your first memories of shooting....

[TrafficMan]

i just hung up the phone with my dad. today is my 30th birthday. he took some pictures of my guns that "live" with him. those include a Ugartechea Spanish .410 double barrel shotgun that i got for my 10th birthday from my grandpa. and the Anschutz model 1450 .22LR that i got from my dads best friend for my 16th birthday. i will keep those back in Kansas City with my dad. no sense of bringing them to LALA land (los angeles). it was good seeing my old girls again though!

anyways, what are your first memories of shooting a firearm? your first firearm etc?

i remember shooting at a young age, probably six or so...when daddy took me out to the range for the first time. memories are fuzzy, but two stick out in my mind. i remember going to some land and shooting an ar15 that belonged to my dads best friend/high school buddy. i coulnd't have been more than 10 years old. i just remember that my dad yelled at me because i started shooting it from the hip at some plastic milk jugs filled with water...i was shooting that thing as fast as i could pull the trigger! lol! i remember i got to shoot a couple of twenty round mags thru that thing. my first memory was shooting some kind of .22 pistol, i think a single six type revolver, at the range with my dad. good memories....if anybody would host the pics that my dad sent me today, i would gladly show them!

happy sunday and happy halloween!

 

[Sewerman]

Thats totally cool. My 6 yo old duaghter shot at our range today for the 1st time. pic under "my lil shooter". she has shot before but this was 1st time at the range. she loved it and made her daddy proud. My first memories of shooting are at my grandads farm in monroe ga. we had a make shft range about 80 yds or so . my grandad owned a hardware store after ww2 and owned a ton of .22s .303s and 2or3 M1 garrands. he would give us so much ammo we would have to put it in the wheelbarrow to take it down to the pond where the range was to shoot. He would give us really cool stuff like tracers and exploding rounds which he had bought right after the war for pennies. I think the exploding rounds were actually some sort of incindiary round for a shot gun, but it was fun as hell. my cousins and i would have contests trying to shoot bottle caps , or lay a bottle on its side and try to shoot down the neck of it and just blow the bottom out of the bottle. we used to shoot at clay pigeons with .22s, crazy stuff like that. anything that would be an almost impossible shot. He had so many of those sporterized .303s me and every one of my cousins have one today. I also have a single shot bolt action .22 from then, its dated 1909 or something like that. its a great gun and i still shoot it today.

 

[Lupinus]

I have a few early memories of shooting

First on my Great-Grandfathers land shooting a 22 but that one is fuzzy as it was very early and only was once or twice. What is more clear is shooting on some of my grandfathers land with the .410 shotgun he bought for me to shoot with...those were some fun times...that and cricket hunting with my BB Gun

 

[jamz]

I remember going out with my Dad as a young teenager with my younger brother. We'd go out to an outdoor range, and were first able to shoot a single shot .22 with open sights, naturally. Good times, good times.


Me, I took my boy, 5 at the time, to the range last year. I held the gun, he pulled the trigger, had a great time. I'm not sure he'll remember that though. More recently we've been out back shooting super colibris in another .22, given to me by my Dad. I think he'll remember these times.

-James

 

[Matthew748]

The first time I shot a gun was way up in the Wisconsin Blue Hills at my aunt’s place. My dad put a target up on an old tree stump and assisted me in firing a shotgun at it. I don’t remember how old I was, but I must have been pretty young. He supported most of the gun's weight and braced me from behind so I would not get knocked over.

 

[Molon Labe]

I can still remember the first time I shot a gun. I remember it like it was yesterday. But that's because I was 30 years old when I first shot a gun.

 

[sfhogman]

Shooting a Crosman .177 CO2 gun with my Dad in the backyard. It had a "walnut" stock, bolt action with a cocking knob- something like today's Chipmunk rifle. I thought it was beautiful. I would have been about 11. My Dad, a WWll vet, could put 'em where he wanted 'em.

Dad passed away last December at 90. What I wouldn't give to turn back the clock to a summer's evening in 1960! My younger brother has the gun in his safe now...

By the way, 3 years ago I gave my G/F's son a new 10/22. That was one happy 8 year old! And life goes on...

