Like the song says, "I was born 100,000 years ago and there ain't nothin' in this world that I don't know". Well, at times I feel that way and "The War Department" is always reminding me that the last part is completely incorrect also. My dad said that my first 2 words were, "GUN!" and "MINE!". My first firearm was an old fowler from my grandfather's farm. It was/is still, frozen solid but in my imagination has defended our property from Redcoats and a host of marauding bad guys. I started shooting real bullets at age 7 in what are known here as unmentionables. Age 11 saw me shooting an uncle's, gifted to me, toy BP brass cannon (deadly to massed plastic soldiers). I got into cap and ball pistol shooting about 6 years ago and more recently flintlocks, long and short.