This thread is mainly for those born in the 70s or earlier, but everyone is welcome to join.

[Johnny Ringo]

This thread is mainly for those born in the 70s or earlier, but everyone is welcome to join.

• How did you get into shooting?
• Were guns always around in your home?
• Did your fathers or grandfathers own or carry?
• What was your first gun, and what was the first you really wanted (even if you never got it)?

For me:
No family background with firearms, but I was always drawn to anything that made noise. In the 80s I read gun magazines regularly, and I was heavily influenced by Punisher comics (especially the Weapon Specials). Sledge Hammer and Dirty Harry made me want a .44 Magnum. Later, a 10mm S&W 1076 (Sonny Bonds, Police Quest II), and then a Glock.

My first gun was a S&W PC .45 ACP – like the black one in the picture, but mine has a satin finish. Next came a 629 Classic .44 Mag with a 6" barrel. My third handgun was a Glock 17, though I've always preferred the 19.

Even my Winchester was a compromise: I wanted an 1873 in pistol caliber, but ended up with an 1894 in .30-30.

 

[jaydoc]

Born in 1966. My dad was not a shooter. My stepdad, who mostly raised me, had a .22 Colt woodsman that he rarely shot. He didn't ever teach me to shoot as it just wasn't a big deal to my family. It wasn't until a friend of mine became a state trooper and started showing me his cool guns that the beast began to awaken. He had an affinity for H&K pistols. I started perusing the internet, looking at these guns when I came across the p7 variants and bought a nice p7m8. I was about 43. I eventually ended up with a p7m13 and two p7m10.about that time I also became aware of the 1911 world. That bug bit hard. I always have about a baker's dozen in the safe. Also picked up a few odd AR an AK style rifles. Got interested in anything John Moses Browning so added some Hipowers. Revolvers were late to the game for me. Guys on the 1911 forum I was on would post them. My first was a Colt Python from my birth year. Although I love that gun, I didn't really care for the rest of Colt's lineup. The old S&W's just looked more sexy so down that wormhole I went. I sold the earliest guns to fund the current stock. I decided I needed to focus or I'd go broke, get divorced or both. New purchases now are either 1911's or S&W revolvers. Mostly N frames. Now, at almost 59, I'm truly addicted.

 

[sparkyvega]

I was raised around firearms and learned to shoot on S&W revolvers and 22LR rifles. Firearms are naturally just a part of my day, and I've passed that culture onto my children who accept/tolerate them and own a few firearms, but sadly do not embrace them as a lifestyle.

 

[CajunBass]

Harry Truman was president when I was born. My father bought one of the first TV's in our area. I grew up on Western's, combat, and cop shows.

My father may or may not have been a bootlegger. I've seen at least one picture of him standing by a 40 Ford coup, with a Smith and Wesson 38 in each hand (looked like S&W 38's anyway). My mother informed me they were "toys." I always wondered about that picture and that "story." Later, I learned my grandmother had told her to "Stay away from him. He's a Bootlegger!" Obviously, that didn't work. A family mystery that will never be solved I suppose, as they've all gone to Glory now. Still colorful though.

There were no guns in our house. Certainly no handguns. My mother said only two types of people had handguns. Crooks and cops. I was going to be neither. Hunting guns she didn't mind. Her father and brothers all hunted, and she was used to shotguns and such.

I grew up thinking I'd never hunt. Bambi and such were cute and so on. Then my grandfather, my mothers father, started sending over his Outdoor Life and Field and Stream magazines. At first only the fishing stories interested me. Then out of boredom I read a hunting story. WOW.. Now I wanted to hunt. Santa bought me a 20 Ga Ithaca M-66 for Christmas one year. I bought a Sears Roebuck 12 ga double (Stevens 311 rebranded) myself about a year later. My mother called it in, the Sears delivery truck dropped it off a few days later. This was before GCA-68. I guess I was 15? or so. I'd worked all summer on a local farm to get the money and she paid for it while I was at work.

I was 30 or so before I got my first handgun. At least the first one that didn't shoot caps and plastic bullets. I had read Skeeter Skelton and Bill Jordan and knew I wanted either a Model 19 S&W or a Colt Python. The Model 19 was about half the price of a Python, so it won out. It would be a long time before I scratched the Python itch.

