How did you get into guns and what was your first gun

[bortle]

I had toy guns since I was old enough to hold one. Got a BB gun at age 10
(and still have it) 40+ yrs. Then a .22 at age 12.My dad supplied me with a shotgun and deer rifle for hunting till I was old enough to buy my own. And I'm still buying them. Always seems to be one more that I need.

[FNG19]

Originally Posted by nextgenjewelz

Thank you everyone for your answers..... this might be harder than what i anticipated.. I will definitely look up that class though. Especially since its something that will take my mind off of waiting for my LTCF. Hope its some classes in the philly area.. Thanks again fng19

You're very welcome! It's not difficult, per se. It's just a process for the first one, since everything's new. There's alot to learn and consider. As you get more experience, it'll be easier to do, since you'll have a better idea of what's out there.

[CrazyWhiteGuy]

Originally Posted by nextgenjewelz

I know these questions probably been asked alot, but I couldnt find this answered via search so im asking now.

I became interested in guns because one I live in philadelphia and I hear of so many things happening around my neighborhood (i.e a violent house invasion a block away) that i felt the need to protect my family and my house. Also it seems like a good hobby and stress reliever to go to the range.

As far as the first gun im going to get.... well i dont know. Ill be listening to see what your responses are to hopefully help me out.

One more question haha... since this being my first gun is it worth the money to take classes or to learn from other people and from taking your time.


Thanks,

Julius

just a suggestion,
we have a group shoot every second sunday of the month over on this side of the state and every now and then we get some people from philly that come over to hang out, maybe you could come on over or get a ride with one of them and check out a bunch of different guns at once and meet some of us "westies" over here?

http://forum.pafoa.org/shoots-range-...rty-theme.html (PAFOA Group Shoot #24 "Birthday Party Theme")

[knight0334]

I was born into the gun world. Seriously.. My kinfolk thinks theres something wrong with you if you dont like guns.


As for my own, very first gun, that no-one else could claim ownership(claimed a couple of dad's as "mine" lol) - a Remington Nylon 66 with 10rnd detachable magazine. I gave my dad money to buy it for me at K-Mart(Hendersonville, NC) from yard work during summer break.

I shot so much 22rf out of it that I could never come up with somewhat accurate round count. Between 15K and 18K rounds would be a close ballpark figure in about 5 years time. I think I sold it to a friend so I could get some parts for a car that I needed to fix.

[Adam M Geer]

I grew up in a hick family, and my father was a cop... SO I had a gun very young... My first gun ever was an old shitty Black Spring powered BB gun...
That was when I was about 6-7ish My next one was a pump BB/pellet gun...
Got that when I was about 13 Critters shiver at the sound of my name!
My first real gun would be my .22 savage rifle I got that when I was 15-16.
My grandfather handed down to me a WW2 Jap infantry Rifle Type-99 When I was about 17.. And the first Gun I bought was my Lovely XD-40 Sub-Compact pistol! Welcome to the Forum! You will Learn a ton from the people here...

[DCChris]

Our whole family was into guns. My dad was a cop, always had guns in the house. Always had tons of toy guns for all occaisons.......cops, robbers, indians, coyboys. My first gun was a Marlin 336 30-30. Still have it, just refinished the stock not to long ago. Still a great rifle that will belong to my son someday.

[dannyb]

My parents truly hated guns. My father was in 3 armies during WWII, my mother is a concentration camp survivor. They loved living in NYC.

They sent me to camp in Maine, and that's where I fired a firearm for the first time (Remington 511 .22 lr I believe). We were all of 10 years old at the time, the other guys in the bunk liked riflery, but I loved it. Spent my free time hanging out with the rifle counselor. He had this Nylon 66 tube fed thing in black with a chrome barrel and even let me shoot it. Eventually I became the rifle counselor when I had started as a counselor in training and the counselor's father had a heart attack so he had to go home.

Of course every time I went back home, I asked my folks if we could find a range and if I could have a rifle of my own. The answer was basically that guns were mostly for cops, criminals, and soldiers - not for me.

I went to college and got married in the People's Republic of Massachusetts. We lived there for 14 years, but then moved down to Drexel Hill, PA. There was this place in Clifton Heights called The Bazaar of Many Nations (it's now a Home Depot) in which there was a store that sold black powder firearm kits. I bought a flintlock rifle kit and started putting it together. It took me a month of loving sanding and hand oiling to get the stock looking like something. Followed directions and plum browned the barrel. Then found out that there was an indoor pistol range where I could get safety lessons on my way home from work. I took the lessons, and the range owner worked me up from a .22 pistol to a S&W Model 19 and then a .45. I fell in love with handguns and ended up buying that used Model 19 - still have it today. So the Model 19 was the first modern firearm that I owned. Got into bowling pin shoots and the like. I even won a few club matches. Oddly enough, never did even fire the flintlock.

