How old when you first shot a gun and what was it?

[Rockrivr1]

As the topic says. How old were you when you shot your first gun and what was it?

My first was my Dad’s Savage 99 in 300 Savage. I believe I was 14ish and I just remember the recoil thinking that was way cool and couldn’t wait to do it again. Good memories. I could be wrong but I believe I hit the target somewhere. lol

 

[240Geezer]

10 for pellet guns.
13 for .22s
16 for 38 spcl revolver

 

[VTski4x4]

14 ruger 10/22
16 Colt 1911 .45 ACP
18 first "real" range day - Sig P229

 

[weekendracer]

8 or a little younger, .22 in the woods not on a range.

Friend's dad gave us a couple shotguns, some clays, and a couple boxes of shells when we were 16ish. Went out alone in the woods, somehow survived.

Didn't shoot heavier rifles until 15/16. Got a 30/30 for Christmas when I was around that age.

 

[Buck F]

8 or 9, .22 single shot bolt action rifle on my uncle's frozen pond.

 

[IPSC_DRL]

I was 10 and my uncle taught my cousin and myself basic firearm safety and marksmanship in his back yard in Milford. He had a couple of single-shot 22 rifles that we would use to shoot beer cans on the hill and compete for sodas. Misco Springs beverage company in Mendon MA (Long before you lived in Mendon) made wonderful soda and I can still envision their glass bottles lined up in their wooden crates. I usually won the soda and when I went off to Boy Scout camp @ Buck Hill reservation, I was the top shot in the camp that week.

Great memories.

 

[Sweeney]

6 or 7 years old. Winchester '94 in 32 Win Spl. It belonged to a next door neighbor and I got to shoot it at his camp in 1970-71. I own the rifle now.

 

[fred6052000]

12 years old. AK-47

 

[DarthRevan]

Some random black power at scout camp at 15, I think.
First handgun was a Beretta 92 or 1911 E-Series when I was 22. Family wasn’t into firearms. Met a dude playing cards who offered to take me to Danvers.

 

[badshot101]

.22 in boy scout camp. Think I was 12 or 13

 

[HARRYM]

BB guns 8 or 9. H&R topper 20 gauge around age 10.

 

[jamison55]

Probably 14 or 15? My parents were holding a few guns for a friend who was moving. We lived on a small farm in FL at the time, and they kept them in their closet. I was able to buy a box of 22s from WalMart and had some fun with a rifle while they weren’t there. Don’t remember the model, but it was a semi auto. On my 18th birthday, I bought one of my own.

The friend had also left a Ruger Security Six with them. I’d come across a single round of .38 somewhere and snuck the pistol into the woods. Firing that without earpro was a rude awakening!

 

[Brucewillis4316]

410 shotgun-about 11years old.

 

[Nightshift]

.22 in boy scout camp. Think I was 12 or 13

Same
Almost 50 years ago
5 rounds at a time (I think) in a block of wood

 

[Golddiggie]

Might have been eight when I shot my first firearm, a 22 pump rifle. After that a Ruger MkII (IIRC) then a 1911. All before I was ten. Pretty sure the Colt Python was in that mix too.

 

[Drix]

Same
Almost 50 years ago
5 rounds at a time (I think) in a block of wood

Same, 12 or so as a scout. Definitely a .22, no mag, we had 5 rounds handed to us sticking out of a wooden block.

I couldn't tell ya what gun it was, probably an old Ruger or Remington.

 

[quinnjalan]

I was 11 with my dad 12 gauge on Hare Island Lough Ree Ireland. We were out on the rivers Shannon fishing as we did most Sunday when we were not saving hay, turning turf or chasing cattle that broke loose. That day Jimmy (my dad) brought the gun, he normally didn’t but that day he did. We fished for a long while then pulled up on Hare Island. My brother Mick and I ran around and tossed rocks in the lake and we ate chicken sandwiches and drank coke.

After lunch Jimmy suggested shooting our empty soda cans. Of course we were delighted as you never touched the shot gun with Jimmy saying so. I was up first. Jimmy walked me through it but I watched him and other men for years so I was ready to go.

