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

[quinine]

Well, I was born in 1969. My parents were somewhat anti-gun and didn't let me have toy guns - which, in retrospect, I think was fine. As the "forbidden fruit", naturally, I became interested in firearms and had friends whose families took me shooting .22 rifles when I became a teenager.

I started shooting on my own in the 1990s when I was in graduate school. I had been heavily influenced by the "wonder nines" of the 80s and wanted a Glock 19. My pistol instructor, however, suggested that I buy a a .22 handgun to build skills and because they were cheap to shoot. So, I bought a Ruger Mark II with a bull barrel. Somewhere along the way, I did meet my hero and rented a Glock at the range but didn't care for it. Instead, I became enamoured with a shiny Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt and bought that instead. I still have it. These days, I do have a few autoloaders, but I count myself as a revolver guy.

 

[CajunBass]

I mentioned earlier growing up on "Combat". I've got a boxed set of the series on DVD now and find it to be one of the few shows from my youth that has held up well, and is as good now as it was then.

"Chip" Saunders of course was one of my heros and I wanted a Thompson Submachine gun. Man that thing was cool. I got a Matell version for Christmas one year and I was in heaven. I literally wore that thing out, but I kept the Germans out of our end of Hanover County, Virginia with it.

Some years ago I got to thinking I'd like to have another one...a Matell one that is, but checking around on Ebay showed they were either junk, (can you believe it? Some kid played with them! How dare they? Who do they think they were? ME?) Or they were in "new in the box" condition and cost about what a decent used car used to cost.

I had almost "pulled the trigger" on a sem-auto version once, but changed my mind at the last second. It was a pistol version with no buttstock and just didn't feel "right." The cost of 45 ACP ammo was a factor too, I admit. The quest continued.

During the Covid, I was stuck at home and started serching for a replica of the Thompson. Had to do something. Then I found it. Umarex made replica, that was full size, all metal, (plastic stock but it looks so much like wood it's hard to tell it's not) with all the controls that actually worked, and it would SHOOT! Full or semi auto! OK...it was BB's and CO2 cartridges, but you can't have everything, especially not for less than $200, shipped to me at home. The order was on the way quickly.

It arrived in a few days, and it was everything I had hoped for. A full sized, heavy (about 7.5 pounds) "Tommy Gun." Man, I felt like I was ready to defend Hanover County again.

(Kimber Micro 9 for size comparison)

Oddly enough, I've never fired it. No real reason really other than the 8 year old who still lives inside me, is happy. He finally has the gun he dreamed of on those cold nights in Hanover so many years ago. Or close enough.

 

[Cities n Dust]

I arrived late on the gun seen. Took em up in my 40's. Oddly enough it was a SIG 320 figured I should get 0ne before the GREAT BIG MONSTER hillary would end up being President. BOY did we ever dodge a bullet there. (no longer have the 320) Had a close friend show me the way. Sadley, he passed during Covid in 2020 and an old friend that I had not seen since 2005 popped up and said I had an OK collection of newer guns. I did have a HP S prefix about 65 -67 yrs old. He says to me well let me help you. Ever since it's been smith's and collector guns. He quoted " This is the Way " so I followed him deep into the forest that we call a Smith & Wesson Collection. He now claims that I have an adequate collection but still needs some more substance. I don't understand that as I own many Smiths in my collection. As he likes to say I'm, but the Grasshopper and he is the Master.

Cities

 

[chief38]

I mentioned earlier growing up on "Combat". I've got a boxed set of the series on DVD now and find it to be one of the few shows from my youth that has held up well, and is as good now as it was then.

"Chip" Saunders of course was one of my heros and I wanted a Thompson Submachine gun. Man that thing was cool. I got a Matell version for Christmas one year and I was in heaven. I literally wore that thing out, but I kept the Germans out of our end of Hanover County, Virginia with it.

Some years ago I got to thinking I'd like to have another one...a Matell one that is, but checking around on Ebay showed they were either junk, (can you believe it? Some kid played with them! How dare they? Who do they think they were? ME?) Or they were in "new in the box" condition and cost about what a decent used car used to cost.

I had almost "pulled the trigger" on a sem-auto version once, but changed my mind at the last second. It was a pistol version with no buttstock and just didn't feel "right." The cost of 45 ACP ammo was a factor too, I admit. The quest continued.

