My "Show and Tell"

 I recall my "Show and Tell" event from waaay back in the __ grade.  

Since I'd been enamored with guns of all types since I was about 4 or 5 years old.  And since I came from a part of this great Country where firearm ownership is considered an absolute Right as well as a privilege, I was given a single-shot .22 rifle for my 8th birthday.  And then trained how to use it.  By both my Dad and my Grandfather.  

Kenny Frost was the owner/operator of the "Army/Navy Store" in my home town of Chillicothe, MO.  He was a certified gunsmith, and agreed to take me under his wing as an apprentice at the age 11.  He let me help repair and build custom target and hunting rifles of all types.  So much so that I learned enough to make my own custom varmint rifle.  And it was a thing of beauty.  So much so it just had to be shared...

I was 13 years old, and an 8th grader.  It was "Show and Tell" time at school and my teacher invited us all to bring our favorite item and then give a 3 minute presentation.  I chose my custom rifle.  And the presentation, as I recall, went something like this...

"This is my .270 Winchester varmint rifle.  It was built to shoot accurately way out there to 600 yards and beyond.  I built it myself by combining a barrel, the bolt action, the telescopic sight and the stock.  It has a Timken Bearing Steel "bull" barrel, 28" long, 1" in 16" right-hand twist, ticker than your thumb.  It has a Mauser 98-style magnum bolt action for strength.  I fitted the barrel to the action, and then fiberglass bedded it to the Circassian Fiddleback walnut, full fore end, full cheekpiece stock.  The barrel was "free floated" so it never touches either the stock or the action, and there any innacuracy which might result from changes to moisture or temperature.  

The trigger is from Jaeger.  It was so adjustable that cocking the action and pointing the gun skyward woud discharge the firearm using only the trigger's own weight.  The trigger shoe is from Ace, only the very best.  The telescopic sight is a 10 power Lyman .  The scope mounts are helium filled, for lightness.  Again, only the best.

Back to the stock.  It came from ___, widely regarded as the very best.  He also happens to be my cousin, and he agreed to sell me this flawed blank for cheap, or I couldn't have bought it.  I hand-polished it for more than 60 hours to make it shine so brightly.  And all of this works together just fine.  I can put 5 shots, each more than a quarter-inch wide, into the size of a playing card, at 600 yards.  That's called sub-minute of angle accuracy, which is one inch per 100 yards. 

And then I told my 8th grade classmates that I did all of that for only $120.00!   And about half of that I was able to work off in Kenny's store, helping to build firearms for others.

With this as a background, I later entered, and won, several rifle, pistol and shotgun competitions.  I score 998 out of 1,000 on the rifle range at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, still a course record after more than 50 years.  I was also Range Officer at two separate Army installations, and also Firearms Training Officer for a German shooting club (!).  I've been an avid shooter, collector and proponent of firearms all my adult life, and am a Life Member of the NRA, the oldest public benefit corporation in America (it started in 1877!).  And I'm also a firm believer that just like so-called "hate speech" requires MORE speech, not less.  And that improper or illegal use of firearms requires MORE firearms, not less!  

Ever ask yourself why they are trying so desperately to disarm us?  What do they have in mind?  I'd kind of like to know, wouldn't you?