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How did you first get……

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How did you first get started shooting and getting interested in guns? I was about 7-8 when my dad started taking me out with his H&R .22 revolver and a Remington pump .22 rifle. My dad had 17 acres so we just went out into the backyard. As I got older and better at shooting he then brought out his S&W model 15 .38 special with 4” barrel, I feel in love with this gun, many hours shooting with him and it was great. My first handgun was a very well used S&W 66 with 4” barrel. Owned this for a few years and then my curiosity grew and picked up a AMT government model in .45acp. After this model, my hobby grew to today, 40 years latter and I still look for a gun that I still don’t have yet……what can I say, shooting sports are great and addictive.
 
Honestly I have no real idea, I never remember not shooting. I know he, dad, started teaching archery about the same time I was walking but do not know ages. My first memories shooting were a small bolt 22 and an over and under savage .22/410.

First handguns were a jframe smith and Colt commander.
 
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How did you first get started shooting and getting interested in guns?
probably like over 30 years ago...so like maybe 1992/1993....???

i was at my barbershop. a man (a Nam vet) came into the shop, he was a regular, but like maybe 2 times a year, and i never seen him before.

somehow we got talking about guns, so i asked question after question, even apologizing for asking questions.

he didn't mind and rattled off so much information.

then in the early fall of 2019, i went to the LGS (had to google where they were), and walked in, and got the gun safety book, that you have to read, and take a written test, to obtain a "Blue Card", which allows you to buy guns.

well, i threw that book into a pile, and didn't even bother about it, until January of 2020.

read the book, took the test, got my "Blue Card", and now not only do i have a "small collection", but also 2 reloading presses, and am seeking NRA/USCCA instructor training in my area.

all that time lost, had i acted 30 years earlier.

so, imma late blooomer........
 
probably like over 30 years ago...so like maybe 1992/1993....???

i was at my barbershop. a man (a Nam vet) came into the shop, he was a regular, but like maybe 2 times a year, and i never seen him before.

somehow we got talking about guns, so i asked question after question, even apologizing for asking questions.

he didn't mind and rattled off so much information.

then in the early fall of 2019, i went to the LGS (had to google where they were), and walked in, and got the gun safety book, that you have to read, and take a written test, to obtain a "Blue Card", which allows you to buy guns.

well, i threw that book into a pile, and didn't even bother about it, until January of 2020.

read the book, took the test, got my "Blue Card", and now not only do i have a "small collection", but also 2 reloading presses, and am seeking NRA/USCCA instructor training in my area.

all that time lost, had i acted 30 years earlier.

so, imma late blooomer........
Better late than never
 
Living on a ranch with plenty of room to shoot about anything native. As my dad and I would do a morning cattle feedings (I was 4). Gunrack in the feed p/u with a 22mag I would have a chance at shooting some prairie dogs. Many moons ago.
 
My father started taking me to the range in Bedford Massachusetts. He had been robbed at his store so he applied for and got a CCW in Massachusetts! This was in the 60's. My father had been a german soldier from Lithuania during WW2. He was very good when it came to marksmanship. He instilled his very high standards on me when I was about 8 years old. It really pissed him off if I didn't do good. Needless to say I did enjoy going to the range whenever he asked me. While he was in the US Army he did win several awards for his marksmanship. When I joined the Army the instructors were really surprised that I could shoot so well! I still enjoy going after all these years. Going to shoot always relaxes me and makes me feel a whole lot better, I just can't explain it. It was also the only thing my father enjoyed doing with me.
 
1979
Started hunting with my brother on our own for Quail and Snowshoe Rabbits.

Though we grew up as toddlers hunting with my dad
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Decided about 5 years ago that with the :poop: show the world is going through, I needed to get busy in the "defend me and Mrs. Tinyman" program. Talked to a buddy of mine (worked on his airplane) and had him give me the 411.

First was G19.4 and the family has grown and being 73, I ain't done yet.
 
How did you first get started shooting and getting interested in guns? I was about 7-8 when my dad started taking me out with his H&R .22 revolver and a Remington pump .22 rifle. My dad had 17 acres so we just went out into the backyard. As I got older and better at shooting he then brought out his S&W model 15 .38 special with 4” barrel, I feel in love with this gun, many hours shooting with him and it was great. My first handgun was a very well used S&W 66 with 4” barrel. Owned this for a few years and then my curiosity grew and picked up a AMT government model in .45acp. After this model, my hobby grew to today, 40 years latter and I still look for a gun that I still don’t have yet……what can I say, shooting sports are great and addictive.

