Number 2

The second gun I owned, and the first I purchased for myself was a .22 rifle. I bought a Springfield, tube feed semiauto in .22 rimfire for the huge price of $35 back in 1970. I had a blast with that gun for many years. It's hard to tell how many thousands of rounds went through it shooting things like cans, hedge apples and walnuts. It also put a lot of squirrels in the pot. One time when I was walking down a wooded trail I saw 3 squirrels moving along a nearly horrizontal tree linb, all in a row. There wasn't a rest handy so I wrapped my arm in the sling and started with the last one. I got 2 of 3 moving bushy tails. I might've got all 3 except the first one wasn't quite dead when he hit the ground so I took time to finish him off before moving to number 2.

A few years later the Boss and I moved into a rental house in a city that had, at the time, the 3rd worst crime rate in the country. It was a 2 story half of a double with an open stairwell. I was working 2nd shift in a factory and going to school days. You can guess that I wasn't home much to spend time with the wife and our toddler son. Anyway, the Boss wasn't used to being by herself, especially at night. Upon finding out that there was a cat-house just down the block, she was less then comfy when the sun went down. Since my total armament consisted of a single .410 and a .22 there wasn't much in the way of self-defense tools around. I told her to stay upstairs at night, and if someone broke in wait until she hears the intruder on the stairs, then step around the corner and keep pulling the trigger until it quits going bang. 22s may be small, but 15 of the little hollow points will certainly make somebody take notice. Several months later I purchased a shotgun.

That little rifle finally gave up 18 years later. It still shot but the wear and tear turned it into a single shot. I sold it to a trapper for a few bucks. That's when I picked up the Marlin shown below. Not having a .22 in the house is just unAmerican you know. It's not really my second gun acquisition, but the replacement for same.