Your first introduction to handguns....do you remember when?

I don't remember exactly how old I was.... maybe 9 or 10. The only thing that I remember about the gun is that it was a semi-auto 22LR and VERY tiny. So tiny that it almost seemed the barrel wouldn't be long enough to clear your fingers.

Experience #2 was a 357mag of some sort. I remember being impressed that the recoil was so manageable, especially for a kid. None of that whole "break your wrists" sort of stuff that pretty much anything "magnum" is legendary for (supposedly) having.
 
My mother was anti gun so my earliest memory of guns is admiring the long guns my grandfather owned, on a gun rack my father built, at my grandparents house because no way was mom letting guns in our house.

My handgun introduction did not happen until after I met my wife. Her father got me into them when he let me borrow his S&W 9mm, his Chief Special 38, and his snub nose .44magnum. Jeeze that gun feels like it is punching you in the nose when you squeeze off a magnum round. The pounding your hands take is considerable as well. After that day, I was 21, I had to get my own. Ran out and bought an XD45 and never looked back.

I love my handguns.
 
On a side note I ended up getting the gun rack my father made plus the firearms my grandfather owned. They sit in my house now, because my mother wouldn't allow my father to keep them.

I have taken my mom out shooting clay pigeons recently. She requested to go. She is slowly turning I think.
 
My dad only had one handgun, a .357 Magnum revolver. Most of my experience with handgunning growing up was with my grandfather's 1911's, P38 and PPK.

I bought my first handgun when I turned 21 in 2004, a Walther P99 9mm.
 
A few Months ago, my dad took my brother and I to the range. I've shot rifle for years, but this was my first time shooting handguns, bought my FN a couple months later, and I'm thinking about my next purchase.
 
1st time shooting a handgun

My 1st time was back in 1963(21yrs old). I was in the USAF stationed in Turkey and shot the sidearm of my Turkish friend who was a Turkish Air Force 1st lieutenant. The gun was (believe it or not) a 9mm German Luger.
 
My first time firing a handgun was in the late 1950's. We always used to go shooting rifles at a friends farm. We used to shoot 30-06, german mausers, lee enfields and 6.5 swedish mausers. One of my dad's friends had a 1911 stamped US Property (don't remember the mfgr) & he let me shoot it. I was 9 yrs old at that time, couldn't hit anything with it, but boy did I have fun! I've been a 1911 fan ever since.
 
I was taught about guns - maybe 6 yrs old or so .... ( and since I was the first grandson in the family ) .... my grandfather was a key person to introduce me to .22 rifles, .22 handguns .....into shotguns when I was about 10 ( I still have the 16ga bolt action ) .... and into big game ( deer, elk and black bear at about the same time....

I was lucky to grow up in Northwestern Montana as a kid .... hunting and fishing all the time .... killed my first elk when I was 10 ....

I didn't become proficient with hand guns until I went in the service in
1970. That's when I really learned to fire a 1911 / but I thought it was a terrible weapon... I got away from hunting big game in my 20's / got into bird hunting and clays ...for awhile. About 10 yrs ago, I got into shooting Skeet and Sporting Clays ( had more time, and money now ) -- and started building my gun collection .... and have since added some very nice 1911's, a variety of S&W revolvers and a lot of shotguns.
 
I started out as a kid maybe 10 (1980) shooting the family 22 hi standard. From that age on when dad would get a new pistol or anything I'd shoot it. I suppose I've shot everything that was pre plastic at some point and time. My first pistol I bought was a 44 mag ruger blackhawk at 18, then a TC with a 44,22, and, 30-30 a year later....I wish I still had those.
 
The first handgun I ever fired was some kind of single action 22. No idea the brand, but it was back in the 60's I guess. Could have been a lot of guns back then. It belonged to a buddys dad, but we used to sneak it out and shoot down at the creek. I remember shooting frogs and turtles on the pond with it too. (Yea, yea..shooting at water is bad, so is shooting at frogs and turtles too. I know that NOW. It was a long time ago, we were dumb kids, and a long way from anywhere.)
 
Remember when?

Precisely? Not really, but it could have been as early as the day my parents brought me home from the hospital in 1950. My father was a state trooper.

There were carry guns in the family: my grandfather had a 3" Iver Johnson .32, my great uncle Ed had an 1884 nickel S&W .38 break-top, etc.

John
 
The day I turned 18.
We had a indoor range that wold rent out handguns. I went up to the counter and explained that my parents forbid any and all firearms, and that it was my birthday and I wanted to learn the basics.
The guy cut me a great deal...all day I could use any handgun he had for rent as long as I paid for the ammo and 1/2 the rental fee on 1 handgun. :D

Later that day I went out an bought a 10/22. Never did tell my parents...I guess I was rebelling :rolleyes:
 
I was about 14, had shot rifles and scatterguns at scout camp, but never handled a pistol (my mom is a dyed in the wool anti). My dad's confirmed bachelor & all around "fun guy" friend from work took us out to some Weyerhauser land and let us shoot his Glock .40... The slide bit the heck out of my right hand on the first shot and jammed 3 times after that. Still fun as heck to blast an ol' stump... but that's probably the reason I hate Glocks.
I have since learned to shoot proficiently (Sharpshooter three times with an M9 in the Marines) but always manage to make Glocks FTE when I shoot them, something about that grip angle...
 
Hopalong Cassidy was my childhood hero. We played cowboys & indians growing up with the occasional Army&Navy thown in at school. But before I was in school my mom gave my dad a 22 revolver (either 1959 or 1960) and it was a "real" gun. My dad didn't really ever fool with it but my brother and I shared a Daisy 94 Winchester BB Gun and around 10yrs old a friend of my dad let me shoot prickly pear apples off a nearby cactus with his 22 Hornet that looked just like our BB gun.

At 15 a friend received a 22 rifle from his grandfather and my dad let me take his pistol and they hauled us out to a local shooting range and let us off to spend the day shooting. We did...and had a ball.

Unbeknownst to each other, we both asked for a summer job at that range and they hired both of us.

Been ruint ever since,

TB
 
In HS ... in New Jersey, 1960-1963 ... had never fired a gun but had always been interested, joined the Skeet Club (think there are any of those around at US high schools now?) We shot single-shot .410s ... great fun, learned a lot about safety and gun control ...
 
"Hopalong Cassidy was my childhood hero."

You too? Can you believe my mother saved these?

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First Time

1966 Lackland AFB, TX; basic training M-16. The instructor kicked me in the side because I was shooting all head shots !
 
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