Neanderpundit

In “A Christmas Story” jean Sheperd recalls the “Daisy Red Ryder 200-shot Range Model Carbine Action Air Rifle” With the compass in the stock and the thing which tells time.(Sundial).

Unfortunately, for those of us in the know, there was never any such thing, except in Shep’s imagination. Oh, Daisy made them, for a while, in honor of the movie (The model is called “The Christmas Dream”) but the original just had the “Red Ryder” brand.

No, the gun with the compass in the stock was a Buck Jones #107, and it was a pump. It was a much better rifle- though it still had a smoothbore it was made a little better, and the “trombone” or pump action made it less cool, in the eyes of a lot of kids. So it wasn’t uncommon for Dads who understood coolness to buy a Red Ryder and order a replacement Buck Jones stock and marry the two; I’ve seen at least one example of this at gunshows. The original stock was rivetted in place, the replacement is usually held on with a 1/4-20 bolt and a square nut, that being what dad’s usually have to hand.

Not too many people know that Daisy provided BB guns to the US government, and those were used in the “Quick Kill” program.

a reprint form years back, seems- on it’s surface- sad.

There are a lot of Christmas memories like that, and many of them were emotionally traumatic, at the time.

Unlike a lot of people I know, I was not raised by wolves. My parents had their moments, like all parents, but I got fed, clothed, educated, and beaten rather less often than I deserved, and sent out into the world capable of dealing with the world. And they were decent people, and set a decent example.

So when I remember those moments- the times when we busted our collective asses to rescue someone from their tragedies, or their own stupidity, or their poverty, the only emotion I feel is gratitude. Thankfulness that we had the resources- meager though they might have been- to make a difference in someone’s life.