I was thinking about the first time I went shooting and what a great day that was. I went with my grandfather and my brother to Frank Doogans property and shot a .22 rifle and a 20 gauge shotgun. I remember how excited I was and how satisfying it was to fire the first couple rounds through each gun. We shot an old fridge with the .22 and a old fence post with the .20 gauge. Do you have a vivid memory of your first day shooting?

Dad taught me. I was so young I cant remember the first time for sure. Probley 6 or 7. I know I had unsupervised access to his .22 rifle at 8 or 9.

I got a used .20 gauge H&R breakopen single shot shotgun for my
Christmas present when i was 12 yrs old. The happiest moment of my
life to that point. Dad said, "Be Careful", and off to the woods i went
with a box of shells in hand. Can't remember what i shot at first. A
squirrel or just a tree... but the feeling of having my very own gun
after previously just shooting BB guns was something i'll never forget.


Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

I first shot a .22 rifle in the boy scouts when I was 11. Had to do a workbook and work with an instructor so it was a solid learning experience. The following year I shot 12ga shotguns for boy scouts as well. But hands down my best learning experience was for shooting a handgun. My neighbor was an NRA instructor and gave me a free private lesson. In the one day my shot improved %100. I suggest that anyone interested in shooting to get a lesson from a certified instructor. They explain things simply and bring things to your attention you'd never think about.

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S&W 686-6 Plus Pro Series

When I was 11 my Dad bought me my first .22 Rifle, a few boxes of .22 shorts, and gave me a bunch of targets. I never received a shooting lesson from him that I can recall, so as far as learning to shoot I guess I taught myself.

When I got back from shooting he drove me to Sears and said "go inside and buy a cleaning kit", which I did (with my own money), and when we got home and I asked him how to clean the rifle, he told me to read the instructions and figure it out.

I kind of always resented the fact that he routinely taught others to shoot that were basically strangers, but never taught me, his own son. On the other hand, I am a far better shot today than most others and looking back at things now, maybe he knew that things worth learning are worth learning yourself. Maybe I just got lucky or maybe he knew ......... I guess I'll never know since he's now passed.

Chief38

First deer hunting trip when I was 14. Father figure handed me a Rem 700 in 223. The ranch required everyone who hunted to fire at wild dogs when seen (due to dogs killing cattle); that's what I did, although I missed. First deer I came across the rifle wouldn't fire; forgot to flip safety off. Next hunting trip was upland birds where I really learned to shoot.

CSM Gus Wilson, the ROTC Sergeant Major at Westminster College in the early '70s. I've always shot a rifle using what he taught me and it's paid off for 30+ years.

When I was 10 or 11, a neighbor kid's dad taught me to shoot with a single-shot .22. I still have a pretty clear memory of that first lesson. We must have done some shooting at the neighbors' cabin, buy I don't recall any of that, just the first lesson. My father didn't hunt or shoot, but he had no objection if other parents wanted to give me the opportunity. I had the chance to go pheasant hunting with other kids on several occasions, and with another kid used to roam the woods trading off with a single .22 between us.

It was never a big deal, just one of the many things we got to do as kids. I enjoyed being outdoors and shooting. But I just never took it up for myself, and didn't really become interested in guns until recent years.

The first time I ever went shooting was when my father took my brother and I with him squirrel hunting. We each had a brand new Winchester 190 .22 LR rifle. It was wonderful. In the years that followed he gave us Rem. 870 12 ga. shotguns and took us dove hunting. Wonderful days! He gave his 870 to my younger brother when he was old enough so that we could all go dove hunting together.

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<><

My Dad taught me how to shoot when I was about 10. We sat on the back porch a plinked at tin cans, We started with the BB gun and worked up to the .22 and then the Sweet 16.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

I can't remember the age, young, but it was the NRA at the Y.M.C.A. we shot BB guns. My dad was one of the instructors, He shot competitvely in the NRA and was in ROTC all through High School and College. I actually have his model 52 Winchester he used, the thing is in 98-99% condition, built in 1939, it's amazing.

For myself it was young, dad got me a double barrel .410 for Christmas at @ 10 or so, and I had been shooting earlier than that. Dad was solely responsible for this whole mess, God Bless him.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

My uncle Sam!

Seriously. My parents were both European transplants, and while the concept of owning guns was not a problem for them, they just never had any experience with them...

...So I learned in the Army.

Len

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Qui me amat, amet et canem meum

My father.

How did you do that? That's only 9 characters.

Basically same for me. Minus Uncle Sam. Both parents are European transplants and I was born there too. Came over as a little kid. Guns ownership in my familywas not a problem but my dad just wasn't into that. I taught myself.

Surprisingly my dad does own a hand gun for HD and out of all things its a H&K USP. 40. Surprisingly, because he knows nothing about guns. They are all the same to him and he still managed to buy a quality one. I think he shot it once.

