When I was a kid I always had an abiding interest in things mechanical: cars, planes, boats, and especially guns! Had a subscription to Guns and Ammo which only fueled my fascination for guns, more so with handguns, but also with rifles and shotguns as well. Mom wasn't anti-gun so much as she just didn't want them around (BB guns were out but toy guns and squirt guns were okay though), and Dad had lost interest in any guns or going hunting when he got back from fighting in Europe during WWII.
So it was pretty much up to me and one of my older brothers to get things going firearms wise. My brother first bought an Interarms Mauser HSc and then a Browning Hi-Power. The Mauser had it's share of feeding problems but the Browning was rock solid in it's performance. From there we went halves on a Colt AR15 SP1 which I had dreamed about getting for years; so much so that I had already purchased spare magazines, magazine pouches, a cleaning kit, and even a bayonet for it! When I was 18 and able to buy long guns my first buy was a Ruger 10/22.
This was fueled mainly from borrowing some guns from a friend of mine to go hunting with. One was a pump action Remington .22 and the other was an Ithaca Model 37 20 gauge. Both were lightweight, easy to carry and use, fairly accurate, and above all, fun to shoot! So naturally my first gun was a .22 followed by a pump action shotgun; a Remington 870 to be exact, and I have been buying, selling, and trading for guns ever since.