Your First Gun

[Isher]

Right, all - What was your first "really yours" gun, And when did you get it? And how were you taught to use it? This isn't a troll question. I have just realized that there is a hell of a difference between how I grew up in the fifties, and the way it is going down now.

isher

 

[cyclopsshooter]

colt 70 series government, bought it in 1997 when i turned 21- i already had hunter safety, boy scout merit badges, and time on my dads 70 series gold cup-

first time my dad took my brother and i out to shoot a handgun (bout 10 years old) i swung the .22 revolver 90 degrees to shoot at a near by tire- my dad promptly took the revolver away, explained what i did wrong, and made me sit and watch while he and my brother got to shoot...

lesson learned

oh yeah, my first gun that i "didnt" pay for was a Winchester 94 30-30 made in 1959-

its purdy and i still have it! the colts too

 

[Blakenzy]

My first "really mine" gun was a used 1911 Colt I bought when I was 21.

I was taught how to use it by myself. Needless to say the first 100 rounds or so never touched paper.

Worried about ammo costs I then bought a .22 rifle with which I had a good time making little ragged groups, but then began to miss centerfire fun so I turned to reloading, and the rest is history.

 

[N003k]

Ah....Marlin .410 Single shot breakopen....that I've been trying to find another one of for a few years now...back when I was 8.

Loved the little thing. My father got it for me at a Kmart I believe it was, either that or a Walmart, not 100% certain, first I had to read the safety manuals til I could recite most of the rules, and then I got to actually handle it...had to clean it after every time I shot it, and it was for all intents and purposes, mine.

On that note...anyone know where I can get a .410 Single Shot Marlin Breakopen? No idea what the model was...but I'd love to get another just for sentimental reasons....

 

[9MMare]

LOL...my 'first really yours gun' is the one that I slapped down several hundred $$ for.

Reader's Digest version: Grew up in 'burbs, no guns in house, but not anti.

Shot some .22 rifles and a .38 revolver in the past. Thought about it for yrs, ended up back on my own, in my own home, thought about it some more. Moved out to a rural area, edge of meth country...met some other women who shot....and made the jump.

In the space of a month (Aug 09) I had taken a ladies handgun class, spent some afternoons at the range renting different guns, read everything I could find online and in magazines, got my CPL, and bought my "first really mine gun", and am working on consistency and accuracy at 15 feet.

Gun: S&W fullsize M&P 9mm (love it)

Education: ongoing

 

[smithmax]

My grandfather gave me a 10/22 when I was 12, then I bought a Mossberg bolt .22 shortly after turning 18. I would consider my Mossberg my first "my gun", and the Ruger is going to be passed on to my (soon to be born) son for sentiment.

My dad taught my brother and I how to shoot.

 

[TimM]

Single shot model 37A 12ga with a full choke 32" barrel. When I was 13 years old my dad traded a H&R .22 pistol for it because I was wanting something to hunt with.

Growing up in WV I hunted everything with that gun; squirrels, rabbits, crows, fox and grouse. As I got older my body grew into that great big long gun and after four years of shooting it every day I knew the gun intimately. At 17 years old it fit me like it was a custom made Parker. It is hard to believe, and many people have called me a liar, but the year I turned 17 I bagged 27 grouse (jump shooting) with 31 shots from that 32" FC. A feat that I have never repeated to this day.

 

[Oyeboten]

S&W Model 1917 .45 ACP...1918 production...belonged to my Dad...

Starting about when I was seven, he showed me basic Revolver Safety and protocol, and, we'd go shooting/plinking with it...this was the late 1950s, early 1960s...and, after a while, he allowed me to understand that once I was of age, it'd be mine.


I handled the Revolver well...was soon a good shot with it, even though only seven or eight years old and barely average size for my age...recoil and report never bothered me.


Later...after I was grown up and left home, I felt he should hang onto it, since he did not have any other Guns...and, when he passed away, a dishonest relative stole it.


Oh well...


Good memories...good enough for me...


One of these days I'll find another S&W M1917...and...things will feel 'complete'.

 

[Deus Machina]

My first actual gun was the S&W 469 that I spent a month's spare money on when I was 22, from the decision sped up after a rash of robberies.

It now rides on my hip all day, every day. It's not accurate past 7 yards (at least not for me) but that and below, willl do what I ask it to and, to quote another user, would shoot rocks if I could get them into the magazine.

What feels like a first gun is the Ruger Mk3 22/45 my dad gave me on my 23rd birthday.