I never knew anyone who carried, or if they did they kept it a secret. I didn't even know but a few people who owned handguns, mostly some type of 22 SA revolver or other. My uncle had one with plastic stag grips that he carried on his trap line, but I got no idea what brand it was.

 

[jakerudy]

Grew up on a farm with a few guns around but my Dad wasn't a hunter. When I was maybe 10 he helped me finish a .36 cal black powder revolver kit. A couple of shots and I was hooked.

Later on I lusted a .357 Mag and studied every magazine article I could find and a G&A comparison declared a 4" SS to be the ultimate do all pistol. A GP100 was highly rated and cheaper than a 686 or Python so I had to have one. A summer job during college provided enough savings to buy a new one.

Nobody really worried about concealed carry as pretty much everybody had a shotgun or rifle in their truck and we left the keys in them. Back then if your vehicle had been moved it was either a prank or somebody needed to get somewhere and would be back soon.

 

[stu1ritter]

I was born when FDR was president and 3 weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Being born in the Bronx, NYC, there was no such thing as a gun culture around my apartment. Or my block, or my neighborhood, or the city for that matter.

My first experience handling any guns was when my father took me with him when he went to do some on site picture framing work for Robert Ripley (Ripley's Believe It Or Not) who was a great collector. Robert let me handle many of his current guns and I was enthralled at age 7.

In 1955 I joined my high school rifle team (Stuyvesant HS in Manhattan) and used to practice at the Manhattan Rifle and Revolver Association at 24 Murray St.. The rifle team would ride the subways with our rifles for away matches and it never bothered anyone. Try that today! We shot at the old 33rd St. Armory (no longer there) where the Police detectives practiced. I would always arrive early and the detective instructors would let me shoot their snubs and I was just hooked on handguns. When in high school, NYC had a summer program for high school kids that sent them to working farms in upstate NY for 8 weeks. I saved and saved and bought my first gun, a rifle, and had it sent up to the farm I had worked on the previous summer as I was going back. The rifle was a BSA in 222 Remington and the farmer taught me how to hunt varmints around the farm from a good distance.

In the Army I shot on the 1st Cav Division Pistol Team, the 2nd Army Pistol Team and started collecting. When I was at Army secondary schooling at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland I bought my first handgun, at age 17, a new Colt Python ser # 6306. I later sold it to a German friend, in Germany, and he kept it the rest of his life. I would shoot it on visits there. Shot competitive bullseye for years and years (Expert Indoors/Outdoors). Still enjoy going to my club and shooting a few National Matches by myself. I now shoot a Nelson conversion and either a Curtis or a Giles .45 for targets and an assortment of S&W's for fun.

Stu

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Another self-starter here, had guns in my blood. First real firearm I handled was the M-1 Carbine my old man brought back from WWII. Never fired it, it-and he-disappeared with the divorce. No hunters of shooters in my family, first time I shot a real firearm, Boy Scout Camp, Summer of 1963. Recall poring over the firearms pages in the 1960s Sears catalogs. First firearms I bought, a 1966 Browning High Power, M1917 Enfield-still have them.
Have my battered copy of the 1966 Edition of Small Arms of the World, read it so much I memorized parts of it.

 

[Grayfox]

I'm a child of the 50s. My parents were the first members of either family to leave the farm and move to the big city. (suburbs actually). I grew up around farms and farmers. Guns were just another tool used for pest control or hunting to add food to the table. My Dad was a big quail and squirrel hunter. Everybody had at least one gun in the home. Usually a shotgun or .22 rifle. Some had a centerfire rifle. It was just part of life to learn how to use it and take care of it just like any other tool. But not many owned a handgun or never mentioned if they did.
First handgun I ever fired was an Army issue 1911A1.
My first gun was a Crescent Arms single shot .410. A neighbor had owned it and broke the stock. He gave it to my Father. Dad knew an old man who made a new stock for it and then gave it to me. I was about 9-10 at the time. For Christmas when I was 12, I got a Marlin 99M1 .22 rifle. In those days it was normal to start kids shooting early. I still have the .410 and currently own my second 99M1.

