Did you start out on a .22lr?

[Sparks1957]

The first rifle I ever fired, at the age of 5, was an old Montgomery Ward single-shot bolt .22 that belonged to my oldest brother. By the time I was 10 or so, I had saved enough $ for a Sears lever .22... had a lot of fun with that.

My first handgun (at 14-15) was a German-made single action .22 revolver that came with a .22 magnum cylinder as well, a Colt knock-off.

So, yes.... .22s were a fundamental part of my firearms training. I'm not sure anyone should learn on anything bigger.

 

[PT-92]

Indeed I did. However, I remember my Dad (was a Cop) taking me out when I was eight years old in some rural area and the first gun I ever fired (you never forget your first time) was a Marlin .22lr followed by shots fired from his service .38 S&W revolver (yes it was that long ago). I think about that day every so often.

-Cheers

 

[vytoland]

the first fire arms i shot were a .357 magnum and a m1 carbine.

 

[Jim243]

Yes, this was my first.

Jim

 

[MidwestRookie]

Nope, my Beretta 92 was the first gun I ever shot.

I didn't shoot a .22 for almost 5-6 months after I started shooting last year. I like shooting the .22, but something about no recoil bothers me I guess. Just doesn't seem quite as fun.

Now, if I could have a silenced .22 rifle, I'd be one hell of a bigger fan of .22 than I currently am..

 

[cbuck]

i didnt own a handgun until after i got my ccw about 6 months ago and only have very limited experience shooting my grandfathers s&w 10 that he still has from when he was a police officer. after i got my ccw i bought my citadel 1911 followed by a heritage 22 convertible. i trust my life to my 1911 and carry it every day but my heritage is still extremely cheap to shoot and my favorite by far out of all my guns right now

 

[AlanS]

I said 'other' myself. When I was a Boy Scout I shot .22s a couple of times, but when I actually got into shooting the first handgun I used was a .45 Springfield 1911. After deciding it was more gun than I was comfortable with at the time, I bought a Colt Frontier Scout .22lr, which I still have and love to shoot with.

 

[MrBorland]

I'm a bit late to the party, but put me down for a "yes".

I was cleaning my reloading area today, and pulled a bunch of boxes containing .22 brass. When I first started shooting (not too long ago), I kept most of my .22 brass for the first 1.5 - 2 years (I recall thinking I'd take it to the scrapyard one day). For my 1st year and a half of shooting, I shot .22LR exclusively (rifle initially; then I discovered the revolver), focusing only on sight picture and trigger control. So, how much did I shoot that 1st 2 years? By weight, it comes out to about 35k rounds.

Did it pay off? Yep. Eventually I started shooting competitively, and now, in my 2nd year of competition, I took 3rd Master at the IDPA World Championships last month in Florida. And that .22LR revolver? I still like it a bunch. This was shot last week: