For nearly 40 years some very good friends and I have been shooting together. We were all young and most of 'em, I'd say were better than average shooters. Now, we're all old and our shooting shows it! The amount of guns-n-ammo knowledge these podnahs of mine possess is phenomenal. They will expound for days on any gun-related subject. Imagine that, old men expounding!
After shooting our rifles, shotguns and large caliber handguns, before returning home, they'd break out the .22 caliber handguns. If we thought the competition with the other guns was considered heavy, well now, with the .22's it got crazy. They would pull out their S & W 41's, and 17's. Others would yank out their Browning Buckmarks. The only .22 I had was an H & R "999" Sportsman. The guys with the Smiths and the Brownings would literally beat us like a drum. A very few had the European .22s and they just out-performed everything out there. A couple of them had High Standards that could hang. Over the years, there would be an occaisional Ruger that would shoot really well.,
It seemed like every time we'd go to the range someone would show up raving about about their new Ruger Super Duper Single Six or one would show up with a "target" MK III or something. After shooting with the old men and their expensive guns, most of them would leave with their chins resting on their chests and nearly stepping on their lip.
I never got all-wrapped-up in the .22 shooting because I was spending what little money I had on an occasional rifle, large handgun, shotgun or something for the boys to hunt with. So, when we went to shooting the .22s, a few of us, with the "lesser" guns, would set-up off to the side, at 25 yards, and we'd have a blast shooting steel plates, clay pigeons or whatever we thought would provide some kicks.
I always said though, "if I ever buy another .22, it would be one of those GOOD ones. Well, just like a million things I said I'd never do, today I bought a MK III .22/45! My old 999 was just flat shot-out after tens of thousands of rounds. My 4 grown sons probably had as much fun with that old break-down H & R as any firearm we ever owned. I can't begin to count how many of their friends shot that old .22 as their first time pulling the trigger on a real firearm!!!!
Well, guess what? I'm not gonna be around when my sons and (now) 8 grand children wear-out this little Ruger. But I'd sure like to hang around long enough to see 'em try.
Thanks for lettin' an old man expound.
