My first purchased firearms

I recently read an article in an anniversary issue of a gun magazine where the author was remembering his first deer rifle. He’s Canadian and bought the gun when he was 15 years old with his lawnmowing and paper delivery earnings. The rifle was a Marlin model 336 lever-action in 35 Remington caliber.

This article resonated with me because my first purchased deer rifle was also a Marlin model 336 in 35 Remington. I bought it from a friend of my father. “Tiny” owned and operated a gas station and being an FFL license holder, ordered firearms for clients as a small side business. This all predated the 1968 gun law which brought major changes to gun dealers’ operations and mandated record keeping.

I, too, wanted the 35 Remington caliber for its larger caliber bullet and ballistics better than the 30-30 caliber cartridge, the most common chambering in a modern lever-action rifle. The general thinking then was that the 35 Remington was a better cartridge than the 30-30 if bears were a possibility on a deer hunt. My deer hunting at the time was with my dad in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and bears were definitely possible. Unlike the gun writer, I still have my Marlin and have taken both white-tailed and Sitka Blacktailed deer with it over the years.

My first shotgun came from a deal I had with my dad. When I was around 14 years old, my dad told me he would give me his Winchester model 12, 16-gauge shotgun if I painted the entire inside of our house over the summer. I hated painting, but that was a strong incentive. The shotgun was one my grandfather had bought around 1929 and had passed down to my dad. I guess I was next in line.

After he retired from being a tool and die maker, my granddad became a gunsmith. He took that model 12 and made several upgrades to the basic firearm. One upgrade that was uncommon at the time was detachable sling swivels, a feature virtually unknown on shotguns back in the 1960’s, but it sure made carrying and handling the gun easier. Now, almost all shotguns come with detachable swivels or can easily be upgraded to have them. I still have this gun, too.

My first small game rifle was a Marlin model 39 22 rimfire rifle I bought with my first couple of “real” paychecks earned while working in a stone yard over the summer. My dad took me to the local gun shop, and I signed my check over to the owner. I promised to return the next week to pay off the balance and pick up the rifle. After a quick glance at my father, the owner told me to take the rifle home – he trusted me to be back to pay him the next week. I did!

Talk about one happy kid with that lever-action rifle! I had wanted that gun for, literally. years to use for squirrel hunting and now I had it. I purchased a four-power, Marlin branded ¾ inch 4x scope and mounted it on the rifle. I shot a bunch of squirrels with it, too. Over time, I upgraded the scope to a full size (one inch tube) in 2x7 power, my brother cut checkering on the pistol grip and forearm, and I modified the sling swivels to be detachable. I hunted squirrels with it until I came to Alaska for college, where I used it to shoot a bunch of snowshoe hares. This is still my favorite small game rifle.

My first purchased handgun was a Smith and Wesson model 19, 357 magnum with a six-inch barrel. I had wanted a model 27 in the same caliber and had one on order at three different gun shops for years. They just weren’t available. One evening, after my dad got home from work, we drove to a distant gun shop and, as we entered the building, held open the door for a guy exiting with a large briefcase. Turns out, he was the Smith and Wesson sales rep for the area.

The shop owner confirmed he still didn’t have a model 27 but said the sales rep had given him his display model 19 after being told about the demand for revolvers. I bought the gun before the owner even got it in his display case. That revolver is a real shooter! Using 38 wadcutter loads, I’ve harvested snowshoe hares, a few squirrels, and grouse with it.