The can was about five yard off sitting on a rock at the lake edge and he stood about five feet behind me. I shouldered the gun before but this time was different, the excitement grew within me. I knew it was going to kick but carried on as best I could. I remember trying to get line up the can, front sight and rear markings, that gun was heavy for an 11 year old. All the while he was talking me through the shot. When I felt ready I flipped the safety, steadily myself as best I could, closed my eyes and pulled the trigger.

I ended up passing my father with the kick but he grabbed the gun on the way by. I was delighted that the can moved so clearly I hit it. Upon closer inspection I only grazed the top, but that’s all the bragging rights I needed. I brought that can to school the following day and told my entire class. I was black and blue for a month but couldn’t care less.

I remember it like it was yesterday and would give anything to be back there again with my dad, just one more time.

 

[June4th]

I was 23, fresh off the boat in my first summer break from grad school. I worked as a traveling salesman and my territory that summer was in the Ozark’s in NW Arkansas.

I pulled up a long winding driveway to find an unkempt looking man slouching on a chair with a bunch of empty beer cans next to him, a bolt action rifle leaned against the chair. I opened with my greetings despite he didn’t quite look like a prospect for what I was selling, and he quicker confirmed my hunch. Then the conversation went like this. I’ll refer him as Redneck, only as a term of endearment:

Redneck: You don’t look like from here, where you from?
Me: I grew up in China and now I’m a grad student doing this summer thing.
Redneck: I was a mechanic in the airfield force in ‘Nam. Never shot anybody, but if my Lt. told me to shoot someone, damn right I would. Hey, you shot any guns before?
Me: No.

He went in the house and came back with a Chinese SKS, showed me the operation, and asked me to shoot at trees about 100 yards out. I fired a few shots. It was definitely fun.

 

[Nightshift]

Same, 12 or so as a scout. Definitely a .22, no mag, we had 5 rounds handed to us sticking out of a wooden block.

I couldn't tell ya what gun it was, probably an old Ruger or Remington.

I can remember the rangemaster threatening us if we pushed the empties too hard back into the wood. Crusty bastard!

 

[radioman]

I was 9

Stevens Springfield .22 semi automatic Clickety Clack

And I still own the very gun. It’s so old it has no serial number.

 

[CRSIII]

Ha! I don’t remember.

 

[Rockrivr1]

As the topic says. How old were you when you shot your first gun and what was it?

My first was my Dad’s Savage 99 in 300 Savage. I believe I was 14ish and I just remember the recoil thinking that was way cool and couldn’t wait to do it again. Good memories. I could be wrong but I believe I hit the target somewhere. lol

You know I completely spaced on the BB Gun. I didn’t count it but it is a gun so yep. I got a pump Crossman at 8 and we had a ball with that. Friend got one with a co2 cartridge but that emptied quick and was expensive.

 

[Daddy Mac]

13 years old. Marlin model 60. Bottles and cans.

 

[Wickedcoolname]

Daisy BB gun when I was 10.
Winchester 22LR when I was 11.
Mossberg 12 guage when I was 15.

 

[Parker Schreiber]

11 at Boy Scout Camp. Bolt action .22.

 

[Soundwave]

Probably about 8. My dad had an old pump Daisy pellet gun and a tube magazine semi-22. The coolest was his tranquilizer dart gun. I would help him sight that in on burlap sack target so you could see where the syringe stuck. It used .22 blanks to propel the syringe.

 

[LTCRN]

Pellet / BB - around age 5 or 6 with my Uncle and Dad present. My older cousin and I were shooting at a 55 gallon drum that was used to burn brush.
Real - around age 30 with my Dad, Colt .38 Special Detective snub and Winchester 30 / 30 lever action --- Oh my shoulder, even after being warned in advance! I learned quickly while he was laughing! I didn't want to touch firearms after that range day for a long time, over a decade! Not the best toys to start and learn with! The Colt, I still have. The 30 /30 was eventually sold and hopefully still being enjoyed by a member on this forum.

 

[RumRunner]

Around 10 y/o, .22 bolt out plinking in the woods with friends

 

[EMTDAD]

since you all are including bb guns... I shot water pistols at about 4 or 5..

first firearm.. about 17 as a camp counselor in Ipswich. we (non-mafia) didn't have guns in Eastie when I was a kid.

 

[Win]

Day camp. I was maybe 8 or 9? It was child's single shot 22.