What's everyone's age and shooting experience?

Status
Not open for further replies.
60 years young, and shooting for 55 of those years.

First firearm: A Winchester model 69A, which I still have! It was given to me on my 6th birthday, so it's now 50 years old....and still as accurate as the day it was "born"!

Deer hunting, 13 months in combat (1967-1968), 31 years as a "NON-jackbooted thug" police officer. Comp shooter for 6 years. Almost 5 years of retirement, and into my "second childhood", enjoying plinking with .22 rifles again!

For those of us in our "prime" years, do NOT allow your mind to wander into thinking that you may only have a few more years of shooting left in you! Just think YOUNG, and realize that you ought to get out and do MORE shooting! Mix in with the less-experienced shooters and pass on your invaluable knowledge of the "good times"! Stay young through those "youngsters"!
 
48(almost 49)been shooting an around guns all my life,father shot on one of the us army pistol teams in ft benning ,ga.granpa gave me my 1st gun (real gun)when i was 6, a topper jr 410;) mom an dad gave me a model 200 sears 20ga/poly choke 4 xmas 1967 age 10.
have old pics of me when i was 8 shooting my dad s&w 357 service pistol(he was a part time cop in a real small town)he also carried a rugar black hawk sometime's:uhoh:
i've shot alot of differant guns over the yrs ,but i keep coming back 2 them big old mags:D my 2 fav r my red hawk 71/2 stainless/tasco pro pt an model 57 S&W 41 mag. 8 3/8 blued with a tasco aim pt
twister
ps greybear YOU R THE MAN:D
shoot straight/shoot 1st
 
I'm 60 and Dad started me off at 6 with a Winchester 02 youth gun. Been shooting ever since. I was lucky enough to find another 02 last year to start my grandson with in the spring. He turned 6 a short time ago. I also started handloading in my late teens..........Essex
 
50.

Been around guns since I can remember. Didn't start actively shooting 'til about 20 years ago, and it's very recently I've gotten active in not only shooting, but RTC and CC/OC issues.

Dad had guns around the house all the time. They were being passed around among his buddies around the table often. Rule was - when you touch it, the VERY first thing you do is check to see it's not loaded. Doesn't matter if you've watched four people do so ahead of you. Dad would slap it out of our hand (or anyone else's for that matter) if you didn't.

His father would sit at the kitchen window with a .22 and shoot the rabbits and other critters that dared to come near his garden - across the street. We ate the rabbits.

Dad nearly lost his sight, then had it restored after cataract surgery. Became an NRA firearms instructor at 60. Started cowboy action shooting at 63. He was a heckuva role model.
 
Daisy Red Ryder

308nato,
I to started out with a Daisy Red Ryder. I'm 66. Used to catch my nuckles on occasion while cocking it. Lots of fun! I wear two eye patches. How many do you wear?

Semper Fi
 
I'm 30 and have been shooting for 26 years. Started with a pellet gun at 4 and
started shooting a .22 Single Six before I turned 5. I got to keep my first shotgun
in my room at 9 and kept my first revolver at 14.

My father and I used to go to the range twice a month and ran through a
few hundred rnds each time. Going out to the woods was maybe once a
month. Once I turned 21 range time became an every week thing for a
number of years then tapered off to every couple of weeks.

Sadly I have only been to the range 5 or 6 times in the last year. :(
 
37, been shooting for 26 years.

Got my first Daisy at 11. Crosman 760 at 13. H&R single shot 12 gauge at 16.
Taurus .357, Winchester 1300, and Ruger 10/22 at 21.

Been all downhill ever since.:D
 
My uncle gave my brother and I a single-shot 22 (Wincheste Mdl 68?) 38 years ago when I was 6. I still have it. And a few others.
 
rte

16 been shooting since i was 6 (started out with a daisy air gun) i believe the first powder gun i shot was a 12 gauge when i was 8 or 9 not sure but the second i turned 10 i got my hunting license and started out with a bolt action .410 now i go to the range as often as i can (wish that could be more often though)
 
I've been shooting for a long time

I'm 28 now, but I don't remember when I started shooting, but Grandpa got me my first BB gun for my 5th birthday, much to my mothers disaproval.
 
I turn 21 in 9 days, and shot my first gun when I was 18 at a friends house. The step dad doesn't like guns (says I can't even keep them in the house, and he is ex-navy), so I didn't buy my first rifle until this august (a mosin nagant carbine). I have a Arsenal Inc milled receiver AK in the mail right now as well. I like military style weapons the best, but I am taking the mosin on my first hunt with an experienced friend this winter. I know I like deer jerky and shooting, so I figure I will like hunting as well.
 
It's not so much that he thinks guns should be banned, its just that he doesn't want to be around them. He also had told me not to join the army on several occasions (instead, consider the navy or the air force).

I know he has shot pistols with his uncles when he was a kid, so I would expect him to be comfortable around guns, but he isn't. I remember a racoon was bothering our neighbors dogs one day(the guy raised beagles) and the neighbors wife gave my stepdad a shotgun to deal with it since her husband wasn't home. His face was dripping with sweat and he didn't take the shot. Instead he opted to have us sneak the dogs out of the pen on the other side.