Jeff

 

[f4t9r]

I remember loving to shoot the old 22 marlin 39A
also remember the first time shooting a single shot 12 gauge shotgun, it about knocked me down. Maybe thats why i have 20's in shotgun to this day

 

[TrafficMan]

i almost forgot! when i was probably 12 or so i went on a fishing trip down to cousins farm. it's an area that has a lot of history for our family...along the gasconade river near the towns of Belle and Linn MO.

i had my shotgun with me, and my dad told me to go out and get a squirrel or rabbit and we would cook it up. he gave me a pocket full of shells and said that if i didn't see anything, i could shoot at stuff that i saw along the way. i walked around for a good hour and didn't find any squirrels or rabbits...so i started shooting at crab apples and an old tin can i found...it's a good memory...being by myself in the woods....shooting my little shotgun.

 

[Lennyjoe]

My 1st memory of shooting a gun was when I was 12. My pop's had an old 10 guage double barrel that he used for geese. Took me out and let me shoot it. Told me to hold it up and pull both triggers. So I did.

The gun was loaded with 2 each 3 1/2" BB shotgun shells. I let them both rip at the same time and I slid back about 18" in the gravel. It kicked the heck out of me but I thought it was cool as heck. Never looked back after that.

 

[Pilgrim]

Forty-eight years ago. I was ten years old and attending a YMCA one week summer camp. When the camp staff announced a firearms class, I was one of the first to sign up.

Pilgrim

 

[isp2605]

It wasn't exactly yesterday and my memory is a bit fuzzy. Winchester single shot .22 rifle. Still have it and it's still a great shooter.

 

[Akusp]

My earliest memory wasn't particularly pleasant. I was about 4 years old and visiting a neighbor with my mom. I pulled the trigger on a shotgun that they had leaning in a corner in the front hallway. As far as I know, I had never seen a real gun up to that point! Anyway...it scared the crud out of everone in the house including myself. I'm pretty sure that I need to change my pants That was California in 1964. I don't know how common it was to leave loaded weapons out in those days! I loved playing with toy guns as a kid and shot a .22lr with my uncle when I was about 12.

Randy

 

[solareclipse]

5, shot a full auto ak (mounted of course) at something that i can best describe as an "army day for the public". been hooked ever since.

 

[Harry Stone]

I shot a rabbit in my grandma's back yard when I was about 7 or 8. It was a very old Stevens .410 single shot.

 

[cracked butt]

I was around 6 when my dad set up a few empty pop cans in the backyard and had me take a few shots with a bb gun at them from resting on the picnic table. I remember being frustrated because he only let me take about 4 or 5 shots before putting the gun away because he had to go to work.

A couple of years later he took me to a gun range and let me shoot the .22 rifle. I remember the lesson that he drilled into me about making sure the rifle was unloaded before going downrange and not touching the rifle while others were downrange. I can't remember if it were the same day or on another date when he showed me how to uncock his Single Six revolver after taking a few shots with it. At the time I wasn't exactly sure of the reason to uncock it, but I remember the hammer slipping out from under my thumb and sending a round downrange.


I must have been 9 when my dad bought me a single shot falling block .22. He would take me to the range and give me a brick of shells to shoot while he did some maintenance on the grounds to put his work hours in. I remmeber wearing my thumbnail down to the point where it bled from extracting the shells. I also learned about kentucky windage as the front sight on the rifle was adjusted all the way over and still shot about 4" off at 25 yards.

 

[MaMa PyCb]

first Gun i shot was a CVA muzzleloader-kit-gun my grandfather Built... too bad my dad gave it away....grr........ The First gun I ever bought was a .22 romainian trainer....... I love that Little Tack driver, and have used it to teach gun saftey to alot of people and converted many "anti's" with it. It also was what caused me to loose my girlfriend of 5years. Now when it first happened i was in-consoleable...... broken and complely messed up over the loss of my girl, but my .22 has done more good and been better to me than she was. My Vz98/22 was the first rifle I "gunsmithed" so thats my other Baby. I got her as a grease ball that was supposed to have a gun inside it and got a wonderfully tiger striped stock! Had to get a chamber reemer though, she was set up for the turk ammo which had a shorter bullet than the standard 8mm. Fixed that and now have a Tackdriver!

My grandfather and I were at the range the other day, and someone had a old J Stevens .22short single shot. That was my grandfathers first gun, used to use it to snag rabbits for dinner... he about cried.

 

[bachman1961]

first time shoot'n

I went to Chicago with my folks when I was 10 or so to visit family. Uncle Harry took us to an indoor range (my dad, and cousins). I shot a .22 pistol and a ? rifle. The most vivid memory was the pull on the .22 being so slight it surprised me when it went off. It served to scare me and give me a bit of respect for firearms. I don't recall the level of insight or pre-shoot training so I can't judge the experience fairly. I have some memory challenges from experiences later in life (car crashes),, and I sure hope Uncle Harry was prudent in his leadership. I've since had a reason to carry a weapon (armed money transport) and later got a ccw permit / training... ... Sig P239 .40.

