Do you remember your first?

[longrange308]

Perhaps, one of the greatest days in my life took place one Christmas morning when I was seven years old. I was living in Chase, Maryland where my father worked at nearby Bethlehem Steel. I, had stayed awake all night waiting to open my presents of which I prayed one would be my first gun, I didn't know what kind of gun I just knew I wanted one. My father was the kind of man that you mention something to him once and you didn't bother him about it again or you would ruin it for yourself even at Christmas time. Well, I had apparently fell asleep around 5:30 am while waiting for the hopeful big moment. Suddenly, I awoke and my room is fully lit by the sun, I quickly look at my G.I. Joe clock and realize how late it is. Quickly, I explode out of my bed, race down the hallway to the scream of my mother, "slow down"! Then, I heard a deep gravely voice say, "leave the boy alone," I continued to race past the lovely paneled walls into the family room and almost into the glimmering tree. Quickly, my eye's darted toward my fathers red leather chair, there he was with the biggest smile I ever saw him have. In his hand, pointing toward the ceiling, was a wood stocked blued gun. I froze, he said, "come here son," I don't remember walking I think I must have floated across the floor where my father handed me a Stevens single barrel 20 gauge shotgun. Yes, I was king of the world that day. That day remains in my mind like it just happened, I'll never forget it, it was my first.

 

[Davek1977]

I not only remember it, but will own my first til the day i die. I dont remember if I was 11 or 12, but I do remember going to the local Coast to Coast hardware store...already one of my favorite places on earth at the time because they sold guns, ammo, and fishing equipment....and talking dad into looking at some .22 rifles. After handling a few, I found "the one".....a Marlin 881 bolt action. I didn't get it that day, and didn't know for sure that I ever would....but when Chrisstmas came, it was there! I dont remember opening it, unpacking it, etc....but remember the first coke can that fell victim to it! To this day, that rifle has an uncanny way of making me...an "average" shot if there is such a thing....look like a pro. It just serves as an extension of me....I can shoulder, aim, and fire that gun as naturally as can be...that gun served as a tool for teaching me many a lesson about shooting, and I credit it to this day for what skills I do have as a rifleman

 

[Naybor]

Boy, memories!!! I was 10 when I received a Stevens 20 Ga single shotgun. Back in those days on the farm a gun was a common present for a kid to get. We knew all about the safe handling of a gun from our parents who had guns and waited until we were ready to receive one.

I can remember the sheriff waving as he passed us, we on our bicycles, carrying a .22, as we went to the dump to shoot rats.
He did stop and check once in a while to make sure we were carrying empty for safety. A few times of this and he would just wave.

Boy, it's different today.

 

[MrDig]

When I was 12 or so my neighbor saw me with a rabbit I shot with a 22 and asked if I ever shot birds, I said no why do that? He told me pheasant tasted pretty good an I might like shooting them too.
So I get home and my Dad asks me how much money I have and I tell him I still have 15.00 dollars Birthday money. He says go get it.
Then we walk back over to the neighbors house and Pete the neighbor shows me a .410 Bolt Action and asks me if I want to buy it from him. I look at my Dad and he nods and I say I only have $15.00 and I can't afford it. Pete told me he'd take 10.00 if I brought him a pheasant or a rabbit when I hunted with it. He threw in a box of shells and I walked home with my Dad feeling 10 feet tall.
I still have that gun and wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[Chevelle SS]

My first gun was a 20ga Browning BPS Micro that my Dad bought me when I was about 12. Later sold it to buy a Stoeger Uplander :banghead:

 

[303tom]

It was Christmas morning 1961 and I was 5, I not only remember it I still got it ! The next year I got my first shotgun, a Stevens .410 & yes I still have it to.............

 

[Still Shooting]

First Gun - Wish I still Had It!

My first real firearm was one I bought myself at age 14. My Dad had started teaching me with his .22 when I was 8, allowed me to have a BB gun at 12, and at 14 I took my Hunter Safety and got my first license. I had a friend who was looking to sell a Savage 340 in .22 Hornet, almost re-stocked (90% done), and I bought it from him for $35. I completed the re-stocking, and bought a box of ammo.

My family had a camp in the NY Finger Lakes, and there were 2 dairy farms behind us, about 300 acres for one, and 180 for the other. That first summer I hunted both for woodchucks, with owners' blessings, and shot 97 woodchucks. Ammo was the problem, but thanks to the owner of the local spoting goods shop, a deal was worked out. I tied trout flies for him, he bought them, and I would then use the proceeds to buy a box of ammo. I went the whole summer shooting, tying flies, shooting, and tying some more!

When I was in college, the gun was stolen, along with my high school graduation gift from Dad (Remington 760 in .270) and my hand-me-down shotgun (16ga., 1912 Marlin pump) that was my Granddad's and my Dad's before me. The rifles were never recovered. The shotgun was found 2 years later, sawed off and stock cut at the pistol grip, in San Francisco (Black Panthers). The guns had been packed, and were locked up in my room at the fraternity house in preparation for moving after graduation.

While I now have a pretty good inventory of better firearms, I still miss my Hornet... and I remember those days at the lake with fondness.

