How did you get introduced to firearms?

[troupe]

I owe everything to my late and great Dad, Albert "Bud" Roupe. God blessed me with the best father a child could have ever had. Growing up in the hills of WVa, firearms was a natural. I was given a 22 single shot by a Great Uncle, but we could not shoot it due to the trigger was to lite for a new shooter, per my Dad. My first from my Dad was a Daisy Model 94. I still have it but it wont shoot anymore.

My Dad taught me all of the basics, and he would set up cigarette butts to shoot, my Dad was a smoker at the time. I learned and wore out the Daisy, then on too a 22. It was used for a long time and as I grew, we moved up the ladder. Single shot 410 for squirrels and rabbits. My first deer rifle was a Winchester Model 94 in 25-35. My Dad was fond of the lever action Winchesters from 86's in 45-70 for bear, to 92's and 94's.

We went groundhog hunting a lot in the summer and believe it helped my marksmanship skills further. My first deer was shot with a Remington 700 BDL in 30-06. Great memories that grew me as a man, all credit given to my Dad and God. He is missed very much everyday.

Love you Dad !

 

[WSnyder]

YMCA summer camp. One of the activities was firearm instruction and shooting on the rimfire range. Another notable one for me was the archery range.

 

[Larry Koch]

The Lone Ranger. Black and white version.

 

[JSH]

About 1968-69 (I was 5 or 6) a fellow took me fishing, never had a bad day fishing. We didn’t even get a bite. He had a BB gun of some kind and I was just all curious about it. He happened to have put it in the truck, which I didn’t know. He got it out and proceeded to give me instructions. I shot it numerous times, forget if I did well or not. Still no bites. Had a line baited with a bobber on one. He told me if you can hit that bobber we will get ice cream and I can get what ever I wanted. I levered one in and leaned over a lawn chair and let it fly. Dead center bouncing in the water.
We got ice cream, have not had a banana split that good since!
AND I still have the bobber!
Been hooked on guns,fishing and ice cream since. Ice cream will come and go, never had a bad day on the water, field or range, some just better than others.

 

[marchx]

Unlike most of you I was not introduced to firearms by my father, grandpa or uncle. I think that cinema played a major role in developing my interest in firearms.

 

[skywag]

I was about 6 when my dad bought me a BB gun. Except I wasn't strong enough to cock it.
I would shoot and run back into the house and have my mother cock it.

 

[kneedtospeed]

I was 50 years old, and never touched a gun in my life. One of my very best buddies of 30+ years convinced me to go to the handgun range following one of our many group “romeo” breakfasts
(Retired Old Men Eating Out ),
He was about 20 years my senior, and always a solid mentor.
We rode snowmobiles, motorcycles, & were fueled by adrenaline, he was always The Cool Guy in a crowd, so why not learn guns too?
He was a focused LEO & Instructor prior to retirement, and he taught me basic firearms safety and reloading right away.
Instantly Hooked!
I played with short range rifles, long range rifles, and now dabbling in USPSA pistol competitions.
We still much Enjoy shooting and bullshitting at the pistol range, to this day. Thanks Larry!

 

[deep south]

Grew up checking traps with a nylon 66 .put down a many critters to put in deep freezer to sell to fur buyer.dad trapped and bought all his rifles with funds from selling pelts to fur buyer.marlin 44 Remington 600 Mohawk 308.good times.

Dad would set traps on Friday after work and we'd check Saturday morning before dogs had a chance to get into them.fun times


But I've always shot off a bench with bags with handloads.way I was raised and very thankful.......very few of my rifles see factory ammo
Love my hand rolled ammo . been studying reloading manuals since a small kid.

Love it

 

[swd]

My father had me shooting a 22 at 4yo at his cousins place at Lake Tahoe. Ironically I started with a 22 before I shot a BB gun. My dad had been a competitive shooter before I was born and taught me everything and supported me as a competitive shooter in teens. 54 years later I still hunt and shoot competitively.

 

[rlporter507]

In Ohio we had to take a hunter safety course and the Jaycee's were involved with doing a BB gun competition. so at 11 I signed up. Both my older brothers had been shooting smallbore and HP local and at Camp Perry, My brother showed me the positions and i loved the training. Came in second that first year in the county, and went to the state competition. I was hooked!

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

I had a Daisy BB gun. I think it held 500 BBs. it was in the early 60s. I went to YMCA camp and shot 22 rifles. I remember the 22 ammo boxes like it was yesterday. I am pretty sure most were Rem heavy 22s and some Winchesters.

 

[Mcrider55]

Grew up hunting pheasants with my buddies. Loaded the car with the shotguns and ammo, went hunting in the morning and then off to school.

 

[David Milisock]

The other day I was thinking about how my interest in firearms began. My family had firearms but they didn’t reload or shoot competition, we used them around the ranch, more like a tool than anything. My grandpa was a product of the Great Depression, shooting hundreds of rounds for fun was against his nature, something I understood more later in life but didn’t really understand at the time.

