Growing Up Shooting by my Dad, Allen Taylor

[JimT]

Growing Up - Shooting
by Allen Taylor (written about 2001)

From the time I was little my ambition was to be a Trick-Shooter. I was born in 1922 and when I was a young boy Trick Shooters were traveling the country putting on shows. They did some amazing things and I wanted to do it too. I read stories of Ad Topperwein and his wife, Ed McGivern lived not too far from me and I heard of his skill from time to time. I got to know Nick Sievers who shot for Winchester. So I practiced. I practiced long and hard. I shot every chance I could get. Money was hard to come by and though .22's were cheap, it was hard to make a dollar in 1934. I would work on the ranches and save all my money, then make a run to town and buy as many .22's as I could. I usually bought shorts since they were the cheapest to get. Then I would shoot!

I shot everywhere I could. My Uncle went to the World's Fair (I think it was in Chicago that time) and I stayed on his ranch and took care of it. I had an old gunny-sack "full" of .22's and shot 'em all up by the time he came back. I killed rats and pigeons in the barn. The rats got to where they would hide behind the 4x4 posts, so I used my Uncle's high-powered rifle ( a .32-20 Winchester) to shoot through the posts and kill the rats. Uncle was a bit put out when he returned and found holes in the roof of the barn AND his posts shot up. But I got lots of pigeons and rats!

I would throw stuff in the air and shoot at it and got pretty good. Eventually I got to the place where I had someone throwing bottles in the air for me and I would break the bottle where they asked: "at the top of the throw"; "halfway to the ground"; "two feet off the ground"; etc. We would stand on the edge of the dump and shoot bottles for hours. I spent nearly all my hard-earned cash on cartridges, and when you consider most of us kids made about 50 cents a day, well..........

I remember one time some boys from town came out to the ranch and wanted to shoot. They had some .22 shells but no gun. I had the gun but not many shells at the time. We went out to shoot and they told me to shoot first. The gun was an old H&R top-break .22 that had a real tight bore (about .2175") and was really accurate. I had one of the boys put a thumbtack in a post, then I stepped back about 30 or 40 feet. I only had 1 Long Rifle shell and 1 Long. Everyone knew the Longs were not as accurate as the Long Rifle. I told them, "I am going to shoot the tack with the Long." I held on it, squeezed and managed to hit the tack slightly off center. Then one of the boys tossed something in the air and I broke it with the Long Rifle. I was doing real well and decided to quit while I was ahead (and I was out of shells also) so I handed the gun to the guys and let them shoot up their ammo in it. They went back to town and bragged around town that "Allen hits everything he shoots at"! I had only fired 2 shots that day, but I did not explain it to anyone unless they asked.

[JimT]

I read every book I could get a hold of about shooting. By the time I was 14 I had read Mann's book, "The Bullet's Flight". I read gunsmithing manuals and books and started making pistols when I was 14. They were single-shot .22's for the most part, but they worked. I used them for Trick Shooting and for hunting. When I was 15 I dropped a rabbit at a measured 100 yards with a single-shot .22 pistol that had a 4 1/2" barrel. It was real accurate. My Dad was a blacksmith and in my early teens I learned how to temper steel, how to case harden steel etc. I enjoyed making the pistols. I once made a nice .45-70 single shot pistol from an old Rolling Block rifle. During the summer I fired a load using a 45 Colt pistol bullet over a case full of black powder. The powder flash set the weeds on fire and I had a time getting it put out. before it got into the wheat.

There were not many "big" guns in my part of the country. Not too many people could afford them. My Uncle had one, a real Colt Single Action Army. It was a big gun. A 4 3/4" in .38 Long Colt! He killed 3 bears with this gun. The 4th bear nearly got him and cured him of shooting bears with it. But to us it was a big gun. One of the neighbors had a Colt Single Action that was in .45 Colt - the magnum of my day. A tramp came by the neighbors house while he was gone and tried to open the front door. The neighbor's wife met the tramp with the .45 Colt. He said, "Lady, you don't even know how to use such a big pistol." and she said, "See that fence post with the knob on top?" and proceeded to shoot the knob off. Needless to say the tramp went on down the road.

