At What Age Did You Get Your First Gun?

[kid]

I was about seven, but had been carrying the ammo and lunch for about two years before that. That first rifle was a Winchester model 67. At seven I needed help pulling back the plunger. I cleaned it probably six or seven times before I ever shot it. In my youth I thought it was the most accurate thing ever, unfortunately it was stolen when I was about twelve so I will never know how it really shot.
Relive some of your youths with the rest of us. I for one love the stories from this board even if I suffer horribly from jealousy.

Paul

[Oleman]

I just turned 12 and Sears and Robucks had a sale on their single shot 22 with the cocking bolt. Wish I could buy a gun that has been as fun as that one today for $12.95 again.

[george in KY]

i think 9-10 ??
a little Winchester crackshot pull cock bolt ...man i was cool :cool:

[Alan in GA]

When I was in Kindergarten my Dad bought a new Winchester 67 at the AirForce PX for $11. We shot it into the Red River in Bossier City Louisiana and around the levee where crows and rabbits were quite numeous. The most fun was standing up on the high easter bank [Barksdale AFB side] and just plinking at about anything that floated down past us in the water. Gar, bottles [sorry] pieces of wood, and for some reason I think we passed on turtles. Turtles were something I enjoyed collecting and studying so Dad and I just did not shoot them.
He sold that rifle against my will. He got $10 for it and kept telling me we would get a 'semi-auto' soon.
I've owned a dozen or so Winchester 67s since then, but I'd love to know I could find and buy THAT first Winchester 67.....I wish Dad had let me keep it.
I got my first OWN rifle at Christmas time, I think about 1964. It was - or I should say it IS a Marlin 57 Levermatic. I still have the owner's manual. I shot it a LOT and although I cleaned it after every trip afield I cannot detect any wear at the bore at the muzzle. I'm sure I tried to keep the multi piece Hoppes cleaning rod straight but surely must have abraided the crown area[?]. I guess I need to get the camera out and put the First Rifle in digital frame! The only thing that ever broke on the 57 was the firing pin soon after I got it. It came from a department store in downtown Orlando I believe. I remember getting to visit the store before Christmas. I was allowed to pick from the Marlin 57 tubular version and the Marlin 56 'clip' version. I chose the one that would allow me to load up 27,,,,that's twenty seven rounds of 22 Shorts!!!
I still have the hang tag, too. Of course I put a Weaver V-22 scope on it.
Nothing like a twenty two rifle and a box of ammo~!

[Gary in NH]

I wasn't lucky like some kids, never had a gun as a kid.... not even a BB gun! Dad did take me shooting with the Savage 4C Deluxe bolt action 22.....which I now have in my safe. As I got older I was allowed to take it hunting/shooting by myself. My first gun was not until I was in my 30s when I bought the Marlin 922M....a semi-auto 22mag rifle. Since that time others have followed as the money is available.

[Dave H]

Worked for it..sweeping floors in the store my Dad managed..at age 11 bought my H & R single shot- $9.95..swept a lot of floors and always had ammunition. Could shoot in our back yard and a couple of miles of woods behind our place in OH.

All my running buddies had .22's, no .22 envy in that group.

Might seem like a late bloomer as to firearms but wore out a couple of Daisy BB guns in MO...never caught up in the pellet gun madness..must have run with a better crowd, LOL.

[Dave S]

Received my first rifle for Christmas when I was 16. A nice Winchester 69-A that I still have. Through the years, I picked up a spare OEM barrel for it and it, the barrel, still sits in the closet..

Dave

[dbd870]

I don't count pellet guns so 12GA. I was either 13 or 14 - don't recall.

[piroman]

I got an old Daisy Boyscout BB gun with peep sights at about seven and at 13 or 14 my dad bought me a Jeiger ap-74 -M-16 clone in .22LR.He is just goofy like that.I loved it but boy o boy did I get some looks in the state forests squirrel hunting.Look what he started!!!:)

[cal74]

I remember shooting various guns when I was 4-5 and received my first .22 of my own a Springfield Single shot .22 when I was 8. I was allowed to go into the woods by myself with it, couldn't take it out with friends probably until I was 12 or so?

Received my first pistol (Ruger Mk I) Christmas of '87 (13 years old)


Not all that many years ago, but a much different day and age than it is presently. We also brought guns to school on the bus, would drop them off at the principals office during school and pick them up at the end of the day and ride a different bus to who's ever place we were going hunting/shooting.

[flyin lizard]

My first gun came at age15 and boy my parents got mad at my older brother.
Twelve years between us and he worked for NYS DEC. the gun was an Ithaca mod 37. The only stipulation with the gun was if I ever decided to replace it that I would give it back to my bro. He still has it to this day..

[Hogchaser]

I got a bolt action 410 for my 13th birthday and I havent looked back since.

[TinMan]

I was 7 or 8. Got a Sears (Springfield) single shot with pull knob bolt like an '03. Parents made me go to the YMCA to take a firearms safety course taught by a genuine USMC Gunny Sgt, always in uniform, who ran it like a Drill Sgt. Life was good. Included safety, competition positions, dry fire practice, cleaning/maintenance, and live fire at a local gun club range. It was a life-long lesson. Still have the rifle.

