Do you remember your first shot?

yes I do I was 7 years old and the rifle was a Springfield 03 I was at one of my dads friends house he had a citrus grove and my first round busted a grapefruit about 20 yards away. that was over 60 years ago.

Tequila at deer camp. I was 12. Never drank it again.

Dad's old Stevens Favorite, single-shot .22 LR, full-octagonal barrel. I think, not sure, his was made around 1916 or 17, purchased by Granddad when he came back from The Great War in 1918. I'd shot numerous BB guns before finally being allowed to shoot the .22 as a boy of about 8, I believe. We were out in the woods somewhere in SE Michigan (back then, as soon as you got to any city limits, you were out in the woods). I felt like I was a grown-up. (pic not Dad's rifle, but his was probably in even better condition, he sold it around 2000, sadly as he did not think any of us kids wanted it).

I don't remember my first shot with a BB gun (I was probably around 4), but I definitely remember my first shot with a "real" gun (my dad's .22 auto) when I was about 6. We were on a camping/fishing trip with my uncle Audie and my aunt Amanda up on the Big Lost River here in Idaho. One afternoon my dad and uncle set up some tin cans to plink at, and dad let me shoot his .22 (I think it was a Winchester). What I definitely remember was I had a heck of a time finding a tin can in that scope - because all I could see through the scope was a small dot that kept moving around. I've learned since about proper eye relief, but back then I was probably too small to get "into" that rifle like I should have done in the first place.
I missed the tin can.

Yes, I remember. I was on my uncles farm outside of Middletown, New York, in the summer of 1963. I was 11.

Shooting with a Winchester. 22lr, I shot a groundhog at 30 feet. It died instantly. I was a bit stunned but for the rest of the summer I continued to kill every Varmint I saw.

My uncle was quite pleased and gave me a handsome reward for removing these pests.

Hard to believe it was 59 years ago.

A BB gun that I could barely cock.
I was four years old and we were living in an old farm house at the site of a gold rush ghost town.
I took the gun out back among the rubble and basement holes, shot it several times and killed a song bird - something I have never done again.
Dad took the gun away shortly thereafter when I shot my big sister in the rump after she tried to push me into a flooded basement hole.

I actually don't remember exactly, but I know it was a 10/22 up in the Adirondacks on a family friend's property. 1980's I think.

.308 Norma said:

I don't remember my first shot with a BB gun (I was probably around 4),

Click to expand...

Heh, I think I was about four as well. We had a house on Spring Lake, my dad used to have some of his students come out, they used to bring BB guns and as I recall, we'd shoot cans floating in the water.

I killed a robin (our state bird) on a fencepost in the backyard with my Crosman wood-stocked M1 Carbine BB rifle when I was about eight. Buried it surreptitiously in the woods and didn't sleep for days worried I was going to get arrested for the heinous crime. The first live critter I ever shot.

IJ1981 said:

Hard to believe it was 59 years ago.

Click to expand...

The years go by far too quickly. About the same for me.

My older brother bought one of the "new" Mauser HSc pistols in .380. This was in the mid 70s and I was probably 16 or 17 at the time. There was no shooting range nearby so we decided to try it out in our own private indoor range; namely the basement! Waited until we knew that our parents would be gone for awhile before we sprung into action (also we both wore hearing protection so you can tell we really knew what we were doing)! We had no concept of how much penetration we would get out of this tiny little cartridge, but it couldn't be that much...right?

Wrong!!!

We used a wooden crate and stuffed it with a couple of good sized phone books (remember those?) some thick cardboard panels, and finished up with a bunch of stacked newspapers on top. Then we set it on it's side, put a target on it, and set it up in the basement bathroom, underneath he sink. What could go wrong...right?

Wrong again.

My brother went first (well it was his gun) and got three shots on paper from a kneeling position, about 30 feet away. Next it was my turn and despite a real heavy DA trigger, I managed to get a couple on target but nothing you could even remotely call a "group". At the same time it was really exciting and put me further on the road to being a handgun enthusiast. I couldn't wait until I could buy guns on my own!

Oh, and all that penetration stuff I mentioned before was no match for the "mighty" .380 cartridge. We dug out all the bullets from the bathroom wall, filled them in with some wood filler our Dad had, smoothed them over, and I like to believe to this day that our parents knew nothing about our indoor range escapade!

bannockburn said:

We used a wooden crate and stuffed it with a couple of good sized phone books (remember those?) some thick cardboard panels, and finished up with a bunch of stacked newspapers on top. Then we set it on it's side, put a target on it, and set it up in the basement bathroom, underneath he sink. What could go wrong...right?

Click to expand...

Actually, that whole story was frightening (to say the least) bannockburn! At least you learned from it, and you didn't get hurt - that's good.
Besides, you might have even gained a little experience in the proper use of wood filler.

My first was when I was around 4 on the Wilmington NC PD's pistol range, with some old 22 rifle they had confiscated and the chief had given to my dad. My dad had the USMC MP detachment in the same building and we shot pretty regularly there after that.

We were never allowed to have BB guns, but we did have our own 22's. The old man said we'd treat the BB guns like toys, and he was right. Those wars, later on in friends houses and back woods, were epic!

Never had a lick of trouble with any of us with our 22's though, and we were allowed in the woods out back where we lived with them on our own, at around 10 or so, and no one batted an eye. Different times for sure.

