My Bear Killer

Colt single action frontier scout .22 LR

This was my very 1st pistol. Bought it in SD when I was about 16 at a local Hardware-military surplus-everything store. The owner had been my next door neighbor when I was younger. Took it everywhere and did everything with it. Always my companion on every hunting excursion. When I worked for my father, in the woods, I was a lumber scaler which meant I would follow the log cutters in the woods and kept track of their lumber scale so they could get paid. I was everywhere, also tracking the skidders and the truckers. Always had my pistol with me as it was all big rattlesnake country. I would get a snake once every couple of days.

When I was off to college at Montana State University at Missoula, my Colt went with me. We spent a lot of time, my buddies and I, exploring the terrain around Missoula. Lots of rivers and lots of trees and lots of bears. In those days we had Black Bears on campus in the mornings and you could see them grazing on the hill sides. I think about the only thing I could have done with my pistol, in a Grizzle attack, would have been to hit the bear really hard on the nose with the butt of the gun. Shooting the bear with my .22 would have really pissed them off. Luckily we were never confronted up close. While at MSU, I got into fast drawing and it was during one of those sessions that the frame got broke. I got a new piece from the factory but I never got around to bluing it to match. Just didn't seem important.

Never could target shoot but I could sure shoot anything that you threw in the air, with it. I would practice just enough to keep my qualifications up for being a cop but I just didn't like practicing. When it came to the bad guys, if they would jump up in the air I could probably pierce both ears for them before they hit the ground but if they stood still, the buildings behind them were problably safe.

I have not shot my frontier scout for 20 years now. I had to go to a friends house to even look at my gun and take the picture you see here. As you know, I live in a state that is very unfriendly to firearms and their users. Possessing a pistol in MA is worse than robbing a bank. If I used my pistol to protect my home from a nitetime burglar I would probably go to jail for a longer term than the burglar because I don't have a permit to carry a pistol. Maybe I will go out and get my firearms permit and apply for a pistol permit so I can get my gun back. Even target practice is a problem because now the environmentalists want to to sue because you are contaminating the water table with lead????