This is for a story I’m writing that probably no one will ever read.
I’m wondering what a realistic gun collection would look like for someone in a semi rural area in the mid eighties. (Southern Maryland, if it makes a difference). These people (a family) would not have too much money, but they aren’t poor either. The guns would have been acquired through various means: hand me downs, private purchases, maybe one or two in a gun shop. I’m thinking three handguns, maybe including a .38 special revolver like police used to carry, a couple of shotguns, a good rifle, and a mediocre .22 rifle. Does this seem about right? What would be some plausible brands available at the time. Again, this isn’t a dream collection, so it would include some guns that were mediocre, if not terrible.
Also, while I’m here, if you were teaching someone to shoot, what (after safety, of course) would you emphasize? How would you have someone stand, breathe, aim, etc. so they could hit the target?
Thanks very much in advance. I have a friend in town and may not be able to reply to this thread promptly, but I appreciate all the help. Also, my apologies if anything I asked was dumb or wrong. I really don’t know a lot about this. It’s not a major part of the story, but I’m aiming for verisimilitude.
And again, please no politics. There are other threads for that.
Point of clarification: by “collection” do you mean “the guns that this average ‘someone’ would be likely to have”, or do you mean to imply that this person, this denizen of southern Maryland, is a gun collector?
If not a gun collector and just a person who happens to live in such a place and has more or less the typical batch of guns, I nominate:
Definitely not a serious collector. It’s a family that has lived in the area for a period of time and has accumulated a few guns. One family member is involved in some shady dealings and has a handgun for protection.
That’s the best reason to include a mention of a pistol. Pistols were a lot more controlled at the time and there just wasn’t as much reason to go through the hassle in order to own something that couldn’t be carried everywhere. I did know someone in rural Indiana that owned a small farm and carried every day even before the law allowed it to be carried on his person off his property. He used it to shoot nuisance animals as he went about his business. Since you specified semi-rural I’m not thinking that usage applies.
What do they hunt by family tradition, in your mind? That’s going to skew the results. Current Maryland law has counties that are shotgun only and some that allow rifles for deer hunting. Turkey hunting and migratory birds call for shotguns. Small game like rabbit and squirrel might see a couple .22s in the house.
I’ve actually known urban families in Michigan that had far more guns than in the OP just driven by deer hunting. Everyone late teen or older had a rifle available and maybe a couple extra that weren’t used anymore. There could be a couple of shotguns for hunting in shotgun only areas. A muzzleloader from the time they decided to try the black powder season. Throw in a gun or three that are family heirlooms or are just lower powered to teach the kids to shoot.
Depends on the family size, but typical hunting weapons include a variety pf shotguns…perhaps a .410 or 20 gauge for the teenagers, 16 or 12 gauge for adults. A .22 rifle is a good “starter” gun…perhaps a single shot, useful for plinking at cans or shooting varmints. Also a deer rifle or two. Winchester and Remington are popular brands, but there are others.
My best advice is that you should strongly consider attending a firearm safety/marksmanship training event such as those sponsored by Project Appleseed (https://appleseedinfo.org/). The cost is minimal (about $60 for a two day event), taking up a full weekend, but you’re going to learn first-hand the kinds of things you asked about. I think it’s worth the time to look into it.
Thanks so much, folks. This is all really good stuff. Especially the thing about them having mostly long guns. Will look into what they would have hunted. The area is swampy, so I’m guessing waterfowl. Probably also deer. There are black bears in the area, though I don’t think they would hunt them.
In my, solidly middle class rural Pennsylvania family, hunting whitetails, turkey, rabbit, squirrel & grouse.
Initially, Dad owned:
[ul]
[li]Bolt action Mauser 88 chambered for a 257 Roberts[/li][li]Winchester Model 12 pump action 12 gauge shotgun[/li][li]22 Revolver (only thing I ever saw it kill was a rattlesnake)[/li][/ul]
Then I got old enough to shoot:
[ul]
[li]Winchester Model 69 bolt action 22[/li][/ul]
Then I got old enough to hunt, Dad moved up to:
[ul]
[li]Winchester Model 88 lever action 243[/li][li]Browning semi-automatic 12 gauge[/li][/ul](I got the hand-me-downs)
Sadly most of them were stolen by some Florida peckerwoods after dad retired
Sorry, I must have missed something. OP asked specifically about safety, positions, aiming, and control (discipline) as subjects of training; that’s why I recommended that a very good way to understand those things is to take some personal training. Contact with an organization such as Appleseed would be a fine way to receive historically focused information such as the author wants to flesh out the story. Firearms and marksmanship haven’t changed very much since the '80s, but there are likely still instructors and members around who could give the author much usable insight peculiar to the time frame.
