If your dad didn't teach you to shoot , who did?

[bnkrtstk]

My dad always wanted a gun in the house but my mom was against it "because of the children", the ironic part is the day my dad and I moved out(my parents split up) my mom's boss/boyfriend who was a Conrail rent-a-cop gave her a .38 to keep in the house.



My first exposure to firearms was as a 9yo Cub Scout at summer camp and I was hooked.

 

[ASA335]

In 1969 Walt Labaugh, retired Special Forces 1SG, Distinguished Rifle and Pistol, Hunter Safety Instructor and Explorer Post Leader, gets the credit for the bulk. He instilled good basic marksmanship and gun handling skills, which served me well when I went into the US Army and later into Law Enforcement. I held "Expert" qualification in both rifle and pistol while serving my twenty plus years in the US Army.

The US Army Marksmanship Training Unit (USAMTU) polished my skills. In 1974 I qualified for the fifth position on a Battalion Pistol Team, but didn't improve above that spot. In 1977 I again qualified for the fifth position on another Battalion Team, but this time I also qualified to be taught to be a pistol and revolver instructor by the USAMTU. In those five days of training with the USAMTU Coaches I learned more about precision handgun shooting than most people can imagine.

In both 1978 and 1979 I again qualified for teams, but this time as the top shooter, and both times I made the Division Team.

In 1983 I earned my Excellence in Competition Badge (Pistol), shooting for another Battalion Team.

In 1990 I trained under Jeff Cooper and his staff at Gunsite, greatly improving my practical hand gunning skills.

I've attended other trainings since then, and will mention that the Oregon Firearms Academy (OFA) Staff offer excellent instruction at their school (Oregon Firearms Academy LLC).

My LE Academy and Department Firearms Instructors were all good, but not as influential as Walt, the USAMTU, Jeff Cooper (Gunsite), or OFA.

In Pursuit,

 

[jkc]

There were outdoorsmen and hunters on both sides of the family, but none were especially savvy or sophisticated about guns or shooting. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I took a marksmanship class (shot indoors at the Masonic Hall, in Manistee, MI, with no eye or ear protection) and at 9, for about $15.00 (mail order, mind you) bought a single-shot bolt action Marlin .22, which I kept in my bedroom closet through the remainder of my childhood and adolescence. My father had a cheap Savage or Stevens sxs 16 ga. shotgun, and a second-hand M94 .30-30, and only bought a .22 rifle so as to have something to take along when he took me squirrel hunting. He never owned a handgun until I was an adult, and urged him to get a Ruger MKI for porcupine suppression and general field use. I guess I picked up my shooting skills pretty much as an autodidact...

 

[Grayfox]

My father was an avid small game and quail hunter. He taught me to shoot.
However, the man who really taught me to shoot was CSM Paul Walls, U.S. Army Retired. High School ROTC, I made the rifle team and he was the coach.
My father taught me the skill of shooting. The Sergeant Major taught me the art.

 

[Black_Sheep]

My Grandpa taught me the basics, he was an avid outdoorsman in every sense of the word. Thanks to him I learned about fishing, camping, woodlore, hunting and developed tremendous appreciation of natural world. Lessons learned in my youth continue to serve me well to this day, thanks Gramps...

 

[Jason68]

Yep, Boy Scout Camp in Virginia.

Though my Dad was career military, (Navy A-6 Pilot) he did not care much about guns until, (later in his career) he was out of the cockpit and er, on the street in the mideast where he was required to be armed. He carried an issue Beretta 92, and a backup Sig .380 (p-230 is it)?
Anyhow, I loved the Scouts, and fondly recall the single shot
.22 Remington, and the drilled block of wood with 10 cartridges they would give you. Summer of '78. I served in the mess hall where I made lots of scrambled eggs, and some scrambled pancakes too.

 

[mg357]

My Grandpa taught me gun safety and he did let me shoot his two shotguns with dummy rounds, but I had to teach myself how to shoot. But my dad who is technically my stepdad is not a gun guy if I may quote him "Son guns are not my thing". But he does take me to gun shows and gun stores and to the range because he loves me .

 

[Pilgrim]

My Dad is a WW2 vet who saw some real bad stuff and was seriously wounded during his time in France. He has never fired a gun since he got out and won't. I've asked him to go shooting with me. It's ok. He has good reason. He never discouraged me. He's now 88 yo.

