My First Centerfire Rifle

[Swampman]

When I was about 11, I traded a .22 rifle for an old 7X57 Mauser.  I think it was a Spanish Mauser.  It had a large elaborate crest on the receiver.  I remember it saying Fabrique National somewhere on it.  The stock was straight wristed, and a very yellow looking birch or beech I suspect.  It came with a handfull of very pointed FMJ (also marked FN and a 1950s date)cartridges.  I remember the bullets being silver colored.  I lived in a small town and I would sneak out into the back yard and shoot it into an old 4"X12" oak beam that came from a horse barn we'd torn down behind the house.  It would shoot completely through it.  I'd run back inside and wait for the police to cruise by and then I'd sneak out for another shot.  The original full length stock had been cut down to form a crude sporter of sorts. The front sight was a little loose so you had to put it back in the middle before each shot.   I had fun with that old gun.  My dad didn't really hunt but he liked guns and encouraged my madness somewhat.

[squirrellluck]

my first center fire was also a spanish 7 mouser as my daddy called it. probably killed more deer than all my newer guns combined. i think ill drag it out this year just for old times sake.

[BBF]

those silvery bullets had a cupro nickel jacket.
My first centerfire rifle was a Lee Enfield in .303 British I bought in PA around 1958.
I couldn't afford any Mausers.

[Graybeard]

My first was basically the same but clearly different also. No FN on the one I had and I've never completely identified just what model it was. I do recall something about a country on it in Spanish or what appeared at the time to be Spanish language written on it. I seem to recall it was either Argentina or Chili but would hate to swear to it with my fading memory.

The bolt was straight out not bent and the stock had been somewhat sporterized with a straight grip. Barrel was shortened and original front sight replaced on it. Rear sight was as issued.

The only ammo I ever had for it was old milsurp 175 RN and yup that stuff would shoot thru a rather large pine tree. I never managed to hit anything alive with it and not a lot of targets I shot at really but it instilled in me a love of the 7MM bore that has not faded since. I've never owned another 7x57 but I've had a lot of 7-08s.

[mrbigtexan]

my first centerfire rifle was an enfield 303 that i still have today. it didn't have a scope mount and the 300 yard peep had been filed to an open sight. i wanted something better but enjoyed it. i mowed yards one whole summer and right before pheasant season there was a gun show in amarillo that my dad took me to and i came home with a model 70 .270. i loved that gun in my early years and shot it till i was about 17, but i outgrew the monte-carlo stock and it wasn't much fun to shoot. i then pulled out the enfield and had a scope mount attached and shot it until i was 27 and traded the 270 for a remington 788 in .308 with a leupold vx-1 3x9. now that was my favorite, but now i have my gustaf 308, and just recently got a remington 798 in 243. now i am officially addicted to firearms and am always looking for another one!!!