It was Christmas of 1962 when Santa Claus (my dad) surprised me with a new .22 rifle. I had spent the past year and half in the Boy Scouts, and one of my scoutmaster’s favorite pastimes was hunting jackrabbits.
I had learned to shoot, and taken my hunter safety course, with the only small-caliber rifle that my dad owned. It was an old, single-shot, bolt-action .22 rimfire rifle. Well, as you can imagine, for a young man hunting jackrabbits, a single-shot rifle leaves a lot to be desired, and I didn’t get many rabbits.
That Christmas I got more than I could ever have hoped for in a brand new lever-action Remington Nylon 76 in Mohawk Brown. I have loved that gun ever since, and given all the great times that a .22 rifle can provide, it is my favorite firearm.
Over the years, it has been with me on plenty of hunts, for both rabbits and other small game, and I would often use it for target practice and to just plink at empty cans.
I have taught my wife, two sons, five daughters and many grandchildren to shoot using this same rifle. It has been 57 years since that Christmas, and my dad is now gone, but the Remington Nylon 76 is still going strong. I can’t imagine having a better rifle as a memory of my dad and the outdoors.
Vern Hackwell, Utah
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