During the Covid, I was stuck at home and started serching for a replica of the Thompson. Had to do something. Then I found it. Umarex made replica, that was full size, all metal, (plastic stock but it looks so much like wood it's hard to tell it's not) with all the controls that actually worked, and it would SHOOT! Full or semi auto! OK...it was BB's and CO2 cartridges, but you can't have everything, especially not for less than $200, shipped to me at home. The order was on the way quickly.

It arrived in a few days, and it was everything I had hoped for. A full sized, heavy (about 7.5 pounds) "Tommy Gun." Man, I felt like I was ready to defend Hanover County again.

(Kimber Micro 9 for size comparison)

Oddly enough, I've never fired it. No real reason really other than the 8 year old who still lives inside me, is happy. He finally has the gun he dreamed of on those cold nights in Hanover so many years ago. Or close enough.the ONLY machine gun or sub machine gun I ever wanted to own was a Thompson! In the restrictive, liberal State I used to live in I could not own one (only the criminals could). Anyway, where I live now they are perfectly legal as long as you are willing to cough up the money and fill out all the required forms. I have thought long and hard about getting one but the ones I like are $40 - $50 K and at 72 I won't spend that on something I'd have to get rid of in the near future.

I mentioned earlier growing up on "Combat". I've got a boxed set of the series on DVD now and find it to be one of the few shows from my youth that has held up well, and is as good now as it was then.

"Chip" Saunders of course was one of my heros and I wanted a Thompson Submachine gun. Man that thing was cool. I got a Matell version for Christmas one year and I was in heaven. I literally wore that thing out, but I kept the Germans out of our end of Hanover County, Virginia with it.

Some years ago I got to thinking I'd like to have another one...a Matell one that is, but checking around on Ebay showed they were either junk, (can you believe it? Some kid played with them! How dare they? Who do they think they were? ME?) Or they were in "new in the box" condition and cost about what a decent used car used to cost.

I had almost "pulled the trigger" on a sem-auto version once, but changed my mind at the last second. It was a pistol version with no buttstock and just didn't feel "right." The cost of 45 ACP ammo was a factor too, I admit. The quest continued.

During the Covid, I was stuck at home and started serching for a replica of the Thompson. Had to do something. Then I found it. Umarex made replica, that was full size, all metal, (plastic stock but it looks so much like wood it's hard to tell it's not) with all the controls that actually worked, and it would SHOOT! Full or semi auto! OK...it was BB's and CO2 cartridges, but you can't have everything, especially not for less than $200, shipped to me at home. The order was on the way quickly.

It arrived in a few days, and it was everything I had hoped for. A full sized, heavy (about 7.5 pounds) "Tommy Gun." Man, I felt like I was ready to defend Hanover County again.

(Kimber Micro 9 for size comparison)

Oddly enough, I've never fired it. No real reason really other than the 8 year old who still lives inside me, is happy. He finally has the gun he dreamed of on those cold nights in Hanover so many years ago. Or close enough.

I too have always had a hankering for a Thompson SMG - I was a Combat junkie too. Where I used to live in the restrictive State of NY I was not allowed to own one, only the criminals have machine guns there. Where I now live I can legally own one but they are $30, $40 - $50K for what I like. Don't think one is in my future as at nearly 72 I have to be realistic on just how long I'd have to shoot it. The other issue is disposing of it when I check out. I have gotten to shoot a few on occasion and look forward to shooting them again.

 

[lawandorder]

I am another old feller, my Dad was a Hunter, mostly deer & ducks. He also hunted squirrels, rabbits and before they dried up in the Ozarks, turkeys.
Memories,

There was a hall closet in our home that had drawers on the bottom half and the top half open but covered with a curtain. Behind the curtain, not Oz but something more magical and appealing to a young kid, Dad's rifles and shotguns.
Learned do not touch without Dad's presence at an early age.

Don't have a clear recollection of each but his favorites included Winchester and Marlin lever guns. Later in life he switched to Remington pump and semi rifles. The only shotgun I can remember was a Remington model 31 12 ga with a poly choke.

