How did you start shooting ?

[Tom]

I was about 4 when I discovered dad's m12 20 guage in the closet. I went down to the shop where I had seen a box of shells and took one back up to the house. Dad woke up to me trying to put it in the shotgun. He made me go back to bed, and later took me shooting. He demonstrated the destructiveness on a full can of coke and explained why I shouldn't play with guns.
Not long after that, he took me shooting with his Remington pump 22 and I was hooked! When I was six, he bought me an Ithaca 49. I still have it. When he caught me trying to load the shotgun, he hadn't touched a gun in 15 years, but figured he'd better teach me.

 

[Walks]

When we were 5 & 6, Dad took us on our 1st Jackrabbit hunting trip. We didn't get to shoot JR's but afterward Dad brought out a whole watermelon. He set it on the ground and walked 20ft away, drew his Colt OP and put one round through the melon.
Small hole going in, 4inch going out.

He said put it back together. Very impressive, We were both very muzxle conscience after that. I still am.

 

[abj]

I can't remember, but I think it was six years old with Daisy BB. A couple years later a pellet rifle. At about ten or so a used Remington 511 repeater, one for my brother and one for me. We still have both. My 13 yo granddaughter was shooting cci standards at deer camp range with it at swingers from 25 out to 110 yds. After about ten shots to figure the holds she could hit any target on demand. She shot 200 rounds that day. Needless to say who will own that one when I'm gone.
At about age 12 or so my dad did reloading for all the neighbors as well as mounting those new fangled telescopic sight thingys. When it came time to zero I was the shooter until the load was developed. Good lord how I miss those days.
During hunting season my dad would hand us a full clip of 5 rounds and said I want at least 3 squirrels back. I guess my granddad felt sorry for us so at christmas he gave us 500 rounds of cb's and no squirrels were required in return. Just a hug and a smile.
I try to do the same with my little one's
Tony

 

[462]

Learning marksmanship from a Marine -- probably doesn't get any better than that.

 

[quicksylver]

A-A-A-H BEN YOUR JUST A KID I WAS 10 IN '48.first shot everything imaginable with a bow, muskrats , rabbits foxes anything that came within range on the 28 acre farm, then shot well heads with a .22, after I Proved I could carry and handle a gun safely I was allowed to have a Daisy BB gun, I used that gun to decimate the grasshoppers in the fields, after proving I wasn't going to shoot anything that didn't deserve to be shot i was allow to wander around with any " farm gun I could get my hands on a 12 gauge A-5 ,savage 99's, assorted Winchester .22's and various handguns when did it start? ARE YOU KIDDING I AM 72,YOU THINK II REMEMBER! ... Dan

 

[Rick]

A-A-A-H BEN YOUR JUST A KID I WAS 10 IN '48.
ARE YOU KIDDING I AM 72,YOU THINK II REMEMBER! ... Dan

Math has never been my strong suit but . . . Must be a typo and you meant you were 10 in 58. I was born in October 48 and am now 71 and leaning on 72.

 

[quicksylver]

up i will admit a mistake 10 in 58 BD march of 48 SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!!!

 

[Rick]

Well happy birthday you old fart you. I'll wait till October to catch up.

 

[quicksylver]

Thank you I am so slow that when the young ones come around for the second time it looks like I am ahead of the crowd I am not going to change that impresion

 

[Edward R Southgate]

5 or 6 . Shot the kid next door with a Daisy cub loaded with the gravel that collected on the ground at the bottom of a gutter downspout . Washed off the shingles , kinda made it a shotgun . He didn't like it much and mama took the Daisy for a while but he deserved it . He was bigger and was deviling me through the fence , so I shot him ! Pap was a gunsmith so I took up with real guns and reloading by the time I was about 8 , started casting long about then too . First real gun I shot was a Winchester M1 carbine my uncle Charlie sent home from Italy during the war and the 1955 Blackhawk that now follows me everywhere I go . Wish I still had the Winchester but the Rockola I got will have to do since pap gave Charlie his Winchester back .