 

[chief38]

My Dad was a Federal Agent, a gun enthusiast, competition shooter, hunter, etc. In the 1950's and early 1960's we watched Westerns, Roy Rodgers, The Lone Ranger, Gun Smoke, Have Gun Will Travel, WW2 shows like Combat, Detective shows, and of course we all played Cops & Robbers, Cowboys and Indians etc. I'd sit in his chair before my feet could reach the ground and pour over his gun magazines and books.

My dad had many guns but usually carried a Revolver as a daily SD gun - mostly S&W (M15, M10, M19, M66, M36) but sometimes a Colt of some sort and sometimes even an auto loader. When he would do undercover work, he carried so called "non - LEO guns" so that if he was discovered carrying they would not automatically think he was a Fed. He had Ortgies, Brownings, Walther's etc. for that purpose.

My first gun was a Christmas present from my Dad and I still have it today! It is a Marlin/Glenfield model 25 bolt action, magazine fed .22 RF rifle with a Beech wood stock and a 1/2" Marlin marked scope that came with it. I even still have the original scope box. While certainly not a high end gun, when I was 11 and used to shoot almost every Saturday, it was the best rifle in the world - lol! I still shoot it on occasion but at least I have upgraded the scope a little. Although this Marlin/Glenfield was probably no more than $30 - $35 bucks at the time, it is deadly accurate! My most accurate , tack driving rifle today is my CZ 453 American 22 RF, but this M/G M25 is the second most accurate rifle I own! See pictures below.

 

[Hawg Rider]

I'm a baby boomer, born in 1954. My dad was a WWII veteran and brought back a few rifles, pistols, and swords so I grew up with firearms in our suburban home. I also learned safe handling at an early age. We lived near the Crosman factory so I had a pellet pistol by age 10, and my single shot .22 LR rifle at 12. My dad wasn't a hunter or shooter so I basically learned my shooting skills in the backyard and in the woods with my buddies. It wasn't until I was away in college that I began to buy a few firearms (mostly vintage shotguns), and I also began some "shade tree gunsmithing". I was also exposed to shooting AR-15s and Colt Troopers that my roommate owned. After college I bought my first S&W revolver (brand new 4" Model 57; couldn't find a Dirty Harry Model 29 in 1977!). About 8 years later I was working in the North Sea oilfields offshore Scotland and joined a clay pigeon shooting club, as well as hunted birds in the Highlands. I got back into firearm acquisitions (vintage Winchester rifles and S&W revolvers) a few years after I returned to the States. The rest is history. LOL!

 

[Ματθιας]

I'm GenX. My dad was a Vet and he taught me how to shot before I learned how to ride a bike. I had a pellet gun when I was about 5 or 6 and I was shooting army men in the backyard.

My dad had a modest collection of firearms, but, nothing really exotic mostly store brand western field, sears ect. He had a glenfield 60 that I loved to shoot and a charter arms 38 that he took every time we went out of town. I remember there was a beautiful blued 1911, but I don't remember what happened to it.

The first firearm I got with my own money was an AK, an SA-85M - Hungarian AK under folder. I got that when I was still in high school working a McDonalds. I put it on layaway and got it the day I turned 18.

I later picked up a Colt HBAR. One of my dad's friends from work, an old school USMC shooting team guy taught me how to properly shoot when he found out I was in the DEP. I still have the expert badge he gave me.

After watching Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, I got a Beretta 92 FS the day I turned 21. Well, I had to do the Brady waiting period nonsense - so a week later. Later that year, I picked up a stainless Colt Gold Cup thanks to watching the Getaway remake on cable. At that time I was putting everything on layaway and luckily the gun shop guys would work with me. I was still living at home so it wasn't too bad!

Then, I got into the milsurps as everything was cheap, plentiful and ammo was everywhere! I picked up a Remington 11 trainer with the Cutts and tried my hand at clays. I went down the rabbit hole of shotguns. I do love shotguns!

Now, since the surplus has mostly dried up, I get police trades.

Anymore, very very rarely do I buy anything new and there's nothing that are must haves. I have too much stuff as it is.

 

[KSDrifter]

My dad hated guns. A Dutchman, he survived WWII and even refused armed guards when we moved to Jamaica in the 80's when I was a kid. I was terrified and wanted a gun bad, but ya, no guns in the house.

As a young adult, I lived in Ontario, Canada. I competed in high school with a .22. Then I got my license to own long guns relatively early after leaving dads, but affording ammo and finding places to shoot in Toronto was a challenge.

