My Dad used my allowance money to buy a .22 rifle for me for my 8th birthday.. He gave the basics of shooting and turned me loose.

Long Rifles was $.50 a box and Jack rabbits was selling for $.$50 apiece.

I earned my spending money supplying rabbits to a mink farm from then on through college with a .22 rifle and Single six Ruger.

My dad started me out with a Stevens 14 1/2 Little Scout rifle when I was between 5 and 6 years old, no idea what ever happened to that rifle, I was fortunate enough to buy one just like the original last summer that had a good shinny bore. Every time I pick it up I go back those 56 years.

Terry

Me. I was born and raised in NJ, guns were already not so popular in the '60's. My dad was a WWII Navy vet and didn't care much for "small guns." Traded a RedRyder around 1964 for a rusted shut Marlin 7 shot bolt action. Cleaned up nice and finished the stock with left over polyurethane my dad had used on a floor re-do. My nephew still has it. Been at it since, although since my eyesight has gone to ****, not as often or enthusiastically as when younger. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

My father bought me a Marlin 81DL in 1946. I still have it. He taught me to shoot: he went into WW I as a private and came out as a sergeant with a Purple Heart and a Silver star. i'm real proud of him.

Boy scouts and self taught. I had a trainer when I competed in rifle and picked up a lot of my pistol skills doing PPC competitions back in the late 70's.

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SWCA 1646

Learned to shoot BB rifles with my cousins and my uncle.
My uncle was part of a hunting camp in northern PA. I would spend weekends up there with them and we'd all go down to dump and shoot dump rats.
We used .22 rifles and pistols to do the critters in.
We had some great times up at that camp!

United States Marine Corps, Paris Is SC

3rd Battalion, H Company 3065
June-Aug 1985

Last class with the M16-A1 full-auto. Next classes started the A2's with burst. I still have a hot brass scar on my left arm from a full-auto mag dump from the guy next to me.

Those dang A1's were so clapped out, while drilling the hand guards would pop off. DI's loved that!

My Dad and My Uncle taught me the fundmentals of shooting rifles, handguns and shotguns.

The US Army and the Instructors in Infantry School and Training Group taught me the basics of combat shooting.
Experience taught me Advanced Combat Shooting in Vietnam.

The Instructors in the Treasury Academy in Washington, D.C. taught me advanced Combat Shooting at Beltsville.

The Instructors at Fle-TC (pronounced FLEA-Tic) refined my Combat Shooting with revolvers, pistols, rifles, shotguns and subguns.

And a multitude of other folks have taught me things about shooting. Seems I learn something every day. And I'm an Old Guy now and I've been shooting as part of my profession all of my life and I'm still learning.

Jungle Work

Started at the local Boys Club at 9. Big old target single shots. I was pretty puny at that age so they seemed like they weighed a ton. My Moms stepfather was a hunter and when he found out he started taking me to the local fish and game club every weekend he went. He was a very stern German immigrant but had the patience of a saint with me. He had no children of his own so I guess I was a substitute. We did a lot of hunting and fishing till I joined the service in '65. He never did a lot of laughin or huggin and his best approval was a nod and the word good and he never uttered a cross word to me. I sure do miss that old man.
DW

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"NUTS"

Smart man.

It was the late Fess Parker that started me into recreational shooting. Thank you Mr. Parker.

The first time I touched a firearm was at Boy Scout camp, maybe about 1960. I remember being taught sight picture and trigger "squeeze" and it must have stuck, as I was the hero of the troop that day with the best target.

It was my only exposure for a couple of years, until I got into an NRA Junior club in Auburn Mass, which shot at an indoor 50' rifle/pistol range in the basement of the City Hall. I often wonder how long that range lasted when the gun climate in Mass went off-track. I worked my way quickly through the Junior ranks to Distinguished Expert, and in high school years acted more as an instructor for the younger members. We had a bunch of DCM .22s, and lots of Remington ammo to use. I outgrew the club rifles and bought a Savage Anschutz for competing in the 4 position postal matches.

I went off to college and spent a lot of time on the ROTC indoor range at UMass with their NCAA rifle team training and shooting in Intl 4 position matches. I had moved up to an Anschutz 1413 by this time, and all the "stuff" needed to be competitive, like jackets, gloves, sling cuff, etc. That's another range that I expect went away as there doesn't seem to be any mention of it on the UMass site now. If I remember correctly, it was in Dickinson Hall.

Moved back to the Auburn area after switching to a different college with a daily commute, and got to spend time instructing at the Junior club again, and got involved with the adult pistol club shooting at the same range. I very quickly acquired a new Model 41, a slightly used .38 Master (M52), and a used accurized 1911 for the NRA 3 gun matches.

When I enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1970, I sold the M52 and 1911 to other club members, and kept the M41, which I still have. Of course, I've been kicking myself the last few years for not keeping the others, but at 19, I didn't have the foresight and the money was more attractive. As a side note, the thing I most regret selling was the very original 1946 Indian with sidecar. Arrgh.

I got assigned to a cutter in Boston, so I had most nights and weekends off, and continued to shoot with the club when i could get there, having to borrow back the centerfire pistols to compete. I also took the NRA Rifle and Pistol Instructor courses during this period, and remember being slightly PO'd because I couldn't get my Certified Instructor rating at the end because I was a few months shy of my 21st birthday.

In 1973, I ended up in Seattle when the Boutwell moved here from Boston, and never really got into the shooting scene here. I kept the M41, but it went into storage along with the barely used Winchester 101 Pigeon Grade I bought. The last gun I bought during this period was a M39 no-dash which I also still have, that was found through a newspaper ad.

Fast forward to about about 5 years ago, when our closest social couple friends announced out of the blue that they were going to buy handguns and take some training classes.
I hauled the old M41 and M39 out, cleaned them up, and we went off to a local indoor range for some familiarization.

That was the beginning of the current phase. Now I have a small safe stuffed with S&W semi autos, my wife has her own sort-of S&W, a PK380, and her carry permit, and 3 of us have gone through lots of practical Defensive and Tactical training classes, mostly through the Firearms Academy of Seattle. My wife can't participate in many of those because of some physical limitations, but she does enjoy range time.

Good Grief! This has ended up being a life story. Sorry!

BB
Seattle

US Army.