How did you get introduced to firearms?

YMCA camp in the mountains of Colorado. Single shot 22's, RO got mad at me for shooting the clothespins off the wire.:rolleyes:

Neither Mom or my stepfather were gun types, but weren't anti either. I found out much later in my 30's that Dad (paternal) was a big advocate of firearms...so it must have been genetic.
 
My gun mentor was the uncle of one of my best friends ! Art was Marine veteran that I met at age 10 (1962) . I was a natural rifleman from the get go and Art was proud of how well he had taught me to shoot . We used to go to .22 turkey shoots all around the state , and kick butt . A lot of grown men , many of them WWII vets did not appreciate how well I did with Art's 52 Winchester . Once they got to know me , and the fact that my dad was a decorated Marine vet (that never again touched a rifle of any kind) we were cool , and much fun was had . My dad did buy me a poor mans Model 52 (Mod 75) that shot almost as good as Art's 52 . The lord blessed me with 20-15 vision and that had much to do with shooting iron sighted .22s well . 52 years later I've still got the bug . The games have changed over the years , from shotguns to high powered rifles to metalic silloetts (sp) with revolvers !
I managed to qualify Expert with every weapon I touched in the Army !
 
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My father bought a Ruger Single Six to shoot himself and teach me when I was 11 or 12. The next year he bought me a Glenfield (Marlin) 25, which I still have and shoot today. I later started buying firearms for myself while in the Marines.
 
Yup, being born set the pattern. Raised on the farm with guns, hunters, and shooters. Got a Grandson who's the same way. He carries at least one toy gun most of the time. Other Grandson lives in town ona 50'x100' lot so he only gets to play with guns while at my house but they don't cool off much here.
I've lived on the farm all my life and carry a firearm most of my waking hours. Have my own range and shoot what,when, and how I want. Wouldn't live anywhere I couldn't do that.
 
Dad never owned a gun. I loved westerns, getting hooked from the serials and movies at the theaters. That was Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and Hopalong Cassidy days. I used to play cowboys almost every day with kids in the neighborhood.

My brother, who was 7 years older, passed down his Red Ryder and after wearing that out, I bought a Daisy pump gun, wore it out, bought another and wore that one out also. By that time, my brother bought a Rem 514, a cheap single shot. When he went to college, I wore that one out also.

My B-I-L introduced me to handgun shooting. He had a cheap Sheridan Knockabout single-shot break-open pistol and one day (about 1957, at age 13) he let me shoot it at a can on a fencepost. I used it when he was away in the Air Force. After his passing a few years ago, I ended up with the piece, but have yet to fire it. I just keep it for the memory of firing a handgun for the first time.

I started buying guns with money earned working for my dad's business and kept trading about 5 times a year through high school, never owning more than a couple of guns, but shooting thousands of rounds a month.

In my 20s, I got into competitive handgun shooting, skeet shooting, and turkey shoots. I did okay and have been shooting both for fun and competitively in several venues ever since. I also learned to tune rifles and handguns and had a (hobby) gun repair/accurizing business for years.
 
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I had a Daisy pump BB gun as a kid and then a Crossman air rifles and C)2 pistol in junior high (which I still have today) but it really started when I met my girlfriend (future wife) in high school and her dad had a modest collection. After getting married, his collection started to grow and I became more interested. I went out shooting with him once after having only shot air rifles and .22's. He brought with a 2nd generation 9mm S&W and S&W .357 magnum revolver. That set the hook and it was all over. I loved the 9mm auto and I'll never forget shooting that .357 magnum .... wow!

So now I have my own 3rd gen S&W 5906 and I'm hoping some day he'll pass down 1 of his .357 magnum revolvers to me.
btw - My favorite rifle (and one of my 2 favorite guns) - it's still the first one I bought, a Marlin bolt action .22 Magnum rifle.
 
My father is/was a hunter and a reservist so I grew up around rifles but it was a friend of my fathers who gave me my first gun, a BB bolt gun that I had to cycle with all my 7 (or so) year old might, we were at a dinner at the friends house and I reckon the grownups thought we were being obnoxious so he put me outside with the rifle, empty beer cans and a small box of pellets. they watched me for a while then figured I could handle it.

Still have the rifle, been meaning to renovate it, my brother somehow jammed it up when he inherited it.
 
TV and my Grandfather,,,

I got my first "firearm" when I was 4 years old,,,
It was a Davy Crocket set with a belt, pouch, knife, and "Old Betsy"

First you rammed a cork ball down the barrel
Then you put a cap under the frizzen,,,
The rifle had a real "touch hole",,,
The cap propelled the ball.

You had to tear one cap off of a normal roll of caps,,,
I had that gun for many years as a young kid,,,
Two caps would sometimes increase power,,,
But usually it just made some dud noise.

When Greenie Stick-um Caps came out they worked very well.

Just before I started the first grade I stayed with my Grannie and Papa,,,
Papa always wore a denim jacket with his "Owl Head" in the pocket,,,
I think it was probably an Iver Johnson chambered for .38 Special.

We were living out in the boonies of Upper Peninsula Michigan at the time,,,
I have a very clear memory of Papa letting me shoot it three times,,,
Between that experience and cowboy shows on the television,,,
I was a confirmed gun nut by the time I was 5 years old.