At about age 10, I fired my first .22 rifle, under the supervision and instruction of the Salesian Brothers. Yup, a Catholic religious order that operated a summer boy's camp in upstate New York. I shot bullseye rifle with various military trainer rifles on that NRA sanctioned youth team until I was in my teens. We competed against other boys camps, as well as shooting for score's and trophy's. It was surely a different time and place. Good memories!

Cheers;
Lefty

Boy Scouts of America, 1956. Earned a Marksman Merit Badge, then my parents bought me my first rifle, a .22LR Remington bolt action with Peep sights. Wish I still had it.........

I don't remember my age but my granddaddy had me shooting a small rolling block .22 when I was so small I had to lay it on a log and pull the trigger. He would draw a squirrel on a piece of paper and put it close enough I could hit it and then tell me I was a good shot. Since then I have probably run a couple of farms out a gun barrel but it was money well spent. Larry

Just like Len...
Uncle Sam's Misguided Children (USMC) taught me how to shoot in 1970.
I was raised in a household where guns were not allowed until I was 21 years-old.

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"Life is short, hunt hard"

About age 6 my father took me to a friends house in the country, and he had a .22 rifle. They put a tin can on a stump and I rested the rifle on another stump and sw shot it several times. Later at age 12 spent a few years in the winter going through a American Legion sponsored Jr. training program, taught by "Gentleman", former U S Army officer, who wore O D and combat boots to the sessions on Sat. evenings. Mostly Winchester 52's of various vintage, that all had several million rounds through them and would still hold the 10 ring on a 50 ft. course of fire. The instructor "Barney" had taught kids how to shoot and earn NRA marksman certificates for over 50 years. He probably taught several thousand kids in our town to shoot over the years. I think I earned 6th bar before I got interested in girls, cars, and other such. "Barney" was still around when I had my children and he also helped teach both my son and daughter to shoot, and my son went on to varsity letter on the High School rifle team and earn Distinguished Expert.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

My brother Jack taught me. He did two tours of Vietnam ’68 & ’69 with the Marines. When he was discharged he asked our Dad if he could teach me to shoot. He started with teaching how to field strip and clean a .22 single shot rifle then into what seemed like hours of learning shooting positions, sight picture and safety before I ever fired my first shot. We went through the same process with a handgun. Considering the instruction and schools I had attended later in Law Enforcement I consider his instruction the best I have ever received.

No one, taught myself. But until I attended the police academy I wasn't a threat to anybody. The academy honed my skills.

I didn't mean to leave my Dad out. He put me between his legs when I was probably 8 or 9 and let me fire his police service revolver, a S&W Model 1905, 4th Change .38. That's when I fell in love with guns, but no he didn't try to teach an 8 year old to shoot. (Still have his nickel plated revolver with stag grips.)

My grandfather taught me. I'm not sure how old I was, probably around 7 or 8. We shot his Winchester Model 62A. I was lucky enough to get that gun when he passed away and I still have it. I still shoot it and think of him every time I do. I consider it my most valuable gun although I have many that are worth more money.

On my 11th birthday my dad took me in the back field
of our property and there she was leaning on an old fence post
a new 30-30 lever action marlin. We shot 2 boxs of ammo that day.
My shoulder hurt the next day but I was so proud of MY OWN
rifle. That was 51 years ago and I still have her. Me and her brought down many deer.

My dad bought me a Crosman .22 pump air rifle when I was 12 just before we moved out of the U.S.

He gave me a basic safety talk and then I went out and shot pop cans.
Taught myself to hit them with the gun resting on one wall of a dry cistern on a small Pacific island. The pop can was against the other wall. Had some NRA materials on breathing, trigger squeeze, and sight picture to refer to.

Dad sent me out to shoot birds that were after his experimental pepper
crop later. I also wandered the bush behind our house with the Crosman quite a bit.

Formal rifle instruction came in JROTC in high school two years later.
We were back stateside by then.

Like many here, I was taught by my father. My brother and I both recieved Daisy Model 94 BB guns for christmas one year, I think I was 7 or 8 years old. Dad taught us sight alignment, trigger control, and basic firearm safety rules. The following year I took a hunter's safety course, and two years after that we were given real Model 94's for christmas!

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Even older, even crankier....

I remember my dad taking my brothers and I out to a gravel pit on my uncle's property when I was but a wee lad of 9. Dad brought along a Marlin model 25 bolt action 22 with a low power rimfire scope. That's how I learned firearm safety and how to shoot.

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Tim, USAF Ret.

The United States Army

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

The space probably counts, at least between "real" characters.

Gil Hebard, God bless him and grant him long years as fruitful as the previous ones, taught me to shoot. I reckon he taught more than a few folks to shoot. Probably had something to do with his being elected Handgunner of the Year one year.

My folks sent me off to church camp at the age of 10.Learned to shoot a 22 rifle and a bow.Had some artsy craftsy classes and had to memorize a lot of bible verses.Really enjoyed shooting and archery.The other stuff,not so much.

My Dad, who I lost to cancer this past August. I used to go hunting with him when I was 8.( I carried a BB gun) He taught me how to shoot and clean our guns, ( the smell of Hoppes #9 brings back vivid memories).

The first rifle I shot was when my grandfather taught me to use his single shot .22LR when I was around 7-8 and I think that was the same day that he taught me to shoot his old .38 Spcl. I know it was a S&W but I have no idea what model it was. I have that old .22 but the S&W went to one of my uncles and eventually ended up in the hands of one of his son's who would rather sell his father's guns than work for a living.

CW

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μολὼν λαβέ

My grandpa taught me to shoot with a .22 bolt action single shot rifle. We lived in the city so it was on my summer visits to the farm that I learned to shoot and hunt. I started hunting squirrels and rabbits at first. He had a great squirrel dog that never failed to find me a target. My grandmother could could grey squirrels so they tasted just like fried chicken. She could also fry chicken so it tasted just like squirrels. When I arrived on the farm after school was out for the summer, my grandpa would come back from a trip to town and give me a new straw hat, a jack knife and a box of fifty .22 longs. All three were to last the summer, though I was able to talk him into another box of shell. Those were some of the greatest years in my life. I miss my grandparents still, and I have 12 grand kids myself.

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Endeavor to persevere. <><

I was taught by my dad when I was nine or ten. I remember shooting at the ranch in Raton, New Mexico with just cotton for ear plugs. I shot a M95 Winchester carbine. My ears are still ringing fifty-five years later.

My Dad who was a WWII vet and my Uncle Sam ( not your Uncle Sam ) a WWI vet.

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I like Ike.

First organized shooting that I can remember was BB guns at the local Boys Club. Other than that I was pretty much self taught reading American Rifleman, Guns and Ammo and the like. The rest of the family wasn't much interested in guns.

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A closed mouth gathers no foot

My cousin and later my Uncle Sam! Yiogo

Air Force Field Training, Vandenberg AFB, CA, June 1988.

They had just received the first M-9's in the box the day before. Mine had only been fired to test it before I got it.

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"... shall not be infringed."

Los Angeles Sheriff's Department taught me how to shoot.

Grandfather taught me to shoot with a Crossman .22 pump-up pellet rifle. Still have that old rifle too. Thanks Grandpa!

My Father.
A Daisy "Red Ryder" BB Rifle at age 9
A Savage Model 1904 SS .22 Rifle at age 13
A Mossberg Model 152B .22 Semi-Auto Rifle at age 15
A Arisaka 7.7mm Military Rifle at age 16
A Garand M1 .30/06 Rifle and Springfield M1903 at age 17 by Uncle Sam
and the rest is a long, long story.

Grandfather at age seven. Gave me a Winchester model 74 auto .22. Still have it and still shoot it today. Gun is 62 years old and still a great shooter.


Regards

Bill

My dad. Started out pheasant hunting at 11-12 carrying a Daisy Pump BB gun. Graduated the next season to a new Mossberg bolt action 16 ga. Hunted 1/2 the season with an empty gun till my dad felt I was responsible enough to have a shell in the chamber.
The next year I was allowed to have two additional shells in the magazine.

I guess I kind of taught myself. I grew up with toy guns playing "Army" with the other kids on the street. Then when we'd come down to visit here in Tennessee my cousin would let me shoot his 22lr rifle or his shotgun. Got a pellet gun when I was about 14 and practiced with it quite a bit and just kind of took off from there. Also, read a lot about shooting and stuff to get ideas on how to shoot. I prefer the Modified Weaver Stance for handgun shooting. Seems to work really well for me.

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S&W M642-2,
ATI 1911a1, 4.25"

Well it was my grandpa that showed me when i was 6 started on a ol red ryder then i went on to shoot archery for a while.. Unfortunately he passed before we could go on to shoot rifles.. But when he did pass I got his .22lr pump rifle and it brings back so many memories. So after that i taught myself.

I can't remember 5/6--BB's/22's, .410 at 11 was a Christmas present.
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD

My first experience with a real firearm was at Boy Scout Camp, Summer of 1963. BRMC at Fort Dix, Summer of 1967. Otherwise self taught.

My Dad !

And at 75 he's still a better shot than me......
He's pretty good with a model 19.

I taught myself, and then Uncle Sam gave me the formal lessons. My first firearm (I still have it) was a Mossberg 12 gauge pump that I bought used when I was about 12 yrs. old. I still cannot figure out how I talked my Mom into letting me buy it. Surprisingly, it took a lot of persuading for her to let me buy a bb gun.

Best regards,

Dave