Kansas was where I was really able to hone my shooting skills. Still live here. Carry every day.

 

[Johnny Ringo]

Born in 1966. My dad was not a shooter. My stepdad, who mostly raised me, had a .22 Colt woodsman that he rarely shot. He didn't ever teach me to shoot as it just wasn't a big deal to my family. It wasn't until a friend of mine became a state trooper and started showing me his cool guns that the beast began to awaken. He had an affinity for H&K pistols. I started perusing the internet, looking at these guns when I came across the p7 variants and bought a nice p7m8. I was about 43. I eventually ended up with a p7m13 and two p7m10.about that time I also became aware of the 1911 world. That bug bit hard. I always have about a baker's dozen in the safe. Also picked up a few odd AR an AK style rifles. Got interested in anything John Moses Browning so added some Hipowers. Revolvers were late to the game for me. Guys on the 1911 forum I was on would post them. My first was a Colt Python from my birth year. Although I love that gun, I didn't really care for the rest of Colt's lineup. The old S&W's just looked more sexy so down that wormhole I went. I sold the earliest guns to fund the current stock. I decided I needed to focus or I'd go broke, get divorced or both. New purchases now are either 1911's or S&W revolvers. Mostly N frames. Now, at almost 59, I'm truly addicted.

I was born in '73. The P7 has always looked really interesting, but I haven't had the chance to shoot one yet. I've always been fascinated by 1911s – I even have a Colt Commander from '82 that I bought used and have been meaning to restore for years. Time really flies.

As for revolvers, I also have a 1977 .38 Snubnose (Model 60) that I picked up from a collector – it had been brand new and untouched for over 40 years. The Model 60 has an interesting history – it's essentially a stainless steel version of the Model 36, which was introduced in 1950. The Model 60 was the first regular production revolver made entirely of stainless steel, introduced in 1965. Its rust-resistant composition made it highly sought after, especially during the Vietnam War, where it was used as a backup sidearm. Initially, it was available only to those with connections, like certain police officers.

The collector I bought from actually had two: one from 1967, which was historically closer to those early days, and the younger one from 1977 – the year Elvis died. Interestingly, 1967 was also the year my parents got married. I still went for the younger revolver. The 1967 version had a black hammer and black trigger, which I didn't like visually, even though a collector might consider it the better choice. I suspect that to meet high demand, some parts from the Model 36 were used in production.

My hands are actually too big, and my eyes aren't what they used to be, but I still love the Model 60. Even at 10–12 meters, I can get reasonably tight groups.

 

[Johnny Ringo]

Harry Truman was president when I was born. My father bought one of the first TV's in our area. I grew up on Western's, combat, and cop shows.

My father may or may not have been a bootlegger. I've seen at least one picture of him standing by a 40 Ford coup, with a Smith and Wesson 38 in each hand (looked like S&W 38's anyway). My mother informed me they were "toys." I always wondered about that picture and that "story." Later, I learned my grandmother had told her to "Stay away from him. He's a Bootlegger!" Obviously, that didn't work. A family mystery that will never be solved I suppose, as they've all gone to Glory now. Still colorful though.

There were no guns in our house. Certainly no handguns. My mother said only two types of people had handguns. Crooks and cops. I was going to be neither. Hunting guns she didn't mind. Her father and brothers all hunted, and she was used to shotguns and such.

I grew up thinking I'd never hunt. Bambi and such were cute and so on. Then my grandfather, my mothers father, started sending over his Outdoor Life and Field and Stream magazines. At first only the fishing stories interested me. Then out of boredom I read a hunting story. WOW.. Now I wanted to hunt. Santa bought me a 20 Ga Ithaca M-66 for Christmas one year. I bought a Sears Roebuck 12 ga double (Stevens 311 rebranded) myself about a year later. My mother called it in, the Sears delivery truck dropped it off a few days later. This was before GCA-68. I guess I was 15? or so. I'd worked all summer on a local farm to get the money and she paid for it while I was at work.

I was 30 or so before I got my first handgun. At least the first one that didn't shoot caps and plastic bullets. I had read Skeeter Skelton and Bill Jordan and knew I wanted either a Model 19 S&W or a Colt Python. The Model 19 was about half the price of a Python, so it won out. It would be a long time before I scratched the Python itch.