[ACLakey]

I just turned 12 and Sears and Robucks had a sale on their single shot 22 with the cocking bolt.

When I turned 12 I was given one of those rifles as a birth day present. I refinished it and still shoot it today. I had BB and pellet guns from about age 7 but at 12 I thought I was in the big leagues.

[rflshtr]

I learned to shoot my Dad's Win model 67 at about 5 or 6. Graduated to the model Win 69 at 8 when Dad bought me my own .410 single shot H & R shotgun. Shot my first pheasant that fall with it. Purchased my first gun by myself at 12. It is a Remington Nylon 76 lever action 22. I still have all but the Win 67. Skipped the BB gun phase until my sons were 3 and 5 and they learned to shoot it.

[Crowhunter]

For my 12th birthday. My father put it on layaway at Sears Roebuck in Norfolk Va. So it wasn't out in the country. It was a 22 RF made by Marlin with the Sears Roebuck stamp on the barrel. $35. It had a walnut stock and a chromed bolt and trigger guard. I went down every Saturday and paid $5 on it. When I made the final payment, I bought two boxes of ammo and put the rifle (in the box) under my arm and walked home with it. Probably about a half to three quarter mile. That was 46 years ago. That gun has been under my control ever since that day. TIMES SURE HAVE CHANGED.

[woodchuckchucker]

I caught an uncle doing some unethical deed and the very next morning that same uncle presented me with a new Win Mod 55. Lets just say that my uncle went to his grave without my aunt ever finding out about his less than ethical escapades. I shot that Mod 55 until it gave up and died. No replacement parts ever surfaced and I gave it away to friend that wanted to make some replacement parts. I've since lost track of that friend and don't know if he ever got it working or not. My Loss!. Bill.......................

[jnyork]

Lander, Wyoming in 1948-49 was a small, remote ranch town of about 2500 people where the Great Depression was just starting to end. As a nine year old boy, I would spend my 15 cents at the Saturday matinee and then go hang out at my favorite place, Spaldsbury's Saddlery and Sporting Goods. What a wonderful place it was: odors of new and old leather, new and old horse blankets, pipe smoke, original Hoppes and gun oil, occsionally a faint whiff of whiskey. Glass cabinets full of old Colts and Smith&Wessons. Racks full of Winchesters, Remingtons, Marlins, etc. More racks full of surplus Krags, Springfield bolt guns and trapdoors. Fishing gear too. Spitoons and sawdust on the floor.
One day a brand new Winchester 67 Youth appeared, price only $13.00 IIRC. I had some Christmas and birthday money squirreled away and conned Dad into spliting the cost. I didnt have to sign for it but Dad had to come down and carry it out for me.
I spent the next 3 years or so potting tin cans, stray crows and riding along behind Dad on old Poppin' Johnny, terrorizing prairie dogs. I learned to shoot with that gun.
At age 12 or 13 I got the hots for a new Remington model 512 at Spaldsburys, so I traded in the 67 on it This was in about 1952. Never looked back until much later in life.
In 1982, my Air Force career at an end, I moved back to Lander to start a new life. Every once in a while I would go to a gun show and see a Model 67 Youth and get a lump in my throat, longing for the days of my childhood and kicking my self for ever trading off my very first gun.
About 3 years ago my wife and I stopped at a yard sale put on by an older fellow here in town. He had some guns on a table and there it was, a Winchester 67 youth in very good condition. Got to chatting him up about it and asked him the history of the gun. He said he got it for his little son but the kid never took an interest in it, so it had been in the back of the closet for the last 50 years. I asked him where he got it, he said he bought it used at Spaldsburys in about 1952!! I gave him his $100.00 and ran for my truck , shaking like a leaf!
I cleaned it up and took it to the range to shoot a few cans, which I did, but it was difficult, I kept getting some smoke in my eyes.
My very first gun is back with me, and holds a place of honor in my safe. Life is good.


_________________

[kid]

You are truly a lucky man. I've not given up on my 67. To this day I'd recognize it and would pay for it's return. Great to hear your old friend came home.

Paul

[TXNinVA]

I was 19, and the .45 was government issued.

[cpttango30]

I was 6 years old when I got my first rifle it was a Chipmunk.

[Alan Copeland]

My first firearm was an old Springfield single shot .22. I traded my cousin a clock radio for it when I was in the 5th or 6th grade. My mother did not like guns, so it was a secret between my dad and me. I traded it to a neighbor a few years later. I tired to buy it back once I was in college, but the stock had disappeared, and the barrel was bent. My first keeper was a Remington Model 550 .22 semi auto that my uncle loaned me a few months before he died. My aunt told me to keep it, and I guess it is the only gun I have owned that isn't available for sale or trade.

