Do you still have the gun you learned to shoot with?

[psyopspec]

I never owned the gun I learned how to shoot rifles with. My first shotgun experience was with an instructor's personally owned rifle in a hunter's safety class. The first pistol I learned to shoot was a Beretta in the army. The first pistol I owned and used to develop my skills with was a Springfield Mil-Spec. I sold it to grow my collection; I don't regret the move since it allowed me to find firearms better suited to my taste.

 

[jamz]

My Dad still has it in his safe. It's a single shot .22 Remington rifle, not sure of the model.

I want to teach my son to shoot on that same rifle, but alas, he's already shot my 77/22 so that's technically HIS first. To make the circle complete, the 77/22 was given to me by my Dad. So it's all in the family.

-James

 

[muddyboots]

I learned to shoot with my dad's Winchester 63, a .22 semi-auto. I was seven at the time. I got my first gun as a Christmas present at age 15. It was a Winchester 77, also a .22 semi-auto. I inherited the Model 63 when my dad died, and I still have both of the rifles.

In Unintended Consequences Henry Bowman considered these two rifles as a boy and ended up getting the Model 63. If you read the book you might remember it was the rifle he could trick into going full-auto when it was dirty. No, I have never tried it.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Yep, got the Belgian made Browning Auto .22 I learned to shoot with. Also have one of the new Japanese made versions, but the old one still sits in the safe. The wood is banged around a bit, but I remember every scratch in the stock.

When I was a kid, loading that thing through that hole in the buttstock was the greatest thing in the world......

My grandad taught me to shoot shotguns with a bolt action .410 piece of junk. Took a lot of dove with that one, but I have no idea where it wound up. Wish I had it too.

Also have the original shooter, a Benjamin pellet gun from Lord knows when. My mother, aunt and uncle all learned to shoot with that pellet gun. Very glad I have that one.

 

[Otisimo]

Yep.

1958 Marlin 39a papoose lever action .22

Dad had it and it's mine now.

 

[Valkman]

Yep, it's in my safe. A Sears .22 bolt action single shot that my Dad bought in '68 when I was 13. Think he paid about $17 for it.

 

[308win]

Yes. My grandfather's Western Field Model 02-22. Granddad was a coon hunter and this little gun has a pretty severe groove (gouge) worn in the forearm where he would lay it on top of the barbed wire fences to cross when running his hounds.

What I don't have - and would pay any price to get back - is the little Stevens single shot .22 that my father bought me for my sixth Christmas. I do still have the inexpensive case he bought for it - keep my grandfather's .22 in it.

 

[Sam]

Still have it a Stevens Marksman.
I converted it to 32S&W Long about 20 years ago. Fun small game gun, better than a 22.

Don't get to use it much beacuse I don't get many opps to hunt small game any more. But I have this grandson........
Sam

 

[LiquidTension]

It was long enough ago, and I was young enough, that I think it was one of the Marlin 60s we have. We haven't sold them but I don't shoot them much anymore. They jam a lot The first handgun I fired was probably an H&R 9 shot .22 which we don't have anymore.

 

[Standing Wolf]

When you start shooting seriously with a High Standard, there's not a great deal else you could move up to.

 

[WalkerTexasRanger]

Yep, I have the Remington Model 12 .22 that my Granddad taught me to shoot with. Love that little gun, made in the 20s and still shoots like a champ today.

 

[Jrob24]

My father's beretta 21a that I practiced with years ago has since been sold. The first gun I bought (Rem 597) has also been sold. I still do have the marksman 1010 BB pistol my grandfather gave me. Not very accurate but works well at CQB against old action figures.

 

[rick_reno]

Yes - My father bought it when he was 9 years old, gave it to me when I was 10 and I've had three kids who have used it. I don't shoot it much, it's a Remington M41 target master.

 

[mod12]

nope, my dad loaned it {a 20ga. mod 12 w/short chamber) to someone he worked with and forgot who. obviously the person he loaned it to forgot who he borrowed it from!

 

[LHB1]

Yes. A Winchester Model 67 single shot, bolt action with manually cocked firing pin knob on back of bolt. My Dad bought it when he was a teen ager and gave it to me before he died. I taught my Son to shoot with it and hope to begin teaching my GrandSon to shoot with it in a few more years. With luck, it may survive for use by further generations.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

 

[landon74]

It's an old single shot .22LR, my granddad bought it way back when, he cut the stock down on it so it would fit me. It's the rifle my son is learning to shoot with.

 

[Brian Dale]

Nope. That Stevens Crack Shot went to Dad's first grandchild (my nephew).

But I still own and occasionally shoot the shotgun that Granddad gave me -- not the first one I'd shot, but the gun with which I really became a shotgunner.

 

[Smith357]

That is a yes and a no for me, The Daisy Red Rider is long gone, but my father still has the mdl 1903 Winchester, his uncle gave it to him when he was a child, and I told him I want it when he dies and it should stay in the family. He wanted 45wheelgun and me to sell it for him. We told him that it was a family treasure with only a modest value on the collectors market. We helped convince him that it was more valuable as an heirloom than as a gun. And made him leave it in the trunk. While walking the show and selling some crap he had, we saw a similar condition 1903 sitting on a tabel for 650 and a beater that had been drilled with swivels for 300. I think it made him happy to see one of his old guns had some value. My father-in-law has a nice 50's era Wincester mdl 12 I'm trying to save with the same excuse.

 

[Moondoggie]

Yep & Yep.

Still have a Mossberg .22 army trng rifle I bought for about $12 when I was 11 in '62..AND a Mossberg .410 3 shot bolt action that belonged to my Grandpa made sometime in the '30's I believe. Shot a lot of pheasant/rabbit with that shotgun as a teenager.

 

[Smoke]

Savage Bolt action Single shot. Granddaddy taught me and my brother to shoot with it. Grandmother used it to dispatch armadillos and possums that ventured too close to the house/garden. Brother used it to teach his kids. Now it resides in my cabinet waiting for my oldest ot grow a little more.

I also have Granddaddy's Model 42. He used to shoot trap out behind the house with it. First shotgun I ever fired. Still does trap duty and often Quail duty.

Smoke

 

[Myself]

When I turned 18 a friend of mine named Tom and I went haves on a model 190 Winchester. We would go out and run thousands of rounds thru it in a session. I bought out his share after a couple years. Still have it. After maybe 20K rounds the extractor is pritty beat so I don't shoot it any more, but I wouldn't get rid of it.

 

[bigolddeerhunter]

Man this thread sure brought back some memories. The first gun I owned was a single shot 410. I don't rem the make but it had a sideways swing when you reloaded it. My second gun was a great little Belgium Browning Auto. Loaded the thing in the stock. A great gun. It was stolen along with my first and third gun. The third one was my dad's Win 94 30/30 pre 64. He gave it to me when he got a 30/06. Gosh what memories came back from reading all your postings. Thanks for the memories guys.

 

[kidcoltoutlaw]

Don't shoot is because

The sucker is broke. m49r .22 lr. I read that it was a problem gun from the start. I can shoot it like a single shot and it does ok.

 

[SoCalGeek]

I never learned to shoot on one particular gun, really- my first few trips to the range i put a little bit through each of the guns my friend brought. My first gun that I owned, and the one that I learned a lot on, I bought in August- so of course I still have it. =D

 

[Dannyboy]

Nope. I don't think Uncle Sam would have liked me taking that M16A1 from the arms room on my way out.