How old were you when you started shooting?

Must have been young, 'cause I remember Dad helping hold the old Lithgow single shot .22 (which now sits in my safe). Probably I was about 6 or 7. He would let me carry it (while he walked behind watching) while we hunted rabbits when I was about 10.

I shot regularly from 1967 until about 1983. Didn't get back into it again full-time until 1996, when I joined my current rifle club.

I deeply regret those missing 13 years.

B
 
Christmas morning of 1961; I was 6 1/2 years old, and almost all the packages were unwrapped when my dad pointed out a long, flat package which had been overlooked by my sister & me. It had my name on it, and it was a Daisy pump BB gun. After breakfast, Dad took me into the back yard, put a pair of sunglasses on me, and began teaching me the fundamentals of marksmanship. Later graduated to a shotgun. At age 10, I went to summer camp at The Citadel (at that time, camp was run in a military fashion-white sidewall haircuts, uniforms, march in formation to and from everything, white-glvoe room inspections, etc.) It was there that I received my first formal instruction with a .22 rifle from an NRA certified instructor. I taught myself handgun shooting from reading and eventually doing. (Didn't get to shoot a handgun till I was 13, didn't shoot them with any regularity until I was 19.)
FWIW, I took trap shooting as an extra activity at The Citadel, and they stuck me with a Browning A5 12 ga. (At this time, my regular hunting gun was a Fox/Sterlingworth SxS 20 ga. with a shortened stock.) Even with that oversized monster, I shot 100%. It left a bruise which covered half my chest and my shoulder, but I wore it with pride. No one else shot 100%, even the 18 year olds.
My first real gun was an H&R Topper single shot 410 shotgun, the kind that folded completely in half; it had a recess in the forestock to allow for the trigger guard. It wasn't until years later that I realized that the 410 wasn't a beginner's gun, but rather an expert's gun.

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Shoot straight regards, Richard at The Shottist's Center http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=45acp45lc
 
Started firing weapons in the AF at eighteen, bought my first one at 21 wife bought me a real gun at 23 and now at 34 I've got 19 of the dang things and love them like my children.

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TJS
 
A good father in our neighborhood organized a great air rifle range when we were about 9. He got safety and discipline in our bloodstream. His sons later became good Marine marksmen. First .22 rifle fired in a JROTC range inside our High School. I suspect that is unheard of these days. First experience with a handgun at about 12 while a Boyscout.
 
Will,

I know what you mean when talking about Hollywood. If a child is subjected to modern telelvision and movies all the time, they probably will grow to believe that is reality.

I started with a Daisy and Coleman BB gun when I was around 10. I graduated to a bolt-action Mossberg rifle in .22LR. Even today I still shoot more .22's than any other caliber I own. Ya gotta love 'em!
 
Ten years old at a YMCA summer camp.
First rifle I owned was a Marlin 80C in .22 cal. Still have it. First pistol was a Colt Officer's Model Match in .38 Special when I turned 21 from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot base exchange.
 
4 Years old, .22/410 by Savage. My dad had to pull the hammer back for me. His Granddad had bought it from Sears ages ago. It's still my weapon of choice for anything smaller than a deer. Funny thing, When we were knocking cans off that log in the pasture, I didn't feel any of the "rush" that the antis like to talk about so much. I just thought I was having a good time with my dad. Guess you had to be there.
 
Don't recall for sure but it was nearly 60 yrs. ago. Then WW II came along and ALL civilian ammo production (among other things) ceased. Whatever ammo you or your parents had on Dec. 7, 1941 had to last 4+ years. That put a heck of a crimp in my childhood shooting. Been trying to make up for it ever since.
 
Got a Daisy BB gun for X-mas when I was about 7 or 8. Bought my first .22 rifle when I was 12.

Grew up in a single parent household on a farm. All my shooting was unsupervised, and when ever I wanted(assuming I could afford ammo). Even taught myself how to hunt.

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Go NRA
 
Concerning the Daisy I was too young to remember. I got my first .22, a Marlin Golden Crown single shot bolt, at about 11, shot it every time I got the chance. In 1961, in Japan, at about 13, I handled a Colt Python in the Navy Exchange and was in love despite the fact that it was FAR outside any price range I could ever imagine being able to afford. But from then until I was about 26 I bought EVERY Colt Python I ever found in a store and one used one. That only totals 4, BTW, 3 4" and 1 6").

One was stolen from my car in San Antonio right beside the Alamo in '69, one I sold to a friend who still has it in '75 (I didn't like the 6"), one I shot until the barrel was eroded noticeably (only ever used max .357 loads) and sold it at a gun show for more than twice what I paid for it new, in about '93, and the last (shot rarely) I gave to my oldest son for his 21st birthday.

OOoops. Got carried away. Sorry.
 
First experience was with a BB Gun when I was about 8 or 9, and a .22 air rifle about the same age.

Long pause, then I shot my first real rifle (.22lr) while plinking with some friends when I was about 15.

Andother long pause, and I took a gun handling course in college--basically a glorified Hunter Safety and Skeet Shooting course. I was about 19, and it was the first time I used a shotgun on a regular basis.

25--lost at a turkey shoot at a pistol range. First time I handled a handgun, and tried a couple of different models--Taurus, Glock, Ruger. Discovered then that Glock was NOT for me. Wanted to try the H&K USP (they had just gotten out), but it was the wrong caliber for what we were shooting.

29--Not only do I try out the USP, but I wind up buying one as well! Been shooting it ever since.
 
5 years old on my father's lap using a Marlin bolt action .22 rifle.

Still shoot it at age,....,...., um....34

CMOS
 
Well my brother started at 3 with a bb gun and i started at about 6 i think. i'm finally a better shot than him (i think) but i have been practicing and hunting while he was sailing the 7 seas with uncle sam.

We used to try to outshoot each other all the time. He'd use dad's 22 marlin 39a , and i'd use dad's ruger mark 1 target pistol. we'd shoot for HOURS at bottle caps, tin cans, and sometimes the empty ammo boxes or shells came in.

We still like to shoot... maybe I'll go with him this weekend. ;)

Dr.Rob
 
4 or 5 first shots fired. Savage .22/.410 o/u.

Shooting 20 Ga H&R Topper Jr. by 1st grade. Kicked like hell. Older kids didn't believe...(always been small for my age)

First "real" (centerfire) pistol purchased at 21. It was a Glock 21. I had 4 Glocks- 21, 23, 24, & 27 in the family at one point. Now just the 23 & 24. Love that 24!

Caved in to peer pressure and bought my first AR this year. (Always been a comblock guy! :D)
 
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