In my hands you see a Winchester .22 Model 1906 (or first introduced in 1906). This rifle has been in the Harty family for 5 generations. I've forgotten who first had the rifle (hopefully Dad will straighten this out). But as I remember, here are the owners, starting with me:Brent L. Harty - 1994 to present
Paul H. Harty Jr. - circa 1975 to 1994
Paul H. Harty Sr. - circa 1940 to circa 1975
Ruben F. Harty II - circa 1920 to circa 1940
Ruben F. Harty - circa 1908
Dad says he believes that Ruben I owned it first and passed it down. So it has been in the family in direct lines. Pretty cool! Maybe Dad can clarify approximated dates as well. As I remember, the last person to actually fire anything out of the rifle was my Grandpa Harty, when he was about 17 years old. So this around 1940. They used the rifle to hunt vermin, making up their own projectiles as they went along. This wore out the rifling. So in 1994, I had it re-rifled. It also was re-blued and other fixes, like to the loose lever (courtesy of our dry firing and multiple pumps as young boys!). I paid the price for it later...literally!
Anyway, this is my favorite and most treasured firearm. It is a fun rifle to shoot as well. It uses .22 shorts, since it was designed for arena competitions back in the day. I promised Jake and Tom yesterday that whoever gave me the first grandson, I would give them the rifle to pass down to their son. In this way, we can keep the streak of this rifle in Harty hands through the generations!
4 comments:
Great shot of you and the rifle. It still looks good. I think that Ruben Franklin Harty, the father of Ruben Franklin Harty II, actually owned the gun first. He gave it to his son Ruben, who gave it to my dad, or your grandfather. I don't think that Uncle Claude ever had the rifle, unless he had it while dad was in the army. I guess we will never know for sure since all of the owners except me and you are dead. Only they knew who owned the gun first.
Yea, it's in pretty good shape. When I was away on the mission, it took some rust that I couldn't remove on the hammer. Pretty minor though. It really just needs to be sighted in and it will have many more years of firing to enjoy!
I just thought that is what you told me once...that it was Ruben II's brother Claude. But I like it better that it came from Ruben I!
I like the addition of the pictures to the 5th generation winchester 22. Adds a whole lot to the story. My brain is slowly replacing events in the past with the present and I just don't remember things that I said about things in the past. Sorry about that, but thats just getting older. I think. It may just be laziness. Who knows.
I do know that the Winchester 22 story is a great one and that the pictures made it come alive. Great job on the pictures! I can't remember being that skinny, but I sure have the Harty/Whitledge ears as does dad and grandpa.
Thanks again for all the good memories. Great family history site. Sure enjoyable to visit, and it links into Bethany's site and fan's too. Can't beat that!
Dad
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