what was the first firearm you ever shot?

[semperfi68to70]

An old J.C. Higgins .22 single shot bolt action rifle that you had to manually pull back the firing pin after loading before you could fire it. My friend's dad took us to a rifle range and it was the first weapon I ever fired. I bugged my mom and dad until on my ninth birthday they bought me a bolt action .22 with a tube magazine that cocked itself when you worked the bolt. Great memories.

 

[balline36m3]

My first pistol and rifle were on the same day when I was 5 . Started out on a Belgian made browning 10/71 in .380. Took a little bit for me to figure out the grip safety but was nailing the old pop cans we had set up in no time. Then it was on to the rifle. My dad's .270 weatherby magnum mark v. Shot once and nearly knocked me off of my feet. Dad asked if I wanted to shoot again and I said, "hell yeah!!!" First time I said hell in front of him and he said he would let it slide since I was so excited. Shot one more time and the scope busted me right above the eye. I was done after that one lol.

 

[JeremyK]

Comes as no surprise to me that most of our first shooting experiences were with .22's. My first shooting experience was at Eagle Fern camp out in Estacada with bolt action, scoped .22's. Absolute tack drivers! The instructor at the time had been a Marine and brought his MAK90 along for show and tell and allowed us to shoot it if we could hit a penny at 50 feet with the .22's. Sadly, being my first time shooting, I never could hit that damned coin, but a lot of the boys in my group did, including my buddy Forrest. Boy was I green with envy! Anyways, I was 11 or 12 at the time and I have many fond memories of the summer camp and those beat up old rifles. Later, a new camp director came in and the rifles got sold off and replaced with pellet guns, doubtless due to protests from parents who didn't want their boys at a Christian summer camp receiving training with deadly weapons or some bs like that. Breaks the heart that something as all American as young boys learning to shoot at summer camp is taboo.

 

[Martini_Up]

I can't remember. Firearms have always been in my family. But my oldest daughter's first firearm was a StG58

 

[Rick4070]

I"m pretty sure it was when I was around 4 or so, and my father would hold his .22 semi-auto "JC Higgins" (High Standard) rifle in the palm of his hand while kneeling, and let me line up the sights and pull the trigger. I had BB guns of my own, around that time, too, and started carrying that .22 rifle when I was around 7 or so. Got my first very own .22 rifle for Christmas when I was 9, a Sears .22 bolt action, that loaded through the butt plate. Still have both of them... First center fire I shot was my fathers Remington 742 in .308, and yep, I got a knot on my eyebrow too... Got my first very own deer rifle when I was around 11 or so, a .30 WCF model '94 Winchester that my father gave a guy $40 for, with a couple of boxes of ammo thrown in. Got a deer with it the first year I had it... Still have both of those, too.
I see a pattern here....

 

[Spitpatch]

Dunno if this thread theme has been done before, but kudos to the OP. Literally a trip down memory lane for me with all the contributions here, most especially the gentleman who posted a picture of his Iver Johnson Cycle Works 16ga Champion. That was the first shotgun I ever shot, and killed my first Pheasant with it. Dad thought I would never pull the trigger, but having only shot rifles before, I wanted that sight picture perfect.

At somewhere in the 60-70 yard range, as the going-away pheasant had already completed the rise, went to full speed, and set its wings, I very finally pulled the trigger. Full choke, and Canuck (Canadian brand) shells with number sixes did the rest. The Pheasant folded. Looking back, I would wager one BB hit it in the head most probably. Still have the gun, still kill stuff with it. I'd post a picture, but it'd look the same as the one already here.

But the first firearm I ever shot was my Dad's Marlin Model 39. Not at targets: an unfortunate Jackrabbit decided to run only about 30 yards, stop and then lay his ears down his back to hide like they do.

Dad figured it would stay there until he could arrange for me to line up the buckhorns on the 39 with Dad performing duty as a human bipod: (gun resting over his shoulder as he squatted on his knees).

I achieved sight picture (extensive prior usage of a Daisy Cub taught this), and I pulled the trigger. Smacked that big ol' Nevada Whitetail Jack right under the ear, and he screamed very much like a human baby as he kicked and expired.

