Another window of opportunity opens

in the bleak cold & snow of winter for some plinking.

I distinctly remember walking into Canadian Tire with my Dad in 1974 to buy this Winchester Cooey 64(B) .22 semi-automatic rifle.

The High School Winter Fair was coming up soon and all I had to shoot with was my Grandpa's ole' Lakefield Mossberg semi-automatic rifle. Unfortunately, and not for lack of trying, could I hit the inside of a barn with it. Yes we had shooting events back then at our High School. The shooting range was actually underneath the library. It was common place back then to see someone walking up the street and into the High School with a rifle slung over their shoulder. Can you imagine the pandemonium that would cause nowadays?

Anyhow, back to the Winchester Cooey. I used this rifle almost constantly for four years. Weekend outings with the boys to the Cow Pond to shoot whatever we could find, squirrels, crows, the odd rabbit or skunk. Mostly we shot trees and dirt piles but squirrels were the most prevalent victims of our inconsistent marksmanship. When I graduated Highschool and got my first job on the CG ships I pretty much left the ole' .22 neglected and forgotten in the closet at home and there it stayed for over 35 years.

My Dad had to register the .22 when the Long Gun Registry came into effect in Canada. That was probably the last time we had discussed it until about a month ago when I picked it up from the homestead hoping to rehabilitate it for some added plinking fun. After a thorough cleaning, adding a new sling, bipod and Simmons 22.Mag scope it was off to the range for some fun. The first outing wasn't all that successful. It takes a little time to get the scope dialed in.

A few more rounds and some tweaking and I was getting closer. These were at 25 yds. Moving the target down range to 50 yds made it a bit more challenging but the results were better yet.

And then with just a few more minor adjustments. Bingo, nice grouping!

So like everything else I own it's old, a lil' beat up, rusty, crusty, crispy and oh so not shiny but it still shoots as well as the day I brought it home from Canadian Tire all those 40 years ago.