What was your firearms intro?

[chukar]

Through my father. It started with a pump BB gun in the house and backyard.. I was a decent shot. I flocked up once on a woodcutting/shooting trip with a 10/22 and was instantly reprimanded. Lesson learned in a hard way.

As an ironical aside, the old man had a ND with a 30/30 on the next trip. No loss to life or limb!

I would say that I received more/better instruction in the suck, but the background that my father gave me served as a good foundation.

Thanks Dad!

 

[Pahonix]

When I was 6.

View attachment 782830

 

[Wombat of Doom]

Just thought I’d be creative I like hearing people’s stories! Some people got into firearms through a relative or maybe because you saw an action movie and thought they were cool. What was your introduction to firearms? I started getting into them with FPS Russia in my early teens. Now my days are filled with Colion Noir, Hickon45, TFB TV lol

My Grandpa took me sometime around age 4. I remember feeling the kick of that old single shot bolt action .22 and thinking that was so hard. My grandpa had taken me to a range and frankly, he had a device that anchored it to a piece of plywood like an old ship's deck gun and it just had a few degrees of movement. My diminutively sized self could not have pointed it in an unsafe direction if I tried. But it was the highlight of my every summer. My dad was a non gun owning guy, kind of a hippie Anti, at the time, who really was not too fond of guns at the time. But I wore him down by age 12. He got me my 10/22, closely followed by an SKS, (I actually took possession of the SKS first) which started a love of old Military weapons. Over time, we bought him a gun, which since went on a long journey and ended up back with me very recently. Given its arduous journey, it is not currently safe to fire, and when dad comes by I am going to replace it for him with a S&W model 10 I have. He likes old weapons from the civil war now. I believe he might have an original Springfield from the Civil war. I showed him the single shot Henry with suppressor I bought from Reno and he loves that thing. We went shooting and he went through 150 rounds of 357 one afternoon at tricounties.

Me, I love history. I own swords, guns, and other weapons from a long extent of human history. I have a few arrowheads from the Greeks, a very poor condition pilum head from Rome. and a bunch of swords from 18th and 19th century Europe.

I love picking up a gun from 1914 and wondering where it spent the war. I love shooting said weapons more. Despite the fire and noise, shooting is my zen. As a neurological condition works to cripple me, going out to the range is one of the pleasures I still enjoy, and on special, special occasions I pull out my Grandpa's '72 hipower and I could swear I hear him in my ear, "now son, squeeze the trigger, like you are squeezing a lemon." I never quite figured out the lemon part, but I am a passable shot these days. To me, holding an old gun is a bit like time traveling. Most of mine are well cared for and most things from those days are rust, dust or dead, but most of my WWI guns are ready for duty, well oiled and cared for.

Anyway, that's my overly long post of the night.

And guns have saved my hide a few times.

 

[Juniper9mm]

Some pimp named Slickback Lamar drove the barrel of his 45 into my forehead telling me he didn't want no southie moving on his turf. I told him I was just trying to go to the Dollar Tree, where he then apologized saying he thought I was somebody else.

 

[fstdraw]

My first time was not so interesting. I was a Junior in hi school and was out on a date with...oh never mind that first time.

Seriously, I was 8 and my dad and uncle took myself and a couple of cousins around the back of the farm house and we shot into a dirt bank lined with tin cans. That lasted about an hour and I learned to work and load the Winchester Model 1905 pump action .22. That gun sits in my closet today and has taught both my sons firearm care and safety.

I have always bought all my own guns. Dad viewed them as tools and as a way to kill something. The years of 1943 thru 1945 in the South Pacific totally turned him off to guns as recreation. We shot together but very seldom. I just enjoyed spending time with this man that can never be replaced.

I think Fathers, sons, daughters and guns should spend time together.

 

[Omnislug]

Always loved weapons of all kinds, at 10 I had a blowgun, short sword, a spear big bowie knife a bow and Daisy model 86/70 inherited from my grandpa. The daisy was the most accurate BB gun I've ever shot, I must have killed thousands of birds and rodents with it, I got so good with it I could hot a hummingbird at the tops of trees consistently ( not bragging about the killing of so many birds which I think was bad of me. I stopped and never killed another not long after).
I watched my stepdad kill Several very large wild pigs with a marlin model 60, we ate a LOT of wild hog stew, that stuff is Amazing! Nothing like pork in the store. He let me shoot that often, tried his 12 gauge at that age and it about knocked me on my rear. He ended up getting a 10/22 and I used the Marlin, we would spend all day hunting ground squirrels for the cattle rancher who owned the 600 acres we lived on and we filled in their holes so the cows didn't get stuck.
He took us to a hunter safety course soon after, think I was 13 and a year later he got another shotgun and I went quail/dove hunting with him. Went to lots of gun shows and the first gun that was fully mine was a SKS, maybe a year later I hauled enough hay to get a Ruger Single Six, the blast from that gun in the dark is something to be seen, absolutely loved that gun!
We moved to Oklahoma about a year later and spent a lot of time in a treestand and training bird dogs to get more quail.
I miss these days sometimes, I feel remarkably blessed to have these experiences and I've Loved guns weapons and hunting as much as I did back then.
Glad to find this site!