 

[jn1965]

Mine was recent, the Mossy 500 I bought two years ago. Next came the TTC and the break open Baikal, which is not really mine but my son's -- just don't tell that liberal-anti-ex-wife of mine that he has it

 

[Davek1977]

First real gun was a marlin 881 bolt action .22 that I fell in love with at the local hardware store when i was around 12. It was given to me as a Christmas present 20 years ago, and I still have it. I already was quite familiar with guns at that point, and lived in a rural area where I could shoot whenever I had the desire (something I miss in the urban environment I'm now in). I shot almost daily with that rifle, and can still shoot it like its an extension of my body. Its claimed hundreds of bunnies and probably thousands of praire dogs at this point. As of now, I still own it but don't shoot it as frequently as my nephew (10 or 11) does, as he lives on the ranch I grew up on, and has had similiar upbringing. I'm currently having a moral delimia concerning the gun.... Either I can wait a few years, and see if his dad buys him his own rifle, or I can pass along mine. I'm seriously torn, as I love the gun, and the place it holds in my heart. On the other hand, I know how special a "first" gun is, and would love to be the one to bestow that honor on my nephew. I recently gifted a Marlin Model 60 I inherited from my grandfather to my wife. It felt good giving something from someone so special To somone so special. Since he already has my permission to use the rifle, I thin k I'll retain my offical ownership of it for now. Even though I multiple .22 rifles, I just can't let go of the first firearm I ever fell in love with. To this day, I can STILL remember repeatedly dragging my Dad to the Coast to Coast store, to buy me some ammo, and to get the shopkeepers to unlock the gun case so I could fondle the various rifles til I found the one that was "just right". Thanks Dad.....not just for the gun, but for being the best Dad you could possibly be. I think the world would be a better place if every son had a father like you in the picture.

 

[CajunBass]

Ithaca M-66, "SuperSingle" 20 ga. Youth model.

A single-shot, loop lever activated, break action shotgun. Sort of looked like a lever rifle.

Got it for Christmas must have been 1966 or so. I was about 14-15 years old.

Taught to use it? I had a BB gun for years. When I screwed up with that BB gun I lost it. Once for a week, the next time for a month.

When I got the 20 ga, my mother told me "This isn't a toy. It will KILL people. Don't shoot yourself or anybody else. Now go on outside and shoot it."

That was it. Well, that and a big stack of Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, and Sports Afield magazines (Later Guns & Ammo and Shooting Times). I learned from the best. Jack O'Conner, Jim Carmichael, Elmer Keith, Jeff Cooper, Skeeter Skelton, and a dozen or so other writers whose names I don't remember now.

 

[9mm+]

Remington 410 when I was 11. I shot it frequently in my home state of Mississippi.

 

[Just One Shot]

All chrome, single shot 16 ga. shotgun.

Got it when I was 14. (1972)

My 15 year old friend (now my brother-in-law) and I were self taught by rabbit hunting on our own.

We hit the fields together even though you were supposed to be 16 at the time to hunt without adult supervision. We were never hassled by the game wardens as long as we had a valid hunting license displayed.

I didn't receive any formal training until 1976 when I joined the Army.

 

[Black Knight]

The first handgun I owned my Dad helped me get since I was too young. He bought it then I bought it from him later. It was a 6" Colt Python. The first gun I bought when I became old enough was a 4" S&W Model 28-2 Highway Patrolman. I still have both after 30 and 27 years respectively.

 

[dieselkanic]

870 shotgun first, then a Marlin 60 .22, then a Winchester 70 .270, and then a Redhawk .41 mag. Hunter safety course and hunting with my brother taught me the basics. Reading and practice and basic training taught me what I know today.

 

[blazerking78]

My first gun was my Remington 7600 in .270. I bought it on the "layaway" plan when I was 15/16 and my dad put it in his name to get it out for me. It took me from spring to early fall to get it paid for mowing lawns and what not. I barely had time to get it sighted in before hunting season started. I still have it and it is my favourite rifle. I take it to the range more then any of my AR's, pistols or shot guns. Its my go to rifle for almost every thing.

 

[dev_null]

Grew up in an anti house, not even cap guns for a long time. Took a lot of persuading to get a BB gun. Then I lived in places where it wasn't practical (e.g. Chicago), and besides I was a broke student. First real firearm was years later, an Erma/Excam .22 semiauto pistol.

 

[threehorse]

Mine was a Remington Nylon 66 .22 that I got for Christmas when I was 10. I haven't shot it in a few years, but I still have it.

 

[oldgold]

1956 at the old age of 11. I bought the .22 rifle and 1/2 box of shells from an old man on my paper route for $9. He insisted dad stop by before he would give it to me. That's all dad did was stop and say it was O.K. I'd been hunting since I was six. Safety was never an option. Took it home on my bike.

Savage 1917 full stock and I still have it and shoot regularly. Still one of the most accurate .22' I've ever owned.

Times sure were different.

 

[3pairs12]

Got mine Christmas morning I was 8 years old. It was an H&R .410. I still have it well sort of, my daughter thinks it's hers. Last year she shot her first dove with it.

 

[P.B.Walsh]

My first was a NEF .410 single shot that my grandfather gave me when I was seven or eight for shooting snakes when we went fishing, I love that gun to death.

 

[Tommygunn]

Winchester 1894 .30-30 lever action rifle.
I still have it.

 

[Hokkmike]

Model 94 Winchester in .32 Special. Bought it for about $100. Used it for deer.

 

[tigeroldlone]

A old 12 ga that my firends call the mule becuase of how heavy it is. I was 24 and found it at a sale here in town. As for learning to shoot Imy dad told me what to do and I went from there.