When we moved onto Drummond Island my father bought me a Daisy,,,
I was a very avid jackalope hunter until Mom finally clued me in,,,
Between my Father, Grandfather, uncles, and great uncles,,,
I got told a lot of great B-S stories the next few years.

I got my first rifle at a farm auction in the summer between 5th and 6th grade,,,
It was a Winchester Model 1898(?) pump chambered for .22 short only,,,
The magazine rod was missing so for me it was a single shot,,,
I was 9 years old and it cost me $5.00 (5 weeks allowance).

After that the gun-nuttery just grew and grew as meager finances allowed,,,
But it's only in these more recent years that I've been able to truly indulge myself.

Aarond

P.S. I really enjoyed reading these posts,,,
A few would be magazine worthy if fleshed out a bit.

.
 
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My first time shooting a firearm is kinda burned into my mind, along with the lessons learned.

I was set to shot his hunting rifle but was too quick and tried to grab it while he was talking, the only time he ever hit me (thunk my mum spanked me as smallish child but nothing else), a quick slap on my face while he took the rifle with the other hand. I guess the lesson stuck because I still aks for permission close to 20 years later, and always check for go ahead to fire if there is a range guy or something.

after the smack he went over safety, how it worked and I don't think I ever listened so good.
 
My Grandfather took me out to a farm and taught me how to handle and shoot a pellet rifle when I was 5 or 6. A year or two later we went back and he moved me up to a single shot 22 rifle.
After that I was on my own.
I spent countless hous and boxes of 22 ammo at Boy Scout Summer Camp at the rifle range. Just loved range time.
That is how I got started 50 or 51 years ago.
 
Born in to it. Family of hunters and gun collectors all with military service ranging from 4 to 35 years all but one combat types. The one non combat was involved with small arms development at Frankford Arsenal.
 
I got into firearms at basic training. Never fired a gun before and really had no interest in it as a hobby. The first time I pulled the trigger on that M16A2 I was hooked. The first weekend after i got to my duty station I bought my first gun, an older Taurus .38. The gun was ugly and didn't shoot very well but I wish I still had it.
 
My dad was never much of a gun person, when he left active duty as an officer in the Navy in '93 we moved back from San Diego to GA. I was 4 and my grandpaw let me watch him shoot his Glock 20 and PGO 500 in the back yard. I was hooked after that. Big Daddy got me my first gun, a .22 chipmunk that my kids will have some day, when I was 7 and we started practicing in the back yard.
 
My dad, when I was 12 he gave me an old beatup 22 and I've been a rifle guy ever since. I like handguns too just not nearly as much as rifles. My dad passed away recently, but he taught me some valuable lessons about life and firearms that I'm passing on to my children and someday they'll pass them on to their children.
 
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My Grandpa bought me a pony when I turn four and my uncle gave me his old cap guns to go along with it.

Th next year at Christmas, Pops gave me a Red Ryder BB gun and I had shot through the one little turkey baster thing of BBs he gave me too by that afternoon.

Subsquently lost said BB gun for a month after taking a pot shot at one of my sister's barbies. Wasn't sure if it was for shooting at the barbie or doing so inside the house.

When my Grandpa died the next year, he left me his Remington Sportsman 58. Pops broke it down, re-did the wood on it, had it re-blued, reassembled it, cleaned it, and put it in the safe.

When I turned ten, I got a 10/22 for Christmas and while shooting it the backyard, Pops went inside and brought out Grandpa's gun and lt m shoot som clays with it. Already hooked because of my Red Ryder, but now I was hooked for life.
 
My father, uncle, and grand fathers were all hunters. So naturally I grew up around the sight of deer hanging in the garage and the adults talking about hunting stories and new guns. I was age 12 when I first went shooting with my dad, 13 when I first went hunting, and 14 when I took my first deer. The first firearm I was introduced to was a springfield model 15. I think I went through a whole brick of .22 that day.

Besides hunting, I was/and am a huge history buff and likewise gun nut, I suppose. Though I'm not too old, my interest in shooting has only developed and complexed as age set in.
 
The first gun I ever shot was a 22 bolt action (don't remember) at church camp. Once a week for the term we would go down to the range and shoot.

I shot my first shotgun when I was 13 or 14 and first .30-06 when I was 16. First pistol same year, and first semi-auto rifle this past year.
 
I think I got started about age 5 by my Grandad. From the time I was 3 or 4 I followed him running trap lines. Then he helped me hold the old Glenfield 60 .22 that he carried and let me shoot the coyote that was in the trap at the time. After that we always went to the river and he let me shoot just about every can, bottle and twig I could find.

Then at age 10 when I got my hunter safety card He gave me a savage bolt action 20ga. Had that 20ga for 6 or 7 years until the top od the barrel split and it got disposed of.

I have no idea how many times my grandad and I went rabbit and squirrel hunting but I loved being in the woods with him. And also running trap lines for coyote, mink, muskrat and beaver.

My grandad passed in 1994. To this day I can't look at a marlin 60 and not remember my grandad. And just being arond guns brings back a lot of great memories.
 
My dad who was a fighter pilot for the National Guards, sold vulcan guns as his main paying gig; he didn't own a firearm, but purchased for me a Marlin .22 LR when I was 10 y/o and had passed a hunter's safety course. We would go to the town dump to shoot rats (as his father did for him). Doesn't sound very sentimental, but as he was killed in an aircraft accident a year later, it remains a cherished memory to me....
 
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