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Did you grow up with firearms or get interested later in life?

  • Since I was a kid.

    Votes: 391 86.7%
  • Later in adulthood.

    Votes: 60 13.3%

  • Total voters
    451
I was born in 1954, grew up around guns (which were available in every rural hardware store, as was dynamite, fuse and caps). I recall learning with a .22 single shot, and getting to try Dad's Colt Woodsman, later his K-38. I suppose I started shooting around six. Noteworthy in regard to the current nonsense about toy guns, is the fact there was never a time I recall that I could not tell the difference between toy guns, actual firearms, and BB guns (and we had some nice metal caps guns in those days).
 
Had my first shot gun and handgun at 11 years old. Living in Black rock desert in Nevada well before burning man was a thing explored many mining spots killed a lot of Squeaks
Moved at 13 to eastern Oregon . Spent the rest of my childhood in eastern Oregon Desert slaying jack rabbits and. Squeaks Till I was 19. Then off to see the world. Funny thing is after all these years of seeing the world. I crave the simple slow life of eastern Desert
 
Last Edited:
Squeak=prairie dog

EB64D281-4B31-47EE-BE75-C3038EEC14C6.jpeg
 
I was born and raised on a small horse outfit outside of Moscow, ID. My biological dad was a writer for Field & Stream, owned a chain of gun shops in the region, and was a Marine sniper. Stepdad was a rancher, then a cop, then FBI, then Chief of Police.

I got my first .22 at age 10 and was let loose in the Idaho woods alone with my trusty firearm. By age 13, I was riding horseback 50 miles a day in the mountains with a .22 Ruger Single-Six on my hip, alone, and would camp out in the woods occasionally.

I don't remember ever not knowing about guns or having one handy.

Seems a lot of folks these days grew up without firearms and got into them later in life.

I admit to sometimes not understanding their perspectives or issues with firearms and being a bit insensitive about certain subjects with folks like that.

Just wondering who else here had a proper upbringing like me.
I was born to a forester and his wife. By the time I was a toddler and before we moved to the Portland area in '74 (when I entered 7th grade) we lived in a
couple of small Central/Eastern Oregon towns. Dad started me shooting Grandpa's .22 rifle by the time I was about 5, the Ruger pistol a year later. Before those two .22s I remember having cap pistols that looked like nickle plated, engraved Colts.
Before I entered high school Dad started giving me a brick of 22s for Christmas. They were always wrapped in underwear. He loved the idea of Long Rifles wrapped in Shorts. :D
I still have the rifle and pistol. The ammo and underwear are long gone!:s0073:
 
Dad taught us to shoot around age 6 or so, starting with a Winchester model 61 and a Remington pump I don't know the model of. A few years later we got trained on the Ruger MK1 pistol. It's been a way to spend time and money ever since.

I'd tell more but I have to get ready for a little range time w/ my brother this afternoon.
 
I grew up in the city of Seattle, born in 51 and received my first gun on my 7th birthday. Winchester 22lr 5 shows detachable magazine with a 4x Burris scope. We knew everyone on both sides of the street and most on the next streets over. I don't recall any family who didn't fish and hunt. A mixture of all religions including Jews and Catholics and probably most of the protestants represented. A typical middle class neighborhood of the 1950's and 60's. No one clashed over how the others worshiped or argued over politics, that I can recall and I asked about those things when I was grown. My father and his business partner went hunting every year from dove season through elk and deer. For fishing he always took me, but I knew I had to wait until I turned 12 to go hunting. And boy did we hunt, for everything. I didn't get my first deer until 15 and waited another dozen years for my elk, a spike, but the jinx was off with the skunk. Good times and I've been having them since, while passing down to everyone that's been interested. Stay safe and take your gun everywhere you. As commanded by our founding fathers
 
I'm now over 70, but was raised on USAF SAC bases across the country
all my Scout Leaders were NCO War veterans
I learned how to lay out overlapping fields of fire by the time I was 8
the first rifle I fired was an M1 Carbine
then in the early '60s, my father brought home an AR7 from his survival kit
neetest firearm a kid ever shot
we took it on camping/boating trips in Louisiana - it even FLOATS
he had to take it back whenever his squadron was on alert status (SAC B-52)

in Louisiana in the early '60s, gun safety was still a mandatory class in Jr High
 
Dad had a Winchester Model 94, .30-30 but we didn't shoot it much. He had stored inside a case under his bed for a while and it didn't fair well. So, I sold it to somebody who was going to use it to Hunt with.

after I went into the Army I purchased my first Smith and Wesson. A Model 10-5 that was to have gone to the Shah of Iran. 50 years later it's still a part of my Collection, which has grown a bit. It's getting to the point that I kinda need to figure out just where it's going. In 2005 I had it appraised and it was said to be worth $13,000.00 $$$.

I'm just guessing but I would start it at $25,000.00 and let it go up from there, who knows??? It's believed to be the only one that still exists. Another local guy said he had a Model 36 with the same markings but he kept saying that for 25+ years and then suddenly Sold it without ever showing it to me. I have to believe it was just so much Bull.
I'm currently giving mine away to mostly 10-14 year olds with their parents permission. A mandatory 10 session target shooting with me and the parent/parents. I've distributed as many pre-ban AR-15 carbines that I can find and afford. Put them in the right hands men!
 
