"This Old Gun" Series
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"This Old Gun" Series

There are shotguns that shine under the glass of collectors' cabinets, and then there are ones that shine in memory.

The following collection of stories are a tribute to the latter: The guns passed down across generations. The single-shots with checkering worn smooth by seasons gone by. The pumps with bluing rubbed thin where a grandfather's hand once gripped tight.

In these stories, you'll meet the guns that taught a boy reverence for the outdoors, that stood by a father's side until they became his son's, and that rose again from a dusty barn to once more walk the uplands.

These are stories of first hunts and final gifts, of fathers and sons, of legacy and loss.

Each gun is a marker in time — a reminder of where we come from and who we carry with us every time we step into the field.

These old guns are more than steel and walnut. They are family. They are memory.

They are our connection to wild places and to each other.

— Ryan Sparks, Quail Forever Journal Editor

First Gun, Forever Gun

Trey and his bird dog
 

Story and Photos by Trey Johnson

Trey and dog walking in field

Like most kids growing up in rural America, I was exposed to hunting at a young age and began receiving guns as Christmas gifts as soon as I was mature enough to handle them safely.

Among my first firearms was a New England Firearms Pardner Model single-shot .410 — the perfect tool for a young boy to shoot doves over his favorite cattle pond. The Pardner and I spent plenty of time sitting beneath a bull mesquite with my father and grandfather, waiting for the evening flight to come in.

Gun in straps on back of pickup

Eventually, I grew out of my .410 and was promoted to a 20-gauge pump so I could “shoot doves like the adults.” The little single-shot sat in our family safe for over a decade, patiently waiting for the day that my children were old enough to inherit their first shotgun.

In the years that followed, I became a game bird scientist and avid upland hunter. As I began to travel and hunt around the country, I acquired a handful of double guns, each with its own unique story and purpose.

Trey walking with shotgun

While planning my third backcountry white-tailed ptarmigan trip, I had a thought: this hunt would likely entail dozens of miles on foot and very little shooting. Rather than lugging my over-under through the alpine, I realized my old .410 could ride in my hunting vest in one piece.

That trip marked the gun's maiden voyage in my adult life, claiming a ptarmigan and a few dusky grouse along the way. But its journey didn't end there.

The bird dog crew

Nowadays, my single-shot .410 gets more time in the field than any other gun I own. It's taken numerous species across the country.

There's nothing particularly special about it — it isn''t expensive, flashy, or unique. It doesn't even fit me especially well. But its light, easy to handle, and with a little practice, it's perfect for shooting birds over pointing dogs. What more do you really need?




 

Trey Johnson is an upland game bird scientist and an avid wingshooter. If he's not at work researching game birds, you can bet he's in the field following his pointing dogs.

This story originally appeared in the Fall 2025 issue of Quail Forever Journal