The drawers held ammunition, cleaning kit a handgun or two and his prized knife. A birthday present was sent to him from my Sister who was in Germany with her Army Husband. Stag grips with folding blades in the handle. No name of manufacture on it. After Dad died from injuries received in a car wreck my two Sisters and I had to clean out his house before selling it. My No. 1 target was finding his hunting knife. I was about to give up on finding it. His house had washed away in a flood a couple of years earlier and figured the knife was on the bottom of the river with his guns.

I looked at a coat rack in basement and saw his hunting coat hanging there. The knife was in the pocket. Stayed with me until my house burned. I was able to dig it out of the ashes.

Was in an antique mall one day and saw an exact copy of his knife. When I looked at it there was a manufacturer's name on it, Henley. I bought the knife, my Dad's name was Henley.

I gave that knife to a son of a friend, the boys name was Henley.

My Dad was friends with several State Troopers that would stop by the house for coffee or a meal and these Officers along with Television and Flims fueled my interest in handguns & law enforcement. The first S&W I remember was a . 45 acp revolver issued to rural mail carriers. I was hooked on the brand the first time I fired it.

The family learned pretty quick that any event in my life that might mean a present had to look no further than a gun store.

One my Dad gave me was a K22. A lot of snakes and a few other varmits fell victim to it. I sent it off to be Armolyed. It was even better after that and them one day in a moment of stupidity I let it get away.

I often wonder where that K22 is today and hope who ever owns it is enjoying it as much as I did.

I was blessed by a Mother who gave me the gift of reading, which in turn gave me knowledge of our Lord & Savior and also led me to a love of history. I was blessed by a Dad who gave me the interest in firearms, law enforcement and the knowledge that in America Guns & History are intertwined forever.

 

[M1A4ME]

• How did you get into shooting?

Started out early going hunting with my dad in the early 60's. I remember squirrel hunts with him, mom and our dog when I was 4 or 5 years old.

• Were guns always around in your home?

Hunting guns. Pump shotguns, pump .22's, dad did trade his Winchester 94 off for a High Standard Double 9 around that time. I still remember him walking out of a store in Charleston, WV with a brown bag in his hand. He got in the car (we were on our way home to visit grandma and grandpa) and pulled that nickel plated revolver out of the bag, showed it to mom, put it back in the bag and laid it on the seat for the drive home. Mom still has that revolver 62 years later.

• Did your fathers or grandfathers own or carry?

Grandfathers only carried hunting guns during hunting season (or, now and then) when getting some meat for the table before or after hunting season.) My dad did carry some in his later years. Sometimes that Double 9, and then after bears became more common around home he'd carry the S&W 686 4". He also had a Ruger Mk1 he'd carry sometimes.


• What was your first gun, and what was the first you really wanted (even if you never got it)?

Dad bought me a used Ithaca M37 12 ga. when I was 12 years old. Still have it. Still my favorite shotgun. I don't recall wanting anything else other than a good shooting .22 rifle for squirrels. The one dad bought for me when I was 17 was a Winchester 190. It was new but it wasn't worth squirrel hunting with. Accuracy issues. I did get a good shooting .22 a few years later (used Winchester M52B) that is still the best shooting .22 rifle I've every fired. Still have it, too. It could take thumbtacks out of targets at 25 yds. (used to mess with my shooting buddies by taking out the two top thumbtacks and making their targets fall forward so they couldn't shoot till the next "all clear on the firing line". It could take flies off the targets at 25 yds. (left bloody spots and pieces of wing/leg stuck to the paper). My father in law would get upset at me when he wanted to go shooting .22's and I'd pull that M52B out of the case. He'd tell me it wasn't a fair competition unless I used one of his .22 rifles.

 

[mtgianni]

I was born in 54. Dad was a Marine in WW II and hunted, Mom's brothers all hunted pheasants. I first shot a 22 rifle at age 5.
Dad had no use for handguns. I bought a Benjamin 177 pellet gun at age 10. Parents hated bb guns and the damage that was done by kids with them but figured a single shot was OK. I bought my first 22 handgun at age 21. It was a High Standard and wearing enough to get some blowby at the cylinder. Traded up and got a Model 28.
My first real instruction was being invited to shoot PPC with the Sheriffs Posse. That kind of opened the gun safe door that keeps filling up.

 

[Law-dog]

Born in 1948, father raised cattle, a bout 14 miles from town. At age 5, I took a BB gun and bucket every day to check cattle, I would shoot the bucket while he fed and worked cattle.