[rstoll]

20 GA Savage single shot around the age 8 that sucker kicked my tail. I was a little fellow at the time. That’s changed some in the years since:D I gave that little gun to a 12 year old nephew about 2 years back and some of the HX and the deal that it would never be sold but it can be passed on to a new generation. when I was 9-10 dad got me my first handgun a Ruger 3 screw single six not knowing what I had I sold it when I was 16 have since tried to buy it back, no luck! he will not sell at any price. Am thinking I might have to make a run to KY one dark night for a little strong arm appropriation :D:D:D

[piroman]

This is son of piroman
My first gun was at age 4 it was a daisy red rider.
But my first real gun was at age 6, it was a single shot marlin 22.long rifle youth, which has taken numerous squirrels and chipmunks.
you can find me at age 5 with my sister in the members pictures section of the 2003 issue #46 of "The Varmint Hunter Magazine"
My dad has always taught us proper gun handling and safety at an early age.
Now I own several firearms of my own.:)

[dan in minn]

I was 11 or 12, I got a Rem 582 for christmas, my older brother and I each got matching guns. I still have mine but my brother wasn't into shooting much and gave it back to my dad who still has it. I have asked about buying it for my kids but he wants to hold onto it for now.

[GLShooter]

Got a Crossman 140 pellet rifle when I was six. A Daisy BB gun when I was seven and a 410 Mossberg New Haven bolt action single shot when I was eight. Went big bore to a 20 gauge 870 when I was nine. I still have the 140 and the 870. The 20 gauge is now 50 years old!! LOL

Greg L

[l h jenkins]

model 25 daisy.first 22 a model 63 that dad bought new around 1949 or 50.at 10 i was hunting by myself. never owned that gun but it was my favorite. first one i owned was a browning takedown cost $10. from an aunt. she had other nephews,but i was her favorite.the $10 was so she could say she sold it to me. that was my first owned 22. still have it and another dozen or so.favorite shooter at this time is a heavy barrel 597 17hmr, with a jarvis trigger.hated the gun before that trigger. now off a hood at 50 steps a dime will cover 5 holes. best shot 124 steps, head shot red squirrel hugging the tree thinking he was hid. 93 savage same 17hmr is just as accurate with accutrigger and heavy stainless barrel just not my favorite. most accurate gun i own is a 600 remington in 221 shilen stainless.it out shoots me when my buddy has the trigger.

[skruske]

I begged & begged for a Crosman M1 Carbine BB gun for Christmas when I was 10 yrs old. My behavior must have been exceptional that year as it was under the tree.

I still have it, though it's getting tired it still functions.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c324/skruske/crossmanM1.jpg

The first rifle I ever purchased was a Marlin 782 .22 mag which I still have. I'm pretty sure I was about 23yrs old at the time. It's been a mad dash catchin' up ever since. :D

[Alan in GA]

Is that the wood stock version? It came both ways and of course the collectors pay a premium for the wood stock version. Take care not to LOOSE the CLIP. Clips have a way of disappearing. Many adults with childhood airguns are looking for the clips [and other attached parts] that were usually 'last seen' in the sock drawer yeras ago.

[doughboy]

24, Dont come from a firearm or hunting family, Newly married and broke,my wife bought me a Browning BPS XXfull to hunt with in 1984 or 5. Killed the majority of my deer with it and still use it today to turkey hunt some, Have always taken good care of it and it is in great shape today, incredible tight pattern out to 48-50 yards.
Mike

[HEAD0001]

That is not a fair question. Around here in WV you normally get at least one or two guns on the day you are born, and some are bought or gifted before you are born. I gave my best friend a Kimber Long Master Classic for his little boy the day he was born. But then that is just how we do it around here.

I would tqke my single shot 20 gauge on the school bus a lot(Junior High). We got to go squirrel hunting with the basketball coach all the time. That was a blast. Tom.

[Brute]

Recieved my first gun, a H&R Topper model 158 in .410 for Christmas the year I turned 9 yrs. old. Remember it like it was yesterday. Seems like there was something else going on that Christmas but I can't seem to recall what it was.Oh well,guess it wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things.

Brute

Just remembered what else went on that Christmas-sis was born- baby sister, new shotgun, which would have stuck in your mind?

[C Miller]

12 yrs old, Mossberg 20ga bolt action shotgun. Carried that shotgun in the dove fields of Texas until I was 17, still have it.

[picturerock]

My dad had one of those Sears single shots that people have been mentioning. I kind of took it over and shot it for many years. He told me how his dad had shot a coyote in the back of the head with it using a 22 short, which only knocked the dog out. Naturally, it came to just as the two of them were standing over it. Fun. While I had it, I could surprise my buds by shooting squirrels out of trees with the first shot. I don't think the gun was all that accurate, but with all the practice I had done with it, I knew all its quirks. Later, after I had gone on to college, my sainted mom gave it to my dad's kid brother, who then gave it to my cousin, who still has it. A couple of years ago I was patronizing a local gunshop and saw a very similar 22, and I bought it. I'm still learning this one's quirks, but hey, I figure thats part of the fun!