 

[gmerkt]

At about age ten, my dad took me to the desert with a .22 rifle borrowed from a cousin. We did that twice within a fairly short time. I can't remember the order, but one time was with a Remington Nylon 66, the other time it was a Marlin Model 56 (which my cousin later gave me and I still have).

 

[peteNW503]

Some pimp named Slickback Lamar drove the barrel of his 45 into my forehead telling me he didn't want no southie moving on his turf. I told him I was just trying to go to the Dollar Tree, where he then apologized saying he thought I was somebody else.

I hope that was a joke had me laughing my as* off if that’s a true story that’s wild lol

 

[Reno]

My dad started it all.

Moved to our new home in Sparks when I was about 6. On the edge of town, back then the road stopped at our neighborhood. Vista Blvd was dirt road past our neighborhood, into farms and ranches from that point forward. Los Altos, also only went up a ways, didn’t loop back to Vista for years. BLM land (I suppose) back then was right in our backyard. We would drive up around the bend of the neighborhood, which now has all been developed (which in a few years time my now wife ended up actually living) and shoot on the empty land. Usually my dads 10/22. My dad and uncles, friends, did a lot of shooting then. I only recall getting to shoot the 10/22. With those crappy plastic extended “banana clips” as my dad and uncle called them. They jammed a lot! I remember quite a few outings during those days. Even a near ricochet that went back towards the older folks as my trigger happy bubblegum proceeded to dump a mag through the 10/22. Good times!

That was it until I turned 18 and walked myself into a Big5 and bought my first gun, a shotgun. A Mossberg 500 Persuader. This was during the Clinton ban so ARs weren’t prevalent yet, but defense shotties were all the rage.

3 years passed. Got to buy my first pistol and second firearm, a Taurus PT111 Millennium, I also got my CCW the same year.

From there on forward I started to buy sell and trade.

The rest is history...

 

[MechaNik]

19 years old, turned it a family friend owned a couple guns I never knew about and I wanted to shoot them. Never held a gun before that. Maybe I was 18. Graduated high school, anyway. Didn't have any ear pro and let me tell you, firing off that little .380 for the first time was a surprising moment, being lead to think guns are fairly quiet from movies/TV/videogames. Fast forward over a decade and I'm the gun-owningiest person my family knows

 

[nammac]

Curiosity began in my adolescent and teen years, all those police shows in the late 60’ into the 70’s and beyond, they piqued my interest. There were no gun owners in my family, but were in wife 1.0’s family. As a result, shortly after wedding 1.0, I became the proud owner of a Browning HiPower, that’s was the mid 80’s. So I guess I popped my cherry on that HiPower, and certainly regret letting that one slip through my fingers...

 

[DeanMk]

My introduction to firearms was as a 4 year-old, sitting on the back porch with my dad, helping me aim his Remington 725 in .270, telling me how to use the 3-9X Bushnell scope on it, while trying to hit seagulls that would perch on the buoy we had out in the canal.
....was ok to shoot them back then.
Later on, dad picked up a subscription to Shooting Times and I remember spending hours laying on Mom & Dad's bed reading through those issues.

Dean

 

[Flymph]

Curiosity began in my adolescent and teen years, all those police shows in the late 60’ into the 70’s and beyond, they piqued my interest. There were no gun owners in my family, but were in wife 1.0’s family. As a result, shortly after wedding 1.0, I became the proud owner of a Browning HiPower, that’s was the mid 80’s. So I guess I popped my cherry on that HiPower, and certainly regret letting that one slip through my fingers...

That was almost my first gun, but the shop was charging too much. I offered $100 dollars less and the clerk laughed at me and said "good luck finding a better one for less!" When I said I would he continued laughing and asked how, he stopped laughing when I told him my dad was a collector.