I have always been a history buff, WW2 is likely my favorite time period but I also like the Middle Ages among other times in history. The first time I went to college (Automotive Tech in the 1980's) one of my classmates was also into historical stuff, he was a Veteran from Vietnam and was a collector and amateur gun-smith. I asked him what types of arms he had, the first rifle he mentioned was a real 1940's era 30.06 M1! I said "I'll buy a box of ammo if you'll show me how to shoot it!" I was introduced to a few other friends of his and I was hooked! I'm not really a collector with just 2 rifles a shot-gun and one pistol, or smith ether but Id like to learn all I can in my retirement years.
 
Decided about 5 years ago that with the :poop: show the world is going through, I needed to get busy in the "defend me and Mrs. Tinyman" program. Talked to a buddy of mine (worked on his airplane) and had him give me the 411.

First was G19.4 and the family has grown and being 73, I ain't done yet.
I'll add a little more to this story. My buddy is a St. Clair County Sherriff and during my "I'm thinking about getting armed up" Q&A session, I mentioned I'd also like to add a laser or red dot. He adamantly and loudly told me that shouldn't happen. His reason was that when the SHTF and you draw, you'd be looking for the dot (or light) and that microsecond could cost your life. Train to aim -- it's all I've done with range visits, and it seems to have helped.
 
I always had an interest in firearms but my dad had no desire to teach me. When i turned 50 i bought my first gun, m&p9, for home defense. At 50 i realized my chances in a fight in my home even with a bat were slim to none. I said i’d go to the range 1 day a week for a year whether i liked it or not to become proficient in the safe handling and operation of my new gun. I also committed to proper instruction and lessons. After a month i realized i was hooked. I went from no guns to 14 in less than 2 years and will be getting my ccw permit over the winter (hopefully).
I like the challenge of shooting pistols and the zen-like feeling of shooting my 22 rifles. I only wish i had done this earlier in my life.
It is a great hobby for me and i really enjoy the people i’ve met. I wish more people would at least just try it once.
 
I got into guns from watching westerns on TV. I don't remember how old I was when I got this set --> https://picclick.com/Complete-Mattel-Shootin-Shell-Buffalo-Hunter-Single-Cap-185502067178.html , but I do remember putting it on when Gunsmoke came on and would do a fast draw against Mr Dillon. I always beat him too. LOL

From there it was a natural progression to BB guns , pellet rifles , .22 bolt action single shot , and also using my mom's 410 shotgun ( Yes I said my mom's ) , on to a semi auto Winchester model 290 .22 rifle as well as a Remington model 31 12 ga. pump.

Yes I grew up hunting and fishing and the thrill of buying and using a new gun has never left me.
 
My mom and dad met on the rifle team at their college. Odd though, my dad never took me or my brother shooting. He got us a Sheridan Blue Streak about 1978...and turned us loose on the neighborhood. When I turned 12, though, he let me take a hunter's safety course, then bought me an 870 Wingmaster 12-ga that killed hundreds of local squirrels...I learned early that squirrel does not taste as good as you think.

Didn't shoot much through my teens. In my twenties living in an apartment in Racine, WI I would regularly hear gun fire (circa 1992). Went out and bought a .38-special Taurus snub that I still have. Went to the range as much as I could then, but didn't start buying more firearms until 3-4 years ago when it seemed they (generalization) might become illegal in short order.
 
When I was about 9 my folks gave me an Untouchables Mattel Shootin Shell revolver that came with a shoulder holster. I carried it CCW under my suit for weeks at sunday school and church. That worked out fine until one sunday I was forced to bust a cap on my cousin after the 8am service. My Mom frisked me before church for more than a year after that. I was incorrigible.
 
My Dad has a lot of State Trooper friends and one day can't remember how old I was when he took me to the shooting areas literally a five minute walk from my childhood homestead into the woods with some of his Trooper friends and I got to fire a 357 magnum of course under their watchful eyes. Years later I found out they loaded it with 38 special rounds. Those old shooting areas behind my childhood home are long gone now but I still hold onto the memories. From that day forward I was hooked. My collection didn't really take off until I graduated the Academy in the late 80's and now it's booming literally...
 
I always use to wait on Saturday for my dad to come home from Pheasant\Quail hunting. I would help him carry in the birds. Think I finally got to go with him when I was around 12. Started shooting a Browning Sweet 16 that I had trouble holding up. He set up an area that I could shoot a Sheridan 5mm. Got into competitive .22 rifle shooting in high school. A guy in the local club took me under his wing and introduced me to S&W revolvers, in my mid teens. Then introduced me to the Sig P220. I think that was my first love 🤣 .
 
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