I'm now over 70, but was raised on USAF SAC bases across the country
all my Scout Leaders were NCO War veterans
I learned how to lay out overlapping fields of fire by the time I was 8
the first rifle I fired was an M1 Carbine
then in the early '60s, my father brought home an AR7 from his survival kit
neetest firearm a kid ever shot
we took it on camping/boating trips in Louisiana - it even FLOATS
he had to take it back whenever his squadron was on alert status (SAC B-52)

in Louisiana in the early '60s, gun safety was still a mandatory class in Jr High
My dad and my brother were both USAF, as well.
Ever spend any time at Schilling or Mather?
 
My dad and my brother were both USAF, as well.
Ever spend any time at Schilling or Mather?
yes, Mather
was born on Castle, then my mother and I spent his Korea tour at Fairchild, then to Mather after Korea
our family stayed stateside during his multiple tours to Guam
and the list goes on, Elsworth, Sheppard, Barksdale
he was a photography reconacense officer with the U2s at Barksdale during the Cuban situation, some tense moments at Barksdale for a teen
then March AFB during Vietnam
my father was operations officer of 22nd Heavy Bomb Wing then

I learned the reality of a SAC combat crew one day in 1957 when I asked my father where he landed after bombing Russia
he smiled and told me the B52 only carried fuel for a one way trip, knowing if they ever went past Fail Safe, there would be no America to come back to
probably accounts for my fatalistic attitude today
 
Welcome abord 1950IndianChief.
I bet you spent a lot of time at Warshall's, as a youngster. :s0155:

that's where my 22 rifle came from in 58, but I always preferred Eddie Bauer. At least until they quit carrying guns and ammo in the early 70's. Also I had a beach house in Indianola, Kitsap county and myself and the few neighbors around shot our guns with impunity from the turn of the century until I sold it 2 years ago.
 
yes, Mather
was born on Castle, then my mother and I spent his Korea tour at Fairchild, then to Mather after Korea
our family stayed stateside during his multiple tours to Guam
and the list goes on, Elsworth, Sheppard, Barksdale
he was a photography reconacense officer with the U2s at Barksdale during the Cuban situation, some tense moments at Barksdale for a teen
then March AFB during Vietnam
my father was operations officer of 22nd Heavy Bomb Wing then

I learned the reality of a SAC combat crew one day in 1957 when I asked my father where he landed after bombing Russia
he smiled and told me the B52 only carried fuel for a one way trip, knowing if they ever went past Fail Safe, there would be no America to come back to
probably accounts for my fatalistic attitude today
It happened off-base, but we were at Mather when I was born. Actually, dad was sent up to Tin City at that time, so we lived on Fashion Drive then.
Small world.
Your dad had a very cool job. I bet you've got a few interesting pictures from his assignment.
My dad was a Powerman. Diesel mechanic, to be specific. He maintained gensets. After he came back from Tin City, they sent him down to the Dominican Republic to dismantle the listening station we'd setup when Khrushchev had the missiles in Cuba.
The slides he took while he was there were amazing. Beautiful country.
My brother was at March in the 70's. I remember we took a family trip down there to visit them. Coldest spring vacation I can remember. Never go over 50 degrees the whole week we were out there, then on the last day we went to Marine Land and it was like 95. What a change!
 
Your dad had a very cool job. I bet you've got a few interesting pictures from his assignment.


I could start another thread, but my father was the navigator on an RB36 used for reconnaissance OVER Russia in the early '50

they could reach 60,000 and the Migs couldn't get that high

they would regularly watch Migs try to get to their altitude and stall out

in '56 the Russians developed their first SAMs that could get that high and further flights were discontinued until the U2 came out

an RB36 was lost with all it's crew in 1956 and listed as a training accident - my father said that's not true at all, it was lost after a SAM hit near the Russian border
 
that's where my 22 rifle came from in 58, but I always preferred Eddie Bauer. At least until they quit carrying guns and ammo in the early 70's. Also I had a beach house in Indianola, Kitsap county and myself and the few neighbors around shot our guns with impunity from the turn of the century until I sold it 2 years ago.
Wow, I'd forgotten about Eddie Bauer selling guns and ammo. That's been a while ago, and...I think Frederick and Nelson did too (now I'm going WAY back!).
Was your house in Indianola out by the pier?
I used to know some people who lived out that way (I went to David Wolfle, so I actually, I knew all those kids).
Yeah, I remember shooting our guns out here on the canal too. We had a picnic table in the back yard and I'd a plastic lid off a butter dish and set it in one of the little trees that made up the hedge row at the far end of the yard, then sit back with dad's .22 and proceed to shoot the center of it out.
We used my Frisbee as a wing shooting target when the shotguns came out too (they're amazingly resilient!).
Ah, the good ol' days. Now I gotta sit and squirm, while I try to figure out some place to go pop off some .22 shorts I recently found. :confused:
 
I grew up in the city of Seattle, born in 51 and received my first gun on my 7th birthday. Winchester 22lr 5 shows detachable magazine with a 4x Burris scope. We knew everyone on both sides of the street and most on the next streets over. I don't recall any family who didn't fish and hunt. A mixture of all religions including Jews and Catholics and probably most of the protestants represented. A typical middle class neighborhood of the 1950's and 60's. No one clashed over how the others worshiped or argued over politics, that I can recall and I asked about those things when I was grown. My father and his business partner went hunting every year from dove season through elk and deer. For fishing he always took me, but I knew I had to wait until I turned 12 to go hunting. And boy did we hunt, for everything. I didn't get my first deer until 15 and waited another dozen years for my elk, a spike, but the jinx was off with the skunk. Good times and I've been having them since, while passing down to everyone that's been interested. Stay safe and take your gun everywhere you. As commanded by our founding fathers
Those were good years in Seattle!
 

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