Big Medicine for a 4 year-old boy in Winnemucca.

 

[tac]

Mine has to be a little different;

I'm from England, where guns are taboo/unheard of/eventually banned altogether.
Hit the last two (

Well, that's odd. Y'see, I actually LIVE in England for about 80% of the year, and I've had a firearms license since 1968, and still have sixteen rifles and two handguns. Our little gun club has over three hundred members, and between us and the Government-sponsored Sporting England organisation, we have spent almost $400,000 in the last two years refurbishing our club facilities.

Doesn't sound very 'banned altogether' to me.

The other thing is that you might care to check out is the UK's dominance in international shooting of clays- George Digweed - quote - He has now won 23 world titles (12 Sporting, 10 Fitasc and 1 Compak), 18 European titles (14 Fitasc and 4 Compak), 4 European Compak titles, and 12 world cups.

Real hard to do that in a 'banned altogether' sport, right? Ever heard of Bisley? I was there last year, with around 4000 other shooters, enjoying the international F-TR championships. I guess none of us knew that we were banned.

The shooting show here in Stoneleigh attracted almost 25,000 people last year, each paying $30 to get into Europe's largest gun show that is open to the general public. There were record sales there, too. My shooting pal, who is the importer for Desert Tech Firearms, reported getting over 200 orders in the two days - including whopping sales of the .50cal version. Seems that the second-largest .50cal shooting club in the world is based here in UK.

Oh, BTW, I started shooting when I was six, back in 1952, with my dad's illegally-owned Colt .45M1911. I then moved on to his legal Walther .22 rifle, which I still have.

Happy New Year!

tac

 

[Creep]

My firsts overlap. My first rifle was also my first time shooting, an older bolt action Sears catalog rifle I picked up at an estate sale for like $18. It's since moved on to my niece, but I still ask her to let me shoot it when we go out. The sad thing is, I think she shoots it better than I did

 

[derj]

a Glenfield 60

 

[Marine Airedale]

Stevens Crackshot falling block single shot .22 rimfire.

 

[Columbia]

A Winchester model 1902 .22 single shot my great granddad had bought new.

Four generations of my family have learned to shoot with that rifle.

 

[Marine Airedale]

Columbia,
Same here, at least three generations learned to shoot with that old Stevens single shot. Still wish I had it today. It disappeared somewhere from my grandparents while I was running around the world in the Corps. Still have fond memories of the sound of that action opening and closing. Was sad it was not around when I taught my daughter to shoot, purchased a Chipmunk single shot for her.

 

[Nwcid]

First one I remember was a Ruger 10/22 with a 4x scope on it when I was about 5.

 

[orygun]

It disappeared somewhere from my grandparents while I was running around the world in the Corps.

That would make my blood boil...
I'm fortunate to have the heirloom guns. Feel very sad for folks interested in them, but lost theirs "along the way".

 

[3MTA3]

Late 60's, finally old enough to go on the family hunting trip, Dad decided it was time for me to shoot. It was a .22LR bolt action, either Sears or Wards. One of my brothers still has it - brings back all kinds of good memories every time I see it.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

3MTA3, i think my wife's first gun/hand-me-down is the same, it's some odd make for sears or wards or something, single shot bolt .22LR. Problem is the bolt isn't sealing any more, and you get a light spritzing in the face when you fire it. Not sure how to fix that.

 

[3MTA3]

Funny that you mention that - this particular rifle occasionally slam fired. It underscored the part about never pointing the rifle at anything you didn't want to destroy, so it turned out a positive.

 

[RifleEnthusiast]

An air-rifle that my aunt got me for my birthday behind my dad's back because he didn't want me dealing with these dangerous "tools" even though he'd been in real wars himself He wouldn't talk to my aunt for 2 months, then he took me out shooting and teaching me how to use it safely I must've been 12 at the time.

 

[RicInOR]

M16 during basic training.
Then an M9.

 

[Pofficer]

About 10 years old, went camping with a couple other families at Cove Palisades. One night the dads took all the kids to spend a night at an abandoned "haunted" ranch house in the middle of proverbial nowhere.

In the morning they lined us all up... and taught us how to shoot a Ruger Standard .22.

Great fun and memories.