The first firearm given to me was a 20 gauge Winchester M-24 double barrel shotgun from my father's father. My first centerfire rifle was a Winchester M-94 Canadian Centennial octagon barrel 30-30 given to me by my mother's father. My first .22LR was a Marlin-Glenfield M-60, given to me as a Christmas present. My savings from yard work, hauling hay, and other farm labor afforded me the opportunity to buy and mount a Weaver V-22 3X6 scope. The old Winchester Dynapoint ammo proved to be exceptionally accurate in the Marlin's Micro-groove barrel. Of course, the M-60's trigger was at best "mushy", and the stock was little more than compressed wood chips... The thousands of trigger pulls with the M-60 cemented my eye-trigger finger coordination. I literally wore-out the M-60. I "replaced" it with a really pretty (and expensive) Remington 541-S bolt action... which proved to be disappointing... regarding accuracy...
As far as rifles go, nowadays I am pretty much a fan of the vintage Winchester M-52s... including the the Miroku repros.
As far as "one-handed" arms are concerned... My top two are Colt Match Target and Browning Medalist.
YMMV, and my S&W M-17s seem a bit upset with me ATM...
:blink:
It takes a lot of shooting to wear out a Marlin-Glenfield M60! I'm impressed! I had one of these that came with a squirrel impression on the stock that I shot the fire out of and finally passed it along to someone in the family without it ever showing any signs of slowing down as long as I kept it clean.
My first .22 that I was allowed to use was a Winchester M74 semi-auto that my grandfather had. It loaded through a slot in the butt stock and had a safety bar on top of the rear of the receiver. It had a full one piece walnut stock and 24" barrel with open sights, not ever drilled and tapped for scope mounts. Some I have seen had side scope mounts. The first .22 I had of my own was a Winchester M290 semi-auto rifle that I purchased in the '60's. I had trouble with the barrel shooting loose from the receiver after a while, which as you know, results in an inaccurate rifle. If I am shooting .22 rifles today it will likely be a Ruger 10/22 or a CZ bolt gun, with the CZ 452 American I have probably my favorite. I do have a Winchester M74, not my grandfathers, but one identical to it. He gave his to his brother and I have no idea what happened to it. Mine was made in the early '50s, with production ceasing in 1955 with a run of about 400,000 rifles from 1939 - 1955.
For side arms in .22 caliber, my first was an H&R M949 revolver that I have passed along to a son. Over the years my favorite .22 handgun was a High Standard Victor, but I have had a lot of others that I enjoyed shooting, too. My wife purchased me a S&W M18 Combat Masterpiece .22 for one of our wedding anniversaries many years ago. It is and was a rimfire version of the K frame revolver lines, with four inch barrel and Baughman ramped front sight, unlike the later ones that when reintroduced in the Classic line had the partridge front sights. It has a big brother with a six inch barrel in a Model 17. My two sons can pick who will get which one someday.