The First Gun I Ever Shot: A Wards Western Field 47C Story

The First Firearm

• 🎯 The Wards Western Field 47C is the first real firearm the speaker ever shot, predating even shotguns or handguns in his childhood.
• 🕰️ Manufactured by Mossberg for Montgomery Ward, likely in the 1930s-1950s, this .22 caliber rifle holds significant personal history.
• 👨‍ inherited the rifle around 1950, when the speaker was born, and it became his personal firearm around age 12 or 13.

Childhood Memories and Condition

• 🛏️ The rifle hung on a gun rack in his bedroom during his teenage years, a common practice at the time.
• 💥 The speaker recounts damaging the trigger guard and losing the original scope, leading to shooting it without a trigger guard and using a screw on the barrel as a makeshift front sight.
• 🎯 His first successful shot was at a plastic army man on a fence post, using the barrel screw as a sight, which immediately hooked him on shooting.

Refurbishment and Restoration

• 🛠️ In the 1980s, the speaker undertook a significant refurbishment of the rifle.
• 🔍 He found a replacement trigger guard, refinished the stock, had the bolt re-nickeled, and the barrel re-blued.
• ✨ The rifle was professionally restored, transforming it from a neglected state to a functional and aesthetically pleasing firearm.

Shooting and Features

• 🔫 The Wards Western Field 47C features a tubular magazine, requiring bullets to be loaded into the tube, a common design for older .22 rifles.
• ⚠️ The speaker notes the safety mechanism and the potential for finger placement near the muzzle when loading, emphasizing safe handling practices.
• 🎯 The rifle is now equipped with a scope, which the speaker notes is the only scoped firearm he typically demonstrates, and he proceeds to shoot various targets with it.

Sentimental Value

• ❤️ This rifle is described as a special, sentimental item, representing a connection to his past and childhood.
• ⏳ The speaker reflects on the passage of time, noting he has owned and shot this rifle for over 60 years.
• 💬 He hints at having more stories and shenanigans involving this particular firearm that he might share in the future.