 

[ExAgoradzo]

At 8 I got a Crossman airgun.
At 10 I got a nylon Rem 22. (Tried to kill a rattler in a bunch of rocks when my dad's buddy yelled at me...glad he did!)
At 12, my dad told me if I got my license and the gun he'd buy the first box of shells and take me after dove. For $150 I bought a side by side Stevens 12 ga. It's in the safe as we speak.
A year ago I inherited (for my oldest) my FiL's 1st gun Stevens 22-410. Still in great shape.
Last Fall, I bought my 10 year old a Rem 870 20 ga (I wish my dad had started me on 20 gauges!!!) because he passed his license exam on the first try (my oldest did too, he's getting my side by side).
Thanks for posting this thread.

 

[RevGeo]

Got my first one for xmas when I was 12. A Remington Mod 514 (IIRC) single-shot .22. Things have never been the same since. Wish I still had it.

 

[tryshoot]

11 years old on my birthday my father give me a H & R 088 20 ga single shot. I still have it and that was a very special day for me.

 

[jim243]

Sorry guys, purchased my first when 18 yrs old. Have bought all my own in the last 50 years.

Jim

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

First gun given to me was my Marlin Model 80 when I was 13. First gun I bought myself was my K31.

 

[juk]

Other than a Daisy BB gun when I turned 9, my first gun was a Mossberg 500 12 ga that I got for christmas when I was 16. I still have it and I hope I always will. The first handgun was a CZ97 that I bought 2 weeks after my first rifle, a Ruger M77 308 that was made the same year and month I was born. I was 18 when I bought those, and it's been a downhill spiral ever since. lol

 

[v8stang289]

On my 9th birthday my Dad came home from work with a NEF 20 gauge single shot. I wasn't expecting it at all and was very excited. I couldn't wait to shoot it so my Dad showed me how to use it and we stepped out onto the back porch (lived way out in the country). I'll never forget firing that shotgun into the December night sky and seeing the flames at the end of the barrel. I still take it out at least once a year to bust some clays and I don't plan on ever letting it go.

 

[bushmaster1313]

When I was 25 I bought myself a used nickle-plated Smith & Wesson Model 19.

 

[T Bran]

I was 12 years old when I got my first. I had been working at a friends warehouse cleaning up and grinding guides for custom fishing rods for about a year. I saved every penny I could and when I had enough money dad took me to the gunshop and we bought a model 600 Mossberg 12 gague. Not long after that a Lee Loadall was our next purchase.
Brings back good memories sitting in the garage loading shells to shoot the next weekend in an endless cycle with my dad.
I still have the gun and the Loadall guess I always will just for the memories.
Great thread.
T

 

[MCgunner]

I got a Benjamin .22 caliber pellet rifle when I was 7 for Christmas. It took my first squirrels and rabbit. Got a Remington M512X .22 rifle for my ninth birthday which sorta sidelined the Benjamin, but i loved that rifle. It was very accurate and taught me my first field marksmanship lessons.

 

[JohnBT]

Christmas of 1955. I was just barely 5 and a big enough gun nut that my dad's parents gave me a BB rifle outfit that included a wire wall rack and red metal cleaning kit with glass bottles of oil, bluing, etc.

I still have the cleaning kit and wall rack. I shot the gun to pieces by the early '60s.

John

P.S. - Oh the temptation, somebody paid $92 for a cleaning kit. www.gunauction.com/buy/6057971/daisy-bb-gun-cleaning-kit-new-plymouth-red

 

[Hardtarget]

My first was a Savage mod. 24(?) in .22/410 . Its in the safe and I still use it for rabbit and squirrel. I have three .22 single shots. We like to stand around plinking tin cans, walnuts, dirt clods or any chance targets.

Mark

 

[MCgunner]

Sorry guys, purchased my first when 18 yrs old. Have bought all my own in the last 50 years.

Jim

Looks a lot like the Erma LA22 I bought in 1974 used and still have. It's not a great pistol, but it still shoots.

 

[PBR Streetgang]

I wore out a lot of BB and pellet rifles from 6 to 10. For my 10th birthday my Mom and Dad took me to the local gun shop and bought me a H&R single shot hammer .410. Was a proud moment in my life.

I still have that gun. It rates on the short list of my most prized possessions still today.

BTW Don't ask about the paper shells that swelled up on those damp rainy of small game hunting. I'm dating myself on that!

 

[beatledog7]

But this a rifle thread!

My first rifle was a Marlin 1894C in .357Mag. I still have it.

 

[MrDig]

I drank myself to stupidity for most of my late teens and didn't sober up until I was 28, so I didn't buy my first Rifle until I had been sober a few years. It was a Marlin 336 in pristine condition. A buddy had it on hold for a $150.00 poker debt. The guy never came back for it so he sold it to me for $150.00 man what a mistake on my part, my gun addiction has gone on ever since.

 

[beatledog7]

But MrDig, if you have to begin an addiction somewhere, you can hardly do better than a trusty 30-30 (I assume it's a 30-30) Marlin.

 

[Cornhusker77]

My 10th birthday, my twin brother and I each got a brand new Wards Westernfield .22 single shot.
I'd hate to think how many thousands of rounds went through those rifles over the years.
We both still have our first, and the smell of a just fired .22 still brings back memories.