How Old Were You...

[No4Mk1]

Shot a .410 for the first time at 7. My dad entered me in a turkey shoot for kicks and I ended up winning it. Really annoyed some of the grown men that I was competing against!

I've been addicted ever since.

 

[CAS700850]

It was an October day in 1975. I had just turned 7. We were at my grandfather's little cottage near Warsaw, Kentucky. Dad was shooting some .22, and my grandfather was shooting a Marlin Model 39 lever action .22. I was watching, when Doc (my gradfather) asked if I wanted to give it a try. He explained the rules, worked the lever for me, and (after lowering the hammer to half-cock) handed me the rifle. I remember how heavy the rifle felt. He cocked the hammer, and let me do the rest. Got a beer can at about 10 yards with my first shot. I was hooked.

P.S. - That rifle is now in my possession, a gift from my grandfather when I got my Eagle Scout. It is among my most prized possessions.

 

[MikeB]

Young enough I don't remember the first time. I do remember recieving my first gun as a Christmas present at about the age of 8. It was a single shot .22 rifle. By that time I had already shot a 1911 Cold Cup in .45ACP, a 12 Guage Browning Semi-Auto, an M1 Carbine, Arisaka's in both 6.5 and 7.7, numerous .22's and a few other various firearms.

 

[thereisnospoon]

An Adult

Grew up in the city with a disintersted father...

Shot my first firearm when I was 22 or 23 years old. My grandmother had died and my father was going to sell the guns, I took them instead. The first gun I ever fired was am Ivers Johnson .38S&W breakaction "lemon squezzer". It was my grandfather's on my mother's side. Sights sucked an the cartridge was anemic at best, but I was immediately hooked, even though I couldn't hit anything with it.

My first "Purchase" was a used Dan Wesson .357 Magnum switch barrel. What a gun, like most others I've sold over the years...wish I would have kept it, but alas, poor Yurek and all that...

 

[quinlanv]

Started kinda late @ around 12. My pop introduced me to the Remington 870 12guage and Marlin .22
I remember thinking pump shotguns were the coolest thing ever.
My son started out at 6 with a single shot bolt .22

 

[Shaun]

8 -- 30-30 and a 12gauge slug -- I remember the slug mostly because when I fired it the forearm was left in my hand and the slug just happened to hit the center of the target.

 

[psyopspec]

I was 10 or 11, shot a cousin's 10-22. First handgun was an uncle's Colt Commander .45, Series 80. Age 16.

 

[Working Man]

First real gun.... was a little befor my 5th birthday.
Both were .22, a Ruger Single Six and a Sterling semi, in the same day.

 

[BlackJack]

.22 rifle, single-shot break action. 8 years old.

 

[MrTuffPaws]

Oh wow, talk about taking you back.

The first gun I ever fired was an old CO2 pellet revolver. I was around 6 years old. Then after that, a crossman BB gun.

The first actual firearm that I shot would have to be my old single shot 410 around the same age. The gun at the time was bigger than I was.

 

[Polishrifleman]

10, M1 couldn't hold it up but dad helped. You don't have to worry about much kick with a heavyweight.

 

[Legionnaire]

Nine or ten. A bolt action .22, no idea what make or model, at a friend's family farm.

 

[Jalexander]

Probably a BB gun at five or six, and a .22 shortly thereafter. When I was about six, I started walking with my mom and great-uncle when they'd go quail hunting, and I'd try to beat the bird dogs to the fallen quail, although I rarely succeeded. My dad gave me a Savage 311 in .410 when I was eight, so I guess that was the first gun that was really mine. Still have it, too.

James

 

[Gus Dddysgrl]

Uhh early teens. My dad took my bro down to my cousins to shoot some stuff while mom talked to my aunt about gardens or quilting I don't remember. All I know is it was more fascinating to watch the guys shoot. Within minutes I was there out shooting some of them. We had a couple of things we shot. None were handguns or shotguns. We tried all sorts of positions too. I put holes in beer cans, old shells and hit some swinging metal plates. That was fun.

Gus

 

[GunnySkox]

14, I was up here in Blacksburg with my dad to visit my brother. One day, my brother had class and his Roommate (K, we'll call him) asked my dad if he could take me to the range. We went, and I got to shoot his P11 (Kel-Tec) an SKS, and some kind of .308 hunting rifle.

"Hi, I'm Slam_Fire.. and I'm a gun-nut." ~Shooters Anonymous!

~Slam_Fire

 

[Jack19]

Six or seven. An Erma .22 "Luger."

Dad bought it just as the Detroit riots started in 67 and taught me shoot.

 

[Agent P]

Started kinda late @ around 12.

Geez, if 12's late, I'm really a late bloomer. First time shooting was this past Mother's Day, at age 26. Shot my dad's .22 Ruger to start, then moved on to 9mm, .45, and .357 magnum. One was a Beretta (the 9mm), the rest were Ruger. The .357 was a revolver, and the rest were autoloaders, if I remember correctly.

 

[slugcatcher]

I was 5. It was my dad's JC Higgins single shot, bolt action 22. It's now mine.

 

[M67]

2.

I think that puts me in the lead so far.

.22 revolver and M1 carbine.

 

[foghornl]

Age 12, Boy Scout camp, turn-bolt .22 rifle, I think loaded with .22 Shorts.

Missed shooting the first year, as the "Tenderfoot", I was always stuck doing the clean-up after meals. Went down to the rifle range area, but the Range Guy had left at noon, not to return. It was the last week that camp was open, so he bolted 2 days early.

 

[dtalley]

Age 6, .22 Sears single shot on the family ranch

 

[thorn726]

For me it was a .22 rifle at boyscout camp in wisconsin I think I was 14 or 15

funny, pretty much the same story here= but it was at cubscout camp, i was more like 11 i think.

 

[Stickjockey]

I think I was about six or so. It was my Dad's Marlin .22 levergun, the first rifle he owned. One day that rifle will be mine, and then my son's. Ahh, heirlooms.

 

[No_Brakes23]

My Dad "gave" me a Remington Nylon 77 at the age of 5, and a MkIV/Series 70 at the age of 16.

I didn't fire a gun until I was almost 19, (In '93.) My Dad was a gunsmith, so I guess that is a "Cobbler's children have no shoes" kind of thing.

I fired a S&W Model 28 first, and it scared the crap out of me. I figured if .357 kicked that bad, .45 must be unbearable. I almost didn't try my 1911. I fired the 1911 and was surprised at how much tamer it was. I fell in love.

Didn't shoot again until Marine Corps Rifle Qual in early '97.

Still, my favorite weapon to fire is that old 1911.

 

[DarthBubba]

I was six years old and it was a busy day of shooting 20ga., .22lr, .243win.
My father was an avid shooting enthusiast and wanted us to learn as soon as my brother and myself were old enough to shoot sitting and prone.

AAHH the fond memories of youth,
DarthBubba