# Your First Scattergun



## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

As a kid we spent a lot of time above Centerville on skyline dr and above the fire break road. It was around August 1974 and pine hen season was coming up. Up until that point I would shoot my Mom's Winchester model 24 sxs 20ga at hand thrown clays up by the V. My Dad would throw us kids clay pidgeons for practice. I couldn't hit anything with that gun. The 24 was like looking down a warped 2x4. One day my Dad said come on lets go to the store. Well the store ended up being Sunset Sporting Goods in Bountiful. At that time Sunset was a pretty big deal to a kid like me. I loved that store. I followed Dad to the gun counter wondering what was going on. They had a great gun counter, all those rifles and shotguns all shined up glistening reflecting the light. That was the days of auto5's, wingmaster's and 1100's. Dad & the gun guy were talking. I wasn't paying much attention I was in heaven, distracted by shiny objects. Then they hand me a gun to hold. Dad said hold & point this and see how it fits? It was a little long for me at the time but they both said he'll grow into it? Money didn't grow on trees for our family. But peach season just ended so I guess we must of had some extra money on hand. It wasn't a birthday or Christmas. I'm still in disbelief at that point when my Dad says we'll take it. 

It was a Savage model 30 20ga pump. 28" vent rib barrel
3" magnum with a modified choke. The first modified choke my family ever owned along with a vent rib. Every gun in house was a plain barrel full choke. My dad could blow the $hit out of roosters like know other with his full choke Remington model 31. He was pretty quick on the draw. 

Anyways my dad threatened me to my death if I didn't take care of that gun on our way home. I didn't let him down. I grew into that gun and eventually grew out of it. I could hit pretty good with that gun. I realized that i really liked that forgiving mod choke. The last rooster my dad shot was with that little 20.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

My first shotgun was a Winchester Ranger model 120 12 ga. pump. My Dad got it for me at Sunset or Wolfs, I can't remember. I blew the barrel and replaced it with a model 1300 barrel, which is the exact same thing. I still have it.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Stevens double barrel 410. Still have it. I refinished the stock a while back, beautiful light red'ish wood under that horrific brown paint.


-DallanC


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Almost cried....

My Dad was not a shotgun or bird guy, hunted big game only and with a CVA Big Bore in .58 caliber.

Had a friend take me out for doves, told me to shoot anything that jumped out of the sunflowers as we pushed through them.
Used a Winchester, I believe it was called a ‘Ranger’. Bought it with money saved working at 49th Street Galleria.
Got to the end of that sunflower patch and was so proud of my three male mourning doves and my seven female mourning doves ( Meadowlarks......).


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

My first was a single shot .410 that we hunted Doves along the All American Canal down by El Centro California , I was 8 years old. The guy and his son camped out next to us under the salt cedar tree had a 20 gage that was to much for his 12 year old so my dad traded my .410 for that single shot 20 gage. When Christmas came around in 1962 my dad bought me a 12 gage Remington Sportsmans 48. It came with the Poly-choke barrel and a ventilated rib barrel. I still have that shotgun.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Love the story jerry. That’s a definitely a surprise that’d leave a life long impression. My first shotgun was a fab arms 12 ga sxs. The left barrel would go off randomly when I closed the action. I promptly returned it in exchange for a 94 win 30-30 carbine.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

This brings back memories. 

Mine was a model 97 trench gun that I bought for $25 when I was 15 years old. I can't remember if I ever hit anything with it and before I could try it out on any ducks the ejector quit working and I traded it off for a nice fly rod and reel.

Sad thing is I don't have that fly rod anymore and I wished that I hadn't traded that shotgun off

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Those trench guns bring some money these days.


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

shaner said:


> Almost cried....
> 
> My Dad was not a shotgun or bird guy, hunted big game only and with a CVA Big Bore in .58 caliber.
> 
> ...


I didn't know that doves exhibit sexual dimorphism.;-)


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

My first shotgun was (is) a JC Higgins Model 20, 12 gauge, Modified choke. Still have it, though the shell stop didn't work and the trigger group cracked. I took some friend's kids hunting in Canada this year. Their daughter's gun malfunctioned. I asked to take a look at it, it was a Model 20! The action arm had broken, which I thought was weird. Turns out that is a common problem with that particular gun.


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## Slap That Quack (Mar 2, 2017)

I saved up for many moons during my paper route days to buy a Winchester 12 gauge model 1200 speed pump when I was 12. I still have it, and was quit proficient with it in my high school days as I shot it every week, usually multiple times a week. Man, the good old days!


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Mossberg 500A 

Still have it, but haven’t shot it in years and years. Man, I missed A LOT of ducks with that gun!


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Single shot break action 12 gauge followed up by a Rem 870 Express 12 gauge. Still have both. The 870 has moved on to a designated turkey rifle.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Single shot 12. After two years of hunting with the single, I became a descent shot and wanted more chances to miss birds and waist more shells. 


I trapped rats, **** and fox on the farm and was filthy rich for a 14yr old kid. After pestering my Dad to take me looking at shotguns and when I had finished my chores, we headed to Wolfes in Orem just off State and University. 


That was "my" first long gun that I saved up for. A 12ga. Browning BPS. I still have both of those shotguns in my posetion. This is crazy - I think the price of the BPS in 1978 was $269.00


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

BPS with the dreaded magazine cutoff switch. I have horror memories of that switch lol


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Remington 870 20 gauge. 

I still wish I wouldn't have sold it.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

My dad's old Parker Brothers 12 ga side x side hammerless dual trigger.

The stock had cracked on it before I was born and dad carved a new stock with his pocket knife for it, that an some sandpaper. You wouldn't know that it is hand carved.

