I magine being a 12-year-old boy and your father handing you a brand new Sportco 62A chambered for the .22 Long Rifle (LR) cartridge as a birthday present. This was back in 1963, but times were different back then. So different that the same little boy, who is now 73, tells me that when in the Army Cadets they would travel home with their SMLE .303 on the school bus – with ammo!
That young boy is my father, and he has since given me ownership of the rifle. It holds a special place in my heart. Both my younger brother and I were taught firearm safety and how to shoot with this firearm and a Lithgow Model Slazenger 1A, also chambered for .22LR. Only when we could consistently hit an empty beer can at 20m with the single-shot open-sighted Lithgow, were we allowed to progress on to the Sportco 62A. With its telescopic sight, dad made sure we had to practise and