When I was 6, my dad took me shooting for the first time. We went to a river where he would throw cans in and shoot them with his J.C. Higgins Model 31, which I still have. That winter, I shot my first game, a fox squirrel sitting on an oak limb. All that practice on the river paid off 'cause I drilled him right through the head at 25 yards with a Stevens over and under. My dad was tickled pink and I was pretty proud of myself too

Old Dog said:

Heh, I think I was about four as well. We had a house on Spring Lake, my dad used to have some of his students come out, they used to bring BB guns and as I recall, we'd shoot cans floating in the water.

I killed a robin (our state bird) on a fencepost in the backyard with my Crosman wood-stocked M1 Carbine BB rifle when I was about eight. Buried it surreptitiously in the woods and didn't sleep for days worried I was going to get arrested for the heinous crime. The first live critter I ever shot.

The years go by far too quickly. About the same for me.

Click to expand...

I still have my Crosman M-1 that I got when I was 10. The rear sight is missing and the barrel won't lock fully forward, but it is still good for shooting beer cans.

.308 Norma

Actually, that whole story was frightening (to say the least) bannockburn! At least you learned from it, and you didn't get hurt - that's good.

Click to expand...

The real frightening part would have been if our Mom had discovered it!

But yes, we kind of skipped over the safety part about having a solid and strong enough backstop to do any sort of "experimenting" with that day!

.22 LR in a rifle at a Boy Scout camp. Some time in the early 1960s.

I must have been around 10. I didn't have a dad growing up, but my mom's boyfriend at the time had a few guns and took us shooting. It was a Ruger 10/22, loaded with 22 Shorts... the most mild introduction to firearms possible. I loved plinking at cans with it! Since that was my only experience with firearms, I very wrongly thought all guns must sound like this 22 Short... so when he started teaching my mom on a centerfire pistol, I was very surprised and a bit intimidated by the noise and muzzle flash... and opted not to give it a try myself.

Looking back, I can't help but laugh. That gun which intimidated me was a little 32ACP pistol! Now, I shoot 44 Magnums for fun, and quite well I might add. How far I've come since then!

I do. I was somewhere around five years old and it was my dad's Remington Model 12 22. I managed to hit the ground. When I had grown some I got to take it pest hunting and wiped out a bunch of them with it. I have gun in my safe.

Around 1990-1991 paw paw took me into the woods w a single shot 12 ga. Set up a empty coke can. No squirrels were out. And let it rip. An hour later took me out again. Same set up. Took me a few minutes to pull the trigger again. Yes my shoulder is still sore from that one! Pistol was my friends dad a raven 25 auto. Woods behind his house. Rifle was my paw paw a marlin model 60 in the woods.

My father introduced me to shooting when I was eight years old when he went to try out his brand new Marlin Golden 39a. From then on I was pretty much allowed to shoot my Beeman Weihrauch HW50s .177 and Crossman .22 pellet pistol (still have both), whenever I wanted, but I loved shooting that Marlin when he would let me. He allowed me to carry it in the field when he would take me varmint hunting on friends farms, but he often sold or traded to try out different firearms and at some point it was no longer in his collection.

I was 10 when I got my first real Varmint gun (Rem 22-250), it was strictly hands off unless I was on a hunting trip with him but even then I remembered carrying it more than shooting it for a few years until I grew into it.

The H&R model 750 Pioneer on the left.

Back in the early 60's, maybe 61/62 Dad let my younger Brother and I shoot out on the mud flats at our home on the bay. It was a Harrington Richardson model 750 'Pioneer', and we were shooting the .22 shorts back then.

Life has gone full circle for me with this story, as this past winter my Brother who had this rifle still, gave it to me to fix and recondition. But I remember how we always treasured the thought of our first shots as kids with our Dad, so I couldn't wait to take my Son out and let Him fire it with me. At this point though my Son is 16, and a pretty fair marksmen.......but He felt the 'history' in the outing, and understood it's significance.

Now God willing one fine day our Son will continue this legacy with His Child.
Hack

Was about 12 and in the custody of an errant LCpl who was on "babysitting duty" as penance for his sins. So, rather than be cooped up in the house, we all went to the range. At some point of being the designated step-n-fetch-it, I was rewarded with a full clip in a Garand. It was a lot of rifle, but was fun.

About a year later, in similar circumstance, was introduced to the M1911A1.

My first shot was my grandad's Sears & Roebuck 12ga double, 28" barrels. I was 7 years old.
Shot a paint bucket from about 30ft away with some Rem high brass #4.
I hit it both times, so he let
me start hunting rabits and squirrels with it. The first animals I took with it were some blackbirds that were eating our raspberries.
When he passed, my uncle ended up with it.

Don't remember (60 years ago at least) my first shot with a real gun but I know it was a .22 bolt action at the youth shooting club sponsored by the local police department and held once a week at their basement indoor range. I do remember the first time during training when the drill instructor told us to flip our M16 selector switch to "auto". That was a good day.

When I was 10 years old Dad let me take the tractor and oneway to the field by myself. When I came in that night he got the gun (we were poor and only had one) and we went out in the pasture and I shot my first jackrabbit with that old Iver Johnson 410. In 1952 you didn't have to go far to find a jack.
I felt like a man that night