Was your handgun exposure mostly friends etc, shows, or range rentals?

[Ignition Override]

With very few years' exposure to some, which was very random and sporadic, maybe it is time to hang around the private club's handgun range.

Even though there is no real motivation to ever carry (CCW only), the styles imitating the PPK have by far the most appeal.

Most of you guys (or a few gals) seem to have many years of exposure to many types, and often in a convenient rural setting, it seems.

 

[bannockburn]

Most of my exposure to handguns came from my brother and friends who had turned 21 a few years before I did. Actually I had been reading about them in books and magazines long before that. I have always been more interested in handguns than any other type of firearm (maybe with the exception of full-auto weapons).

 

[LebbenB]

As a scion of the rural south, guns - rifles, shotguns, handguns - were an everyday part of life. I learned gun handling at an early age and have had an affinity for them ever since. During my military service, I ran into many like minded folks and we'd spend free time at the local ranges and the post POW range shooting our stuff and if somebody had something different, most times they'd let us look at and shoot their new "baby." I learned quite a bit about a slew of different weapons that way.

 

[ID-shooting]

Grew up with them, had many different ones over the years. They complete a collection so to say. I feel a good rifle, shotgun, and sidearm are a must have as a minimum.

 

[f100owner]

Rural boy here. Was dove hunting by the sixth grade when dad gave me my first two firearms - a bolt action .22lr (which I still have ) and a 16 gauge double barrel shotgun (which I wish I still had). My first handgun (a .22lr High Standard which I still have) was given to me by the 7th grade. Learned a lot of rifle technique from my father, but not much handgun. Did not deer hunt until much later in life. OH, I am 54 now.

 

[Sam1911]

Mine came primarily through reading. I was in quite a rural area growing up and few except for gun collectors saw a need to keep handguns around. I shot a few growing up, but not many. We bought a Ruger Mk.II when I pushed a lot to get into pistols, probably at 13-14 years old. (I still have it, and it won't get sold.)

Off at college I had buddies who had more that I got to try sometimes. When I was finally able to scratch up enough cash to "waste" on pistols I bought things I wanted to try and was fortunate to pick some very good ones.

 

[SFsc616171]

Nope.

Junior NRA, Otis AFB, Ma. 1965, shooting 1911's and Remington XB40's.

United States Air Force, 1970 - 1980, especially 3 years in
SouthEast Asia, carrying S&W M15's, an M16, and a radio for base perimeter security detail.

And so it goes, till today.

 

[huntsman]

I grew up shooting and hunting with shotguns and .22lr but no centerfire handguns, I didn't really get into handgun shooting until I quit small game hunting. No range experience or rental just bought a KGP-141 and 600 rounds of ammo, went out back and learned to shoot it. that was in 1995 and that gun is long gone, I prefer pistols now in either SA/DA or DAO.

 

[grimjaw]

My father taught me some very basic things about shooting a rifle, but during my lifetime, so far as I know, he never shot the handguns that his father handed down to him. My first extended experience with handguns was with range rentals.

 

[Dr.Rob]

While I grew up shooting my Dad's Ruger Mark 1 we didn't have a bunch of firearms, mostly 22's. I read a lot... Gun Digest, Shooter's Bible etc. I shot whatever anyone would let me. I got my first .22 pistol as a gift, as well as my first center fire pistol. I've been buying, hunting, collecting and competing ever since.

 

[tomrkba]

I tried a friend's 1911 and then bought my first SIG P220. After that it was all practice with the occasional shots from a gun someone had on the range.

 

[BlindJustice]

Exposure to Handguns:

A lot of reading Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times,
in my teens, later American Handgunner etc.

mid to Late 1960s
Columbia Basin in Wash. State
Mostly on the 300 acre Family Farm
Age: 13 Uncle let me use his Hi Standard .22 LR Semi-Auto
The next year I had the money to get a
S&W Model 18 K-22 4" Bbl. - open carry
on the farm, w/dad's pemission. Took care of
cottontails, and some rattlesnakes. as well as making
coyotes run faster.

Sometimes teen friends who also had handguns
would bring em out for a popcan shoot,
none had a handgun of the quality my
S&W fwiw.

At Age 15, my Dad knew a guy in the US Army reserves and he brought his
squad up to qual. at the Quincy WA Range, it has a pistol
range, and a 500 yd range with the 8'x8' targets

USN 1970s - Qualified Marksman with the 1911

R-

 

[txgunsuscg]

My earliest exposure was family friend with a Glock 10mm, then a .38 Special at summer camp, then a friend's 1911. Other than that, my exposure was primarily rifle. I shot air rifle probably every weekend, then my dad's .22 once I got older (early teens). My dad wasn't really into guns (not against, just ambivalent). I took him shooting handguns for the first time (other than boot camp) in the last year or so. Even in his mid-60s, it's never too late to enjoy, and he likes my 1911s a lot better than the old one he got issued.