I never knew anyone who carried, or if they did they kept it a secret. I didn't even know but a few people who owned handguns, mostly some type of 22 SA revolver or other. My uncle had one with plastic stag grips that he carried on his trap line, but I got no idea what brand it was.

Wow, that's an awesome story! Thanks for sharing it. I'm a bit younger (born in '73), but I grew up on a ton of Westerns, old TV shows, and movies too – Winchester '73 with Jimmy Stewart, Have Gun – Will Travel, Perry Mason with Raymond Burr, FBI with Edward Zimbalist… you name it, I watched it.

Stories like yours are exactly the kind that grab me. That era now almost feels like a dream, like it never really happened. But memories like this make it come alive again – colorful, vivid, and so real that for a moment, it feels like we're right there in the middle of it.

 

[Golddollar]

This thread is mainly for those born in the 70s or earlier, but everyone is welcome to join.

• How did you get into shooting?
• Were guns always around in your home?
• Did your fathers or grandfathers own or carry?
• What was your first gun, and what was the first you really wanted (even if you never got it)?

When I was born Truman was still president. My late father got me into shooting when I was a little boy. I would hunt with him, his brothers and dad, but Pop was the one who was really doing target shooting, trap shooting and Civil War skirmishing. So all of them owned guns, but carrying concealed was totally illegal or next to impossible in Ohio and PA back then.

Pop would let me shoot his .45 that he bought from DCM back in 1961. I taught myself to field strip it from reading Pop's books. He gave me a Stevens Favorite .22 rifle for Christmas when I was around 8 years old. That was my first real gun. I still have it.

I've wanted and acquired a bunch of guns, but the one that I probably had the strongest yearning for was the Webley Mark VI revolver in the original .455 caliber. It just seemed to be such a cool gun. There is a judge in the next county who is a friend of mine and he wants it bad, but it's not for sale. I worked too hard to find a .455 Webley that hadn't been shaved.

 

[Wapakfred]

I'm 77 and got my first gun when i was 12...and I still haveit. My dad bought me a Winchester model 37 20 gauge shotgun to hunt small game with. About the only guns in our house were shotguns until I turned 17. Then a few centerfire rifles showed up (a .243 and a 308, then a 30/06) along with some reloading equipment. I no longer have any of those rifles, but I still have all the reloading equipment (plus much more) now. I'm still wanting (and don't have) a pre-64 model 70. I find the .300 H&H to be the one I think about the most, but I'm less particular about caliber than I am having the rifle.

 

[Johnny Ringo]

I was born when FDR was president and 3 weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Being born in the Bronx, NYC, there was no such thing as a gun culture around my apartment …

Stu, you're just a few months older than my dad (he was born in June '42). What a time that must've been. I've heard similar stories from hunters in the '60s taking the train with their rifles – they'd just hang them up in the compartment or even in the pub afterwards and nobody cared.

Were you stationed in Germany? My .38 Special came out of Mainz – world is small place.

 

[Johnny Ringo]

… Back then if your vehicle had been moved it was either a prank or somebody needed to get somewhere and would be back soon.

Haha, true! Back then it was just a prank or a favor, today it'd be a police report and three insurance claims. Different world! Thank you for sharing your story.

 

[jmcisc]

First, I'd like to thank Johnny Ringo for starting this thread. It's one of the most interesting ones that I've read, lately.
My story also starts in the Bronx, NY. My dad was a WWII vet who brought home a Model 34 Mauser and 1907 Dreyse. However, these were secured in our home, and never used. My shooting started when I moved to Florida in the '70s. The local school was running a Marksmanship course. Having never fired a gun I naturally was curious and signed up to take the course. At the time I didn't own any guns, so the teacher, who was a military pistol instructor loaned me his S&W Model 41 so I could take the course.
I loved it and immediately went out and bought one after completing the course. I now own 6 Model 41s and dozens of other guns, but primarily S&W.

 

[RobertK3026]

I was born in 1952.
When I got married in 1973 there was a police officer that lived in the apartment below me, his father and grandfather were police officers also.
At the time he had every model that S&W made, plus every firearm his father and grandfather passed down to him.
He started me shooting with a S&W model 10 and my wallet was never the same.