Knowing I own single shots, a young guy(late 30s?) at the gun club told me he was recently able to shoot a Winchester single shot a friend owned, and how cool he thought it was. Next, he mentioned he would sure like to own one and had been searching the web for one to buy. I told him I had a 22RF Lowwall  for sale and would bring it to pistol league this week. I showed it to him last night, his eyes lit up, and his only question was price. Once that was out of the way, he started discussing what type of open sights he would install. 
He doesn't own it yet and he's already hooked.
It's going to the right person.

I think most of us were there at some point, and a good feeling.

I was eight or maybe nine, at my Grandma's in Missoula, Mt. I had been there many times but this time I happened to reach way back under her couch and felt something very suspiciously like a rifle barrel. I pulled it close enough to see it had an octagon barrel. Being raised not to mess with other people's guns and not even Dad's guns without permission, I ran to Grandma and told her there was a rifle under her couch. "Can I look at it?" "Go ahead," she said, "check to see it's not loaded." I hauled it out and it was so cool. I remember very heavy. I looked at the end of the barrel, pretty sure it was a .22 but it looked like a buffalo gun. Somebody named "J. Marlin" was on the side of the action. Never heard of him. I pulled the lever down, watched how the extractor slid back as the block flopped down. How cool! 
"That was your grandpa's .22" Grandma said, "I'm going to give it to you when you can hold it up".
Well, before that happened my uncle stooped by Grandma's and got his Dad's .22. Grandma gave me an old shotgun instead.
The memory and excitement of finding that old rifle stuck with me and years later I found myself working in Cody making those very rifles. So I made myself one, the "Otis Hayes memorial Ballard". My wife has confiscated it for herself, and I am OK with that, just one condition; at some point it goes under the couch and the first grandchild who finds it, gets it.

Speaking about guns hidden in places. My daughter was about 8 years old and had a friend who wanted to do a sleep over. He mother brought her on a Fri afternoon late. I invited them in and when she saw my Sharps above the fireplace and my built in gun cabinet full of stuff she said her daughter couldn't stay. She wouldn't allow her to be in a house with guns even locked up ones. I said I would remove them but to no avail. She was adament. The child was heartbroken so my daughter went home with them. Little off topic but thought it was interesting.


JMH

On the subject of guns and kids, I got my initial exposure to collectible old firearms from my dad's brother in law. My aunt and uncle lived in an old house in Wenatchee, Wa. and beside the house were six bungalow apartments. They rented five of them, and kept the one closest to their house un-rented. When I was very young we visited them and my uncle took my dad and my older brother and I to see his gun collection in the apartment. I remember vividly him opening the front door and seeing nothing but long guns in racks in every room of the place! Some rooms had old file cabinets with shelves full of revolvers and single shot handguns! There were open walkways through the house and guns on both sides as we walked through looking at more guns than most gun stores or museums had!
When I was 15 my uncle died and his estranged son showed up and emptied the apartment of every firearm in there! Took them all back to Seattle and likely sold them for pennies on the dollar. That was 1965 and when my aunt passed in 1996 at age 95 we went up to help clean out her house. I found log books his son had left, and they were hand written entries for every gun he had, along with descriptions and serial numbers. I still have them, and look through them occasionally. Lots of old 1700's and 1800's muzzleloader rifles and pistols, plus early cartridge single shot rifles. A huge number of Colt and S&W revolvers that included several Walker Colt pistols, some Pattersons, Dragoons, numerous 1873's and various Lightning and Thunderer pistols. It still amazes me that a clerk for the Union Pacific acquired so many fine firearms. He did also work part time at a pawn shop, and guessing much of his collection came that route.

When Chris(the young guy at the start of this post) got to pistol league Wednesday evening he asked, "you didn't happen to bring that rifle, did you?" 
I had. He handed over some money, I grabbed the lowwall from my car. His face positively lit up knowing it was now his. 
He then said he had something in his truck for me. 
It seems 20+ years ago he found a Civil War era cannonball that has been authenticated multiple times. Knowing I'm a CW reenactor on a cannon crew, he gave it to me. 
Proving truth is stranger than fiction, it's a 6lb ball, and I shoot a 6lb cannon. 
Cue up the Twilight Zone music. 
We both went home grinning like we had won the lottery.

marlinguy wrote on May 23^rd, 2025 at 11:52am:

Thanks, he is. Chris proves there will be a future for firearms, and specifically, the old ones we all cherish.  

For a little back story, Chris discovered the cannon ball north of Lawrence, Kansas, where there were several battles that preceded the Civil War. Lecompton, Kansas is about 10 miles away, where there was also a battle or two. 
While there is no documented provenance, the circumstantial evidence is strong.

dcraven wrote on May 30^th, 2025 at 11:40am:

He had been on the MVA website and liked the look or their products. I told him I have two of their tangs sights and that they create precision firearms jewelry. I gave hi info for Lee Shaver's sights and his website info. Chris had to work late Wednesday, couldn't come to pistol league, so I don't know if he has made a decision or placed an order yet.