Wow! I could have almost quoted your post and just said "+1," MifflinKid. And I was only a few years ahead of you.
The first gun I bought for myself was a High Standard Sentinel (don't know if it was a "Deluxe") 9-shot .22LR revolver too. Only differences were I was probably only about 17 or 18, and I bought the gun through my mom's and dad's country store in 1965, or early 1966. It seems like I still paid close to $30.00 for mine though, and that was
wholesale. So you must have gotten a bargain if you only paid $35.00 for yours in 1972.
I too killed a lot of rats at the county dump with mine. It also accounted for a lot of forest grouse, and put more than one ran-over cat out of its misery over the years. I foolishly sold my High Standard Sentinel sometime back in the '80s.