# My first shotgun...



## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Weeks before I was born, money was tight to say the least. My parents were barely making ends meat. Both parents worked hard and saved enough to buy a small home in the valley, but extra money was just plain hard to come by.

One day my dad happened to drive past a yard sale and saw a few firearms for sale, so he stopped to just take a look. He happened to notice a little single shot 410 shotgun tucked away and just had to have it for his little boy (although my parents didn't know the gender of their forthcoming baby). So he paid what little pocket money he had for the shotgun and took it home knowing that my mom wouldn't be too happy with him.

Sure enough, a little boy was born a few days later and my dad had his little hunting buddy like he always wanted. The years went by and he would take me hunting, either in a little backpack or tagging along at his heels, dog in tow. Sometimes with a ****-skin hat on my head looking eerily similar to Scott Farkus, other times wearing my cowboy boots and cap-gun on my hip. 

Finally when I was around 7 or 8 years old he pulled out this little Spesco 410 shotgun with a full choke and said that it was time that I learned how to hunt with him. So we went out and started to practice.

In some ways, I was a little jealous that he had a pump gun that could shoot more than one shell. But my dad told me that if I got good enough with my single shot, then I wouldn't ever need a second shot, and if I had more than one shot that would mean that it'd make me a lazy shooter. At the time, I don't think I really knew what he meant but it sounded good enough to me so I kept plugging away with my 410.

Time went on and I became a crack shot with this goofy little shotgun. I shot doves, rabbits, rats, and even ducks with my trusty 'ol 410. I learned how to lead perfectly with the small shotgun and understood that I only had a small amount of shot to connect with my intended target compared to the larger gauges, so I learned to head shoot to as often as possible.

Fast forward many years, I am now grown with kids of my own. I have owned several shotguns over the years and still do. Some are pretty O/Us, others are ugly camo duck guns, others plain old pumps, and one little 410. And oddly the one that sees the most use when piddling around is my 410. 

I still look at my 410 with fondness. Remembering all the adventures I had been on with it. From my first bird that I dropped out of the sky to the first rabbit I hit on a dead run. Each successful hunt emblazoned upon my mind. Sometimes I find myself pulling my little shotgun out of the safe and just staring at it while thinking about the grand old adventures we have been on together. 

The bluing has rubbed off parts of the receiver and the end of the barrel. There are dings in the stock and at one point the trigger guard was held on by a wood screw (since fixed that), a small speck of bright orange nail polish still visible on the bead, and a rifle cartridge holder wrapped around the stock to hold extra shells. Many would call my little shotgun ugly, worthless, or just ridiculous to see a little shotgun in a man's hands that should be carrying around a much larger gun.

To tell you the truth, I don't care what people think of my little gun. It may not be worth much to anyone, but it is priceless to me.

One day I look forward to passing it along to my kids. I hope that they can share in the adventures that I enjoyed with my little 410, and remember that this was once their dad's most prized shotgun.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

PS: the pics I posted are not of my personal shotgun. But mine is identical to the ones pictured.


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Pretty cool Bax*:!:


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## 30-06-hunter (Sep 22, 2013)

Dang man, are you trying to make us men tear up? Interesting how stories like this take on a whole different meaning once you become a dad, I can't wait til my boy is old enough to go hunting and fishing with me, he is only 20 months so it will be a bit.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

A good story Bax*, thanks for sharing that.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Awesome...



.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Bax* said:


> But my dad told me that if I got good enough with my single shot, then I wouldn't ever need a second shot, and if I had more than one shot that would mean that it'd make me a lazy shooter. At the time, I don't think I really knew what he meant but it sounded good enough to me so I kept plugging away with my 410.
> 
> Time went on and I became a crack shot with this goofy little shotgun. I shot doves, rabbits, rats, and even ducks with my trusty 'ol 410.


Your ole man and mine musta grown up together. I was given a 410 and told the same **** thing, "Why would you ever need more than one shell" he'd say. Mine was a double though, but it only ever let me put 1 shell in it"

LMAO! Great story, really brought me back to my younger years reading it. I still have my 410, stripped the ugly brown paint off it and refinished it a few decades ago.

-DallanC


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## Wasatch Wings (Sep 29, 2015)

Super cool. Really been thinking of getting my boy one. Sounds like I should as you make a great aregument with your story!


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

A silly little piece of my childhood hunting. 

My mom is quite the talented seamstress and made me a boy's size hunting vest with game pouch back for my 410 and I still have it to this day. Hopefully my kids will wear it.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Cool story. Wish I had hunting parrents growing up. 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Awesome story!


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

Very nice write up Baxie, really enjoyed it.


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## 270win (Sep 16, 2010)

My first shotgun was a side by side double barrel 410 from K-Mart I believe the brand was a Boito don't know if they are still around.


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## 7mm Reloaded (Aug 25, 2015)

H&R single shot 410 full choke. Killed my first pheasant with. Got it for Christmas when I was 11. I still have it 40 years later .


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

50 years ago last month my brother and I came home from school to an incredible surprise. We walked into our bedroom and there to our amazement laying on each of our beds was a brand new Remington Model 1100 in 16 gauge. Our grandpa went to the local feed and farm store and bought us each one. He was tired of pleading with my dad (his son) to get us "real" duck hunting guns, so he did it himself. We hunted with those guns year after year, killing hundreds of ducks each with them. We both semi-mothballed the guns in our 20's in favor of 12 gauge magnums. Over the years we've both had lots of folks try and buy them from us since they're both in like new condition but they simply aren't for sale. Grandpa passed away from cancer 6 years after giving us our most prized possessions and dad passed away a number of years after that. This duck season I am doing something I haven't done in probably 40 years and that's to take my beloved 16 gauge out into the marsh and shoot a duck with it. I was able to get a spare barrel with screw in chokes and will replace my barrel with that one. I'm going to be carrying a picture of grandpa and of dad (my son uses dads gun now) on opening day so if you see some fat old guy crying his eyes out after downing his first duck you'll know who it is and why.


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