When I was 18 I went to work in the Portland Ship Yards. I made enough money that I could buy some of the guns I had dreamed about. I went to a Pawn Shop and bought a silver-plated Colt 45 Single Action. It had a 7 1/2" barrel and was a beauty. I dreamed of doing Trick Shooting with it. Then World War Two came along and derailed my plans. When the War was over and I returned home I found the Trick Shooters were gone. Probably the "liability" thing put a stop to it.

Over the years I kept up the "trick shooting" just for the personal fun of it. And to entertain people now and then. I switched to Double Actions back in the 1950's and have pretty much stayed with them. I shot the Colt Model 1911 some, but I am better with the Double Action pistols. Mostly Smith & Wesson's. I have shot my old Smith loose several times over the years, but we keep rebuilding it and keep it going. It is smoother now than it ever was.

Although it has been some time since I have done a lot of the things I used to do (I am 77 now) I would like to give it a try once again. I have thought about having someone video-tape it so the family would have it.. The years have stove me up a lot, yet I think that if I get out and limber up I could do some of the things I used to do. It's all still there in my mind. If I can just get the body to co-operate........

..................
Jim's Note .. I grew up thinking it was normal to shoot small things out of the air with a sixgun, to shoot small targets at extremely long range with a sixgun, and to carry one every day. I thank God for my Dad's influence. He introduced me to Elmer Keith, Ed McGivern and other old-timers not so well-known. He worked in Law Enforcement and as an amateur ballistician most of his life, and invented a number of things including the Taylor Throat and the .22 SGB. One of the things he played with while he still could was a gain-twist, choke-bored handgun barrel. He made all his own tools to do the rifling! He has been gone 10 years and I still miss him.

[Bill in Oregon]

Wonderful thread, Jim. Your Dad was quite a shooter and smith. Mine has been gone 10 years as well.

[octagon]

Another goodun Jim. My Dad has been gone 10 years as well. Going turkey/pig hunting this week, I'll be sure and raise a glass to our Dads.

[AJMD429]

.
Reminds me of the biographies of Elmer Kieth, Charles Askins, and others of that era.

[piller]

Jim, your reminiscing is certainly a bonus for this site.

One of my uncles was a farmer. On his tractor, he carried an Iver Johnson top break . 22LR 9 shot revolver. He could kill Jackrabbits while plowing and with them running. It was point and shoot. Not everyone has the hand-eye coordination to do that. Lots of practice helps. I am not sure how my Uncle's shooting compared to your Dad's, but it still was better than most.

[CowboyTutt]

Jim, great history lesson and reminiscing. I book marked this thread. That gain twist choked barrel would shoot really well. -Tutt

[Scott Tschirhart]

There used to be pictographs shot by Ad Topperwein in every decent gun store in the area. An Indian head or a man smoking a cigarette were common. One of our streets here in San Antonio is named Topperwein in Ad and Plinky's honor.

The old exebition shooters were long gone by the time I came of age (Ad Topperwein died the year I was born), but from what I gather it was a really big deal in this part of Texas.

It is fascinating to read about his world record with the .22.

http://www.showmanshooter.com/html/body ... rwein.html

Especially how physically and mentally challenging it was for him.

I know that Tom Frye had a great run with those Nylon 66 rifles in 1959, but I think that Ad's record was not and will never be broken. Tom Frye was a fine exibition shooter in his own right.....but the conditions were enough different to matter.

Now, what is really impressive is Chief AJ shooting all those blocks that he threw himself!

In 1987, at the age of 50, John "Chief AJ" Huffer shot 40,060 consecutive 2½ inch square pine blocks over a period of 8 days without a single miss, shooting blocks he himself tossed into the air, for 14 hours a day. Huffer accomplished this using 18 .22 Long Rifle Ruger 10/22 rifles, which he cycled through as assistants loaded them for him.

[Scott Tschirhart]

"I went through this shoot the first few days without much discomfort. Of course I was tired, but I expected that. However, it was a fact that all during the ten days I had very little sleep. These blocks were so impressed on my memory that nights were simply nightmares, and for some time afterwards I still dreamed about shooting blocks. From the fourth day until the end.

I was in constant physical misery. My arms and shoulders ached, the muscles of my neck pained me, and I felt like somebody had pounded me all over the body. To add to this, the fingers and the wrist of my right hand cramped and caused me a great deal of pain. This was caused mostly because I have a habit of gripping my gun very tightly with my right hand, and doing so continuously caused the muscles of my fingers and wrist to cramp. Finally one of the boys suggested some hot water. They made a fire and put on a pail of water, into which I put my hand frequently to relieve the pain. I was not the only one that was uncomfortable. My boys that threw the targets were also suffering from stiff necks and pains in the arms. However, they did not complain and were on the job every minute. It was necessary for me to have a rubdown with the hot bath every night and another one in the morning to get myself ready for what was before me the next day.

"On the eighth day I passed Bartlett's record and the crowd cheered wildly. Some of the spectators begged me to stop at this point, but I was determined to continue as long as I could hold and aim a rifle and had cartridges to shoot. Fact is, I was in pretty sorry shape. For the last two nights I had been so stiff and sore that Plinky (his wife) had to undress me. I couldn't lower my arms below the waist and my shoulders were swollen and tightened. When I flexed my arms, a sharp cramp knotted the biceps of my right arm. By this time I had quite a beard, but I couldn't handle a razor so got a barber to shave me."

"The ninth day was pretty much of a blur to me; still I continued to fire away at those infernal targets. Eight thousand of them on this next to last day and I didn't miss a one! But I knew when I got home that night that I couldn't go on much longer. Still I wouldn't quit. I could barely eat and I had lost so much weight that I looked worse than any scarecrow you ever saw! My eyes were bloodshot and no longer came to a clean, sharp focus on the sights. Nights were filled with one long nightmare of flying blocks and the monotonous drone of the referees, "Hit-Hit-Hit." I found I could get my arms up to shoulder height and then could not lower them; and once brought back to waist height, I had the utmost difficulty in lifting them once more."

"The tenth morning the boys had to help me to the firing line. The officials asked me if I was able to continue and I said "Sure!" Then the blocks started sailing up and I started shooting. I don't remember much of the morning but that huge pile of wooden targets kept growing little by little. A hot lunch revived me some and I went back at it again after a short rest. I fired my last cartridge late in the afternoon, hitting the target dead center and splitting it wide open. The boys rushed up to grab me just as I started to black out a little and then I knew it was all over. I would have liked to have gone on a while longer to have rung up 75,000 targets, but I was very tired, the day was very dark, and anyhow I was out of ammunition. So I had to let well enough alone: 72,500 targets shot at; 72,491 hits; nine misses.

[Nath]

Amazing thread.

[JimT]

In my Dad's article above he mentions know Winchester Exhibition Shooter Nick Sievers. When I was about 15 my Dad took me to meet Mr. Sievers. He still lived in the same county where my Grandpa's ranch was. When we pulled into the Sievers' Ranch he was coming out of the barn carrying a large Winchester 12 ga. pump shotgun. He and Dad greeted each other and Dad asked him what he was shooting with the shotgun. Mr. Sievers said, "Cats! I got over run with cats. Most of 'em wild. But #4 shot takes care of them just fine."

Dad introduced me and we talked guns for awhile. Then he asked me if I thought I could do some trick shooting. I said I would like to learn so he got some beer cans and filled one with water and set it on the ground. Then he set an empty can on top of it. He told me to shoot the bottom can. If I hit it correctly the top can will fly up into the air from the water being blown out the top of the can. My next shot was supposed to hit the top can while it was in the air.

I had been practicing slip=shooting ... fire a shot but hold the trigger back and thumb the hammer back, let it slip off your thumb and fire the second shot. I knew I could shoot fast enough to do it so I gave it try. It took me 2 tries to get onto the can but I was able to do it fairly easily after that.

I don't know that I impressed Mr. Sievers but he was kind and complimented me on my shooting. That made an impression on a young teenager and I have never forgotten him.