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Here is my first Winchester. 1894 pre-war carbine. According to PRR's is 1940 vintage. You hear frequently about "mint" guns, but this one truly is.
Bought it 1991, have not found one quite this perfect since.
Rapid taper, standard taper, extra heavy. All 45 caliber.
Beautiful photo! (and rifles)
"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."
My first rifle was a Savage Sporter my dad used in the 1930’s, and which he taught me to shoot. I still have it.
My first Winchester was a 52 B my dad used when he was on the company rifle team where he worked. I now
use that rifle for ARA class benchrest shooting at the club I belong to.
I joined that club a few years ago, after retiring. That club has an annual Spring gun show, which I work at to
get dues-reducing work hours. A few weeks after joining the club I worked my first gun show. I’ve always liked
Winchester lever guns and one of the vendors had an 1894 in great condition (made in Oct., 1945). That was my
first Winchester lever, but I have since been seduced by the Model 1892, mostly because of their pistol caliber chamberings.
Lots of neat stories in these posts !
Glad you all are sharing some stories.
3855: Awesome rare 1886s too!
Brad
Great topic! My first rifle was a Winchester Model 94AE 30-30. I purchased it brand new back in 1984 at the Service Merchandise Catalog store in Derby, Connecticut.(just outside New Haven) I can remember the clerk bringing out a brand new boxed Winchester for my inspection prior to purchase. The funny thing was he brought out the wrong rifle, it was a brand new 9422 rifle much less expensive at the time. But I wanted the 30-30. sometimes when I see how the values of the 9422 have gone up and the post 64 94AE not, I kind of wish I took the first rifle he brought out. But I still have my first Winchester. Here is a photo of it with a few older cousins, second from the bottom above the Model 1907.
Great Gun Firsts From All, Have To Chime In. first Hunting Rifle Was Savage 99 In 32 Win Spl, A Cartridge I Believe Savage Never Offered As A Factory Round. My Grandfather Purchased It In 1933 For $15 As A. Oct Bbl In 303 Sav. He didn’t Like The Weight And Heard The 32 Spl Had A Bit More Punch. So Back To Savage It Went And Came Back With 24″ Tapered Sporter Bbl All Factory Stamped Chambered In 32 Spl.
My First Winchester Was A Model 70 Xtr Push Feed In 223 I Got As A Graduation Gift From High School In 1989. My First Old Win I Bought Last Year, A 1907 Oct Bbl 30Wcf . Still Have The 99 And 94! Probably Always Will.,
Scott
My first Winchester was a model 9422 XTR. Bought it in Searcy, AR around 1977. After my dad did the paperwork (I was only 12 or so) and got home, we discovered we had been sold a .22 magnum by mistake. My dad went back to swap it for a .22 LR, but decided to keep the magnum for himself and bought the other .22 for me. Both rifles are still in excellent shape and I still have the boxes and wall rack’s they came with.
Returned to this Thread to ‘catch up’ on a thoroughly enjoyable topic. For me, an opportunity to share moments long submerged in memory banks. But more, interesting reading and putting human faces on others ‘significant moments’ in their personal histories.
Hopefully not an inappropriate side note here and just to express the wish that a lot more folks choose to contribute their personal stories to this very interesting Thread! A big thanks for its initiation and the contributions so far!
Iskra
Well,
It was 49 years ago, I bought my First Winchester, from my Dad for $10.00.
It was His, a Winchester Model 37, 16Ga, Pigtail, Small Hammer, Red Letter, with a Full Choke (the O.D. of a Dime will cover the O.D. of the Barrel at the Muzzle)
I bought this Winchester with my Paper Route Money, when I was 11 years old to go Hunting with, in November of that year when I turned 12 years old. That’s the Legal Age to go Hunting and Buy a License here in Pennsylvania.
I hunted Everything with that Model 37, Small Game, Ducks, Geese, Turkeys, with #6 shot worked the best, Deer using Slugs.
I took it to a Block Shoot using # 6 Shot, one weekend and came home with 7 Turkeys and 2 Hams at the end of the day.
My First Time, I went Pheasant Hunting with a Bird Dog, the Dogs Owner told me to keep watching the Dog as he will find the Birds. We walked through a Field got to the other end and we stood there figuring out where we would go from there, all the while I was watching the Dog, he was sniffing around a clump of bushes a long way out in the next Field. Pretty soon the Cock Bird got up in flight, everybody else just watched because of the distance, I pulled up My Trusty Winchester Model 37, got a bead on him, squeezed the trigger and down came that Cock Bird. Everybody was just in awl about what they had just witnessed, as they all had 12Ga, semi-autos and Pump-guns and were much older than myself. They didn’t Shoot figuring the Cock Bird was to far away, I was so Proud of my Model 37 Winchester that day.
I still have that Model 37 Winchester to this day and I still use it to go Small Game Hunting.
When I am gone, as I have no kids, I would like to pass it on to someone who would appreciate that Model 37 and know some of the Stories that goes along with it, as my Memories of using it as it was meant to be used.
Mark (hokie)
"I Would Have Rather Lived Through The Industrial Revaluation"
"Instead of The Space Age"
From
The Twilight Zone
Great to read these.
Hokie: Good story about your first pheasant hunt and being a sleeper pheasant killer. I was able to get my nephew out shooting around a few times. He grew up in the city and probably has done his share of video game shooting but had never shot real firearms too much. He’s stuck it out in the bitter cold with me too. Perhaps he will get more interested in it as he gets older and settled down some. I have a couple other nieces and nephews that will hunt. Maybe you will find a younger relative or neighbor to start out with that Model 37?
Brad
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