 

[peteNW503]

19 years old, turned it a family friend owned a couple guns I never knew about and I wanted to shoot them. Never held a gun before that. Maybe I was 18. Graduated high school, anyway. Didn't have any ear pro and let me tell you, firing off that little .380 for the first time was a surprising moment, being lead to think guns are fairly quiet from movies/TV/videogames. Fast forward over a decade and I'm the gun-owningiest person my family knows

Damn no ear pro that must have been rough I shot my .45 a month. I took my fiancée and her friend to go shooting since I got like 6 guns or 7 guns since June. Good times but man my whole dead head was ringing !I have Howard Leight ear plugs very comfortable but I typically double up on ear protection with just some basic ear muffs over the ear plugs. Well I only had like two full sets so bringing a third person I said screw it so they don’t have to pay the range for protection I gave them the ear muffs and I used strictly ear plugs alone. I painfully regret doing it because I felt like I could hear the damn ocean from the .45 and 9mill going off near my ear.

 

[EHJ]

I was a Webelo in the late 60's. Got a Marksmanship Badge with a BB gun.
Grandparents bought an old farm in North Carolina which had become over run with groundhogs and was practically useless for cattle - much less horses. I got a bounty on every one @ .50 cents each - which went back to Pop for the loan it took to buy the little single shot .22 in the first place.
Ended up later going to middle / high school at a private school that was previously a military academy for years and still offered Marksmanship in athletics.

 

[peteNW503]

I was a Webelo in the late 60's. Got a Marksmanship Badge with a BB gun.
Grandparents bought an old farm in North Carolina which had become over run with groundhogs and was practically useless for cattle - much less horses. I got a bounty on every one @ .50 cents each - which went back to Pop for the loan it took to buy the little single shot .22 in the first place.
Ended up later going to middle / high school at a private school that was previously a military academy for years and still offered Marksmanship in athletics.

That’s cool I think .22 platform is perfect to start. I started with my Glock 44 in 22LR. Super cheap ammo I’ve heard mixed reviews as far as 22LR not being accurate or reliable but personally I’ve had little to no problems with my Glock 44 or my Smith and Wesson MP15-22. Then I upgraded to a Small Beretta Apex .40 cal carry version was pretty damn small and the texturing cut up my hands sold that. Bought a 9mm but I didn’t understand the ballistic improvements that were made to 9mill so I bought a .45 because some people refer to .45 ACP and 40 S&W as the man stopper round I thought hey this is a step up from the 9mill which it is grain and casing dimension wise but then I realized how much .45 ACP rounds were and I was like well I’d like to be able to train with my carry gun and if the ammo is expensive I’m less like to train as much. Now I found my sweet spot with 9mill although I do enjoy shooting a bigger round. I think shot placement comes into play when talking about advantages of 9mill vs 40 S&W and .45 ACP hell even .38 seem to have greater recoil then 9 but less penetration. I like all calibers but for me and my situation 9 mill works best for my carry and home defense guns but the advancement that have been made to 9 mill round you can essentially get fairly similar ballistics but much less recoil.

That was almost my first gun, but the shop was charging too much. I offered $100 dollars less and the clerk laughed at me and said "good luck finding a better one for less!" When I said I would he continued laughing and asked how, he stopped laughing when I told him my dad was a collector.

Gun buying at a store can definitely be a trip like that sometimes. When an employee gets like that with me I just smile back knowing that there are private seller and multiple other stores in the area. You lose my business and I won’t refer you to any friends or family.. definitely been to a few places like that clerk wanted $800 for a Glock 17 Gen 4... and told me you won’t find one for cheaper. Thankfully I found this site and said I’d rather buy private walked straight out and bought my Glock 17 Gen4 for the next day for 475.. panic buying can really costly because In-store gun prices have gone significantly up . Less than a month ago I went to purchase a Glock 26 they wanted $465 wasn’t sure I wanted to pay that much went back to the same place on Monday and it was $520 Gen3 $560 for the gen5. I said screw that I saw people selling them on here I was able to get exactly what I wanted came with nightsights, holster and ammo for $500. Now anytime I am interested in something I come on here to check prior to going to the big box store. I’d prefer to help someone out locally and vice versa. Very reasonable prices on ammo and guns on here glad I found this site and the community is filled with awesome people!

 

[peteNW503]

19 years old, turned it a family friend owned a couple guns I never knew about and I wanted to shoot them. Never held a gun before that. Maybe I was 18. Graduated high school, anyway. Didn't have any ear pro and let me tell you, firing off that little .380 for the first time was a surprising moment, being lead to think guns are fairly quiet from movies/TV/videogames. Fast forward over a decade and I'm the gun-owningiest person my family knows

My dad started it all.

