I was just wondering how ya'll grew up learning to shoot stuff. I think I started shooting sometime around the time I could stand up on my own, because I honestly don't ever remember "learning" because I don't have a memory of NOT shooting a gun. I just remember all the lectures that I got from my Dad, grandpaws, uncle, and various family members about guns, safety, and all that.

But sadly not everyone was as lucky as I apparently was, because I found out that my girlfriend AND my buddy here at home have never shot a gun. I'm working on introducing them to shooting stuff, and I figured that before I jump to the 12 ga. or .300 Win Mag I should let them trying something significantly smaller. Like the .22 that I learned on.

I did some looking today and found out that the single shot .22 that me and my brother shared was made between 1928 and 1934. The thing still shoots better than any other .22 I've owned, and I still prefer it as a squirrel gun over any of the autos that I've used.

.22 wise.... I kinda like my Henry lever action or my Dad's Browning lever action, because they won't jam as bad as autos (especially with subsonic ammo) and I don't have to reload after every shot. My brother has a Marlin Model 60 auto that... I'm just not a fan of at all. My uncle has an old stlye Remington 550 (similar to the 552 both my cousins have) that's fun.

I don't care what people say, plinking with a .22 is just plain fun. It's cheap when you buy the 550 packs of Federals at Wal Mart, almost everyone already either has one or can get one for a hundred bucks, and it doesn't seem to scare the neighbors as much as a bunch of guys with shotguns blowing up clays.

It's a long, rambling post, but this board is kinda dead and I'm bored, so deal with it.

 

Well, I didn't really start shooting until this year, and I just turned 21. Buddy of mine is like you and has been shooting as long as he can remember, so he's the one that got me started. I'm definitely learning that it is not a cheap hobby. Paid $120 for a package Marlin .22 with cheap scope early this year & that gave me the itch to try reaching out to those farther targets. Mid-summer came a used $400 Savage 10FP .223 and a $360 6.5-20x44 Nikon Monarch. Next gun is going to be a deer rifle, either .300 or .308 and probably a 3-9 Monarch.

 

I started young, too. Air rifles, then a .22, then a .243, then a 20 gauge. Love to hunt and fish.....so it comes natural to me.

Not to go off topic...but...am I the only one who has to wear ear protection when shooting high-powered rifles and shotguns? If I don't, my ears will ring something fierce!!!

 

No, you're not the only one. People know to cover their ears any time I'm shooting the .223 and we don't have muffs on. That thing is LOUD!!! When bench shooting that thing, I have to wear some kind of ear plug or I flinch like no other and the groups are just embarassing.

 

I started shootin when the guns were longer then i was tall...

 

I started around age 5 or 6, shooting at pop cans and rodents with my dads Daisy BB gun. Dad bought me a Ruger 10-22 for my 12th birthday, thats when I really got into target shooting. We lived out in the country so I got to target practice on random things around the yard. It wasn't to uncommon to see about 150 dead birds and squirrels laying around my yard on any given day.

Around age 13 is when I started going hunting with my dad, on my 14th birthday I got a Remington 870, the fallowing December I killed my first deer. From then on I've been hooked, I've gone hunting with dad every chance I've got over the last 9 years or so.

I've built myself quite the firearm collection over the last decade, my 10-22 hangs on the wall in my den to remind me of where it all started.

 

i clearly remember the first day i ever shot a gun, me and my dad went to his friends land i was about 4 or 5 might have just turned 6 and his friend had a bb gun that he let me shoot, then my dad handed me a .308 cause i wouldent quit bugging him to let me shoot it so he did and i didnt ask any more. from then on i grew up shootin a 30 carbine and a 30-06 springfield 03A3 we finally got a 22 when i was around 10, at around 14 i got a traditions semi auto 12 guage for skeet and trap at 15 i got a remington 870 express mag and at 16 i got a WASR-10 (AK-47 variant) at 17 i got my martin jaguar pro series bow and now that im 18 i can get what ever i want except a hand gun.

 

sadly i havent shot a gun yet....my dad doesnt have the patients to sit through the comercial break during a football game none the less go hunting so he has never been into guns with sucks but he getting interested but i doubt he will ever buy one... and ill probably be the first in the family to buy one.....but all my friends hunt so i cant wait to go hunting

 

I started on Bow, then we bought 5 more acres and i bought a few air rifles. Next was A .22 which my uncle showed me how to shoot, then a 20 gauge, and then i turned 13, cant beat hunting!

 

I started with my .22 at age 5, but I never hunted deer until I was 15 (legal age is 12 in MT) I only had a Ruger 10/22 to start with, and borrowed a gun from my dad. I got the .25/06 for my graduation present, and waited about a year to buy my first shotgun, a Remington 11-87 semi auto 12 gauge. Now I own a total of 29 handguns, rifles, and shotguns. I've been teaching hunter safety classes for 7 years, attended Valhalla training center in Colorado, and just got involved in local IDPA shooting club.

Luckily I also just bought a bike, so I have something else to do that isn't nearly as expensive. Its a good thing I could sell them all (not that I would) and turn about a 20% profit (thats better than the stock market in case you are paying attention).

 

I started with BB guns and air rifles before I can remember...the first "big" gun I shot was a .410 when I was seven. I think the .22 is a great teaching gun, at least for close range shooting. I got a .22 and used it occasionally until I was 14, then I got a 20-gauge shotgun my grandfather willed to me, followed soon after by a .357 pistol my father bought me, and then a .300 Savage hunting rifle my other grandfather gave me. Sorry I don't have model numbers, everything's back at my parent's place while I'm at college.

Just a couple of weekends ago I first bought a gun for myself, an all-original, numbers matching 1942 Mosin-Nagant.

 

That's a nice Mosin-Nagant Zach. If you don't mind me asking....how much did you pay?

 

$115. The guy was an old WWII vet who was getting out of the gun selling business, had eight of them. I was kind of weary at first when he wanted $200, seemed awfully cheap for an older gun in a good aesthetic condition. (Bear in mind I had at that time zero gun-buying experience) He confirmed it worked, gave me some of the original Russian paperwork for it including a picture of a soldier supposedly with the gun, plenty of oil and tools to go with it, bayonet, ammo pouches, sling, and a box of ammo (shoots 7.62 x 54). We got to talking about it and the service and ended up talking about my four years of ROTC and I got it for $115.

It shoots beautifully, accurately, and kicks like a bronco. Definitly my favorite gun out of the few that I own.

 

ALWAYS wear some kind of effective hearing protection. I didn't when I was in my teens to 20's, and I'm 41 now and say "WHAT??" all too often.

Do it now or regret it later.

 

Zach- that is in pretty good condition for a MN. I have a 44 like that and a 91/30 also. I paid $50 for the 44 and $80 for the 91/30. I use them in military classic shooting competition, make sure to clean all that old cosmoline off, it will stink for a long time.