That's why I haven't posted in this thread yet: every moment with a firearm has been amazing, so the 'favorites' start to pile up quick.
But, my "Favorite firearms Moment" is tied between two I suppose, and firearms wasn't the main part of them as they both about veterans, but their thoughts on guns and sharing it with me... (Note: I was a 'last chance' kid, my parents were well into their forties when I was born, and in my family there are lots of these 'late age' births.)
My dad's oldest sister was born in 1923 and was a nurse in the last half of WWII, serving after D-day on ships taking wounded back to England on the channel. I am one of the very few she has ever spoken about her experiences to, and according to her, the only one she talked about it at length and in detail. She had told me things that would give a lot of modern Millennials severe PTSD. I was proud when we discussed firearms: how she always liked to shoot the German rifles and SMLEs, she never blamed the inanimate objects (guns) or the soldiers following orders... just the politicians and the people at the top. R.I.P. auntie, and thanks for helping me become a gun rights supporter.
My mom's uncle (another 'last chance kid') was in Vietnam as a Navy mechanic, but he did see action over there and eventually got sent home due to combat injuries. I sat with him on his farm one fall when I was 15 years old just before hunting season, somewhat surprised to hear that he enjoyed deer and rabbit hunting very much (my mom always said being in Vietnam changed him, he was always quiet and not one to joke much). We got gabbing and joking about shooting rabbits and other hunting things, which again was very unusual for him. When I had ribbed him enough to get him a bit flustered about being a poor shot he suddenly got up and went into the house. I figured I had angered him and was sitting for a bit when he came out of his house with an Anschutz rifle with a mannlicher stock, a .22 with very nice peep sights. I don't remember if the rifle was a single shot or magazine fed, but he couldn't miss any shot that was remotely possible. Eventually we got around to gun ownership, Vietnam, being a soldier and so forth. Even with the experiences of multiple tours he was (and still is) a huge supporter of gun rights and property rights: he refuses to let being injured by bullets in a conflict jade him against gun owners. Thanks uncle, for also helping me become a gun rights supporter.
Thanks for listening (reading)...