And what do you consider a youth rifle? This is one of those stories of when you’re a young boy and you grow up and wonder about some of the things that happen to you. Maybe some experience will give you an indication of what your life will be like and what you’re going to do when you grow up.
We lived in a small town at that time and I was probably seven or eight years old. I really don’t remember much of my father or others shooting guns before that time.
But for wherever reason I was able to assemble his bolt action Marlin shotgun (my early youth rifle). I had my five-year-old brother Mike with me and we had a babysitter watching us. And as I look back, I think the only two kids at home were my brother and I (good thing) and the babysitter who was lying on the living room couch downstairs.
YOUTH RIFLES FIREARMSTHINKER
I proceeded to get my father’s Marlin shotgun (my early youth rifle) which was in the corner of his bedroom. And I got the shells out of one of his bedroom dresser drawers which happened to be a 12 gauge slug shell. The bolt was downstairs in the kitchen cupboard where you came in the kitchen from the back porch. I put them all together in my father’s bedroom while my babysitter was downstairs sleeping on the couch.
I proceeded to put my father’s boots in front of the barrel (aware of need for good backstop). I took the socks from his boots and stuffed them in front of the barrel between the boots. Thank goodness the gun never went off at that point. With my little five-year-old brother next to me, I pulled the trigger.
Now, I would have to say my babysitter came to life very quickly! And I really don’t remember her coming upstairs after the shot or what she did. I do remember my little brother basically going ballistic, screaming and running. I just basically stood there in awe of the stuff going on in the bedroom. (Shell shock from firing youth Rifle) My father’s socks were stuffed into the hardwood floor.
The slug would then proceed to ricochet up into my father’s bed and go through his back board and through the wall and eventually lodged into one of the mattresses in the kid’s bedroom (good bullet containment).
I don’t believe we ever did find that slug, and I do remember my father looking at the bed and tearing it apart later when he came home that evening (evaluating youth rifle bullet penetration).
That was obviously the last babysitting job that babysitter had with us (shell shock from hearing youth rifle). I don’t at this time remember getting into any trouble about it as my father was probably more upset with the babysitter than with me.
But when I think of that I still to this day only vaguely remember doing it and putting the components of that Marlin firearm together and remembering how to do it. I don’t remember watching my father or being overly interested in deer hunting rifles, but obviously I remembered seeing someone do it before that.
And it always intrigued me that eventually I would go off to school and become a gunsmith later on in life. So did it have an effect upon me getting into the gun trade? That I don’t know. But it is always something that I still wonder about.
The part that I often think about is that someone could have been seriously injured or killed because of that. We should never underestimate a young boy or girl’s ability to remember how things go together. They can put something together that most people would not think they could do.
One of the reasons I bring this story up is that I am a big fan of using gun safes. Not only can you keep incidences like the one I just described from happening but keep some family from experiencing the worst case scenario. My adventure could have turned into a very bad situation.
So gun safes are a very, very good option (especially for a youth rifle).
With gun safes (Like Browning gun safes) you not only keep the firearms out of friendly hands like your children, but you can also keep them out of unfriendly hands. Like someone who could steal it and then sell it to the wrong individuals.
