Good buddy Jose, who has written for us before (I’ll give you a link to his other articles at the end of this blog), sent this story to us a day or two ago. I enjoyed reading it and I think you will, too.
By Jose Armenta
Hi Joe!
I have one you might like….
“Minute of Golf Ball”
I was at the range two weeks ago on a very busy day fooling around with the first 22 semi auto rifle my parents bought me for Christmas when I was 12 years old (um, I mean Santa Claus did). It’s a Marlin Glenfield Model 60 and it came with a 4x scope.
Anyhow some years ago I mounted an inexpensive BSA “Sweet 22” 4×9 scope on it, I mean really inexpensive like 60 or 70 beans. I put four golf balls out on the ground by my targets at 100 yards while some kids and the range hands looked on. Using bulk “rot gut” Federal ammo, I picked off all four balls with four shots. Golf balls fly about 10 to 15 feet when hit with a 22, sort of like when you hit them with a chipper iron. Two kids with a Ruger 10/22 tried bouncing them to no avail. So next range break I set them back up and did it all over again, and the results were 4 for 4!
I told the kids my 50+ year old department store rifle was “minute of golf ball.”
Oh, and yes, it does have the famous Glenfield squirrel stock. I learned to hunt with this rifle so it will always be my favorite.
Who still shoots their first 22 rifle?
Jose
Jose, that’s awesome.
To answer your question (Who still shoots their first 22 rifle?): I know I do, good buddy Greg does, and I suspect quite a few of us do. My first .22 was handed down from my Dad, who bought it when he was 8 years old for $8 in New Jersey of all places (a state with what are probably the most stringent gun laws in the country). I like your story a lot, Jose. It’s a good story, it hits on a topic that many of us can relate to, and it suggests a new blog line: The Rimfire Series. Thanks for submitting this to us, and if you have more stories, please send them in!
Here are links to Jose’s other ExNotes stories:
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I still have the Remington 510 my dad handed down to me. It’s a single shot bolt action. And, it was made so long ago that it doesn’t have a serial number. The date code (CL4) indicates that it was manufactured in April 1942! If my research is accurate, of course.
This is good stuff, Wes. Thanks.
My first rifle was a family hand-me-down Springfield Model 86C .22 LR bolt action from my grandpa. I took it to a gunsmith for a look over a couple of decades ago and he said it was probably 1918 or so vintage but I’m not so sure. Anyway, I leaned how to shoot and then hunt with it and still plink squirrels and bunnies with it. The rule is head shots only. With the open iron sights, you have to get pretty close to a squirrel, which is half the fun.
Memories
There’s something about a vintage .22. Cool. Thanks for commenting, Larry.
I’ve still got a Marlin model 600 which is essentially a model 60 with a couple of differences; 1) gold-plated trigger in place of the standard trigger and 2) stainless steel breech bolt in place of the blue steel breech bolt on the model 60. The model 600 was sold exclusively by Big 5 only from 1986 thru 1989 so it’s supposedly rare.
Next time at the range let’s shoot some 22’s Joe.
That’s a plan.