Frank/Mark de Haas!

A boss at a place I used to work, (Bruce) asked me if I was interested in shooting a "real" rifle - I was a bolt gun fanatic/builder at the time - I huffed but said sure.  We went to the 400yd range south of town where there was a Letournea wheelmotor hubcap - gong (about 40" diameter) hanging from a rack.  He sat me down, set up cross-sticks in front of me, handed me a blow tube, an original rolling block in 45-70, told me these were "real" sights, explained the process.  First shot hit the gong, he laughed at my grin and just kept handing me cartridges.  From that moment thirty some years ago, my builds and processes have been derived from that, only an occasional drift now and then.
I've used the method a time or two on new recruits with some success.

There are some great names and greater stories here.

In 1982 I bought a Lee Six unlimited BR stock from Manley Oakley in Tacoma.  I went up to pick it up, asked if there were any shoots going on; and Manley told me about this Schuetzen Match taking place that weekend.  We drove over to watch, I got roped into shooting the Media/Celebrity Match at the Rifle & Pistol Club there.  By luck I won, shooting a 247-7C.  We went to Coors two months later, and I met Dean and Cherie Miller and their son Cyle.  It was all over.  There I met Jim Feren and Earl Hines and a host of others.

Rich

My Dad jammed the old family hair loom M1906 Winchester in my hand in 1966 when I was  9 years old and said  "don't do anything stupid with that".  It's been all downhill ever since.

My Grandpa on my mom's side made sure I was well stocked with ammo. Every time I saw him, he'd pull another box of ammo out of his pocket.

westerner wrote on Jun 29^th, 2023 at 1:18pm:

Doesn't matter. If it wasn't for that 1906 I may never have become a gun crank, which eventually lead to single shots. 

Redrighthand wrote on Jun 29^th, 2023 at 4:57pm:


That's true. I was thinking you got hooked on M1906 Winchesters... 

My grandfather on my mother’s side. He would take me with him just about from the time I was able to walk when he hunted small game. No deer in NW Missouri in those days. Having lived thru the depression, he helped feed his family with small game. He always used a Remington model 11 12ga, if you couldn’t kill it with#6 shot, leave it alone. Single shots were just a natural progression for me.
Mike