 

[DDawg]

I was moderately exposed to firearms by my father, but my real experience came from the military.

 

[MifflinKid]

Mostly, it was from my father-in-law. He is a long time hand gunner. He also taught me about hand loading.

There were no handguns in my home growing up. My father thought handguns were only used by criminals. He had rifles and a shotgun though. They were stored in my bedroom closet.

 

[dieselmech]

started target practice when i was 5

 

[JVaughn]

Dad. Taught me everything I know. He had a nice collection back in the day.

 

[C0untZer0]

1) My father

2) United States Army

3) Doing tons of reading and research after the service, and buying my own firearms / going to the range.

 

[ritepath]

I grew up in the 70's, 80's, 90's with my 10 year older brother and father always dragging in whatever they'd gotten their latest deal on. We'd shoot them a few times and then down the road they went to make a few bucks. I suppose I've shot 100's maybe thousands of used pistols over the years. We were also lucky enough to live on a small 80 acre farm.

 

[Delford]

I was interested in shooting in my late teens with my older brother. My dad grew up in Oklahoma and hunted and was around firearms but never passed any of that along to my brothers and I. After reaching my 60s several friends who had CC permits encouraged me to get mine. Just after Thanksgiving in 2008 I got my CC permit using a Beretta Neos to qualify.
I tried out several calibers from 9mm to .45 acp after that and decided on a barely used Ruger P345 because it fit my hand like I'd alway had it. I've added another pistol and 2 long guns since then. I'm fortunate to be able to shoot on a farm and now that I've improved my eyesight I'm able to hit what I aim at. While HD and CC are primary and very serious issues, target shooting is fun and instructive at the same time.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Way back when, I read books, and taught myself with any guns that I saved up for and my dad signed for. My dad was not into handguns at all. I sued to save up my lunch money for ammo purchased at local gunshows.

 

[el Godfather]

When I opened my eyes in the cradle I played with P08 what they call a Luger
When I started walking I used a broom-handle what they call a Mauser
When the remote on TV broke I used a long Redhawk what they call a Ruger

To put it more simply guns were always there- thank heavens for that!

 

[ExTank]

I grew up shooting rifles and shotguns, but my family was never much into handguns.

My intro came courtesy of the U.S. Army, when they handed me an ancient 1911 that shook and rattled enough that I thought that it may have been around since WWII. I'd have better luck hitting anything by taking the bullets out of the mag and throwing them myself, and this from a guy who barely scraped through hand grenades (no "oopsies" with them, though! ) and has never once put a basketball through the net.

Didn't think I had much affinity for handguns until I bought my own first handgun: a Colt .357 Peacekeeper. I did pretty good with it from get-go, and got even better with just casual practice.

Now I'm a much better hand-gunner than long-gunner, mostly due to near-sightedness.

 

[TimboKhan]

While I am no master shooter, nor even much more than an average marksman, I have shot a ton of guns over the years. Early on it was my gun trading dad and his pals, then friends. A few rentals but more as a result of just having a friendly demeanor at the range. I have never asked straight out if I could shoot someones gun, nor have I ever expected to do so just because I am friendly, but I like talking to people and the simple phrase "whatcha shooting there" has gotten me more chances to shoot cool stuff than you can shake a stick at. Most recently, a Kriss. If you're not a jerk, gun people are usually pretty friendly, and I have reciprocated and let people shoot my cool stuff on a number of occasions.

Also, reading. I have read tons of stuff on or about guns in general. I will likely never shoot a Mateba, but I can read about it and have an idea of what to expect should the occasion arise.

sent from my Galaxy Note II.

 

[bdb benzino]

My father was an State Policeman for over 30 years and also an avid rifle hunter. With that kind of exposure, I was shooting bb guns before 5 and remember him helping me shoot S&W revolvers and 22 rifles around 5-6 years old.
I did alot of hunting growing up, and it was even easier as we lived in a small town and just outside of town to boot. I could walk through the yard about 200ft and start hunting rabbits and birds whenever the urge came.

My first hand gun came from dad, he gave me his police issued S&W 686-1 357mag and his police issued Glock 17 9mm when I moved into my first appartment at 19 years old.
I had those two handguns, but only shot once every year or 2 until I was 31. Around 31 I had just got married and started looking for a smallish handgun for the wife, through all my reading and research trying to pick one out for her it restarted my love for guns. Since then I have bought a lot of handguns, and read about them all the time. I also shoot atleast twice a month now, my wife thinks I am a gun junky, LOL!