My uncle Ed gave me a dbl brl 12 ga when I was 12 in 1958 and taught me safety but nothing else. I never fired anythng else but that gun until 1967 when Uncle Sam said I needed to learn more. I learned about marksmanship and everything else from SFC Angel Sanchez in 1967.

'Ready on the left. Ready on the right. The firing line is ready.'

 

[MH8675309]

Both Grampas knew how to shoot a shotgun well and they taught me not to aim (when shooting shot) but to point and do it with both eyes open.

 

[arjay]

I learned to shoot a 22 rifle in summer camp in 1962.Ten years later I bought my first gun,read everything I could find and started hunting.
My father left Europe after the war,he told me very little about it except on a few occasions when he'd had a couple.
He had a rifle and a few boxes of ammo in his closet,but I only remember him shooting it one time.

 

[duppie]

The internet and youtube......

 

[Silver Dollar]

In 1990, my squadron commander told us we had to qualify on the range. They handed me a .38 Special told me where the target was and to shoot it. At that time, no one knew where the bullets went but I didn't qualify. My supervisor was a competition shooter who had won a number of titles and was a member of the President's 100. He taught me how to use my eyes and how to aim. He taught me how to squeeze a trigger and not pull the gun all over the place. I practiced for 3 weeks on a non firing 1911 just holding and squeezing the trigger until I could do it without the gun moving. Then I went back to the range, not only qualified but I shot expert. The next time I shot was Sept. 2012 when I qualified for my CCDW permit. It really was like riding a bike.

 

[Bamabred]

Thugs and gangsters (no I don't hold my gun sideways).

 

[chief38]

Basically taught myself.

 

[sophie]

When I was about 8 or 9 years old I had an Uncle that let me shoot his double barrel 12ga shotgun. Knocked me down. Mother was mad and got after my Uncle pretty good. My Dad never did have anything to do with guns much as Mother didn't want them around. As I grew up I purchased some guns and taught myself to shoot and reload and such as that. I guess you can say I taught myself because I never had a mentor to learn from.

________
James

 

[Brian41]

Dad was a bow hunter and only taught me that. I shot 22s in summer camp in the sixties and later took my Dad's old Savage single shot shotgun and learned how to hunt pheasants on my own.
I shot M-16 and S&W Model 15s in the service and got hooked on guns.
I've been buying, shooting and hunting ever since.

 

[S&WForty]

Similar to the OP, I had an AWOL dad. He hunts. He's always had guns. (My younger half brother hunts with him.) I remember hunting with my dad once when I was about 6-7 ('79-'80 or so). Shot a .22 rifle. And that was it.

In 2007 or 2008, the pistol bug bit me when I wasn't even looking. A friend is trained in "executive protection" and carries a Glock 90% of the time. His shooting skills are incredible. I had seen an ad for a gun show, so I told him, "let's go to the gun show this weekend. Help me pick out a pistol." His face lit up.

I handled a ton of pistols and none felt better than the SW99s. The same day I found another SW99 with the QA trigger at a gun store and bought it. A year later I got my HCP. And a few thousand rounds and a few more pistols later, here I am.

 

[BaaBaa]

My mother made sure I could safely fire the pump pellet gun, .22 revolver, .22 rifle, the shotgun and the kick my butt 308 deer rifle. I liked the pellet gun and the .22s but the other 2 I hated until I inherited them and added padding to the stocks. Now much better but I still don't like the 308 much.

 

[Rangerpat]

My parents were city people who did not want anything to do with firearms. I had an uncle who was a hunter and fisherman who taught me how to fish but died before he could teach me to shoot or hunt.
I did not learn to shoot a firearm until the age of 18 years old, Uncle Sam provided the instructions at Parris Island, SC in 1970.

 

[PALADIN85020]

My dad got me off the ground with a .22 rifle at the age of 11. I fine-tuned my rifle marksmanship skills in Army ROTC in high school, and learned to shoot the 1911A1 pistol. I was pretty much self-taught from then on as an avid reader of firearms books and periodicals. I think Jeff Cooper had the most influence on my development. He made good points based on solid logic and considerable experience. I had to read up on how to trap shoot with a shotgun, and following basic instructions on technique, I got to be pretty good. I taught myself reloading from books.

As a father and grandfather, I was proud to start my descendents along the path of shooting, and actually taught my dad the fine points of handgun shooting, in a nice role reversal.

John