True, Project Appleseed wasn’t formed until 1999, but they, along with many other organizations, are members of the Civilian Marksmanship Program (US-GOV), which was founded in 1903 (https://thecmp.org/).
Also, for your crappy hand-me-down, the .22 rifle will be a no-longer-manufactured J. Stevens/Savage Model 72 brand rifle, lever action, with a broken/worn ejector that cannot be replaced because nobody makes that part anymore. The other .22 will be a Savage Arms semi-automatic rifle picked up for cheap or taken as payment for helping a buddy’s kid move across the state or something.
No you’re right, and I appreciate your post. However, this is a minor point in a much larger story. I just didn’t want to be completely off base. These courses sound like a fun weekend, and I may look into them, but they are a bit much for what will really be a couple of pages in a much larger story.
@Larry Borgia, I appreciate the talk-back, honestly, and I hope your writing project comes out very well.
Sometimes we put way too much into a “small project”, and we never see the benefit. Understood.
On the other hand, there was that old Robert Heinlein story (novella, I’d guess)–I don’t remember which one, but I do remember I enjoyed reading the actual story. Then, in Expanded Universe, I believe, he wrote about covering his kitchen floor with butcher paper and working out the orbital transfer equations for one small part of the story on that paper, probably requiring hours of (RAH’s term) “skull sweat”. (And, by the way, his chemical engineer wife Ginny helped with the tough math stuff, for which he gave her full credit.)
That story emerged sometime in the 1950s, I believe, and it would have been published even in the absence of his scientifically accurate description–I think so. On the other hand, what if his calculations had compelled the belief of an alternate physical universe in the readers’ minds? Gosh, I don’t know. What I do know is that authenticity is critical in any well crafted story.
Hey, here’s the thing: It’s your story to imagine, craft, and write! So here’s more advice: Just do it, the best you can, and be satisfied with your product. There’ll be all too many who will pick it to pieces, for one “reason” or another. Just tell your story, and move on to the next one.
A better S&W revolver or two and an older break-top revolver (Ivers Johnson-ish) or older semi-auto cheapie 1930s vintage (Apache). And possibly an older surplus/DCM .45ACP
2-3 high powered rifles; at least one .30-30 probably a Winchester 94 and maybe a Krag
One or two .22s; at least one a Mossberg and/or an older Stevens Favorite.
3 shotguns or maybe more; mostly 12 gauge but 16 or 20 are possible as well. If I was saying 4 total one would be a pump or double, one a single, and probably at least one bolt action. The things were cheap as heck used and shot tight enough that most farms I knew from the Wyoming Valley of PA through MD had at least one of the things. 16s were about the most common in the bolts. (had quite a few myself now and then)
Depends on how long they’ve been accumulated over.
I would agree with a lever action 30-30 or a bolt action .30-06. Both are very common.
A 12 gauge shotgun would be a certainty. Depending on how old, could be a side-by-side or a generic pump.
A .22 for shooting squirrels and stuff would also be a near certainty.
If the pistol was old enough, yeah, a .38 special or maybe a 1911 style pistol. The first because those were widely used police weapons up into the 70’s (and as security weapons - the company I worked for 12 years ago had several remaining and had sold off a bunch of them years earlier - as did many police departments) and the 1911 because it was a common military pistol and may have been taken home.
If you are going a WW II relic consider more a Luger than a M1 carbine. Almost all my Lugers came from vets (I or II) and I know of about 20 more out there but I can’t think of one (even from the airborne) who brought home a carbine and only one who picked one up for reasons of nostalgia. The .30 carbine seems to be more a Korea vet “want one” thing. Something with the look and toggle action that really just seemed to appeal to farm kids. For those unlucky enough not to score one the P-38 was kinda a second choice.
One odd piece I got from a family a few mountains over was a KKW Mauser rifle – single shot .22. The guy said it was a pain to sneak back but basically the history behind it made it one of those “I must find a way” things.
