How old were you when you got your first gun?

[Legionnaire]

25-30. I shot some previously and was on my college's rifle team (back in the days when colleges had rifle teams), but didn't own a firearm until after I was married and my father-in-law introduced me to hunting. First gun was a Mossberg 500.

 

[cologuy]

14. Not even sure what brand it was, but it was a lightweight 30-06 bolt action with a 4x Redfield scope. It kicked like a mule and I was a skinny kid (not that you'd know that to look at me now!) so when we refinished the stock (it was well-used when Dad got it for me) we cut it down and put 2 recoil pads on it, and a 3rd on a sleeve over that! Shot like a dream, but I got more interested in smaller calibers that were more useful for critters on the farm, so I traded it off for other firearms. I'd been shooting family firearms since about age 6, and unsupervised by about 8. Very good time to be a kid in the country.

 

[Outlaw Man]

Got a BB gun at five or six. My Dad usually "loaned" me my Grandfather's 22 to squirrel hunt at around seven or eight. I'm not sure when it officially became mine, but it is now. I'm going to count that.

Otherwise, it would be the rifle I got on my 18th birthday.

 

[JRH6856]

ISTR, I had sole posession of what had been by grandmother's .22 rifle (Winchester 04a) with I was 11, received my first brand new gun (a J.C. Higgins single shot .410) for Christmas when I was 12, and bought my first gun with my own money (Revelation Bolt Action .22) when I was 14.

 

[TheSaint]

I got into the game a bit late at 29, starting out with an S&W 22A pistol. Once I started, it was hard to stop.

 

[Reloadron]

I was 8 years old and it was November (Thanksgiving Weekend) of 1958. My grandfather and uncle took me on my very first hunting trip. Not that I could actually hunt. My uncle's friend gave me a Remington 510P to drag around. Dragged that rifle up and down the mountain every day and late afternoons I was allowed to shoot it. When we left the rifle was given to me, I still have it.

My grandson is 8 and my granddaughter is 9. This summer I plan to get them started with their parents blessings.

Ron

 

[19-3Ben]

A very close friend of the family died when I was 16. She left me a Winchester 1904 that had been her brother's 10th b-day present back somewhere around 1926 or so.

The funny thing is that my family not knowing much about guns, we figured his father had gotten the barrel stamped with his initials, to make the present extra special. His initials of course, were W.P.*


*For those who don't get the joke, WP on a Winchester barrel is the stamp of "Winchester Proof" to say that the gun was proof tested before leaving the factory. For years I thought it was his initials, until i learned better!

 

[zdc1775]

20 gauge NEF for my 5th birthday. Got to shoot it three times that very afternoon.
It only knocked me down the first time though.

 

[Fishbed77]

I got my first BB gun at age 8, was shooting firearms from age 9, and started hunting at age 11.

My first gun that was all my own, though, was a gift for my 15th birthday from my parents. It was a Remington 11-87 Premiere, and I have it to this day.

I've used it for hunting and clays, and to this day, I never recall it ever jamming. Aside from a single nick in the stock, it looks as good as the day I first took it out of the box 20 years ago, despite being my go-to shotgun.

 

[JVaughn]

Learned to shoot at 7, Dad said "you're going to learn to shoot son" and I did. Been hooked ever since. He gave me my first one when I was 11, wasn't allowed to have any ammo unless he was with me.

 

[JohnBT]

"Owned my own, or had relatively free access to one? "

Good point. My grandparents gave me a BB rifle, wall mount and metal cleaning kit when I was 5. From then on it seems I had a bolt .22 or bolt .410 in the closet, but they weren't owned my me. Lots of people had guns and had a spare for me out of their gun trading. It wasn't a big deal, my father was a State Trooper and had a Win Model 12 20 ga. in the bedroom closet if I'd needed a gun. Nobody locked up guns. Half of them didn't lock up houses.