From what I can tell he has an irrational fear of guns and gets really emotional when ever the subject is brought up. The last time I went to a gun show he yelled "There are too many accidental deaths and you won't be bringing them in this house!" The same guy wouldn't let me buy a paintball gun when I was 16. I am afraid Ill never understand the guy...
 
67 now.

When I was about 10 first gun I fired was a Daisy a friend had. First shot knocked a sparrow off the top of his house chimney. Felt really bad, never shot a living thing after that.

Didn't shoot again until the U.S. Army. Was a top shooter on the both the rifle (M1 Garand) and pistol (1911 .45) teams. Also shot .22 rifle and pistol on my own time at an indoor range on base. Really enjoyed shooting - both bullets and photos. Started saving my money to buy either a High Standard .22 or a 35-mm SLR camera (couldn't afford both). Bought the camera.

Over the next 40+ years shot many thousands of images - never a bullet.

Haven't used a camera much in two years, just lost interest.

Bought a gun for self-protection about a year ago. Now shoot about 100 rounds a month and dry practice a lot.
Shooting a gun is sort of like riding a bike - once you learn how you never really forget.

Still shooting - just swapped a camera for a gun!
 
I am 26, been shooting actively about 3 years now. Growing up, I got to shoot dad's .22 a few times out on my uncle's farm, but nothing else. 3 years ago I had a chance to shoot his buddie's Taurus .357 and the rest has been history. I bought my First gun, a Glock 34 from the same guy who had the Taurus, and it is still my favorite gun. I also just recently started reloading .45 for my 1911 and I'm having a blast with that.
 
I'm 14, and first shot grandads Stevens .22 when i was around 5 or 6. Been hooked ever since, dad got me a Browning BPS Micro around 10 which is my trap, squirrel, general use scattergun. Next was the Browning A-Bolt Micro before i turned 12, in time for deer season.(I've got 1 doe in each of the seasons i've been hunting, still waiting for the buck:D ) Then a 10/22 last June with 3000 rounds through it so far, and I was given a Mossberg 500 Ducks Unlimited Turkey gun several months ago.
 
56 this month & shooting my whole life, well at least since my grandparents gave me a BB gun when I was 5 or 6, although I was allowed to pull some triggers on real guns before I was big enough to prop a gun up on a stump.

All of the men in the family had guns, many had been in WWII and most grew up on a farm. My grandfather owned an apple orchard way back in the mountains, my father was a vet and a State Trooper, one uncle traded guns regularly (and still does) and I was a pest when it came to guns (and still am. "Can I shoot that? Can I borrow it?")

Did you know that if you put a bottle rocket in a BB gun and light the fuse you can shoot it up in the air and give it a head start? No wonder I can't halfway hear. Firecracker-launched tin cans make great rifle targets if you have a mountain for a backstop. Remember those model ships from the '50s with the battery-powered motor in them? If you glue the rudder to one side they'll circle in a farm pond while you slowly pick them to pieces or throw firecrackers at them (kids, DON'T do this, you'll lose fingers and put your eyes out.) I still can't believe our parents trusted us to camp for days at a time when we were little - with guns and firecrackers. These days Social Services would probably lock them up. :)

Then I turned 13, but that's enough for now. ;)

John

P.S. - My father is 84 and still shoots. And is still buying guns. ("Can I borrow that?")
 
I'm 21, and I've owned a gun since I was 18. However, I only shot that gun 5 times, so the total time that I've been serious about guns would be about a year and a half. Most of that time I haven't shot because I hadn't owned a pistol until a month or so ago, and 7mm rem mag for my rifle is expensive.
 
50. BB guns go back 42 years for me; shot my first firearm at 11. Plinking, paper, IPSC, and pin shoots for pistol. Nothing organized, as I lost out on that to a new job that took college and beaucoup overtime to accomplish, pushing my competitive shooting dreams to the side. That was 13 years ago. Avid reloader for .45 ACP and 10mm. Nothing over 100 yards for rifle, though I yearn for something longer. No shotgun to speak of.
 
51, shooting for 41, handloading for 21+

EDIT: Wow, how time flys! I just found some of my reloading notes from 1977 so although I knew I'd been at it for over 21yrs without question, I guess It's closer to 29 now.
 
Last edited:
I'll be 25 in November. Got my BB gun on my 6th birthday, a .22 when I turned 10, .30-30 when I turned 14, 20 guage single shot when I turned 15, and have bought 3 handguns in the last year and a half (the year in Iraq kind of slowed my handgun buying down, much to my chagrin but the delight of my wife). I still have all the guns I got for various birthdays, and am hoping to take some of my dad's rifles when I come back from leave...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

JRWhit
  • Locked
Service side arm age restriction?
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
NavyLCDR
N
5
  • Locked
Age to buy sabots¿
Replies
3
Views
553
Stickjockey
S
Devilfrog
  • Locked
What age?
Replies
24
Views
763
possum
P
E
  • Locked
What gun for nephews? Birthdays '07 edition.
2
Replies
39
Views
1K
El Tejon
E
D
  • Locked
Age limits...
Replies
2
Views
674
semf
S
Back
Top