I read the newspaper cartoon section and the exploits of Dick Tracy and others. By about 2nd grade, I was convinced a man needed 2 special guns, a 357 Mag handgun and a 375 rifle, that would cover everything. I later changed the rifle idea to a 30-06. I carried the 357 in law enforcement a killed maybe 60 big game animals with an 06.

2 years in college the first time and then joined the Army Military Police, carried the 45-1911, the model 36, model 15, and M9 on active duty. Bought a Glock in 1990 and carried it in law enforcement too.

Hunted everything and blessed enough to acquire a large collection I am downsizing now. I reload a dozen calibers and still shoot although mobility is limited.

I carried in harms way in the US and elsewhere and was blessed to have extensive training in the special ops community where shooting is not a hobby and warfighters take their hardware seriously. Ironic today that many who actually use them want just simple tools, and funny most of the elite agencies now carry the exact gun I bought in 1990 to take to Desert Shield, the Glock 19.

Most reject dot sights and anything you add onto the gun. But then again, they are young with good eyes. Old people need dot sights. lol

Love my wheel guns and have many, most are SW, most made before they put locks on them.

Enjoy the forum, lots of information here.

 

[roundels]

Born in '61. My parents didn't own guns but they weren't against them either. I guess ambivalent is the right word.

I learned to shoot courtesy of my uncle who was a great man as well as a really and truly spy in WWII. He went armed every day for decades, long after he was out of the game, and his one and only gun was a nice 4" Colt Police Positive Special. One of my fondest memories is the sight of brass .38 case rims against deep blue. He taught me how to shoot and more importantly, when to shoot.

My first gun was a Universal M-1 Carbine with the folding stock. That gun was a low quality jam-a-matic and I never owned another one. I kept it loaded under my bed and I found out long after I sold it that my roommate at the time had pointed it at a friend during an alcohol-fueled party. I learned several valuable lessons from that incident.

These days my collection is fairly stable as I have long since sworn off selling one gun to buy another. Lots of regrets in that area. My most recent acquisition is a minty nickeled and black rubber gripped Gen 3 4 3/4" Colt SAA in .44 Special that I traded for a Colt GAU Reissue. Everyone walked away smiling on that deal and I will never part with that gun.

 

[Johnny Ringo]

I have been carrying a model 38 in my front pocket every day for past 20+ years.

With a different grip, it would be my first choice, too – but I just can't part with the original. Even though modern pistols like the Glock are considered very safe, I don't like carrying them loaded in the holster.

 

[M E Morrison]

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.

I got an Iver Johnson 22 carbine to train my kids. Sure looks like an M1 carbine.

 

[DixieRanger]

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.

 

[Johnny Ringo]

He figured if he took the mystery out of it and educated us in the process, then we wouldn't cause any trouble. In retrospect, he did a really good job. He bored my siblings to tears …

Hahaha… I probably did the same thing to my kids back then. I used to explain everything in too much detail. But as a child, I could never stand it when someone was vague. I always wanted to know every single detail!

P.S. The .243 Win is a superb all-around round—great for hunting and target shooting alike

 

[Johnny Ringo]

I was around 11 years old when I fired my first handgun, a Chiefs Special. That experience ignited a love for short-barreled S&W revolvers that has never dimmed.

Welcome to the club! I'm a big fan of the short ones, too. With 148gr WC they're a real joy to shoot, and if you ever feel like a bit of magnum kick, 158gr hits the spot perfectly.

 

[DixieRanger]

Such an interesting thread. Read all posts. Memories shared brought a flood of times past. My first rifle was at 7yrs. A worn out Steven's Little Scout. Still have as a wall hanger. At 12yrs Daddy gave me a Mossburg bolt .410 that held 3 shells while at Ft. Rucker. Rabbit hunting with pack of Beagles gave it a workout. Thinking further back shot first centerfire rifle a Garand at Ft. Richardson Alaska. Could go on and on but that's enough time in the past.

