Thread: The Winchester Rifle: Part 3

As a young kid growing up in a small rural community I would regularly pick up the .22 and roam around the farm for hours shooting rabbits and hares. This was mostly done in the evenings, or early mornings before breakfast and Saturday morning rugby.

The old man back then was giving me 50 cents for a skinned carcass with head, feet and guts removed. That money was mostly spent on magazines, lollies and more bullets, you could get a big bag of lollies back then for around $1 , some of the older readers may recollect.

I once again found myself browsing the gun racks of the local hunting store, a Winchester caught my eye, a model 9422 xtr in .22lr. This Winchester became my 3rd rifle to add to my collection.

I’m very lucky to have access to a 50 acre block not far from town, so with the next fine evening I excitedly went out to see if I could knock over a rabbit. I called in at the farm house to let the old boy know my intentions and had the usual catch up over a cuppa. He mentioned the usual hazards, cows across the river, don’t put holes in the silage and stay away from that blasted magpie nesting above the woodshed.

After a few failed attempts to get close on a few very alert hares I got lucky ! a hare tore off from under my feet, across the paddock, and before running out of sight stopped, I put the bottom post of the scopes crosshair on its shoulder and as it stood upright, Bang ! .The hare ran a few tight circles before tipping over. With much disbelief I believe I had just shot it at close to 100 yards.

The 2nd hare came after a successful stalk, and well placed shot at around 30 yards. Darkness then forced me to walk back to the ute, concluding a great evening. On the way home I called in to say thanks to the old boy, we had another cuppa and more chat, “I bet you didn’t go near the woodshed” he said with a smirk …