Moved to our new home in Sparks when I was about 6. On the edge of town, back then the road stopped at our neighborhood. Vista Blvd was dirt road past our neighborhood, into farms and ranches from that point forward. Los Altos, also only went up a ways, didn’t loop back to Vista for years. BLM land (I suppose) back then was right in our backyard. We would drive up around the bend of the neighborhood, which now has all been developed (which in a few years time my now wife ended up actually living) and shoot on the empty land. Usually my dads 10/22. My dad and uncles, friends, did a lot of shooting then. I only recall getting to shoot the 10/22. With those crappy plastic extended “banana clips” as my dad and uncle called them. They jammed a lot! I remember quite a few outings during those days. Even a near ricochet that went back towards the older folks as my trigger happy bubblegum proceeded to dump a mag through the 10/22. Good times!

That was it until I turned 18 and walked myself into a Big5 and bought my first gun, a shotgun. A Mossberg 500 Persuader. This was during the Clinton ban so ARs weren’t prevalent yet, but defense shotties were all the rage.

3 years passed. Got to buy my first pistol and second firearm, a Taurus PT111 Millennium, I also got my CCW the same year.

From there on forward I started to buy sell and trade.

The rest is history...

I haven’t really got into shotgun shooting yet but I'm sure it is fun! Mag dumping can be hella fun. When shooting pistols at the range I go to you can have 2 shooters on a shooting lane shooting at the same time. Only took the first mag to remember oh sh*t the ejection port is the on the right side so every time my fiancée or her friend would shoot I’d be like watch your brass because getting hit with a hot casing is not fun. I like to take people out with my guns and giving them a positive experience with firearms. A lot of stigma and misconceptions about firearms and safety.

 

[tac]

Someone died. Left me this gun. My life hasn't been the same since.

View attachment 782826

THE most underrated heavy-duty revolver ever made, IMO.

I've got a Redhawk version.................

 

[tac]

Back in the Summer of '52, my dad and I were sat down on that beach, about half-way up from where you see in this photo. He reached into his old ex-Army gas-mask bag, and hauled out a Colt Model 1911, a loaded magazine, and some cotton wool. The cotton wool having been stuffed into my ears, he reached around my back and firmly clasped the grip between my two much smaller hands, cocked it and let me fire off the contents into the oncoming waves.

You'll be gratified to learn that I hit every one of them smack bang in the curly bit.

I was hooked forever.

I was six years and three months old.

 

[peteNW503]

Always loved weapons of all kinds, at 10 I had a blowgun, short sword, a spear big bowie knife a bow and Daisy model 86/70 inherited from my grandpa. The daisy was the most accurate BB gun I've ever shot, I must have killed thousands of birds and rodents with it, I got so good with it I could hot a hummingbird at the tops of trees consistently ( not bragging about the killing of so many birds which I think was bad of me. I stopped and never killed another not long after).
I watched my stepdad kill Several very large wild pigs with a marlin model 60, we ate a LOT of wild hog stew, that stuff is Amazing! Nothing like pork in the store. He let me shoot that often, tried his 12 gauge at that age and it about knocked me on my rear. He ended up getting a 10/22 and I used the Marlin, we would spend all day hunting ground squirrels for the cattle rancher who owned the 600 acres we lived on and we filled in their holes so the cows didn't get stuck.
He took us to a hunter safety course soon after, think I was 13 and a year later he got another shotgun and I went quail/dove hunting with him. Went to lots of gun shows and the first gun that was fully mine was a SKS, maybe a year later I hauled enough hay to get a Ruger Single Six, the blast from that gun in the dark is something to be seen, absolutely loved that gun!
We moved to Oklahoma about a year later and spent a lot of time in a treestand and training bird dogs to get more quail.
I miss these days sometimes, I feel remarkably blessed to have these experiences and I've Loved guns weapons and hunting as much as I did back then.
Glad to find this site!

That’s awesome! I’ve seen people in Texas shooting wild pigs with an AR but sounds like you had to get down and dirty which is the way to start in my opinion. I can respect learning shotguns early I feel like they tend to have more kick then most modern sporting rifles today once you can handle that shotgun recoil I’m sure it makes shooting other firearms much easier! My father has never been in my life yet alone taught me a life skill like shooting but I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some knowledgeable friendly accurate shooters! Once I have my own kids I definitely want to start a tradition. Get them at 10/22 teach them firearm safety and how to properly use it; and hopefully they will pass down the traditional to kids of their own.