My father put a Remington model 514 Targetmaster in my hands, taught me military firearm safety and told me I couldn’t hunt until I could hit a .22 cartridge box 10 shots out of 10.
I started to hunt with a .410 my grandmother loaned us when I was almost 9. By then I also knew how to clean and oil all 3, his Winchester model 12, the 22 and the 410 I used. That was my job, every time we came home.
Didn’t have my own .22 rifle till I bought it myself about 1978, Marlin 39a lever action.
My step father sent it to a gunsmith in Beaumont, while I was out of town, didn’t fix the problem and swapped my stock, the one he put on didn’t fit the way Marlin fits their stocks. I finally got sick of it and sold it 25 years ago, just wasn’t my rifle any more and I didn’t like it. I fixed it, $5 part and 10 minutes work. Including time to tear it down and give it a lube job too.
Just got a Marlin 925 bolt action last January, most accurate .22 I’ve ever had the pleasure of shooting. 2 inch groups all day...then again, the lever action 39a never missed anything bigger than a tennis ball...open sights only on that one, have a scope on the 925. See thru mounts, good either way.
I got a Mossberg 342 in 1970.
Open sights, bolt action with a fold down forward stock.
Still accurate as hell. Great squirrel gun.