I still have it. It still shoots but I don't shoot it any more.


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## OverTheEdge (Sep 12, 2013)

Break action single shot 20 gauge w/external hammer (Stevens?), Model 12 Heavy Duck, Charles Daly SXS 12 ga, 870 Wingmaster, 870 Wingmaster, Remington 1187, Winchester SX3 , Benelli M2. Only have the last 3 still, wore the rest out!


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

My dad always said if we were responsible enough to have a gun we could buy it ourself. 
When I turned 12 I wanted to hunt waterfowl with my older brother. I had the money, so mom took me to Walmart and I bought my Winchester 1300 12ga.

I just had it out over Thanksgiving shooting clays with the family. I still use it to hunt turkeys. It's the only shotgun I've ever really used - so as far as I am concerned, it's the best gun out there. It lost it's bead a long time ago, but I just put some TruGlo fiber sights that came with a turkey choke on it.

When I open my gun safe, that's always the gun that catches my eye. There is just something about putting that gun to your shoulder, squeezing the trigger, sliding that pump, and squeezing again. The click, the boom, the shuck-shuck. That's what you want a gun to do.


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## muleydeermaniac (Jan 17, 2008)

I have an old single shot Remington 16GA that was my dads before me. Still have it and won't ever get rid of it. That thing kicks like a mule. I learned how to shoot it when I was ten on a deer hunt in southern Utah. Went home with a bruised up shoulder. It was awesome!


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

First one I used for hunting was my grandfathers 12 gauge pump. Don't remember the model but we nick named it "old fall apart. I was so worn that the action would rattle as you carried it. Supposedly it was used since he was a boy and they filled up wagons of sage hens.

My first and only purchased shotgun is a 12 gauge Ted Williams Pump from Sears. Still use it today.


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## gander311 (Dec 23, 2008)

I started waterfowl hunting about 30 years ago, right around when steel shot became a requirement. I remember by dad and uncle's griping about the steel shot all morning of my first opener, but I was in heaven just being out there with a gun in hand. 

The birthday prior I had asked for my first shotgun. I got a little Winchester youth model 20 gauge pump with 3" chamber. I think maybe it was a 1200? I remember it being about $200, and Dad said he'd give me half for my birthday, and then he'd "loan" me the other half that I could work off with chores etc. Looking back, I think that was more about teaching me responsibility and to fully appreciate the gun, more than it was about the money. 

Anyway, I loved that gun. Practiced with it all the time, and even remember my first round of trap up at the old Holladay Gun Club. I outshot my dad on the first round. (Now that I type that, I'm thinking he may have let me win...) The gun got sold to a younger cousin at one point years later, and just recently a year or two ago ended up back in my possession. It had been disassembled for a thorough cleaning, and a couple small parts were lost, so I need to do some research and see if I can get replacements. I'd love to get it back up and running for my kids. 

Great thread Jerry. Thanks for the memories.


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

I had outgrown the 20 and thought i needed more fire power. I was 17 and a deal fell through to buy one of my Grandpa's model 12's. Pissed off, so off to Sunset's I go. They were trying to talk me into a 1100. I was strapped for money and layaway was my only option. I settled into a BPS 12ga. I loved the top tang safety and I could shoot that gun great. Those early models had a magazine cutoff switch. With the switch turned you could eject the round out of the barrel and it wouldn't let a shell out of the magazine. A single shot pump. The way i carried the gun i was always hitting that switch. I finally took a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and removed it. Best custom job ever. It was a good solid gun.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

JerryH said:


> BPS with the dreaded magazine cutoff switch. I have horror memories of that switch lol


Yup, that's the one. I didn't have any problems with it failing like some stories I've heard.


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

Oh man! What great memories. My dad has (had?) an old shotgun from Sears that the action didn't close on the chamber anymore. I wonder if he still has it. 

Our first shotgun was a family gun- New England Arms (I think) single shot 12 guage. Back then, the legal hunting age was 12 and hunter's safety was required to hunt. 

Everyone had to shoot that gun for the first 2 years of hunting. We had to learn how to value our shots. I remember I killed the first pheasant I shot at and my dad being very surprised. I winged it as a 12 year old kid and the dog ran it down and brought it back. Shot it out of fence row below Smithfield. 

At 14, my dad would buy an 870 Express Magnum for all the boys. There were 4 boys. My oldest brother got a Wingmaster if I remember correctly, then everyone else got an 870. I shot that gun a ton- still have it. I then bought a BPS in my single days and I remember dating a girl and was debating whether or not to buy a ring or a gun. Well, I bought the gun. Don't remember the timing of that, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't my wife that I was debating over. 

I now have that old single shot and my oldest has been through his two years and won a 20 guage express at 14. My 11 year old is now shooting that single shot. We bought a recoil pad (sissy pad) but it doesn't stay on well. so it's long gone. I love passing the tradition to my kids.

Fantastic stories. I don't believe in selling guns, I would rather pass them down. I will do without rather than sell a gun.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Stevens 16 gauge full choke single shot serial #953, chambered for 2 9/16" shells.

I still have it. Belonged to my grandfather who was born in 1900. The stories it could tell. :smile:


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## JerryH (Jun 17, 2014)

Goob you need to repost the thread about the rifle your wife bought you. I can't remember the details but it was a great story.


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

J.C. Higgins feather weight 12 gauge, Gawd that thing kicked. Sold it and got a Savage 16 gauge off some old farmer who had never cleaned it, then 12 gauge express, and finally my jewel 20 gauge Weatherby, want a 28 gauge, wife needs to know why? Answer-- don't have one.


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