 

[Mitty38]

8 years old. I remember getting a Daisy Eagle with a scope for my birthday. I believe mom taught me to use it.
The very first real gun I ever shot was a Marlin,Glen field 70, .22 lr with detachable clips. (Yes,they were called Clips by Marlin in the original literature for that gun. Even though they are now called magazines in other guns.) I was 10. It was my brothers, He let me shoot it. My dad bought it from him, for me, after I shot it and liked it.
My son has it now.

 

[Cherokee]

Mitty - Marlin 70...still have mine and it still shoots great.

 

[abj]

All us guys holding onto our first .22's and such for 50 plus years are starving the used gun market. Grin...
It is nice to read everyone's stories.
Tony

 

[Dvajax]

I grew up hunting and shooting with my father and uncles. I don't remember a time without shooting.

 

[Mitty38]

Mitty - Marlin 70...still have mine and it still shoots great.

I believe that gun was Standard issue, in Ohio, in the late 60's early 70's. Know a lot of us Ohioans that cut our teeth on one.

 

[Creeker]

I used a firearm for hunting as a lad. It was a Westernfield 410 pump. The other firearm was an Iver Johnson Sealed 8 which I put less than a couple hundred through. My Grandfather passed in 64 & Dad inherited his 37 Winchester 12 gauge which I now have.

In the big skeem of things I did no real shooting till 68 in the Army. I was discharged in 71 & in 73 I began to shoot & fell in love. The rest is history.

 

[Ian]

I have the Model 37 .410 (my first shotgun, Dad bought it for me from a gun-nut friend when I was about 10 or 11. Mire recently I got a 16-gauge. I know someone who has the 12, 16, 20, and 28 anf has coveted my .410 for ages. I won't trade and he won't either so between the two of us we have the whole set.

I got started with a garage-sale Daisy springer at about 6, then Dad bought me a brand-new new Red Ryder that was a total disappointment, then Santa brought me a Daisy one-pump bb/pellet rifle that I wore completely out by the next Christmas, but Santa brought me my dream .22 Benjamin and it took me 20 years to wear it out (lost count of how many 500-count pellet tins I emptied through it), then the .410, and a few months later I got a chance to buy a nice customized 10-22 with my own money, and very shortly after that my Grandfather gave me his Western Field (Mossberg) 12-gauge and a Marlin 336 saddle-ring Texan in .30-30. I was set for a long time.

 

[FrankCVA42]

Bought my first hi powered rifle back in '63. !891 Argentine mauser in 7.65x53mm. Just out of high school so enlisted in the navy and spent about 3 1/2 years ocs or over the choppy seas. Actually didn't get to shoot it until after my separation from active duty. Used to shoot at the old Brookhaven Range way out on Long Island NY. No formal instruction so started at ground level like a lot of folks. Worked shift work, rotating shifts and always managed to squeeze in some quality time shooting. The cast bullets part of the hobby started after reading Ed Harris article "Shooting Cast Bullets in Military Rifles". Didn't even know what a Moisin Nagant rifle was ,but the search was on. Finally was rewarded with a beautiful Finnish Model 27 with a brite shiney bore..That and Lyman's 314299 and off to the races. Frank

 

[Edward R Southgate]

Welcome aboard FrankCVA42 .

 

[John]

Dad took us out at age 5 with an older winchester bolt 22. We shot jackrabbits starting at age 10 or so with 22's and hunted pheasant and waterfowl. Dad was a Marine and of the opinion that handguns were only for killing people. I was reading Elmer and Col Cooper and of another opinion. I bought my first handgun, an H&R 22/22Mag after I was married at about age 23. I shot OK with them until I joined the Sheriffs Posse, Search and Rescue and worked as a reserve officer in Caribou County ID about 1982. That gave us access to County purchased powder, primers and bullets run through a members dillon reloader. With some decent instruction we took 1st place in the national Search and Rescue 4 man pistol team 3 years in a row.
Been in a few clubs and shot in a few matched but I have never lived where I could shoot competition on a regular basis without a ton of travel or time away from my job.
Mostly I just try to make holes touch on paper and shoot a few deer now.