Powder and Lead

I grew up in a mountain community in the Sierra Nevada.  For most of my youth we did not have neighbors in close proximity, but my father never felt comfortable with me shooting a .22 on the property.  To make up for the lack of that most American of boyhood possessions he gave me several high powered airguns through the years.  These were sort of in the vanguard of the break-action rifles that have since become so ubiquitous, and Gamo had yet to corner the market.  My first was a Winchester 800x, and I must have put 10,000 shots through it before it broke.  

                                 

There it is, with the ever elusive coke can.

My wife bought me my first proper rifle a few Christmases ago, a Mosin Nagant made in 1943.  It is a rough weapon as befitting the conditions under which it was made, but it is fun to shoot and the history major in me takes great pleasure just from holding it.  Last year I decided that I wanted to refinish the stock.  I had grand expectations for the end result, but reality did not quite conform.  Nonetheless I had fun doing it and learned a thing or two along the way.  

My wife's photography can make anything look good.

My uncles bought me a Winchester Model 70 Super Grade and topped it with a Leupold 3-9x as a graduation gift.  It is a stunning rifle, both in terms of outward appearance and performance on paper.  I've not had the opportunity to shoot it as much as I'd like due to the price of ammunition.  I'm slowly collection the necessary items to begin reloading my own.

A Remington 870 rounds out the stable.  It was a Christmas gift from my parents years ago, and I've put probably 5,000 rounds through it.  Its long, heavy, and not particularly finely made, and I love it.  As with fishing gear and other things, I've found that "use makes master."  Practice, not money, is the key to performance.  Contentedness is something to be encouraged.