“Tag: Favorite Firearms”

James Payton, a special brother in the Lord, called me on a Sunday afternoon asking me to bring a box of .44 WCF cartridges to shoot an old Colt he had bought at the gun show.

Had I not stumbled across this little gem in my late father’s collection, I wouldn’t have learned about U.S. Army Capt. K.K.V. Casey and his extraordinary shooting ability in the early 20th century or how he’d won several competitions, one of which earned him this Remington Model 11 12-ga. semi-automatic shotgun.

In 1986, Colt celebrated its 150th anniversary with an “Engraved Sampler” option on several models. That year, I accompanied my father to an upscale gun show in St. Charles, Ill.

I started with BB guns at an early age, but my passion for firearms really began the day my dad bought me a 20-ga. Winchester Model 37 single-shot at a gun show in 1962.

I grew up in East Texas and was heavily influenced in the love of shooting by my father. His nickname was “Buckshot,” and you can bet he loved guns and the outdoors.

When I was growing up, my father was one of the bigger Smith & Wesson collectors in Northern California. This led him to have an acquaintance with Roy Jinks of S&W.

This Mossberg 26B bolt-action rifle in .22 caliber belonged to my dad, Robert Elmo Babington. He was born in 1921 and later served as a navy corpsman in Japan and Korea.

My favorite firearm is a .45-cal. Colt Single Action Army that I purchased new in 1980. The old Colt exudes Western adventure, both real and imagined.

Once his grandfather's gun, a pump-action Winchester Model 62A became a personal favorite for NRA member Mike Shoemake.