[Paradigm]

My neighbors were a very dedicated hunting family. They had revolvers, rifles, and shotguns. They had coon dogs and bird dogs. They raised pheasants.

They taught us (I have two brothers) how to appreciate and respect firearms and the hunting culture.

I learned how to shoot with my grandfather's .22 rifle. I shot my brothers' shotguns a ton. I shot a former boss's G17 a ton. I shot a variety of guns over the years.

I finally picked up my own handgun recently (Stoeger Cougar 8000). I've only shot it a couple times, including 80 rounds yesterday before the big game.

I now want a .22 rifle for target shooting and an O/U shotty for clays.

[PA Rifleman]

First gun experience...not counting the ubiquitous 22, I recall it was a Colt Official Police, 38 special...was Dad's service gun.

I'm guessing I was 5 or 6...hard to remember. Dad kept it loaded & in an unlocked drawer at all times, and this was his way of removing the novelty of it. I was a bit much for me at the time, and I didn't care for the noise or recoil. The 22 goes back further than memory, I might have been pre-k because it was a pistol and I was too small for a rifle.

1966 was a watershed year for guns in our family. My grandfather was a serious collector. When he died in 1966, Mom literally handed his guns over to anyone willing to carry them away. Dad, fearing he was next, pushed for getting me a gun. So, I got a Marlin 25 (click here if you're looking for the Model 25 manual) and by then I was a confirmed shooter.

By age 11 I was shooting 357 Magnums regularly in Boy Scouts, as the Cold War normalized weapon training in a lot of youth programs. Ironically, it belonged to the local undertaker. Most kids had 22 rifles by then, and my folks signed off on a 1911 for me when I was 18.

(original thread)

[XD40coyote]

I was not raised around guns at all, my parents were neutral on the subject. They did buy me toy guns though, mostly squirt guns, but I know I had a Lone Ranger revolver at some point though, age 4-5 or so. Guns were never a topic that came up in school either, it just wasn't a big deal or anything, at all. If we went for a ride in the country sometimes we would see someone's pickup truck with a couple long guns in a gun rack, and some redneck jokes might ensue. I had been taught about guns though, to not touch them, that real guns were not toys. No examples had to be pounded into me and I was afraid of the guns cops carried by virtue ( hey don't touch a cop's gun!). My dad had handled guns before, many times as a kid, in college with a buddy from a farm family( NIU of all places), and in the army. My mom isn't into guns, she doesn't even like touching them, but her mother had one once for protection when living in Miami.

I didn't start getting interested till I was 16. Not sure why either, it just happened. However I kept the interest to realistic toy guns, magazines like Guns and Ammo, and newspaper articles ( which are almost all anti gun). I still have a scrapbook of articles from newspapers and magazines like Newsweek, from the early 90's. Talk about anti gun hysteria- it was worst then than now. Since I didn't know anyone with guns, I had no way to "open up" and go shooting or anything.

When I got to college I met someone who's dad owned a nice collection of guns. I went to a range twice, but I still didn't buy a gun of my own. After college I lost my interest.

Then came the spring of 2000 when foxes killed a huge # of my poultry and I got really mad. I had poultry for 11 years prior and the foxes would kill a few every year, but nothing like this! I decided to learn to trap foxes. Note- NOT hunt them. I was still funny about guns. However I knew catches of raccoons were inevitable and they are MEAN animals and the best way to kill one is to shoot it, so this forced me to buy a gun! OMG how awful! LOL! Well I wanted a .22 and it had to be a handgun for ease of transport and carrying, so I bought an evil handgun LOL! I still have it- a S and W 617 with 6" barrel. Yeah seems a bit big in size for trapped critters, but I was thinking about future uses like hunting rabbits and squirrels.

So I had this gun for years and always kind of hated it. I never even did any target shooting! But when the VA Tech incident happened I started back into obsessing about guns like I did from age 16 into college. The internet made the big difference, as I could look up whatever I wanted easily and had more than just leftist anti crap to look at. This is when I discovered how many states were shall-issue and that sadly MD was still may-issue. Before VA Tech I didn't know ANY states were shall-issue, and I certainly had never heard about open carry! This opened up totally new territory for me. I then decided I better buy some handguns before MD gets ever more ban happy. Yes I became obsessed with evil handguns! But first I had to get someone I knew who had one to bring it to my place for some backyard shooting, as I was totally green on actual use. He had bought it up one time before some years back, to show me, but I wasn't really interested and was kinda scared by it! He was surprised at my turnabout. After a bunch of sessions with him and his gun I got more comfy and ended up buying the XD40, then a few months later the XD9. Now I am totally not afraid of guns anymore LOL!