Who taught you to shoot?

Bad with handgun. Flinch. So I took archery in college for my physical education (also took fencing and sabre). It was all follow through in archery. I then transitioned to pistol.
 
I had both my mother(she was an army brat during WW2 and shot most weekends with her father at the Frankford Arsenal range) and father as well as both of my grandfathers. My mothers father was a Major at Frankford arsenal in small arms development and shot on the officers pistol and rifle teams as long as he was in the military, from him I learned match shooting, my father and his father were meat on the table hunters, from granddad I learned shotgun hunting and my father rifle and pistol hunting.
 
Boy Scout summer camp, then in the Army, otherwise, self taught with some assistance from Skeeter Skelton, Bill Jordan, Charlie Askins, Elmer Keith, etc.
 
My aunt taught me the fundamentals of gun safety and shooting straight when I was eight. With a Winchester 62a. It became my job to shoot cicadas out of the trees: She couldn't stand their shrill song. I would wander the farm with a pocket full of shorts and we'd have the occasional cotton~tail, quail, or dove with our meal. She taught me to cook, as well. .Thank you, Aunt M.
 
My Pop, when I was about 10 or 12 he taught his sons to shoot and stressed safety and fun. We are all avid shooters to this day. I feel so fortunate to realize many of you had no such training in your younger days but had to wait for the Service or somebody else to teach you as an adult rather than your father.
 
I started on a slingshot I ordered from an add in Sports Afield, maybe 1962-3.
Then it was BB rifles and pellet guns till 13 and a .22 rifle.
The constable for a private woods behind out house next door taught me. Also a WW11 vet down the street. The constable had Playboy centerfolds on the walls of his basement where his coal furnace was :) He wore a 1930s Colt Woodsman in a full flap holster.
Then the Army Infantry.
I really didn't get good as I wished till I got out of the Army and joined a shooting range.
The old timers taught me about target shooting and reloading,ect.
Thanks :)
 
I only started shooting when I was an adult (or what passes for one). My grandpa taught me to fish and my dad taught me to play baseball. My uncle, grandparents, and my dad all spent time shooting when they were younger but I guess they didn't think it was important to pass that along.

The fun part is that, when I really got into shooting, I started inviting some of them to shoot with me. And, much to my surprise, they all LOVE it! I'm pretty sure I know more about firearms now than any of them. So I guess you could say I passed it along to the previous generation. I also plan to pass it along to the next one.

Sheesh, I'm the only one pulling my weight in this family!
 
My father taught me. He passed away back in November. He bought me a daisy BB gun when I was 6, and taught me gun safety. At 9 I got a 20 gauge break barrel. After a few squirrel and rabbit hunts, he was confident in my training and let me go on my own. We were farmers so I had land to shoot on any time I wanted. I was a black powder enthusiast at about 15 or so but could never get Dad into it. He had been in the Army 10th Mtn Division and 88th Blue Devils. He was infantry, so had plenty of firearms training. From my Navy days, I also credit my division chief, Fred Long, with teaching me how to properly shoot the M1911 and the M16, but safety was already ingrained.
 
My Dad, or atleast he got me started

one of his best friends gifted me my air-rifle, so hard to cock I had to rest the buttplate on the ground and work the bolt with two hands resting the barrel on my shoulder (and I have always been big and strong)

recieved my one and only slap from my father when he was going to teach me on our first 22lr, grabbed the rifle before he said it was okey to do so and I learned my lesson. I am veryyyyy big on safety he smacked that into me.

hunted and competed from a pretty early age but never got any formal training until the army (which didn't teach me a thing really) conscript army-duty mind you, I had already done pretty much everything with my dad and competing in 300meter matches with a mauser 96, and some subgun comps with a swedish K

later I got some formal training when taking my hunting exams, especially the shotgunpart was useful as I had no real skill in that area. me and my brother has basically taught ourselves in that area (trap, skeet and sporting)

have signed up for a proper long range course this spring,
 
It was apparently assumed that farm boys in the mountains would just know how to do it since were around guns all the time. My Dad got me a 22 single shot for Christmas, told me to be careful and sent me on my way. It was different in the early 60s in the sticks. My dad was the best shot I ever saw but he kept it to himself. We were never able to find out what he did in WWII but we always suspected he could well have been a sharp shooter since everything was so secret and he wouldn't talk.
 
Taught myself. After a BB gun, it was always assumed that you knew how to shoot a rifle or shotgun. Never shot a handgun until I was 21.
 
My father, I pulled my first trigger at around age 4 or 5. Dad held the High Standard 22 caliber revolver in his hands, I stood between his arms and got to pull the trigger. What followed over the years was being taught sight picture, breath control and squeezing the trigger. How to clean what I shot, the guns that is, how to mount a scope on a rifle, fit a recoil pad on a shotgun, reload rifle, pistol and shotgun ammunition.

But most importantly, Dad taught me not just how to shoot. But how to shoot responsibly.
 
I grew up around firearms and hunting and I loved both at a early age . My grandpa had a tobacco farm and we would visit almost every Sunday . I can remember a shotgun or rifle standing in almost every corner of the house and a handgun in his truck and a .22 rifle that stayed on his tractor , 24/7 . It was rusted up , but it would fire every time we pulled the trigger . My brother has it now .

Every now and then my dad , grandpa and uncles would shoot a pistol after Sunday lunch and they would let me shoot a few rounds . But I don't ever remember them teaching me any thing about safety or shooting .

I think that I learned sight alignment and trigger control with my BB guns , a Crossman 760 and a Luger co2 pistol . I was a pretty good shot with a BB gun when I was a kid .

I am still learning as an adult how to shoot firearms .
 
I did and very badly!!!!
Started with my first BB gun when I was 6 and my first 22 when I was 11 first revolver (BP) when I was 14. Still have that one.
Luckly when I got out of the military I started hanging around a gun shop and started working there evenings and weekends.
The person that supplied us with our reloaded ammo also lived near the same city I did and I asked him if he would show me the ropes. I ended up helping with 5 Dillions, 2 lead pots and 2 seizers for several years.
I also helped him build a large back stop on his farm and he said I could us it anytime I wanted.
First time out he came out to watch me shoot lets just say he got a big laugh out of that. He also knew I had never been taught the basics. My military experience with fire arms was 7 rounds out of a 1911 that was so loose it rattled. And 5 rounds out of a bolt action 22. I didn’t hit any of the targets and passed because I hadn’t shot myself. Thank you USN.
He worked with me several weekends and he told me something that changed my ability. He told me to go out and find a very good 22 bolt action. Buy as much 22 ammo as you can find and go out and shoot a minimum of 50rounds 3 times a week rain hail sleet or snow. Start at 25 yards and when you end up with one hole go back to 50 then 75 and 100. Do the same thing with a 22 pistol.
 
I guess my father gave me the basics. Hard to remember. I was only 7 when I got my first 22 rifle.
My father was never really what you would call "warm and fuzzy ". Great rifle shooter in the Navy though. Couldn't hit a barn with a shotgun.
 
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