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

[Toast]

I was 5 or 6, and it was a Winchester 1906 .22LR, made in 1913. It was my uncle's before it was my dad's.

In fact, it was this one:



In all fairness, my Daisy BB rifle may have beat this by a few minutes, but not by many, and I'm not sure I'd call it a "gun".

 

[pewpewpew]

29 years old, S&W 617
Nothing fancy, but I would like to get one someday

 

[kalash]

BB and airsoft guns around 4-5yo I think. Real firearm not until 19-20.

Already bought a Red Ryder for my 3yo, just need to wait a couple of years until he's ready.

 

[BarnBuilder]

I was 6 years old (1965) it was my Dads "Browning Humpback"

It was at Old Colony Sportmans Assoc. Pembroke Mass. It was on the skeet field station 7 low house outgoing, I know I didn't hit it ... I didn't care
However from that moment I was hooked for life.

Thanks Dad

 

[grizquad]

Old pump .22 at a county fair I was 11 or 12 and at that time didn't even need a parent.

 

[CJMAC]

I was 8 or 9. My fathers s&w chiefs special at the old Revere Police station. There was a gun range in basement.

 

[FalArAk]

357 wheel gun was my first real gun around 13.. then a shotgun at a local skeet competition(which I won) around 15..

Then an M16 at 17 right before I reported to Ft Benning School for Wayward Boys. My mom knew a CHP officer who was Infantry and had an M16, so he took me to the range to familiarize myself with it about 2 weeks before I reported to MEPS.

 

[Palladin]

8yo ...maybe 10...Dad was instructing at the BPD Long Island range, he'd take me once or twice a summer...light off confiscated fireworks, etc. Shot a Springfield Mod 15 single shot 22LR.....which I still have

 

[CMEBoston]

8-9 I had a JC Higgins single shot pull to cock bolt .22 and a winchester lever .22
Also had various crossman and daisy BB guns

Still have the JC Higgins .22 I’ll dig it out later

 

[ddeck]

I was 8 or 9. My dad made a bullet trap for us to shoot into at 30 yards.

We used his nylon 66. He bought that gun in the early 1960’s when he was 11 or 12. He went to the gun store, paid the money and walked out with it.

 

[alpineboard]

6 years old , shot a German Luger pistol at Angletree.

 

[yogi]

I had a real, heavy metal six shooter cap gun that would be banned today…. I was a badass with those at 6 yrs old….it was so loud I count it as the first gun

 

[chris_1001]

7 y/o, BB gun at some camp type thing. At 8 y/o my dad bought me one and we’d shoot it in the basement after dinner some nights.

Don’t remember when I shot my first .22 (a different camp) But I was under 15 as I was shooting at the old South Natick JR rifle club and was made to get my (lifetime) FID (which I still have) to continue to shoot there.

As an aside. My uncle gifted me an Arisaka when I was born. Got to play with it as a kid. Never. Actually shot it. Sold it (dumb 19 year old ) and eventually replaced it after years of looking. Kept the original bayonet and still have it.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Don't know how old when started with a .22 rifle, but I was at Creekside Gun Shop in East Bloomfield, NY when I shot a handgun for the first time. Creekside closed in 2000 (looks like someone picked up the name) and was owned by a couple of Turnbull's whose spawn was Doug. Yes, THAT Turnbull worked in the shop.

I was 16 and shooting an old Crossman .22 CO2 pistol at the free range behind the shop having driven their alone. Someone expressed interest in the air pistol and asked if he could try it. Of course I said yes, and he handed me a Charter Arms 38 snubbie and a box of ammo. Never touched a handgun before in my life, but I knew the basic safety rules so I didn't make a fool out of myself .... and no 16 year old is going to say "gee, I've never shot a handgun before, how does this work?". It was a great day.

 

[Dench]

M16A2. 19 years old.

 

[Taipan01]

Around 4 or 5 with a Browning SA22 in the sand pits with my father who used a Garand M-1 mostly. Started my kids off at the same age with a cricket and shortly after with a 10/22 Sporter.

 

[mothybee]

8 brother 22 in gravel pit

 

[Randy Lahey]

6 and it was my Dad's .410 over under then a Mini-14.

 

[Picton]

M16A1 in the basement shooting range under the University gym. ROTC. So I'd have been 18.

Before that, it'd have been either this


or this

 

[wmass]

I was 8 with my dad’s old Sears 12ga

 

[MisterHappy]

Archaeologists Accidentally Discovered the Oldest Gun Ever Found in America

“I was in shock.”

www.popularmechanics.com

Yeah, it was a while ago.


Actually, I don't remember, not due to any incipient senility, but because I was so young.

It was a "real" one, though. I got a BB gun, later.

 

[alan226]

Single shot .22 rifle at Camp Wakanda in 1968. Had to bring an extra .25 cents that day for ammo

I think I was 9 or 10

 

[massgun]

I was 13 and it was a Remington 511P that my father obtained from the parish drum & bugle corp. He was a drum instructor and general equipment person when he was offered three of these that evidently, way back when, used to be used by the color guard for practice. They were a bit rough, but he cleaned them up, kept 1 and gave the other 2 to two of his brothers boys. I still have and shoot this, now with a scope, and enjoy every outing with it.

I abandoned shooting a few years later due to my new interests of cars, music and girls and did not get back into it until 1987 when I joined a club along with my neighbor and bought my first pistol, a Ruger MK2 pistol in stainless. It was my bullseye pistol and eventually wore an Adco Ultradot. I also still have and shoot that as well. Oh, the first "gun" was a BB rifle and I was maybe 8, can't remember exactly which one, but was no doubt a "Daisy".

 

[deerdad]

I would say 10 or 11. I know I was still in elementary school. My grandfathers 22 revolver and 22 single shot rifle with a rough home made stock. This was in the back yard during the mid 70s and a lot of bricks of ammo. Those two are in my possession and will be in my daughters possession when I pass. We've already talked about this and she knows which ones to hang on to for sentimental reasons and what to sell. Funny thing is, she has known for a long time which ones were special because they're a connection to past family members.

 

[KBCraig]

3 years old, and it was a Mossberg Model 42M(c).

It's in my safe.

 

[Sauer Grapes]

BB gun at about 11 or 12, Marlin 30.06 at 15.

 

[Palladin]

8-9 I had a JC Higgins single shot pull to cock bolt .22 and a winchester lever .22
Also had various crossman and daisy BB guns

Still have the JC Higgins .22 I’ll dig it out later

Same as the Springfield i have...pull to cock

 

[bigbravehog]

I was 6yo at my uncle's in Montreal. He had a .22 revolver and set up a range in his backyard.
Good times...

 

[Len-2A Training]

IIRC, 13 yo in Boy Scout Camp at Camp Child in Plymouth, MA?

We shot DCM single-shot .22LR at targets and .22 shotshells at clay birds (hand-held trap thrower).

 

[Woodstock]

I was 7 when I was taught firearm safety and how to fire an 1890 Winchester .22 gallery rifle in the basement of my great-uncle's place in New Jersey. The happiest car ride of my young life was the drive home to MA with that Winchester on board. I still have it.