 

[Oldtimer]

I was 5 years old when my dad started teaching me how to shoot. We made it a "family outing" to the Mojave Desert, and often camped under the stars.
It was great!

Just a few days before my 6th birthday, my dad came home carrying a long cardboard box. I just figured that he had bought himself a new rifle, and I wanted to see it. For some reason, he didn't want to show it to me, so....that was that!

Well, that new rifle was my birthday present! WOW!
Later that afternoon, my dad and I walked to the local gun store, and he handed me a quarter. He coached me as to what to say to the gun store owner, so that I could buy my first-ever box of .22 ammo. BOY, was a in 7th Heaven! ME, a new gun owner AND being able to buy 50-rounds of .22 ammo!

That was back in 1952. Many, many fond memories from so many years ago! I still have that first- ever .22 rifle (a Winchester model 69A), and it's still as beautiful AND accurate as it was 50+ years ago, even though a "bazillion" rounds have gone through the bore! My dad instilled in me that, if you take care of your guns, they will take care of you!

I still have the fond memory of my first-ever deer hunt, when I was 16 years old. My dad made it quite clear that hunting was more than just a "sport", for hunting was a valuable "skill" to have. I also recall how he went through several "humane" aspects of hunting....the "thinning out of the herd", so that they wouldn't all perish due to malnutrition during the winter months, when their natural food became scarce. It sure made sense to me!

When I was 19 years old, our "Unlce Sam" handed me a rifle, sent me through training, and I ended up "hunting" in the toilet called South Vietnam for 13 months. It wasn't for food, but for SURVIVAL! It was "kill or be killed", and....yes, I relied upon many of the things that my dad taught me about firearms and hunting! I came home with NO Purple Heart ribbons, unlike so many of my buddies.

Your first shooting experiences MAY come in quite handy in the future! It sure had a positive impact on me, for I went on to serve 31 years in law enforcement....and still enjoy "plinking" with that first-ever .22 rifle!

 

[Nail Shooter]

Got a Daisy BB gun for Christmas--was maybe a 6th grader. Next summer mowed lawns to earn money and bought a Crosman 22 cal pump pellet rifle. After a few million rds thru those, finally worked up the courage to ask Dad if I could take his Mossberg bolt 22 to the gravel pit. I was in junior high, and remember him saying YES you can--but be VERY careful. I knew that if I got into trouble or did something dumb, that would be the end of it.

At last, I could shoot A REAL GUN on my own! Spent many hours there shooting at small sticks or stones that I'd throw onto the gravel bank. The accuracy of these old Mossbergs is incredible. I still remember the leather sling, and how heavy the gun seemed to me at the time. It was my Dad's first gun, he must have bought it about 1937. My younger brother owns it now. Finally found one just like it at a gun show a few yrs ago.

I'll always remember the thrill--but also the responsibility that I felt--when he told me that I could take it for the very first time.

 

[blackedoutharley]

First memory I have of shooting a firearm is relived everyday when I look in the mirror. About 5-6 yrs old... always around guns and shooting with the parents as we lived on a ranch in South Florida and would take trips into the "bush" often.. I remember shooting into a creek of some sort.. Dad would let us hold the gun, place his hands over it while we shot to absorb the recoil. He is getting situated behind me (sitting with legs crossed) hands me the gun with explicit instructions to keep it pointed away from everybody, dont touch the trigger; just sit there holding it while he gets ready.
Well, I dont listen, and with him not knowing that I was capable of cocking it, I do just that and squeeze one off. This action would have normally gotten me into serious trouble but I was saved due to planting the hammer of his .45 colt single action in my forehead! lmao.
I drop the gun in the dirt screaming in pain and fear, my dad is nearly crying about the gun while my mom thinks I shot myself.
This was not my first time shooting but it was the last time I failed to follow dads instructions while shooting!
This story is much more humorous when told by my parents

 

[thebaldguy]

Crossman pump up air rifle - Model 760 about 35 years ago when I was five. In the basement, with a homemade BB stop. My younger sisters shot too. When I was 10, I went to the local Coast to Coast store (remember these? they sold guns too!) and got a Weaver 4X .22 scope for the air rifle. That rifle lasted 10+ years before it quit working! My Dad died in 2002, but I still have the non-working air rifle. The scope is on my newest Crossman, a model 2100 Classic I bought five years ago. Shoots great, and it makes me think about my Dad!