I remember when: rookie years

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dyl

New member
This thread is about the funny things we've done when we first started shooting and were a little less informed to say the least. I haven't been on in a while so I just thought I'd shoot the breeze a little bit :)

I remember the first time I cleaned my guns. I hadn't discovered the wonders of internet searching. So what did I do? Of course I went to Walmart and bought a "Universal Gun Cleaning Kit". It came with a 3 piece cleaning rod, brush heads, funny pieces of black plastic (jags), and a small box full of "cleaning patches". I took those cleaning patches, sat down with the gun and started scrubbing the action thinking "man, why do shooters like to use these tiny little pieces of cloth to clean their guns?" I went through about 10 of those little patches with my fingers getting about as dirty as the patches were. :D

(learning about safety is something we also grow in, hope you all haven't had many mishaps along with the funny instances)
 
HA!

I had a similar experience with the patches at first.

I used to get Kel-Tec, Magpul, and Hi-Point mixed up.

I used to think Ruger made Japanese Luger knock-offs. (no joke)

I went went through the whole 'Clip' and 'Magazine' thing.

It's all pretty funny in Retrospect :D
 
The Ruger

I just remembered an early foot-in-mouth moment.

My father in law took me out to shoot at an outdoor range and brought a friend of his who was also an older more experienced shooter. He's a real patriot and keeps up to date with politics and buys American products when he can. He opened a case and took out a two-toned pistol with a stainless slide. Up to that point the only two-toned pistols I had seen were made by Taurus.

So of course I said, "IS THAT A TAURUS? IT LOOKS LIKE A TAURUS" - yelling with my hearing protection in place.

Fortunately he was very patient and explained that it's a Ruger. (from their older P-series. Taurus is made in Brazil)
 
Back when I was a kid, a relative offered to take me hunting, for the first time.
To get used to drawing a bead on a living critter, we went to the local range to shoot at realistic, life sized decoy type targets.
Wabbits, groundhogs, and the like.
While I was beginning to aim at the raccoon, a real live raccoon walked out from behind its decoy duplicate, and wandered off to the side.
For a second, I surely thought the decoy had come to life.
 
I used to think Ruger made Japanese Luger knock-offs. (no joke)
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Same here. I thought the same thing.

I bought my first centerfire rifle the day I got out of the Navy in 1965. It was a Winchester Model 70 .225 varmint rifle. I bought a Lyman All American 8X scope and a Marbles base that had the little eccentric bushing in front for gross windage errors.

The guy mounted the scope and did the best he could to bore sight the scope but I was clueless what to do next.

Never could hit squat with it until I got married in 1969 and one of the ROTC instructors at Washington University took pity on me. We lived in a small town in Illinois and he took me out and posted a target and got the gun sighted in. I killed my first groundhog with that gun.

I honestly had no clue about adjusting the eccentric bushing and what all the little hashmarks on the turrets meant.

I have learned a lot since then.
 
When I was a skinny kid, 135 pounds, I borrowed a double twelve guage to hunt with--didn't own a shotgun of my own at that time. It was an old hammer gun. Decided to test-fire it. Loaded both barrels, and yes, cocked both hammers. Fired the right barrel, the damn thing doubled on me, the curved steel butt plate slammed into my bony shoulder, and I had a nice black-and-blue mark for days. :o
 
shouldazagged - And perhaps that's the story of how you chose your screen name.

Ditto to the Ruger and Luger issue. They sounded just enough alike by word of mouth to confuse you and it's not until I saw it in print that the confusion ended.

Never could hit squat with it until I got married in 1969 and one of the ROTC instructors at Washington University took pity on me. We lived in a small town in Illinois and he took me out and posted a target and got the gun sighted in. I killed my first groundhog with that gun.
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- that is some patience there to stick with a gun 4 years without getting a hit. I might have taken up a different hobby by then were I in your shoes.
 
that is some patience there to stick with a gun 4 years without getting a hit. I might have taken up a different hobby by then were I in your shoes.
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Not really. When I was single, I lived in Saint Louis and had no place to shoot. The rifle was in a closet. After I married and moved to rural Illinois, it was time to get familiar with the rifle.

I still did not have the basics learned but this ROTC instructor got me squared away.

Under his tutoring I learned a lot. From there is was a simple step to get into reloading and all that comes with it.

I don't think I would have stuck with it without some tutoring. That is why I like going to the range. I meet great people who are fantastic shots and they help me get better.

When I can get a police marksmanship instructor comment on my groups in a positive manner, I know I am doing something right.
 
I remember when I shot an AR15 (my friend's) for the first time when I was a lot younger. I thought "AR" stood for "assault rifle" back then. At the time I had never even been around a rifle louder than a .22 being shot, so when he pulled the trigger I almost jumped right out of my shoes haha. I was absolutely amazed at how such a small cartridge could be so loud. After giving me the basics on how to operate the rifle, it was my turn to shoot it. I was a little nervous about what the recoil would be like, only to find out that there was virtually none. Since then I've come to actually enjoy loud firearms :D
 
When I was fresh out of boot camp I was stationed at the Navy Seabee base at Davisville, RI. Shortly after, I was appointed grenadier on my fire team and was issued a M79 grenade launcher. The first day at the range there was a rock cliff about 100 yards away with a big target painted on it. With the flip-up sight set for 100 yards, the gun looked pointed waaayy too high, and I thought something was wrong, so I flipped it down and leveled it and took a shot. The round went about 30 yards and hit the dirt and exploded, blowing up a cloud of dust and dirt right in front of us. After a few choice words, the range boss ripped the launcher out of my hands, popped in a round, flipped up the sight and scored a bullseye. Then shoved it into my chest yelling his favorite words, "There's nothing wrong with this weapon!'.
 
I remember cleaning my shotgun as a kid. Dad said to only use the wooden rod and patches. He said never use the bronze brush because itwould scratch the bore.
 
A guy I worked with, when asked what he used for a hunting rifle, answered: "I gotta 30-06 Luger (Ruger of course) with a Zebco (Tasco) scope." He was absolutely serious, and my work bud and I got a lot of mileage outta that one from time to time through the years... Still do!

reinert
 
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