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

[42!]

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

Had one of those as a long term loan when I was a kid, I wanted to shoot it at the club but it had sat a long time and was bound solid. Took me weeks of cleaning and lubing to get it functional again, very fun to shoot. I think I was 12 0r 13.

But first time shooting, I think 10. I didn't grow up in a gun family. Divorced mom was looking for a way to get rid of me during the summer and enrolled me in a shooting camp thing at the local club. I bet she regrets that now.

 

[Fixxah]

I was 13 or 14 (?) and it was .22 bolt rifles in the NRA rifle club at the police station range in the basement.

 

[CMEBoston]

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

My father refinished the stock a while back when o was in my 20s and out partying

 

[Mbous]

Probably 13 with a .22 taking out a woodchuck that was decimating the garden in the backyard. Before that all I had ever shot was single shot pellet guns starting at maybe 8 years old. The pellet gun was my grandfather's so probably from the mid 50s to early 60's since he died in early 1965. Thing was half held together by duct tape. I remember going with my dad to KMart to buy pellets for it. Spent many an afternoon learning to shoot iron sights and plinking soda cans in the back yard as a little kid.

 

[AmeriKHAN]

2008 at Southborough R&G. Remington 1100 - 12 Gauge. I was 15. Shot on the junior trap team. Mum took this picture of me as I was walking up to the line for the first time. I think that's Bob Mazakis in the background. God I wish I still had that much hair...

 

[1sern]

Ruger Security Six .38 spl , I hit what I aimed for

Oh, not sure 6-8, probably 8. Yeah, more than likely 8.

 

[AmeriKHAN]

My dad took me to the Manchester firing line. First time firing a handgun - a Glock 20, AR15, and a M1928A1 Thompson. I was a broody f***.

 

[1sern]

My dad took me to the Manchester firing line. First time firing a handgun - a Glock 20, AR15, and a M1928A1 Thompson. I was a broody f***.

Yeah, no kidding, you looked like you were miserable. I had a blast as a little kid shooting for the first time, friends' Dad, local cop, took us out to a farm off route 2. My Dad didn't even let me shoot the .22 up in Ipswich, where my brother got to. I was psyched and I outshot my friends with their dad's gun. I loved it.

 

[fishgutzy]

18. USAF Basic training. Modified M16 for 22LR. Long before there were production versions like the M&P15-22.

 

[dezignguy]

Wait …you guys actually shoot guns ?

 

[fencer]

Dad started me and my twin brother with a Daisy BB gun in the back yard when we were 6. Would shoot it in the basement in the winter into a bb trap target.
Bought us a Winchester 9422 when we were 8, and by then he had taught us all about respiratory pause and smooth trigger pull. That gun was a lot of fun and my brother still has it.
First center fire rifle was Dad's Springfield 1903. First pistol was his Colt 1911 both when I was 11

 

[42!]

Wait …you guys actually shoot guns ?

Shhh, it's a secret. This is really a photography forum.

 

[Agnotology]

Unknown .50 cal muzzle loader. Flinched so hard i shot the dirt 20 feet in front of the target 25 yards away.

Paintball gun at 11.

I got a cross man 760p at 12.

 

[tuna]

BB gun when I was 8
.22 Single shot when I was 9
20 gauge H&R shotgun at 11

 

[JDL]

20 US Army

 

[NHCraigT]

1976 or so, I think I was about 10. I shot a .22 rifle.

I grew up in Billerica (Pinehurst end).
Things were obviously very different back then.
Back in the day, there were lots of woods, with dirt backroads, and sand pits = everywhere.

My neighbor-buddy and his dad (and friends) would go for a walk out in the woods with their 12g's & .22's. I went along one time, and they let me do some "can" shooting at one location of some sand pits. I think it was a Saturday afternoon in the summer.
This was not unusual as you would find all kinds of used shells and casings along the dirt roads and sandpit areas = from other locals doing the same thing.

 

[JenkkiMike]

I found my uncle's old BB gun buried in a closet at my grandparents' house when I was 8 or 9 years old and was given free rein with it without so much as a warning on safety. Thanks to growing up in anti-gun Mass and my family being oddly pro-gun despite nobody really owning or shooting them, I didn't shoot a real gun until I was 16 as an exchange student in Finland. Boys and girls were split up for gym class and our gym teacher took all us boys to the woods where we shot trap and 22 rifles.

I've let me 5 and 7 year old sons shoot a Red Ryder BB gun in our yard under my supervision. I'm not in any rush to get them shooting real guns yet but eventually they've each got a nice AK74 and a ton of 7n6 waiting for them when they are young men and ready.

 

[Asaltweapon]

Definitely single digit age at my grandmothers house in Braintree right at 102 Common St in the backyard.
Both a BB gun and a .22.
I have that 22 rifle in my safe along with her 12 gauge.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Real gun????

Let's see. 1998. So I was. . . . 29? A great client of mine took me out shooting. I got my license soon after.

 

[akdov823]

9ish, maybe 10, my uncles 30-06 at deer camp in vt. I don't suggest it as an introductory firearm

 

[jasonj84]

6 years old. Colt Peacekeeper .22 in Idaho desert.

 

[arsco]

13 or so, YMCA camp somewhere in NH. 22 bolt rifle with a thumb hole stock. I can still remember how that gun felt in my hands. Wish I knew what it was

 

[Blackmore]

Some unknown .22 bolt rifle at Scout camp so about 12.

 

[chris_1001]

Wait …you guys actually shoot guns ?

Shhh, it's a secret. This is really a photography forum.

I'm just here for the shit posting! Guns are icky...

 

[BrunoN]

I was lucky as I had an uncle with very good taste.
First outing was at 15 with my dad's beretta 96 to start. Then my uncles stuff, colt 1911, yugo m92 in x39, xm177, pair of fal's, a 5.45 ak of some type can't remember, a 91/30 and a desert eagle in .44 to end the day.
Probably my favorite childhood memory. Even more meaningful as my uncle has since passed.
Some pictures from that day.

My uncle, wouldnt into guns if it wasnt for him. That day started it all.

 

[PDB]

Damn, I got a late start. For me it was in my mid 40's with some flavor of Ruger Mark. A Mk II, Mk III, or 22/45.

 

[Flint]

Probably 10-12 ish, I think it was with the single shot 22 my father was given as a kid. Only shot randomly a handful of times with my father or at Scout camp until I got into firearms myself.

The firearm that made a big impression was a security six with 38's and a 357 mag as the last round.

 

[whatluck]

8 years old, Remington 870 in .410 shooting at pumpkins at my cousins house in Exeter.

 

[garandman]

10. Went to go play at my best friends house one Saturday morning: they had a barn and 40 acres so it was a lot of fun.

Before my dad came to pick me up, his dad trotted out his vet bring-back M1 Carbine, set a target up, and let us each plink a half dozen rounds at it.

All our dads were WWII vets, no big deal.

My buddy still has the gun, has none of the late war or postwar upgrades. Lives in Maine.

 

[whacko]

Scouts single shot 22 at about 10 years old.

Funny story about scouts and rifles. There was a merit badge counselor that did rifle instruction at a local gun club one Saturday each month. This was mid 1980s. We wore our uniforms and all that and it was an official scout event. We would shoot the single shot 22s for an hour......and then when we were done with the instruction the guy would take his scout uniform shirt off.....and announce......ok the official scouting merit badge training is over......who wants to shoot a real rifle. We'd take our uniforms off and he'd let us shoot a whole bunch of different mil surps....m1 garand m1 carbine 1903 Springfield etc. I loved that guy. Wish I could remember his name.