I Love Things That Go BANG!

I’ve had a love affair with firearms ever since I heard the first one go “bang.”  When I was 12 my dad gave me a Marlin single-shot bolt-action .22 rifle for Christmas.  I spent the rest of the winter hunting rabbits in the hills around Wenatchee, Washington.  While in college (age 18) I discovered a pistol club on-campus, and tried to get Dad let me buy a pistol and get in on the fun.  He wasn’t having any.  Dad was afraid I might shoot myself by accident.  A couple of years later, when I was on my own, I bought an H&R 9-shot .22 revolver.  I loved that pistol!  I couldn’t hit a barn from the inside with it, but it was a lot of fun trying.  Since then I’ve traded around, and now have a Browning “Nomad” semi-automatic in .22.  I paid $65 for it new in 1965, and still enjoy using it.

Other pistols that have come and gone in my collection are–
A Colt single-action .38-40 revolver that was once used in a bank robbery in Seattle;
A Ruger “Blackhawk” single-action revolver in .44 magnum that I sold soon after I discovered it was too much for me;
A WWII Walther P-38 complete with military holster and extra clip that I sold for $20 when I was too broke to buy food (that pistol’s worth well over $1,000 now);
A Colt .38 double-action revolver that I traded in a couple of years ago as partial payment for
A Rock Island Armory 1911A1 .45 semi-automatic. This last pistol is now my favorite.  It gives a soul-satisfying bang, kicks solidly in my hand, and hits what I point it at — whether I use the sights or not!

Other handguns that I enjoy shooting are of the black powder variety.  They include–
A Derringer-type single-shot cap-and-ball pistol in .41 caliber – much like the one used to assassinate Lincoln;
A home-made flintlock pistol in .41 caliber — a great grouse gun to carry while deer hunting in Washington State;
A home-made cap-and-ball pistol in .41 caliber — servicable, but not as much fun as the flinter;
A double-barreled cap-and-ball palm-sized pistol in .41 caliber — made from a kit stylized like those often used by gamblers in the 19th century as a hideaway “last resort.”
A .44 caliber “Army” cap-and-ball pistol – copied from those used in the American Civil War.

Some of these weapons have come and gone, and some are still with me; all have been great fun to shoot.  But now that I’m in my seventies and in less-than-perfect health, I’m doling them out to relatives who have expressed an interest — I like to know they’re going to people who will appreciate them.