i made a mistake and spoiled my son

[Trigger Mike]

Years ago my wife bought me a used S &W 3000 pump to carry in my patrol car for Christmas.  Recently I had a craving for a Wilson Combat shotgun, knowing it is overpriced i just had to try it and boy am I glad I did.  It is the smoothest best shooting pump I have ever seen.  I let my 11 year old try out different shotguns in hopes he would want one last Christmas .  At Christmas I offered him a choice between a 22 pistol, a 22 rifle or my S & W 3000 shotgun.  he chose a 22 rifle not in the offering, my 10-22.  then the other day he sees a moccasin and told me if i had given him a shotgun instead like he wanted he could have gotten it.  I said I offered you the S &W and he replied, that he did not like that one, but likes my Wilson.  Then his 7 year old brother piped up how it was going to be his instead.  i should have never let them try it out.

[Pat Riot]

I feel your pain (it's a good pain, though)...though it happened well over 10 years ago. My daughter got my custom M1 Garand and my somewhat customized Colt 1991A1 pretty much in the same manner. It all started with a Marlin .22 then an SKS and so on...

 

I had always wished my Dada would give me a gun...pretty much any gun, but that never happened. I wasn't bitter, but I was disappointed. I never wanted to disappoint my daughter. I did spoil her...a little.

[Alpo]

Tell the 11-year-old that if he'd PRACTICE with that 10/22 he suckered you out of, he woulda hit the snake. No shootgun required.

 

Then tell both him AND little brother that you will fulfill your fatherly duty buy supplying them with guns.

 

But if they want DAMN GOOD guns, they need to (as Mama used to say), "Save your Confederate money. They sell 'em at the store".

 

Either that or wait 'til you've croaked, and then they can fight over it.

[Trigger Mike]

i told him that 10-22 can handle a snake easily.  he opted to run over it with the ATV which did not result in a kill, BUT most of the time he has killed the snake he found, except for the one that bit his snake boot..  

[Matthew Duncan]

Son Could have used your former 22 as a club and beat the snake to death!  That he didn't makes getting him a shotgun sound better?

[The O'Meara Himself]

A head shot on a moving snake with a 10/22 is not easy. shooting the snake anywhere else with a .22 would probably not kill it. (Personal experience.) Especially if you've already run over it with an ATV to no effect. Moccasins, at least the water kind, are particularly aggressive. The kid needs a shotgun. But maybe a Mossberg or Remington would be more budget friendly.  He, or they, might want your high dollar Wilson, but people in Hell want ice water too. Comes to that, a single shot .410 would do the job. I do understand that snakes are not the real issue here. Good luck.

 

The O'Meara Himself.

[Trigger Mike]

i told him id give him shot shells for his 22 for next time.  it is hard to hit a moving snake in the head with a 22 and a body shot from a 22 does not seem to harm them much.  he can learn to be satisfied or he won't appreciate the good stuff later.  i drooled over a wilson for decades and did just fine without one, i just decided after my wife got cancer and all the stress that came with it that life is short, I'm old and i wanted to splurge so i bought a wilson.  he can do the same, but come his birthday i will offer him a double barrel norinco that i used to compete with or a pump i have on hand.  

[Henry T Harrison]

My son was home last week and walked off with a new in the box tactical shotgun, He also tried for my Sig P226 since he didn't have a 9 and ammo for the Glock 21 he walked off with was to expensive. He got an answer which was no and a question "when was the last time you bought any 45 ammo" He never has he just takes what he needs out of stock. The joys of being an only child eventually he will get he Sig