When I would walk home from Junior high I would pass a shop called Cash and Carry. It wasn’t a Pawn shop but was more like a trading post. I use to stop in and talk to the owner, Eb Lewis. He was one of the most interesting guys I’ve ever met and for whatever reason we struck up a friendship that would last till he passed some 25 years later. I was enthralled with knives and be had quite a few, mostly used knives he would trade for. I would trade for a knife every 3-4 months and then trade it back for another knife, no dollars were exchanged, he was just being nice to me and cared enough to teach me to trade a little. I was too young to buy firearms but he had a good selection of used firearms. When it was just me and him and he didn’t have to wait on customers Eb would take the time to show me the more interesting rifles and pistols he had on any given day. He had an old Octagon Winchester lever 25-35, a model 71 deluxe in 348 W, an old Colt lightning in 38, several neat rimfires and on and on. Over the years quite a few firearms came and went and I would get to hear all about them and he would let me handle them under his supervision. I think that’s where my interest in guns and knives really began.

My Uncle hunted more than Grandpa and I spent many a day working with him on the ranch and cutting wood in his Ford F250, 1976 with a 390 long block. Uncle Frank was a frugle man but he had some neat rifles, a couple pre 64s in 243 and 270, a Sako vixen 222 and he had some basic stuff too, it was all interesting to me. I would listen to him tell me what he knew and then go hit the drug store and buy outdoor magazines and gun magazines, something I miss.

When I got my first paying job I bought a couple 22s and then finally got my hands on a new Ruger 10/22, I can still smell the smell of the oil on metal when I unboxed it back at home. I shot tens of thousands of rounds through that gun.

I try to remember all those guys, family and friends, who took the time to befriend me and mentor me in the hobby and other things too. My Dad was MIA from the age of 6 till we met later in life when I was a 36 and I think about all those community members who cared enough to take me with them shooting quail, to the trap range, big game hunting, small game, plinking….. I try and be the guy to help other people learn about firearms and hunting, anything outdoors. Young or old. I’m not sure I can pinpoint where my interest came from, I think it was more a group of men who were happy to spend some of their time with a young boy that had an interest in what they liked and enjoyed. It’s been a life ling hobby and a lot of fun.

A little long, my apologies.


What got you started, where did your interest come from?

We had to eat, as kids we went along hunting.

 

[dsandfort]

My Dad was with the Division of Wildlife when I was born (70+ years ago). I got to go with him to "collect" trapped coyotes, bobcats and the occasional mountain lion. In addition, we picked up bodies of same that had experienced the "coyote getter" cyanide trap. Needless to say, we knew the places to hunt.
For my Dad and Grandpa, guns were only a tool to harvest things to eat. I still have the JC Penny 22 rifle Dad shot squirrels with on the farm. Other than BB guns, he gave me my first "real" gun when I was about 7-8 years. Used it on rabbits and doves. It was an over-under 22/410. Tools.
My younger brother brought me to reloading more than 50 years ago. Then that SOB (brother) brought me to Cooper rifles many years ago.
I remember bring my 22 to high school to shoot in the rifle club. Range in the basement, rifle in my locker.

 

[1shot]

I was told by my parents that I shot my first pistol when I was in my twos. It was my dads Colt Woodsman. They gave me my first BB gun at 6. I'm now 67 and still own the pistol and the rifle.

Lloyd

 

[Turkeytider]

Like a lot of Boomer boys, at a relatively early age (<10) went hunting with bird hunting with Dad and his Winchester Model 12, carried no gun myself. Had BB guns, first shotgun was a 16 gauge Stevens 311 SXS at about 10 or 11.

 

[jackson1]

My 1000th post. Guess this a good time to tell you how it all began for me. Let me start by saying I am truly blessed. I come from one of the oldest families in America and have a deep love and respect for my ancestors, many of them you have hopefully read about or studied. The love of all things shooting started at age 7 with a Marlin 39A (which I still have and is the rifle I have started my sons and grandkids on). My earliest memories are of my grandfather and uncle on their farm. I learned to enjoy shooting but have a deep affection for John Deere tractors. I love Cental Illinois dirt farms and the people I met. To this day they shaped me. I live in Wisconsin and hunted pheasants with my Dad. My wife's family were dear hunters so I joined in. At 18 I started handloading at the urging of more family members. My grandfathers brother in law and dear friend left Illinois for Southwestern Colorado in the 1930's, where he became a custom gunsmith and elk hunter. Showed up at his shop one day while on vacation. We talked for over an hour before I told them who I was. This began a relationship that still lasts today, with several of my cousins. These are the people that got me into handloading and rifles in all its forms. I am thankful for the many influences that have shaped me. Now in my late 60's I am blessed to own most every fire arm I wanted. Spend much of my time handloading and improving my guns. I have had a wonderful life and will be a shooter to the end.

 

[Murray Brook]

Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Wanted Dear or Alive, my intro

 

[whatwind?]

Hunting with my father

 

[22turborimfire]

Groundhog hunting and not living far from Clay Spencer.
Started reloading on my 21 st birthday as that was my 21 st birthday present and now 45 years later. No one in my family reloaded .I grabbed a few books and read and read . I'm enjoying retirement shooting mainly rimfire now with c/f every now and again.