bbornotbb

Before we got into “heavy ordinance” with .22’s and higher-powered rifles and pistols, we started out with BB guns. All of our’s were Daisy-brand BB guns. From my “kid prospective”, I always thought that was a “sissy” name for something as “lethal” as a BB gun! It’s a good thing we started with those rather than real firearms, since we used to have many “BB gun fights” in the barn! This was the kind of activity that our parents always warned us about since the dire results of this could “put our eye out ”! This warning and prophecy was almost self-fulfilling, as we will see! The usual combatants were Tim, Tom B., Len H., and I, and all “battles” were fought in our barn. The first thing Tim and I would do to prepare for “battle” is to go down to Shoop’s Hardware Store in Berlin Heights and stock up on “ammo”. EVERYTIME we would buy tubes of “BB’s,” Mr. Shoop would sternly warn us “Not to shoot out any windows.” Who, US??? Hmmmm, it always amazed us as to how he was “onto us”! Later on, we realized that he was once a young boy too. In those days, you could buy a short tube of BB’s for 5 cents and a bigger one for a dime. There was a really BIG tube for a quarter, but we NEVER, to my recollection, ever bought one of those, since it was way too expensive for us! We would prepare the “battlefield” by first making “forts” from hay and straw bales on each side of the barn. On the north side of the barn were the hay “forts” and on the south side were the straw “forts.” On the day of the big battle, which was usually a Saturday, Tim and I would make sure that each of our forts were properly constructed with several “firing ports”, which were small slots between bales and that there was at least one roof area to protect against ricochet shots from above from the metal barn roof. Tim was especially skilled in this type of sneaky warfare, which later served him very well in our Chuck’s Bar 61 pool games. When all preparations were made and all the “warriors” assembled, we were ready to do battle! If one or more of us were really a low-life sneak, we would open fire before all of us were in the forts! I would usually don an old very thick leather “bomber jacket” that I found up in the attic, which made a great “BB proof vest”! It’s nothing short of a miracle that none of us did indeed “put out an eye” with all the “lead” that was flying around at each other! The closest we came happened to Tim during one siege. I don’t remember who got in the “lucky shot” (I’m sure it wasn’t me…) that ended one particular battle. The way Tim described his becoming “wounded in action” was that he looked down over his fort from the top of the straw loft and saw a BB coming right at his right eye! He said it was just like in a cartoon; the BB seemed to be moving in slow motion right at him and getting bigger and bigger. He closed his eyes and his eyelids also went down in slow motion and just as his eyelids finally closed, the BB hit him right in the inside corner of his right eye, right on the tear duct! His eye was very red and sore for quite awhile afterward. I think, we greatly curtailed our BB gun fights after that incident. We went to “safer” things like playing with cherry bombs, shooting .22 shells in corncobs with a BB gun, playing with fire, etc., etc. As I recall, Tim and I mostly played “war” with our BB guns by shooting down my “Army men” in our bedroom! I often, after reminiscing about these things with Tim, exclaim, “And we wonder why they drank!” Wonder indeed…



	Before Before we got into “heavy ordinance” with .22’s and higher-powered rifles and pistols, we started out with BB guns. All of our’s were Daisy-brand BB guns. From my “kid prospective”, I always thought that was a “sissy” name for something as “lethal” as a BB gun! It’s a good thing we started with those rather than real firearms, since we used to have many “BB gun fights” in the barn! This was the kind of activity that our parents always warned us about since the dire results of this could “put our eye out ”! This warning and prophecy was almost self-fulfilling, as we will see! The usual combatants were Tim, Tom B., Len H., and I, and all “battles” were fought in our barn. The first thing Tim and I would do to prepare for “battle” is to go down to Shoop’s Hardware Store in Berlin Heights and stock up on “ammo”. EVERYTIME we would buy tubes of “BB’s,” Mr. Shoop would sternly warn us “Not to shoot out any windows.” Who, US??? Hmmmm, it always amazed us as to how he was “onto us”! Later on, we realized that he was once a young boy too. In those days, you could buy a short tube of BB’s for 5 cents and a bigger one for a dime. There was a really BIG tube for a quarter, but we NEVER, to my recollection, ever bought one of those, since it was way too expensive for us! We would prepare the “battlefield” by first making “forts” from hay and straw bales on each side of the barn. On the north side of the barn were the hay “forts” and on the south side were the straw “forts.” On the day of the big battle, which was usually a Saturday, Tim and I would make sure that each of our forts were properly constructed with several “firing ports”, which were small slots between bales and that there was at least one roof area to protect against ricochet shots from above from the metal barn roof. Tim was especially skilled in this type of sneaky warfare, which later served him very well in our Chuck’s Bar 61 pool games. When all preparations were made and all the “warriors” assembled, we were ready to do battle! If one or more of us were really a low-life sneak, we would open fire before all of us were in the forts! I would usually don an old very thick leather “bomber jacket” that I found up in the attic, which made a great “BB proof vest”! It’s nothing short of a miracle that none of us did indeed “put out an eye” with all the “lead” that was flying around at each other! The closest we came happened to Tim during one siege. I don’t remember who got in the “lucky shot” (I’m sure it wasn’t me…) that ended one particular battle. The way Tim described his becoming “wounded in action” was that he looked down over his fort from the top of the straw loft and saw a BB coming right at his right eye! He said it was just like in a cartoon; the BB seemed to be moving in slow motion right at him and getting bigger and bigger. He closed his eyes and his eyelids also went down in slow motion and just as his eyelids finally closed, the BB hit him right in the inside corner of his right eye, right on the tear duct! His eye was very red and sore for quite awhile afterward. I think, we greatly curtailed our BB gun fights after that incident. We went to “safer” things like playing with cherry bombs, shooting .22 shells in corncobs with a BB gun, playing with fire, etc., etc. As I recall, Tim and I mostly played “war” with our BB guns by shooting down my “Army men” in our bedroom! I often, after reminiscing about these things with Tim, exclaim, “And we wonder why they drank!” Wonder indeed…