{"id":13,"date":"2015-12-23T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T16:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tma65.com\/blog\/?p=13"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:38:45","slug":"my-first-rifle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/my-first-rifle\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Rifle"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I had been pestering my parents for several months for my first rifle<\/a>. I was really hoping that this coming Christmas was the day. After all, it was the only thing on my \u201clist.\u201d I was in the fourth grade and had done some plinking and even joined my dad, grandfather and uncle on several small game hunts<\/a>, following them around with a broomstick in my hands (I was told to treat it as if it were a firearm, and if I pointed it in the wrong direction, I heard about it). I looked at each of these men and the firearms<\/a> they carried and owned with pride. I wanted one of my own.<\/p>

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I awoke Christmas morning and could not wait to see what was under the tree. As the family gathered in the living room and we started to open presents, I was a little disappointed that I did not see a long and slender box under the tree. I opened a few gifts, a hunter orange vest and hat, cartridge holder, flannel shirt and some other small hunting<\/a> related items. As we finished opening the gifts and giving thanks, I could not help but be a little disappointed. I really wanted the same Ruger 10\/22 that my Uncle Frank had. I guess it just wasn\u2019t meant to be. Or maybe my parents thought I wasn\u2019t ready. As my brother and I began cleaning<\/a> up the wrapping paper, my mom turned to my dad and said, \u201cI think there is one more gift.\u201d<\/p>

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My dad opened the closet door and pulled out a long, narrow box. Could it be? He handed me the box and I tore the paper off and there it was – the Ruger symbol. As I opened the box and looked at the rifle<\/a>, I realized that it was the Deluxe Sporter model with a walnut stock and checkering. I could not even speak. My dad reiterated the things he has said to me a thousand times about safety and the responsibility that goes along with firearms. \u201cOnce you fire a round, you can never call that bullet back,\u201d were the words that stuck most with me. I can still hear those words every time I handle a firearm or fire a shot.<\/p>

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\"\"<\/figure>

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The author, Jon LaCorte, with his very first rifle that wears a riflescope bearing the name of the company he helped start, TRACT.<\/em><\/h6>

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That was over 35 years ago, and I could never begin to count how many rounds have been put through that rifle<\/a>. Or how many squirrels and woodchucks it has accounted for. But even though many rifles<\/a>, shotguns and handguns have been added to the mix, that first one still gets used. I very rarely open the gun safe without picking it up, shouldering it and admiring my very first rifle<\/a>. What I think makes this story so very special to me is that I am extremely proud and honored that today that rifle wears a scope<\/a> that bears the name of the company I helped start\u2026TRACT Optics\u2026Where you belong!<\/p>

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My First Rifle | TRACT design and engineer performance-grade optics without the added retail costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4182,2797,2958,3032,3304],"class_list":["post-13","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cleaning","tag-hunting","tag-optics","tag-rifle-scope","tag-tract-optics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12844,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions\/12844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}