Henry Rifle Forums

I’m totally fine with this.

He’s joined the local club and is a volunteer. This grants him access to the range when it’s closed to the public.

He has a friend who works there and recruited him to help. The range is maybe five minutes from his house on the other side of the river.

He only wants to shoot .22 right now and asked for my Grandpa’s Marlin rifle and his Woodsman pistol.

I offered him the Mare’s leg .22 but he said he wanted to start slow and simple. So I didn’t push it.

It’s been about 45 years since he’s been shooting.

I bet he will ask for other guns to use in the future. I have plenty for him to use…

I put a starter package together for him.

Very thoughtful starter package Coach. I hope he enjoys his private range time.

Rimfire is definitely the way to start.

Hope he has fun!!!

Will California allow you to loan a firearm to a family member?

Mags wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 30, 2026 3:05 pm

Will California allow you to loan a firearm to a family member?

Don’t know about this.

They were bought by my grandfather and they have never been registered and never will be…

Family heirlooms!

I checked and you can loan to siblings for 30 days.

Like you are doing with your brother I too enjoy setting up non or rarely shooters. It looks like you have him set up for some plinking fun and the fact the guns he’s using are family heirlooms just adds to the fun. Bravo!

Coach wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 30, 2026 11:18 pm

I checked and you can loan to siblings for 30 days.

... and must have an firearms safety certificate.

I'm with you though. Hope your brother has a good time getting reacquainted with target shooting.

The history of the guns.

Grandpa bought them sometime in the late 50’s early 60’s.

Gave them to my brother at age 16. He’s 72 now.

My Dad basically took possession of them and had them in the family glass gun cabinet for the next 40 years.

I took all the guns from my Dad when he was about 80. I was the only person interested in shooting at that point in time.

I’ve had them for at least 15+ years.

Now they are back to the 16 year old kid decades later.

When he picked them up yesterday and I went through a little operational tutorial, he was very sentimental and said that they were bringing back many good memories…

That is an awesome story! Great how the firearms made a full circle!

Update: My brother is taking a safety course and is getting his safety certification.

I’m a little bummed because California has a back door gun registration scheme. In order to buy ammunition they do a background check. You can only buy ammunition in a caliber that you have a gun registered for that caliber.

He registered the Colt Woodsman. When he told me that he registered it, I was not happy about it…

This hurts my heart. The woodsman was never registered and never would have if I had not given it back to him.

I’m sad about this.

It’s a bummer. Shouldn’t have happened. While it’s probably just a bureaucratic formality at this point, as a family heirloom, that Woodsman should have been kept out of the registration circus.
If he really wants to get into target shooting, the Woodsman shouldn’t be the #1 shooter anyways.
22lr pistols are rather cheap to buy. Browning Buckmark series offers nice options for that purpose. With that he could have bought all the ammo he wants.

On second thought, it's common knowledge that CA does background checks on ammo purchase, which includes the fact that you can only buy ammo for the calibers you have with the DoJ registered guns. Personally I never tried to buy a caliber for which I don't have a gun, but apparently the system is real. If he registered the Woodsman, it is now his gun. Assuming he registered in his name.

Technically you could have bought ammo and legally transfer it to him, 500 rds per month without FFL (if I am correct).
Correction! Your brother does not qualify as a "family" member for non FFL transfer.
Still has to go through FFL and regulations for background check apply.

The handbook for the Firearms Safety Card is online. https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/fsc-manual.pdf
Also on the DoJ website: https://oag.ca.gov/firearms/fsc
Anyone can read and study it, than take the test at a FFL.
If you buy a gun from them, they typically don't charge the $25.-

All in all, your brother is doing the right thing. If he wants to take the gun out shooting, presumably at a public range, it's better to have a "numbers matching" game in place, than having to explain why he is out there with a gun that is not registered. Just a thought.

Wow, and here I thought the Washington State gun laws were strict. Sorry about the Woodsman Coach, that’s a shame.

Coach wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 06, 2026 2:44 am

Update: My brother is taking a safety course and is getting his safety certification.

I’m a little bummed because California has a back door gun registration scheme. In order to buy ammunition they do a background check. You can only buy ammunition in a caliber that you have a gun registered for that caliber.

He registered the Colt Woodsman. When he told me that he registered it, I was not happy about it…

This hurts my heart. The woodsman was never registered and never would have if I had not given it back to him.

I’m sad about this.

I can understand. As stated, your brother seems to be trying to play the game. Yet, I probably would have tried to keep it out of the system as well. When I was in the Navy, we were told that safes are for honest people. Meaning, those who want to do wrong, will. I would like to see the numbers of the impact that the tracking by some States do with firearms and ammo has actually reduced crime.

He did this without talking to me. I would have suggested buying a cheap.22.

What’s done is done now…

There is no conclusive evidence that CA's strict gun laws are a factor in preventing or reducing gun related violence.
Interesting though, Turner's Outdoorsman ranks highest in traceability for crime related recovered firearms.

Walther has the P22 model. Neat little .22lr pistol, highly praised for ergonomics and functional reliability.
Still hammer fired for around 350 bucks




Btw. California has a self reporting/registration website, it's called CFARS/CRIS https://cfars.doj.ca.gov/login
Who knows what that is good for.

I agree, he should have consulted with his brother once he found out, he can't buy ammo because the DoJ registry does not not show him as a .22lr caliber gun owner. I assume, he volunteered the Woodsman's existence and surrendered the information.

As in most cases, it's only a trap if you step into it. As for him, he is now the registered owner of the gun. Maybe that's what he wanted.

Coach wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 06, 2026 3:27 pm

He did this without talking to me. I would have suggested buying a cheap.22.

What’s done is done now…

That seemed like a great ideal! But, you are right; it is done.

The Walther is a nice firearm. I handled a 9mm version. I was looking for a 9mm under $500. I handled a Glock, Walther, Stoeger and others, that I don't remember. The Walther and Storger were very close, as far as a smooth trigger. The Storger's trigger was slightly smoother. It could hold more ammo and came optic ready. Even though it costed about $25 more, it seemed like a better buy. Yet, the slide on the Walther seemed lighter. So much so, I took my wife to the shop, to give it a try. She seemed to like my Stoeger, but the slide is a little to stiff for her. The slide on the Walther was more than she wanted to deal with as well. So, she is thinking about another revolver.

Update: my brother took the Marlin golden 39 out today and had a great time shooting it. He found out that the sights were not zeroed and it was shooting high left. I told him after the fact how to adjust the sights. He did research on the 39 and found out it was manufactured in 1956. It’s 70 years old.

I found out that my older 72 year old brother doesn’t listen to me, or doesn’t heed what I say. He asked me about doing a total breakdown and cleaning of the Woodsman. I told him NOT TO DO IT because it’s a very difficult process. I had researched it way back when and I saw that it was very hard to do.

Well you guessed it. He broke it down and when he put it back together the trigger didn’t work. Go figure. You know sometimes your little brother does know what he’s talking about!

Now he gets to pay a gunsmith to get it working again.

I love my brother but sometimes he pisses me off…

Again, what’s done is done!