How has your shooting interest evolved?

[Hokkmike]

My shooting interest has developed in 4 phases.

#1. When I first started shooting, it was deer hunting that got me into it. My first rifle was a Winchester Model 94 in 32, special. I still hunt deer today with my SAKO's but don't wait for these two weeks to shoot.

#2. I began to want to shoot more and developed a keen interest in varmint hunting. One summer I knocked off 44 groundhogs from a local farmers field. I got called once my a horse owner who had a problem with groundhog holes in his riding fields, so I went there for a month and largely eliminated the problem. (may sound like bragging but it is true)

#3. Then I acquired a short lived interest in AK's and AR's. I still have my AR but it seldom goes to the field.

#4. And, now - I am shooting the semi auto pistol with friends in very casual competition, followed by cold drinks and wings!

These over a span of 35 years. (darn, I am getting old)

I still dabble at all of these interests but my primary shooting passion now is still the pistol shooting. I would like to get hooked up with some kind of formal competition that would allow me to shoot without squeezing the joy out of it. And, as a note, deer season starts Monday and I'll be in the field 4 days next week.

So, my question for you, if you care to answer is, how has your shooting interest evolved?

 

[AndyC]

1. Handguns as a kid - first revolvers, then semi-autos.
2. Shotguns - still a kid.
3. Centerfire rifles - still a kid.
4. Full-auto SMGs and select-fire rifles as a young man (military & beyond).
5. Semi-auto only rifles as a slightly less-young man.
6. Blackpowder firearms (I'm devolving as I age)

 

[Jim Watson]

Phase 1: Teens - Plinking.
Phase 2: Teens - Junior NRA Smallbore.
Phase 3: Twenties - Plinking with bigger guns.
Phase 4: Twenties - Trap
Phase 5: Thirties and Forties - IPSC
Phase 6: Early Fifties - IDPA
Phase 7: Late Fifties - BPCR, Long Range

Now: Mostly IDPA, some Long Range F-class, awaiting a BPCR program to open up at a range in my area.
If, at Phase 4, I had not been introduced to trapshooting, I would probably now be playing golf. Casual plinking around was losing its appeal. Although I was not interested in shotguns as such, Trap got me into competition and contact with good people. I don't see competition as squeezing the joy out of shooting, it gives me a focus and objective.

 

[Walkalong]

Teen: Smallbore (.22) Target shooting in the Boy Scouts of America ( when there was still such a thing. We actually built fires too They cook on D*** propane stoves now. :banghead:

Young Adult: .22 plinking, .38 plinking, .45 ACP plinking.

Not so young adult: Benchrest shooting, .22 plinking, .223 plinking, .222 Mag serious "wanna be varmint shooter" practice, 9mm plinking, .38 plinking, .45 plinking.

Lately: Inactive in Benchrest, miss it badly, kids come first, now a bunch calibers plinking, considering trying IDPA, .45 ACP still my favorite pistol caliber & the 1911 my favorite platform.

 

[siglite]

Early teens: Shooting squirrels with rimfires. Occasional five rounds or so with a Walther P38 or odd revolver here or there.

18-24: Marine Corps.

24-30 or so: Minimal proficiency with a couple of pistols for self defense. Minimum desire to maintain shooting skills with A2 irons...

30 - present: Carry daily. Weekly range trips, constant work on rifle/shotgun/pistol proficiency, handloading, addiction to Sig pistols, overwhelming desire to shoot very small targets at very long ranges with boltguns... Get twitchy and irritable if I haven't shot in two weeks.....

 

[poet]

Started out of college when an old retired Marine (Dick Fry) got me into competative bulleye pistol and rifle plinking with a garand. The Army got me interested in rifles and when I was with the Reserves, I started to compete in High Power rifle. Because of these two aspects I prefer to shoot slow and deliberately, and at distance. In my mind, 100 yards is pistol distance. So when my friends once asked me how I group at 100 yards, I answered honestly and said that I didn't know. Now in my old age, I'm glad that I shoot slow, ammo costs too much and I'm too lazy to reload!

 

[hksw]

1st : Semi-auto handguns, lean towards brighter finishes (matte chrome, nickel, stainless, etc. but not critical)
2nd : Semi-auto high capacity handguns, lean towards darker finishes
3rd : Moderate interest in rifles, stricly .308/7.62 (and one .22-250)
4th : Small dabble in shotgun, tactical models only
5th : Low interest in revolvers, only bought them to complete collection (but did try to stay on the mid-high to high end ones that perform well in accuracy), prefer handguns to be matte dark color (unless a brighter finish is only offered), started getting into .223/5.56 as well as other calibers equal or more powerful than .308/7.62
6th : High interest in rimfire
7 th : Very high interest in modern rimfire - which is where I am at at this time.


Still buy handguns, rifles, and shotguns during the entire time but some things are just more focused than others. Not including BB guns, started shooting at 23 y/o.

 

[iamkris]

I like the structure Jim Watson laid out

Phase 1: Plinking -- early teens
Phase 2: Black powder arms and big bore handguns -- late teens
Phase 3: Trap and skeet -- college years
Phase 4: Bowling pin and bullseye shooting -- late 20's
Phase 5: 10 year hiatus from shooting to get married, start a family
Phase 6: Cowboy action shooting -- mid-30's
Phase 7: 3 gun shooting -- late 30's
Phase 8 (current): Mil-surp collecting and long range rifle shooting

 

[single action]

1) single action revolvers, lever action rifles and double shotguns as a kid. (too many westerns as a child.)
2) WW2 era weapons M1 carbine, garand,enfields, 1911 ect. (Too many war movies as a young adult.)
3) Double action revolvers, pump shotguns as a young leo.
4) Muzzleoaders of all types for hunting in my late 20's and 30's.
5)Now, as a old man I enjoy all, but am regressing back to lever actions ect. (with the exception of my beloved enfields and muzzleoaders for deer hunting)
My second childhood maybe?

 

[Devonai]

Heck, I'm 31 and I'm well into my affair with milsurps. Maybe my time in the Army has made the "tacticool" 5.56mm and 7.62mm medicines boring, but nothing is prettier to me than functional milsurp rifle and accessories.

 

[Charles Foxtrot]

.
Oughts to Early Teens: BB-Guns (my gateway to the gunpowder "drug")
Late Teens - Twenties: 22LRs, Handguns, EBRs (semi-semi-survivalist), Bunny-Blasting
30s - 40s: Bush the Elder and Clinton Eras. Put away the guns and worked the career.
Late 40s - 50: Rediscovered the fun of shooting and target practice, the necessity of home defense and disaster preparedness.
Future? Maybe SASS or IDPA. Classes for skills and preparation. Reloading. Having fun!

30 Year member of the NRA. I wish to hell I bought the Life Time Membership.