My maternal grandfather drove a truck and later, a cab in a little place called New York, NY. I don't know if he ever fired a gun. He had no time for fishing when he made a trip with my family to the BWCA when I was a skinny kid, circa 1972 or so. He lived his entire life in New York city and thought it was nirvana. He may not have had much money, he left me a broken Elgin wind up watch when he died. Still have it. Still broken.
My father was orphaned in the stock market crash of 1929, and raised by foster parents. They never adopted him, I suspect because he represented a check every month, but, by all accounts treated him exactly as the other kids. His father didn't hunt much from what I understand, but was considered an excellent fisherman, a good skill to have in order to keep a family fed during the 1930s. He saw to it that my father had a single shot 410 and a like .22 rifle for hunting. Dad "inherited" a family "hairyloom", a double 12 of some sort from his father's father, but, it was quite rough even then, perhaps the late 30s to mid 40s. My dad restocked it as a school shop project, and it looked OK, according to family legend. I don't know where it is.
Dad used an Ithaca 37 pump that had been given to him by the CO at his duty station in New Orleans, LA until he made staff sergeant in the early 1950s. The 37 was in a locker with some other "recreational" stuff, and Dad was the only guy who used, or took care of the gun. Being free, you can imagine what it looked like. I'm told he couldn't miss with that old gun, by people who got to hunt with him at some fabulous duty stations (Colorado, Alaska, Hawaii, California). When he got promoted, he bought a solid rib A5, which he still has to this day. He was a Garand guy all the way during his thiry year career in the USMC, and though all his hunting guns should be autoloaders, too. He does own a Beretta Silver Snipe, but, never really warmed up to it. I used it, a lot, as a kid. I imagine it will end up here, another righthanded gun in my lefthanded world.
Best,
Ted