[USAF Sarge]

I have a Western Marshal in 44 Magnum, that I inherited from my dad before his passing in 2011. It was the first gun I ever fired as a scrawny 8 or 9 year old in late 75 early 76.

We were stationed at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho at the time, when my dad put that cannon in my hands. I pulled the trigger and buried the hammer in my forehead. Busted my head open something fierce, lots of blood.

He then handed me a Parker Hale in 270 (Brother owns it now) with a scope, pulled the trigger and got one nasty scope bite and more blood, looked like Petey The Dog off The Little Rascals.

Then I fired a 1975 Remington 1100 in 12 gauge (I own it today), followed by a Winchester Model 94 Antique in 30-30 (Brother owns it now), finally followed by a 1973 Marlin Original Golden-39M in 22 cal (I own it today). Thought the Marlin had misfired as I didn't hear or feel anything.

The holster and cartridge belt has been with the gun since my dad bought the pistol in 1975.

Dating these things like you said is damn near impossible. I just refer to mine as a 197?. Serial number on mine is 21573/4, wasn't aware that that the 4 represented 44 Magnum.

 

[USAF Sarge]

Wow, sorry to learn you got sliced and diced by firearms. When I was a kid my experience was mostly all with a Winchester Model-52 .22 caliber. In my teens I got to fire dad's M-1 carbine but that is the only experience I had before entering the Army where I was issued an M-1 Garand. I had never fired a .30-06 before joining the Army. I took to the M-1 Garand and really enjoyed the .30-06. I thought that in basic training I (we) never had enough range time with the M-1s.

After that outing, I never shot anything but the Marlin 22, while we were in Idaho.

I lugged that Marlin all over the deserts around Mountain Home AFB, for the next 1 1/2 years until we moved to Okinawa.

There were times I would be given a brick of ammo, a pile of targets and my only job was to go through all 500 rounds shooting at targets.

Since I inherited the 44, I've shot it a few times, but I just can't relax with it, I tend to strangle it. Maybe I'm scared it'll get away from me again and leave a mark in my forehead...LOL!

It's a family heirloom that's for sure, and for me it has a somewhat funny story attached to it.

I remember after we got home that night, my mom asked my dad if he had beaten me. He told her no, I thought the boy how to shoot, and to respect firearms. He'll never make those mistakes again. Well dad was right, I have a healthy respect for firearms, know how to shoot, and didn't make those rookie mistakes ever again.

It was a different time, in a world much different than today. Miss the Old Man that's for sure.

 

[USAF Sarge]

I have one of these in .357 magnum that I inherited from my father. Great shooting gun. One really big caution. He carried it deer hunting one year and brush caught the hammer. Put a round in his leg above his knee and came out below his knee. Doctor said if it had hit a bone it would have blown his leg off. Seems to be a known problem and they suggest only loading five shells if you are going to carry it with the empty chamber below the hammer.

When I inherited mine from my dad, he told me to load chamber 1, skip the 2nd and then load the 3rd through 6th. That way it sat on an empty chamber. Or something like that.

 

[USAF Sarge]

Taking a guess here, but back in your beginning days of shooting had hearing protection been invented yet? In the 40s, 50s and 60s there wasn't any kind of hearing protection that we knew about. We didn't even stick toilet paper in our ears; nobody did that. Now that I think about it I guess we never even thought of using toilet paper like that.

Love the TP remarks....

Hearing protection was around when I started shooting in the 75/76. I remember my dad had the Mickey Mouse ears and the ridged rubber ear plug inserts for working around the fighters on the flight line. Just wasn't all that big of push on wearing ear or eye protection at the time.

Guessing around the 80s is when the big push started. When I came into the Air Force in 86, we HAD to use ear protection when shooting. We had the option of using the Mickey Mouse ears alone of with the foam ear inserts. Later on they mandated use of eye protection also.

So when shooting with my dad as a kid, I never wore ear protection, and my hearing would be muffled for days, and I would have a ringing accompanying that deafness. When I inherited my Great Grandfather's shot gun at age 13 in 1980, I was given 50 rounds of old shells and told not to come in the house until I shot them all. My shoulder was bruised, my hearing same as above, and my trigger finger had a spasm in it.

Shotgun is in the rack right now. Went from my GGF, GF, Father, me, and now my oldest, and will go to his son.

It's an old beat up Iver Johnson Champion 12 Gauge with a 32 inch barrel.