The summer my brother was 12 and I was 13, my dad bought us each a Daisy BB gun. Second hand, as new was totally beyond our budget. My brother got the pump action and I got the Red Ryder carbine. His had a longer barrel and was more accurate but mine was "cowboy".
The farm had a .22 rifle, for varmints, injured animals and stunning pigs and cattle to butcher but we had to ask to use it and buy our own ammunition. CIL Whiz-Bang .22 shells came in short, long, long rifle and long rifle mushroom. Shorts were 50¢ for a box of 50 and the LR mushroom were $1.25. BB's were cheaper for target practice and "blazing away" at "stuff". And we didn't have to ask.
Our kitchen range (coal and wood converted to oil) was beside a window which was usually open in summer. I was shooting through the open window at something outside and set an open package of BB's on the warming shelf above the stove.
Mom was cooking a big pot of pork and beans, didn't see my BB's and knocked them into the pot. Not happy but not the end of the world. They sank to the bottom and she carefully scooped the beans when they were done cooking, leaving the BB's for me to wash off and "got out of the house with that thing".
Obviously she didn't get them all. Next morning while doing chores, Dad bent over to pick up two buckets of water and shot the cat.
The farm had a .22 rifle, for varmints, injured animals and stunning pigs and cattle to butcher but we had to ask to use it and buy our own ammunition. CIL Whiz-Bang .22 shells came in short, long, long rifle and long rifle mushroom. Shorts were 50¢ for a box of 50 and the LR mushroom were $1.25. BB's were cheaper for target practice and "blazing away" at "stuff". And we didn't have to ask.
Our kitchen range (coal and wood converted to oil) was beside a window which was usually open in summer. I was shooting through the open window at something outside and set an open package of BB's on the warming shelf above the stove.
Mom was cooking a big pot of pork and beans, didn't see my BB's and knocked them into the pot. Not happy but not the end of the world. They sank to the bottom and she carefully scooped the beans when they were done cooking, leaving the BB's for me to wash off and "got out of the house with that thing".
Obviously she didn't get them all. Next morning while doing chores, Dad bent over to pick up two buckets of water and shot the cat.
Have you ever seen A Christmas Story?? It's about a kid that wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas. That is SO COOL that you actually had one.
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