipod ordered from a catalog. And a scope that I can't remember what it was... It Shot dime-size groups. But would NEVER hold a zero. Because in Eastern NC... the humidity was appalling. So you could shoot nice dime-size groups at 100 and the next day, not even be on paper. FUCK...
So.... from Choate, a Plaster "Ultimate Sniper" stock... which is really neither. Moved the Harris bipod over. Now the rifle is heavy, ugly and clunky. But damn if it does not hold a zero! But scope is still a bit inadequate.
Find a Tasco 6 - 24 Varmint c. 1991 or so at a gun show that, IIRC cost me a boatload of $ at the time. Like $250. For a used scope. Rings? Whatever. They fit. That was in 1989 dollars when $250 bought a lot!
And that's it! Still have it. It's shot a ton of coyotes. Varmint Grenade Boolits... it loves them! Scope feels like it's full of marbles. I took the Harris Bipod off to use in the restoration of my IDF Mauser sniper rifle. Didn't replace it.
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By today's standards... it's a laugh a minute. As I was describing it.. it's like a running gag... but here it is! In all its glory. And as I was getting ribbed for Harris, Tasco and Choate on the same gun, I said I'd post it here and let everyone have a go! Because while it may not look like much today, back almost 35 years ago it was the 'nads and I was pretty proud of it. And how it shot.
Also, as you chuckle under your breath, hear this: It still shoots! I haven't touched the zero in at least 20 years. It still holds minute of woodchuck. Though I need to buy a new Harris bipod for it. Uneven legs and all. Just 'sayin.
So.... where are your roots? What 'precision' gun 'Got it all started for you" and might just be sort of... dated... at best. Cringe-worthy, even? At worst, Laughable. Are you even willing to admit it? Or share it?
We all started somewhere... where was it for you?
Sirhr
Lawton, 1 system before Barney’s passing , one after.
My first centerfire was a Savage 99 in 300 savage. Family member "gifted" it to me. Scope didn't even have a name on it. That was 40 years ago, and my shoulder still hurts. First accurate gun I bought was a Rock River AR10 with a 26" bull barrel. When I'm not shooting, I can use it for bench pressing.
It was 1996 before I learned 1911s were too big and heavy to CC. Over 20 years wasted.
True!
Not about 1911’s being too big and heavy. But that it took the Internet to make it a thing.
1911’s carry just fine.
Sirhr
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