My kids (son and daughter) are home from college for the summer so we decided to head to the range to catch up. They were a little rusty but quickly got back into the shooting groove as we took turns using my Ruger Single-Six and my 1953 Remington 550-1. I thought I’d share a photo of the 550-1 and its story seeing as we like to learn about other’s guns. Back in the mid 80’s I was a camp counselor at a day camp during the last three years it was in business. Before I worked there, they used to have a shooting range and campers were taught how to shoot .22’s. The owner of the camp had stopped letting campers shoot about ten years before I was hired and after the camp closed, as we started closing up the camp, getting it ready to sell, I found the Remington tucked away in the attic of the main building. The owner had thought he sold all the guns years before and was glad to sell it to me as I was the only staff member who was licensed. Best $20 I ever spent. I’ve been putting the Remington through its paces for thirty years now and it seems like it will continue being a great gun well into the future.
That is a really nice one. I have owned a few beaters over the years. They all worked perfectly well. IIRC the guns have the floating chamber that allows the use of short, long, & L.R. rounda without changing anything. Great little auto loaders. Good story to go with the gun. I know the neighbor's kids are home from college. They have been shooting in the next field by their water hole almost every other day. My kids are done with college. Well, the daughter is still working on her master's. May be done in August now. They don't care to shoot anymore. They just wanna know which guns they will get when I am gone.
Nice story, nice find, nice deal. "I was the only staff member who was licensed." What is that story?
Not much of a story. After I found the rifle and informed the camp owner, I asked him what he was going to do with it. He said he would sell it. Seeing as I was the only member of his staff that had an FID card, he sold it to me. He was eager to sell off the camp including all of its equipment so he could retire. I recall several of the other counselors were jealous because they did not have their FID's and he wouldn’t sell it to them, even when they offered more money.
OK. Next questions: What is an FID? And Massachusettsers needed them 30 years ago? You mean you were already Sorta Like California? I remember needing a permit of some sort to transport a gun into or through the state back 40 years or so, but I figured that was because I was one of those Lawless Vermonters.
Here's what I took from the web... Firearms Identification Card (FID) Residents must have an FID in order to purchase, possess, or transport a rifle or shotgun that is not a large-capacity gun; to purchase or possess ammunition or component parts of ammunition; and to purchase or possess defense sprays for anyone age 15-17, a license is not required for 18+ Things were a little different back in the 80's (like there was a class B LTC in addition to the class A LTC) and most of my friends did not have the license but with my dad being a police officer, I had to follow the laws in regards to firearms. Yes, MA is similar to CA in regards to tough gun laws, but it’s not as bad, yet. Haven’t you ever noticed that when you go to the Ruger website and look at the spec sheets, CA and MA have “approved” specs?