I'd say the first gun I owned was at age 10 when my folks gave me a Savage .22 WMR/.410. Followed shortly by a Fox Model B 12 ga and then a Mountie from my uncle. I bought my first handgun when I turned 21.

 

[v8stang289]

My Dad brought home a NEF Pardner single shot 20 gauge on my 9th birthday, I still take it out at least once a year to bust clays or hunt doves.

 

[CSG]

I had been shooting for a few years prior to my buying my first gun, a Ruger 10/22 when I was 15-16. I'm sure my mom had to sign for it. This would have been around 1966-7 in California.

 

[montanaoffroader]

Started shooting at age 5, heavily supervised of course. First gun was a Firearms International Bronco .22 single shot rifle, given to me on my 12th birthday. Passed it on to my oldest daughter on her 12th birthday.

 

[jmace57]

I got mine when I was 11 (almost 12), but wasn't allowed to shoot it until I took the classes and passed the test for the Colorado Hunter's Safety Card in 1969.

 

[wrs840]

I was 8 or 9 when I started getting some time on Dad's Marlin 39, and my oldest brother's Ithaca M-49 .22 rifles.

I got (and still own) a Glenfield M25 .22 bolt rifle for my 12th birthday.

I think this time-sequence is good, though I started my kids younger (7-8yo), without incident. They certainly have had more safety-training than I was ever exposed to at that age.

 

[Armored farmer]

Dad got me a BL-22 Browning for Christmas when I was 10. I was shooting 25bird races with a mod12 Winchester when I was 12. Broke 100x100 when I was 16. Broke 100x100 from 24yds when I was 17 lol. Those were the days....dad bought the targets and components... we reloaded hulls all week, shot all wknd. Had tons of fun, met lots of good ppl too.

 

[hey_poolboy]

IIRC I was 9 when I got my first 10/22. Took my hunter's safety course the same year. Still have the gun and it's still my favorite plinker.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[PCCUSNRET]

I got my first gun when I was 12. It was a Stevens single shot 12 gauge that I used for hunting rabbits until I turned 18 and joined the navy. I guess my brother thought I was never coming back so after I'd been gone for a couple years he traded it towards a 12 gauge Mossberg 500. Forty years later I still have that Mossberg and will probably leave it to my brother if I happen to go first.

 

[bigdogpete]

Red Rider at age 5.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I was 11 going on 12 when Dad bought me a new Remington 514. It was a tackdriver. Sadly, some thief stole it out of my 65 Scout while I was hog hunting with my shotgun. Dad bought me anotherone, but it wasn't the same.

 

[Sauer Grapes]

7 yrs old. Dad bought me a mod 49 Ithaca 22 rimfire. Still have it, haven't shot it in 40 years. That reminds me, it's due for an oil change....lol.

 

[JohnsXDM]

1965 on my 12th birthday, a brand new Ted Williams (Sears) .22 cal semi auto that shot short, long, and long rifle. And the training I got was my dad teaching me the way Uncle Sam taught him in WW2. All the different shooting positions, safety, and cleaning.

 

[X-JaVeN-X]

Got my first bb/pellet rifle at 5 (it's what I was taught to shoot with). My first "real" gun was when I was 6. I got a .410 and a .22 rifle. They were given to me by my grandfather (he taught me to shoot). Shooting is the only thing I do left handed. When my grandfather started teaching me to shoot, I only had the dexterity to close my right eye, so he taught me to shoot left handed. My son is 6 and has a bb rifle and a crossman pellet pistol modeled after the S&W M&P. He started shooting his bb rifle when he first turned 5 and got his pistol this past Christmas when he was 6. My grandfather passed away this past year, but I still have the first two guns I got from him. They will likely be given to my son this year for his 7th birthday which is this October.

 

[Twiki357]

My first was a JC Higgins (Sears) bolt action 22 when I was 14, purchased for me by my parents. But the first one I bought for myself was a Colt (I think Peacemaker) Buntline special in 22 magnum about 1956. I still have both, but the buntline now only has a 4 1/2" barrel.