 

[Oil Field Trash]

Born in 54, raised on a small ranch outside of College Station, TX. Dad was WW2 vet and we had several long guns around the house to dispense with critters. Got my first gun, an H&R Topper single shot with money from bailing hay. I got a nickel a bail and saved up $28.00 to buy it (Dad had to buy it of course) at Gibsons Discount. Several years later I head off to Marine Boot Camp and I learned the USMC way to shoot a rifle and hit something or someone. Was hooked even more. Started my "collection" while in the Corps. After 2 tours, headed back to Texas and continued my addiction, assembling quite a collection. Joined the TXARNG to keep my time going toward retirement. Unit was a Mech Infantry with M113's. Got to play with M2, instant erection on that one. Went to OCS, got commissioned Infantry and really got to play with some fun stuff as an officer. 4.2 Mortars, 81mm mortars, TOW missles, 105 arty, 155 arty and other assorted ordinance. Kept up my collecting, started shooting IPSC and SASS. Lots of sweet pieces came and went over the years, safe now if only 3/4 full and I'm thinning the herd when possible. I've asked the wife to make sure I'm buried with the 1943 SA M1 and my Series 70 GM Colt. Kids will get what's left. Reckon I'm a gun nut.

 

[Johnny Ringo]

… then joined the Army Military Police, carried the 45-1911, the model 36, model 15, and M9 on active duty. (…) Love my wheel guns and have many, most are SW, most made before they put locks on them.

Wow, what an incredible journey! From BB guns as a kid to law enforcement and special ops training – that's quite a life with firearms. I also love wheel guns, especially the old S&Ws. And I have to laugh at the dot sights comment – these days I can see why they're useful, though with plenty of light and good glasses, I somehow still get by without them!

P.S. That'll be my next purchase – a model 15:

 

[Dave Haynes]

I was born in LA in 1944. My folks moved north to Santa Rosa/Petaluma when I was 4. It was all hay fields and dairies. By 8 I was hunting everyday after school with a Bow. There were no guns in our family. I would bring home rabbits, quail, pheasants, and mushrooms. By 14 I traded a Whizzer motor bike for a .22 single shot. Then my friends and I did serious hunting. The hay fields were full of thousands of jack rabbits who loved eating oat hay. The farmers never said anything and we just walked onto their property and never even talked to them. By 15 I was free diving for abalone and fish in 40 feet of water in the Pacific. Dad was really happy about that because I'd come home with 5 abalone and big ling Cod. This was just me and my best friend who had a drivers license. My folks bought me a Ruger Bear Cat when I was 16. There was almost no crime in Petaluma, the police knew every kid and his parents. If they arrested the son of one of the dozens of millionaire dairy ranchers they could lose their job. So if you didn't cause trouble, you got away with murder. The movie "American Graffiti" was supposed to be about Petaluma and was filmed there, but it was waaaay worse than the movie. On the weekends it was just drive around drinking beer in the car. There were 10K people and 28 bars. My friends had Johnson automatic rifles, we all had Mausers or Arisakas, one guy even had a Swedish 20mm anti tank gun. We shot BP rifles and pistols. When I was drafted in 1965 I was an expert rifleman when I walked in the door. I was drinking in bars @19 and the cops knew it. But I had no arrests or car wrecks so it was OK. By the 70s a bunch of SF people moved into town, brought their ill mannered trouble making kids with them and ruined the whole deal. When I came back from VN in '67 I got married and moved to Santa Rosa, both big mistakes....It was a time that will never ever happen again, a totally crime free, free city......

 

[shamus]

My father (great-grandfather, uncles, etc) WERE bootleggers. See the movie Disappearances for just one of his stories (the time they stole a train). Poor and not very good farmers they apparently were good at border jumping. My father is the 12 YO in the film. He, for some strange reason, started me off shooting, for better or for worse, when I was around five.... I do not remember learning to shoot, I have just always done so. Same with lots of other farm, outdoor stuff... like snowshoeing and tractor driving... always been able to do it. I do still have my first Mossberg .22 SS and after that a Mossberg 152K with the folding forend. Still shoot them both. My first handgun was my uncle's 1911 from WWII that he liberated. Still have it. First wheelgun was my Flattop .44 #2368... still have it. It still shoots... smooth as goose grease at this point.

 

[Lt.Donn]

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

WOW...a Giles 45...that really takes me back...I'll wager most on here never even heard the name...back-in-the-day...if you could afford a Giles custom target pistol, you were top-tier for sure! Thanks for the memory