The first gun you shot?

[Claddagh]

I was about five or six when I got to shoot my first "real" gun. My family used to visit Santa Cruz, CA fairly often. We lived in Oakland and had friends and relatives living down there.

At the time, there was a large Penny Arcade and "Midway" located on a pier there. Included in the mix was a shooting gallery. I was fascinated by it, to say the least!

One momentous day, my father and my Uncle Bill finally let me fire a few rounds from one of the well-worn Winchester 1890/M-62 .22 pumps there. They laid-out The Rules for me, and patiently explained how the action worked and how to align the sights. I'll never forget the thrill of accomplishment I experienced when my second shot shattered that white clay pipe!

I've been a .22 Rimfire Junky ever since. I never managed to pick up a "real" Winchester M-62 of my own, but there've been two of the little Rossi copies in my safe for nearly twenty years now. My several nephews and nieces have enjoyed shooting them nearly as much as I have. They're most all teenagers now, but those old pump .22's are still the ones they ask for when they come to visit and we go out to the club!

 

[Bunnykid68]

Savage .22/.410

 

[Mr. Gadsden]

I was 8 years old and my uncle threw a 5 gallon bucket a few yards away. He pulled a Glock 17 from it's holster. He told my to just squeeze the trigger and hit the bucket. It was a big boom. I didn't hit the bucket.

 

[Jeepcrazed]

The first gun I shot? My Ruger .22, just a couple of weeks ago. Decided 40 years was long enough to wait....excited for a training class this weekend and already considering my next purchase(s).

 

[Pyroponce]

Glock 19!

 

[Oliver]

My dad's Colt Officer's model 1911.

 

[magic man]

Browning Hi-Power

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Daisy

Air rifle. Didn't shoot anyone's eye out.

 

[mjones]

stevens browning 20 gauge pump aka the meat grinder

 

[stilllearning09]

My Dad's Ruger Mark I. I have it now and it is one of my favorites to shoot.

 

[elpenguin0717]

smith and wesson model 60 when i was 12 almost hit myself in the mouth lol

 

[davek22]

Mine was a Stevens Crackshot when I was 5 or 6 years old. My grandpa and my dad had a lot of old guns when I was growing up and I learned how to use them early on. My grandpa would give me 4 or 5 22 shorts, and watch me from the window, as he was pretty well laid up. I used to shoot tin cans, and then one day I shoy a grape off of one of the cans. Lucky, I'm sure, but I will never forget it!

 

[davek22]

The first gun I ever bought was a Remington 514 .22 ss rifle. I was 12 or 13. I walked down the street from my dads tv shop, crossed highway 36, and walked into the hardware store by myself. I laid down something like $23.00,(for a brand new gun, I know I am telling my age) and walked out with my prize. That gun was my constant companion. When I had kids, my middle son used it coon hunting and running a trapline. It took a terrible beating. I still have the gun, I am working on restoring it. I take my grandkids out and let them shoot it. Of all the guns I own, this is the one I cherish the most. It is still deadly accurate. I really enjoy the fact that I grew up in the times that I did. I used to go to the local hardware and buy my on 22's, of course in a town of 500, evrybody knew you.

 

[csmith]

For me it was an old stevens pump 22 short that my best buddies dad took us out and let us shoot when we were about 5. I was addicted from that day on which wasn't easy being from a non gun owning family. Bought my first gun of my own at 13. A single shot 20 gauge NEF from wally world.

 

[Suprtek]

Mines a common classic. Ruger Single Six. I loved it then, and I still love it today because Dad eventually gave it to me. It gets fired at every range trip.

 

[fullauto 45]

I think I was 5. It was my grandfathers Wards Texas Ranger single shot 12 ga. with the barrel cut down to 28". That was 45 years ago. I still have that gun today and it is one of the best shooting 12's around. I would put it up with just about any gun out there.

 

[Cat-Herder]

My grandpa's H&R Sportsman was my first. He set up a steel trap in the basement and we'd shoot off a bench. I guess I was around 5 or so. I have that gun now, RIP Grandpa!

 

[A5guy]

Stevens 311 double 20. I was 8. I'm still addicted to the smell of a freshly spent shotgun shell.

 

[exelh]

20 ga mossberg bolt action. shot my first deer with it when I was 11

 

[Jake46184]

A Mossberg .410 shotgun. I was 8 years old and the gun was the one my dad liked to use squirrel hunting. A half a century later, it's the gun I use to squirrel hunt. From a $$ standpoint, it's probably the least-expensive of the guns I own. In an emergency, however, if I could only save one, the .410 would be going with me.